1. Debate & Diplomacy In History: Successes, Failures & Consequences
History Fair 2011
Debate & Diplomacy In History:
Successes, Failures & Consequences

2. What is National History Day
Top Ten Reasons to participate in National History Day
1. Teaches History
2. Engages Students
3. Energizes the Curriculum
4. Promotes High Academic Standards
5. Encourages Literacy
6. Enhances Assessment
7. Teaches Critical Thinking
8. Inspires Curiosity
9. Recognizes the Student Strengths
10. Activates Civic Engagement

3. " I wish I had been able to participate in National History Day when I was in school. What a great way to get kids excited about history, research and the mechanics of composing a story. Students today are so sophisticated about their work. I might just have to snag a few of these young documentary experts for my next production!" — Ken Burns

4. Sample Process Paper
I first became interested in communication during World War II about two years ago, when I wrote a paper about the attack on Pearl Harbor. In researching for this paper, I did oral interviews with my grandparents about what their lives were like when they were growing up. This sparked my interest in early radio broadcasts and newsreels. I chose to research the Office of War Information (OWI) -- the agency created by the United States government during World War II -- to encourage the American people to contribute to the war effort and to continue supporting the war. My first step in researching my topic was to do a little searching online for information. Although there weren't too many sites, there were a few good ones that I did use. I realized that I needed quite a bit more information, so I went to our city's library and had the librarian show me how to use the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. Using this valuable research tool, I was able to find any magazine articles about my subject, including quite a number of primary sources. These primary sources helped me to have a better understanding of the times. I again searched the internet, and with a better knowledge of what I was looking for, I was able to find more helpful sources. Because I wanted to talk to people who had actually seen the OWI's products, I interviewed members of the senior adult Sunday School class at my church. Their interviews provided first hand accounts that made my project better.

5. Theme: What is Debate? An argument, a dispute or a deliberation
Examples:
Lincoln vs. Douglass over slavery
Plato vs. Aristotle over nature /nurture
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists

6. Theme: What is Diplomacy? International Affairs
Examples:
Treaties
Wars
Agreements

7. Theme: What is History?
How does the topic fits into the historical context?
What were the issues at the time?
Analyze perspectives
How did it change the world?

8. Successes, Failures & consequences?
Takes students into the exciting realm of analysis, by exploring questions of “good or bad?” “why?” and “so what?”
Evaluate successes and failures.
Analyze effects for each group
What were the short term consequences? Long term?

9. Research
Build historical context by reading different types of sources... Begin reading about the time period and as you read ask yourself questions: why did my topic happen at this particular time and in this particular place? What were the events or the influences that came before my topic? How was my topic influenced by and how did it influence the economic, social, political, and cultural climate of the time period

10. Research: Use Primary Sources
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.

11. Research: Use Secondary Sources
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.
An example of a secondary source is Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James M. McPherson, published in They are a great starting point in helping you see the big picture. Understanding the context of your topic will help you make sense of the primary sources that you find.

12. Research: Use 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

13. Annotated Bibliography
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.
Source (example): Bates, Daisy. The Long Shadow of Little Rock. 1st ed. New York: David McKay Co. Inc., 1962.
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.

14. 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. You must conclude your description with an explanation of the relationship of your topic to the contest theme. A title page is required as the first page of written material in every category. Your title page must include only the title of your entry, your name(s) and the contest division and category in which you are entered. Do not include your age, grade or school name. The first section should explain how you chose your topic. The second section should explain how you conducted your research. The third section should explain how you selected your presentation category and created your project. The fourth section should explain how your project relates to the NHD theme

15. Sample Process Paper
I first became interested in communication during World War II about two years ago, when I wrote a paper about the attack on Pearl Harbor. In researching for this paper, I did oral interviews with my grandparents about what their lives were like when they were growing up. This sparked my interest in early radio broadcasts and newsreels. I chose to research the Office of War Information (OWI) -- the agency created by the United States government during World War II -- to encourage the American people to contribute to the war effort and to continue supporting the war. My first step in researching my topic was to do a little searching online for information. Although there weren't too many sites, there were a few good ones that I did use. I realized that I needed quite a bit more information, so I went to our city's library and had the librarian show me how to use the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. Using this valuable research tool, I was able to find any magazine articles about my subject, including quite a number of primary sources. These primary sources helped me to have a better understanding of the times. I again searched the internet, and with a better knowledge of what I was looking for, I was able to find more helpful sources. Because I wanted to talk to people who had actually seen the OWI's products, I interviewed members of the senior adult Sunday School class at my church. Their interviews provided first hand accounts that made my project better.

