Developing a Premise/Thesis

Formulating Guiding Questions

Historical Framework

Primary/Secondary Sources

Historical Research:Getting Started

What is National History Day? Students capture the past and present it in the manner of a historian. Annual theme: This year’s National History Day theme is

Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History. Process

Students formulated a topic for this project, conducted research, and represented the details and concepts of their research in a final project.

Projects are graded at the classroom level and the best projects are chosen to participate the school level.

Winners from the school History Fairs (1st and 2nd place from each category) move on to the Sarasota County History Fair. The winners from the County History Fair will move on to the State History Fair. Winners from the State Fair compete at National History Day in June.

2016 Theme & Student Entries

This years’ theme is Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History•IT IS A BROAD THEME!

• Student work must adequately explain their topic’s relationship to the theme and its significance in history.

• Entries must provide basic information about the topic and must draw conclusions about significance.

Divisions and Categories

Junior Division - grades 6-85 categories – Exhibit, Documentary, Historical Paper, Performance, or Web

site Group Entries Individual Entries *Historical Paper are Individual Entries ONLY

Senior Division – grades 9-125 categories – Exhibit, Documentary, Historical Paper, Performance, or Web

site Group Entries Individual Entries

Students compete within their division and their category. Group projects do not compete against individual projects.

The Process Paper• Must be provided in the Performance,

Documentary, Exhibit and Web Site categories;

• Provides a description of how the students went about the research and creation of their entry;

• Concludes with an explanation of the topic’s relationship to the theme.

• This should not be a research paper about the topic.

Annotated BibliographyShould be attached to the process paper.Should explain how the work was used in

producing the entry and why it was classified as primary or secondary.

Bibliographies are evaluated based on the strength of the sources, the breadth of your research, appropriateness to the topic, and your ability to investigate the sources.

Annotated bibliographies are directly related to the criteria of historical quality - they show the extent and value of a student’s sources.

The following are essential tips you can use as you conduct research for your History Fair topic:

• Develop a thesis• Create a list of Guiding Questions based on the

Historical Framework• Find/Research the answers to your Guiding

Questions and record them in your notes• Use BOTH primary and secondary sources to

ensure that your research is balanced

This presentation will explain these essential tips.

Please do not hesitate to ask me for help or clarification.

What is a Thesis?• An opinion about the impact of an event

over time• An assertion that requires evidence for a

conclusion• The basis of your topic

Examples of a ThesisThe tools, personal items, and

botanical/zoological life that early English colonists brought to Jamestown drastically and forever altered the area’s environment.

This statement provides a basis for you to build upon because it shows the evidence you need to gather to address the assertion that these factors contributed to environmental change. It also generates historical significance because it provides you with a starting point for developing a case for these factors making an impact over time.

Example of a ThesisThe decision to use the atomic bomb had the

greatest impact of any decision the American government made during the 20th century.

This is a thesis statement because its assertion about the level of impact of the decision to use the atomic bomb requires supporting evidence and interpretation. It also sets the stage for presenting a conclusion and lays the foundation for the topic’s significance.

Example of a non-premise/thesis

The United States dropped atomic bombs on two Japanese cities during World War II.

1. Simply states a fact that is easily corroborated

2. Does not require supporting evidence or interpretation

What are Guiding Questions?

• They emerge from your premise/thesis• They help you decide which sources to

use/leave alone• Are flexible and can be modified• Require interpretation

Guiding QuestionsGuiding Questions (invites an interpretation - workable)

Non-guiding questions (require only a limited response – non-workable)

Why is jazz considered to be America’s most original art form?

What is considered to be America’s most original art form? (Jazz would answer this without further discussion)

How did Mohandas Gandhi’s peaceful approach to protest expedite India’s attaining independence from Britain?

What were some of Mohandas Gandhi’s peaceful approaches to protesting? (a list would answer this)

How did President Truman’s personal beliefs influence the implementation of the Marshall Plan after World War II?

What were the accomplishments of the Marshall Plan? (A list would suffice as an answer)

Thesis andGuiding Questions

Premise: The decision to use the atomic bomb had the greatest impact of any decision the American government made during the 20th century.

Guiding Questions: Why did the U.S. use such a drastic measure as the atomic bomb? What alternative action could the U.S. have taken? Why did the U.S. drop more than one atomic bomb? How did the U.S. decide which cities to bomb?

Formulating Guiding Questions

Who?

Was the most…

What?

Why?Sample Prompts

For Guiding Questions

What was significant about?

Did…

How?

Did…

Gathering Data and Researching the Topic – Historical Framework

IDEAS AND VALUES:The ways people involved in a particular historical event thought about life.

GEOGRAPHICAL INFLUENCES:The difference time and place made in a particular historical event.

SOCIAL ISSUES:The ways people involved in a particular historical event related to each other.

CULTURAL ISSUES:The ways customs and traditions of people influenced the developments of a particular historical event

Historical FrameworkIDEAS AND VALUES:How did people talk to each other? Did they value manners? What did people think about their environment, human rights, the role of government, etc.?

GEOGRAPHICAL INFLUENCES:How did the environment help or hinder people’s lives? Were they isolated? Were they subjected to storms and disasters?

SOCIAL ISSUES:How did age, economic status, sex, and position in a community affect individuals and groups? How did relationships to others limit or benefit them?

CULTURAL ISSUES:What role did women play? What professions did men and women have? How did religious beliefs and practices influence people?

Primary Sources• A document written or produced during a topic’s

time period that gives firsthand knowledge about an event– Letters– Legal papers – deeds, wills, census records– Speeches– Diaries– Newspapers– Photographs– Artwork– Artifacts – uniforms, clothing, house ware, weapons– Oral histories – interviews

What do Primary Sources Do?

• Bring people and events to life• Provide examples of how people felt, what

they believed, how they expressed themselves, what they valued

• Authenticate a topic• Capture excitement, fear, sorrow,

humiliation, joy, and other emotions people felt during an event

Secondary Sources• A publication by an author who was NOT

an eyewitness or a participant in the event• The author WRITES ABOUT the events

using primary sources and offers factual or interpreted accounts– Textbooks– Biographies– encyclopedias

What Do Secondary Sources Do?

• Provide information about people and events by interacting with primary sources

• Work with primary sources to tell the entire story about the people participating in an event; the geographical features of an area; and about the social and cultural influences that bear on a topic

Where to Find Primary & Secondary Sources

• School libraries, University libraries and local public libraries

• Museums – displays of useful artifacts and books and documents in gift shops

• Interviews with people who were alive at the time

• The Internet ** careful! Not all information on the Internet is valid or authentic!

Useful Oral History Web Sites• Oral History Society –

http://www.olralhistory.org.uk/advice• Rutgers’ Oral History Archives –

http://oralhistory.rutgers.edu• American Memory, Library of Congress –

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/

Balanced Research

• This means using a variety of sources AND exploring a variety of points of view related to the event/topic

– Avoid incomplete and/or one-sided research!

REMEMBER these essential tips as you conduct research for your History Fair topic:

• Develop a thesis• Create a list of Guiding Questions based on the

Historical Framework• Find/Research the answers to your Guiding

Questions and record them in your notes• Use BOTH primary and secondary sources to

ensure that your research is balanced