1. Judges’ Orientation

2. Thank you!
You are helping more than 1000 students across the state!

3. History Day: The Basics
Theme: Leadership and Legacy
Five Categories
Paper (Junior/Senior only)
Website
Performance (Junior/Senior only)
Exhibit
Documentary
Grade Divisions
Junior (6th-8th grades)
Senior (9th-12th grades)
Youth (4th-5th grades).
Does not compete at national level.

4. Logistics What’s in your folder Master schedule for your room
Evaluation sheets for your projects
Interview questions
Evaluation form guidelines
Rank forms for your projects
Rule Book
Your folder
Lunch
Restroom locations
Where and how to find help
What to do when you are finished judging entries
Go to your scheduled lunch room
What to do if you are on a run-off team or judging entries in a category with a run-off later in the day.

5. Theme and Student Entries
This years’ theme is “Leadership and Legacy in History”
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.
Remember: students do not have to address both leadership and legacy.

6. Expectations of YOU: Dos and Don’ts
Do put your phone on silent or turn it off.
Do be aware of your personal bias about a topic.
Do ask the student(s) questions if you have doubts about how they created the project and do believe them if they can explain it.
Don’t ask personal questions (i.e. where they’re from, what school they go to, who their teacher is, etc.).
Do treat every entry and student the same.
Do alert the coordinator immediately if you believe you cannot follow these guidelines or if you have a conflict of interest with a student on your schedule.

7. Evaluating Entries: Viewing the projects

8. The Introduction
Call in each individual/group at their scheduled time.
Start with a smile and a handshake.
Let the students know what the process is, put them at ease.
Ask for their process paper and annotated bibliography.
Performance and Documentary judges should encourage students to begin setting up.

9. Read through the research
Skim their process paper and annotated bibliography.
Note any questions you may have about their sources or process (i.e. if you can’t find primary sources, if you notice a source missing you feel would be good for them to know about, etc.).
Retain a copy for after the interview to help with your decision.

10. View the Presentation
Exhibit Judges: spend 5-7 minutes reviewing the project before asking questions.
Performance and Documentary judges: you will tell students when to begin.
Website Judges: If you have not been able to review the project before competition then take 5-7 minutes to do so before asking questions.
Paper Judges: You have already read the papers, so you can begin asking questions.
Performance, Documentary, and Website rooms are open to the public.
Take notes.

11. Expectations from Students: DOs and DON’Ts
Don’t ask for a 10 minute rehearsed presentation.
They are expecting you to ask them any clarifying questions about the information with in their project.
Do expect to find their thesis, analysis, interpretation, and conclusion within their project.
If it’s in their head, but not on their project then they have not followed the rules of History Day.

12. Ask Questions
The interview portion should take about 5-10 minutes.
Ask a minimum of 3 questions about their project:
How did you choose your topic?
Which source was most useful?
What is the most interesting thing you learned?
What was the most challenging part of your project/research?
End with:
Is there anything you would like to tell us that we haven’t asked?
Do NOT:
Provide feedback (this is for your comment sheet).
Lecture them about their topic.
Make them cry.

13. Evaluating Entries: The Score Sheets

14. Student Entries You will evaluate entries using relative terms:
Topic choice: War doesn’t trump social topics and vice versa.
Topic is only judged on how the student relates it to the theme and how they explain it’s significance in history.
You will evaluate entries using relative terms:
“Superior”
“Excellent”
“Good”
“Needs improvement”

15. Judging Criteria: Historical Quality (60%)
Does the thesis connect to the annual theme?
Is their research supported with evidence?
Statement of impact?
Are students giving their topic too much credit?
Judging Criteria: Historical Quality (60%)

16. Judging Criteria: Clarity of Presentation (20%)
Do not be swayed by glitz – Clarity of design is a evaluation category. Carpentry skills is not on the evaluation form.
Is the final project clearly organized?
Does it have a concise beginning, middle, and end?

17. Judging Criteria: Relation to Theme (20%)
How do they understand leadership or legacy of the leader? Do they explain the significance to your satisfaction?
How did it impact people, place, events, after?

18. Evaluating Entries: The Comment Section

19. The Comment Section
You are evaluating the work of young students. Expect quality, but do not hold them to graduate student standards.
Your comments should reflect why you scored a student the way you did.
For example: If you marked “needs improvement” in any area, you should explain why and offer suggestions for improving.
Your comments should:
Provide positive, critical evaluation of their work.
Suggest improvements for future contests or other projects.
Support and encourage future research and interest.

