National History Day - - - Theme

National History Day - - - Theme:

Parent / Guardian Signature: ______

Theme: Every year National History Day frames students' research within a historical theme. The theme is chosen for the broad application to world, national or state history and its relevance to ancient history or to the more recent past. This year's theme is ______. The intentional selection of the theme for National History Day is to provide an opportunity for students to push past the antiquated view of history as mere facts and dates and drill down into historical content to develop perspective and understanding.

The NHD theme provides a focused way to increase student's historical understanding by developing a lens to read history, an organizational structure that helps students place information in the correct context and finally, the ability to see connections over time.

Please see this link for possible topics: http://www.nhd.org/GettingStarted.htm

Additional Resources concerning the Theme: http://www.nhd.org/Contest.htm

Contest Categories: all groups may have 2 to 5 people and you may enter one of nine categories:

 paper (individual only)  individual exhibit  group exhibit  individual performance  group performance  individual documentary  group documentary  individual web site  group web site

Please see these links for further explanations of the categories and rules: http://pa.nhd.org/index.htm and http://pa.nhd.org/FrequentlyAskedQuestions.htm

Topic: When addressing the theme you will be using a lot of primary documents, some secondary, and generating a bibliography. In addition you will need to address the questions below, which help you produce a dynamic project.

Effective National History Day entries not only describe an event or a development, but they also analyze and place it in its historical context. To help you draw conclusions about your topic’s significance in history, ask yourself the following questions:

 How is my topic important?  How was my topic significant in history in relation to the National History Day theme?  How did my topic develop over time?  How did my topic influence history?  How did the events and atmosphere (social, economic, political, and cultural aspects) of my topic’s time period influence my topic in history?

Please see the back for additional information! Competition: You will be competing in the SR division, please see all information below, plus, please note there will be a fee, usually about 8 dollars for the event and if you qualify for States or Nationals, there could be additional fees as well for lodging and meals, if you have any questions or concerns please contact me first and if we need to we can contact Ms. Jay together, our regional coordinator

Senior Division — grades 9, 10, 11, and 12

Counties: Bucks, Montgomery Competition: Ursinus College , Collegeville, PA

Regional Coordinator: Melissa Jay, Coordinator of Education and Outreach Programs Bucks County Historical Society 84 South Pine Street Doylestown, PA 18901 Phone: 215-345-0210, ext. 125 Fax: 215-230-0823 E-mail: [email protected]

Additional Resources: Besides the amazing resources provided by our Library and Librarians, please see below

Primary Sources Beyond the Internet! Located on the third floor of the Mercer Museum, the Spruance Library houses a treasure trove of resources related to the history of Bucks County and colonial Pennsylvania. The Library contains over 15,000 books and periodicals; 11,000 photographs and postcards; 3,500 feet of county archives, and over 3,000 feet of manuscripts that can provide your students with a hands-on experience with primary source material. Get your students off the Internet and into the Library!

Workshops are also available to help your students learn to use primary sources effectively, for NHD and other research projects. For more information on the Past Imperfect: Using Primary Resource Materials workshop please visit our Field Trip page. - - - http://www.mercermuseum.org/national_history_day.htm

 Additionally, remember you can contact experts or adults for interviews, however YOU MUST INFORM ME AND YOUR PARENT(S) / GUARDIAN(S) before doing so, this is mandatory and for your safety.

 Remember to be creative with how you address the theme

 Remember what a primary document is, diary entries, newspapers, images / photos from that time period, a business contract or political document, etc . . . even music.

 If you are interested in doing this, it will be a rewarding experience and one that teaches you necessary research and writing skills to be a great student

Date and Location of Regional Tournament:

* All information was found on the various websites listed on this handout