WBASD First Annual History Day Workshop

Wednesday, December 2, 2009Presentation by:

Mr. Grimes, Coughlin Library, NHD JudgeMrs. Higgins, WBASD Public Relations Specialist, NHD Judge

Ms. Johnson, Coughlin English Department ChairMrs. Thoma, Social Studies Coordinator, WBASD,

History Teacher, Meyers

History Day Project Categories

• Historical Exhibit Category• Historical Paper Category• Documentary Category• Performance Category• Website Category

Historical Project Components1. Select a project category.2. Topic that fits the theme (Narrow the topic).3. Follow the contest rules – See rulebook (online).4. Research your topic.5. Design the Entry.6. Self-evaluate your entry. / Have your teacher evaluate

your entry.7. Fix/Correct/Add to your entry.8. Create an Annotated Bibliography.9. Create a Process Paper.10. Re-evaluate your entry. / Have your teacher evaluate your

entry

History Day Judge’s Evaluation – Mrs. Higgins

• Evaluation of Previous entries.• Judging Criteria

- Historical Quality 60%- Relation to Theme 20%- Clarity of Presentation 20%- Rules Compliance – Yes or No

Theme & Topic Selection –Mrs. Higgins

• 2010 Theme – Innovation in History: Impact and Change

• Topic Selection – Potential Topics

History Day Competition – Mrs. Higgins

• History Fair competition at each school• Winners go on to the Regional Level

competition at Penn State Wilkes-Barre in March 2010.

• Winners at Regional Level move on to State Competition.

• Winners at State Competition move on to National Competition.

Writing the Process Paper for all NHD Project Categories

• Process Paper – A process paper is a description of no more than 500 words explaining how you conducted your research and created and developed your entry.

• First Section – should explain how you chose your topic.• Second Section – should explain how you conducted your

research.• Third Section – should explain how you selected your

presentation category and created your project.• Fourth Section – should explain how your project relates to

the NHD theme.• Show example(s).

Compiling the Annotated Bibliography for all NHD Project Categories

• An annotated bibliography is required for all categories. The annotations for each source must explain how the source was used and how it helped you understand your topic. You should also use the annotation to explain why you categorized a particular source as primary or secondary. Sources of visual materials and oral interviews, if used, must also be included.

• List only those sources that you used to develop your entry. An annotation normally should be only 1-3 sentences long.

Example of Annotated Source • Source (example):

Bates, Daisy. The Long Shadow of Little Rock. 1st ed. New York: David McKay Co. Inc., 1962.

• Note – This citation came from the History Day Website and could be incorrect. MLA came out with the 7th edition of their Handbook earlier this year. Please adhere to the MLA Handbook for all citations used in the Annotated Bibliography.

• Annotation (example):Daisy Bates was the president of the Arkansas NAACP and the one who met and listened to the students each day. This first-hand account was very important to my paper because it made me more aware of the feelings of the people involved.

Writing the Annotated Bibliography for all NHD Project Categories

• Follow MLA guidelines.• Each source (primary, secondary) should have

a sentence or two description of what type of information you found in each source.

• Primary Sources are listed separately from Secondary Sources.

• Be sure to alphabetize your sources.

Primary Source• A primary source is a piece of information about a

historical event or period in which the creator of the source was an actual participant in or a contemporary of a historical moment. The purpose of primary sources is to capture the words, the thoughts and the intentions of the past. Primary sources help you to interpret what happened and why it happened.

• Examples of primary sources include documents, artifacts, historic sites, songs, or other written and tangible items created during the historical period you are studying.

Secondary Source• A secondary source is a source that was not

created first-hand by someone who participated in the historical era. Secondary sources are usually created by historians, but based on the historian's reading of primary sources. Secondary sources are usually written decades, if not centuries, after the event occurred by people who did not live through or participate in the event or issue. The purpose of a secondary source is to help build the story of your research from multiple perspectives and to give your research historical context.

Tertiary Sources• Tertiary sources are based on a collection of

primary and secondary sources and may or may not be written by an expert. Tertiary sources should never appear in your bibliography but are only used as exploratory sources, to give you ideas about what to research. Wikipedia is not a reliable source and should not be utilized or appear in your bibliography.

Examples are dictionaries, encyclopedias, fact books, and guidebooks.

Individual or GroupHistorical Exhibit

1) Selection of topic that fits the theme.2) Research the topic (primary and secondary resources). Consult your

school librarian, the Osterhout Public Library (Go to the Reference desk and ask a librarian for help.). *Make a research binder, copy information from books (title page, title verso page), print out information or images from websites.

3) Cite your information. Follow MLA guidelines.4) Create your annotated bibliography. Citation first, followed by a written

description of what kind of information you used from each source. (Give example here.)

5) Design the entry on the project boards using what you have researched. *Use tacks to do the layout on the board and check with your teacher before gluing historical pieces on project boards.

6) Write your process paper.

Individual Historical Paper

• Select a topic. Narrow your topic.• Conduct your research.• From your research, formulate a thesis.• Take notes from your research.

-Use the research note sheet method or the note card method.

• Paraphrase, Summary, Direct Quote when using the research note sheet method or the note card method.

Individual Historical Paper

• Make an outline using the main points from your research and note sheets/note cards.

• Start writing. Introduction, Body, Conclusion.• Read and Revise. Have your teacher help you

read and revise.

Thesis Statement

• NHD projects should do more than just tell a story. Every exhibit, performance, documentary, paper and web site should make a point about its topic. To do this, you must develop your own argument of the historical impact of the person, event, pattern or idea you are studying. The point you make is called a thesis statement. A thesis statement is not the same as a topic. Your thesis statement explains what you believe to be the impact and significance of your topic in history.

Thesis Statement

• Topic: Battle of Gettysburg Sample Thesis Statement: The battle of Gettysburg was a major turning point of the Civil War. It turned the tide of the war from the South to the North, pushing back Lee's army that would never fight again on Northern soil and bringing confidence to the Union army.

Summary

• Noun. a comprehensive and usually brief abstract, recapitulation, or compendium of previously stated facts or statements.

• A Summary can be of a single page, a few pages, a whole chapter, whole chapters, or an entire book. You are summing up what an author(s) says in your own words.

Paraphrase

• Noun. 1. a restatement of a text or passage giving the meaning in another form, as for clearness; rewording. 2. the act or process of restating or rewording.

• A Paraphrase can be of a single page, a few pages, a whole chapter, whole chapters, or an entire book. You are restating the main idea(s) of the author(s) in your own words.

Direct Quote

• Noun. a report of the exact words used in a discourse.

• Example - “Content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor.”

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Individual Historical Paper

• Must follow National History Day Guidelines.• Must have Process Paper.• Must have Annotated Bibliography.

-Separate Primary Sources and Secondary Sources. Make sure sources are alphabetical.

Must follow Thesis Statement.

Research• National History Day – Research Center

Link - http://nationalhistoryday.org/ConductingResearch.htm.• School Library Resources (online catalog) – search for books.

Link – http://10.0.0.21:88/Reference Collection

• Osterhout Public Library - http://www.osterhout.lib.pa.us/Online Catalog – search for books.Reference CollectionPower Library

• Internet Search Engines – Google, Bing, MSN• College Library Resources• Luzerne County Historical Society Resources – Historical Society Librarian

-Charge for Research

Resources Available

• National History Day Website• TeacherWeb website – PA, Coughlin High

School, Coughlin Library• School Librarian, Osterhout Librarians, College

Librarians, Historical Society Librarians

END

• END