16. Sample Process Paper (cont)
I have had an interest in movie making for about two years before I started this project. I made a few movies with some friends where I ran the camera and others acted and made up the plot. In doing this, I learned how to operate a camera and use video editing software. As I researched the Office of War Information, I realized that I was finding many photographs, audio clips, and video clips, which I could import and narrate about in a documentary. I imported many of the pictures and clips from the internet, placed them together with my own narration, and added clips from the interviews with my church friends to make it into a movie.
I think that this topic is good because it clearly portrays this year's theme: "Communication in History -- the Key to Understanding." The OWI's job was to communicate with the American public the reasons to continue to fight the war and to put up with rationing, buy war bonds, etc. -- to make them understand that they needed to do these things to make the world safe from the threat of the Axis powers. The OWI motivated the American people to participate in the war effort by using the full scope of communication tools available at that time. The OWI was able to do its job effectively: Americans put over 185 billion dollars into war bonds during World War II.
(499 words

17. Exhibit

18. Presentation: Exhibit
What is a Historical Exhibit?
Historical exhibition presents information about an event, person, place, or idea from the past by physically displaying documents, images, or objects.  We often see such exhibits at museums. You will tell the story of your research through historic photographs, maps, drawings and other interesting objects.
How is an Exhibit Different from Other Categories?
The exhibit category is three dimensional and is displayed on a physical structure.  Exhibits use color, images, documents, objects, graphics, and design, as well as words, to tell your story.  Exhibits can be interactive experiences by asking viewers to play music, solve a puzzle, look at a video, or open a door or window to see more documents or photos.  They may include models and artifacts

19. Exhibit: Getting Started
Brainstorm topics that are of interest to you and are related to this year's NHD theme.
Research the topic first. Do your secondary research first. Reading secondary resources will help you understand your subject more completely, point you to primary sources, and assist you in selecting the important themes you want to investigate and the key questions you want to ask.
Select items to put on the exhibit. You won't be able to use all the materials you find while doing your research.  As you think about what to put on the exhibit, ask yourself the following questions:
-Does the item fit in with the NHD theme and the theme of your exhibit? -Does the item advance the story you are trying to tell? -Is a document you are thinking of displaying too long or too wordy?  Is it easy to read and understand? Will it take up too much space in your exhibit? -Is the item visually interesting? -What images best tell your story? -Do you want to include artifacts in your exhibit? -Will your exhibit contain audiovisual materials?
Prepare the script. Writing your titles, text, and labels is often referred to as writing the script. Like all good writing, your exhibit script needs to be grammatically correct, use good sentence structure, make wise word choices, and contain no spelling errors.  You should expect to write several drafts.  Exhibit labels are brief, so they need to be clear and concise.

20. Creating Quality Exhibits
presented by the
Texas State Historical Association
in cooperation with the
University of Texas at Austin
Center for American History