20. Comments: Examples

21. Evaluating Entries: Rules Compliance

22. Judging Criteria: Rules Compliance
Website
Documentary
Performances
Exhibit
Paper

23. The Basics Exhibits Documentaries Performances Papers Websites
500 student composed word limit.
6’ tall, 40” wide, 30” deep.
Documentaries
10 minutes in length, including credits.
Performances
10 minutes in length
Papers
words
Websites
No more than 1200 visible, student composed words.
Video and audio clips total no more than 4 minutes (One 4-minute clip, two 2-minute clips, etc.)

24. Rules Remember to discuss your evaluations with one another.
All judges on a team must consider any rule infraction and factor it into the final ranking. Do not invent your own rules.
Minor infractions do not disqualify a project and should not determine the final ranking*.
For instance, if a performance goes over the time limit by more than 5 or 10 seconds, this gives the student significant advantage and is a major infraction.
Minor infractions should be noted on evaluation sheets so that they may be corrected before the entry moves on to the next level.
*If you have two otherwise equal projects, but one went over time by 5 seconds and the other did not, then that can help determine the final ranking.

25. Evaluating Entries: Written Materials

26. The Process Paper
Must be provided in the Performance, Documentary, Exhibit and Web Site categories.
This is a description of how the students created and researched their topic and how it relates to the theme.
NOT a research paper about the topic.
You will not have long to review process papers.

27. Annotated Bibliography
The Rules:
Primary and Secondary sources are separated.
Make sure they have all the citation information:
date of publication, author, title, repository (if needed)
Annotations that explain:
How the source was used.
How the source helped in student understanding.

28. Annotated Bibliography
Primary sources: created during, or a product of, the time being researched. Examples include:
Witnesses
Diaries
Letters
Documents
Newspaper articles
Artifacts
Photographs
Secondary: created through research that include the author’s own analysis and interpretation.
History textbooks
Encyclopedias
(Most) Biographies

29. Evaluating Entries: Things to Remember

30. More DOs and DON’Ts Be consistent.
Stick to the schedule as much as possible.
If judging websites, exhibits, or papers you have 15 minutes per project.
If judging documentaries or performances you have 20 minutes per project.
Do not share comments verbally or tell
the students who the winners are.
Do not give students their score sheets.

31. Judging myths Projects have been seeded before you see them.
You must choose one from the morning and one from the afternoon to advance.
Special prize nominees must make finals or win 1st or 2nd place (state contest only).
Performances need to turn in a script (no, they do not and do not ask for one).
The thesis statement must be labeled (no, it does not, though some do).
Students must have an interview with an expert in their project (many do, but it is not a rule).

32. Performances Must be original.
Performers should display stage presence, including clear & audible voices.
Costumes should be appropriate for the topic and not confuse or overpower the performance.
Take into consideration nerves, forgotten lines, and audience applause or laughter when timing the performance.
One judge on the team should be the timekeeper.

33. Documentaries
Should be a documentary, something you might see on PBS. It should not simply be a performance on videotape.
Students must have operated all the equipment to create their documentary.
The room will be dark – please stay awake!
One judge on the team should be the timekeeper.

34. Papers & Web Sites
Papers and web sites have been read and reviewed ahead of time.
Now is the time to interview students about their work.
You are asking questions to clarify their project, make sure they did the work, and give them a time to show off their hard work.

35. Exhibits It’s not all about the design.
They need to have all the information for you to understand their topic, it’s relation to the theme, and it’s significance visible on the exhibit.
Spend equal time with each project.

36. What kind of judge do you want to be?
Negative
Positive
Wanderer
Encourager
Lecturer
Inquirer
Dominator
Novelist
Gusher
Team Player
Accuser
Blurter

37. I’m done with judging, now what?

38. After the Interview Return to the judge’s room to discuss.
Do not discuss your results where teachers, students, or parents can hear your opinions.
Allow each judge to voice their opinion.
Everyone should feel good about the final decision.

39. The Results Make sure you’ve made all the comments you need to.
Determine the strongest projects.
Complete the provided results form.
Submit form and judging sheets to History Day Staff.
If Necessary: A second round of judging will combine your results with other top projects from your category to determine who advances.

40. State Contest Only

41. Final rounds
The below categories will have a finals round after scheduled judging:
Junior Group Documentaries (2 teams)
Junior Group Exhibits (5 teams)
Junior Group Websites (2 teams)
Junior Individual Exhibits (3 teams)
Junior Individual Websites (2 teams)
Junior Papers (2 teams)
Senior Group Exhibits (2 teams)
What that means:
After regular judging has concluded (by 11:45) each team will choose the top two projects from their grouping.
They will then collaborate with the other teams for their category to determine the overall top three projects.
The top two will advance to nationals. The third will serve as alternate.

42. THANK YOU!!!