1. National History Day State Competition Prep
Amelia Gallo, Museum Educator,
Thomas County Historical Society

2. Congratulations!
You are going to State!

3. Now What?
You have the chance to make changes and improvements to your NHD project
Make improvements to your board/performance
What did the judges have to say about the appearance and content of your project?
Need pictures, music, video, citations, text, etc?
Round out your research-
fill in those gaps in your narrative and argument for a stronger final product
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

4. General Tips: Performance & Exhibits
Practice
Keep practicing your performances and practice your interview responses!
Evaluate:
Are you making an argument or just stating facts?
Does your performance convey your argument?
Do you support or prove your argument in your performance/exhibit?
What did the judges have to say?

5. Annotated Bibliography
Analysis vs. Description
See checklist for more information
Primary vs. Secondary Sources- Do you know the difference?
Make sure you listed them correctly
Do you have enough of each type of source?
Are they the good kinds of sources?
Is everything that appears on your board listed in your bibliography?

6. With all of these pieces, your annotation will be great!
Annotation Checklist
With all of these pieces, your annotation will be great!
Provide a brief summary of the source
Analyze the source’s strengths and weaknesses
Know & analyze the source’s/author’s conclusions
Explain why the source is relevant to your project
Provide some basic information about the author’s background (why are they a reliable source?)
Explain your conclusions and how you incorporated it into your project (Did it redirect your argument, research?)

7. Process Paper Does it follow the required format?
Show your personality and explain why you chose your topic
Are you explaining you process or just listing your steps
i.e., “I used secondary sources like the Encyclopedia to learn the basics of my topic then searched for letters, photographs, etc. to support my argument.” Vs. “I Googled…”
Make sure you have the correct number of [clean] copies

8. During Judging The Judges will be there this time!
Can you explain:
Why you chose your topic?
How you did your research?
Most interesting/surprising thing you learned?
Where you found your sources?
How you decided to design your performance/exhibit?
Stay calm! – the judges want you to succeed!
Make eye contact
If you do not know an answer, admit it, do not make something up (they will be able to tell)