21. Keys to Effective Exhibits: Research Orientation Segmentation Explanation
This slide reviews the keys to producing effective, high quality exhibits.
As with all projects, the student’s research is key to the entire process since the research and its interpretation are worth 60% of the overall evaluation. Thorough research provides not only a firm understanding of the topic, but quality images and quotes that can really make an exhibit powerful.
Secondly, the design of the exhibit must guide or orient the viewer through the storyline of the exhibit. This can be accomplished with meaningful titles and subtitles as well as the use color and wise layout choices. The designer should take into account the habits of his or her intended audience. For example, in the western world, people are taught to read from top to bottom and left to right. An exhibit viewer would typically start at the top expecting to see a title or guidance. They would also traditionally look left to begin their tour of your exhibit. These facts should be considered in the layout and design either to place information where the audience expects it or to place guidance for an alternate layout.
Segmentation is merely the way in which the information is broken up into manageable pieces or segments of information. For example, most yearly themes have multiple parts such as Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History and can be divided into corresponding sections as appropriate. This helps break the story into smaller pieces that the viewer can digest, and it assists in showing the connection or sequence between these related sections.
Explanation is the piece that brings all of these together. It shows the depth of one’s knowledge, the connections between a complex theme and the topic being discussed, and makes the case for the topic’s significance in history. This is accomplished through the inclusion of a thesis statement or main idea, by clear well-written captions that support the thesis, and by tying all of the pieces back together into a conclusion. Illustrations should help tell the story, not simply serve as decoration. You should ask yourself how each piece of the exhibit helps tell the story and is it evident to the viewer.

22. Image courtesy D. Brown-Aldine ISD
Digital mock-up of exhibit to show segmentation.
Notice the color choices and background images.
Image courtesy D. Brown-Aldine ISD

23. 8th Place National History Day 2004
Good use of segmentation
Titles orient the viewer well
Creative use of off-level mountings with traditional tri-fold board.

24. Use of artifacts can also help tell the story
Use of artifacts can also help tell the story. Artifacts should also include some degree of explanation. This also figures into the exhibit’s word count.

25. 1st Place Texas History Day 2004
This project was thoroughly researched and contained a wealth of artifacts.
Notice the decoration on the exterior of the exhibit as well.
The interior can be a little difficult to navigate due to the layout and number of illustrations.
1st Place Texas History Day 2004

26. 2nd Place National History Day 2002
Notice the clean lines of this exhibit and color choice that really makes things stand out of an otherwise dark background.
Notice the size of the photographic illustrations. An example where fewer, more powerful images coupled with thorough research can be effective.
Also notice the creative display of the exhibit’s title, both above and below.

27. Historic Paper What is a Historical Paper?
History papers present information and analyze an event, person, place or idea from the past in writing. Although you might attach a map, chart or photograph that you refer to in your paper, you will rely mainly on words. Writing a paper is a chance to tell what you know and what you think about a part of the past.
How is a Paper Different from Other Categories?
A paper is a highly personal and individual effort, and if you prefer to work alone this may be the category for you. Papers depend almost entirely on words to tell the story, and you can usually include more information in a paper than in some of the other categories.

28. Getting Started
Conduct your research. Examine secondary and primary sources, taking careful notes and keeping track of which source each piece of information came from. From your research, you should come up with your thesis – the argument you want to make in your paper.
Make an outline. Using your notes, you can create a list of the main information you want to include in your paper, where each piece of information will go, and in what order. This will help when you sit down to write your paper.
Start writing. You might begin by writing your introduction in which you state your thesis. -Introduction: your introduction should tell the reader where you intend to go with the rest of your paper. -Body: the main body of your paper is where you can make the case for your conclusion. Present your evidence, the primary sources, and your analysis of how they support your thesis. -Conclusion: your conclusion is like the summary of your paper. It should summarize your main points that prove your thesis.
Read and Revise. A polished product takes time, so it is important to re-read and revise your paper. Check for clarity, unity, and coherence. Is it clear how your topic relates to the NHD theme? Does your conclusion flow logically from your thesis?

29. Historical Paper Sample
Eminent domain was further extended for space transportation when, on October 25, 1961, NASA announced it would build a facility to test Saturn and Apollo moon rockets in Hancock County, Mississippi (Herring 1), thus affecting 2202 landowners (John visit) and 660 families (Poe 30). This acquisition destroyed 5 towns, 786 houses, 16 churches, 2 schools, and 19 stores (Herring 33) (See Appendix A). Former homeowner Beulah Kellar said that being forced to leave “[. . .] was upsetting to all the eople in that area.” Echoing this, Mrs. Roy Baxter said, “You see, it’s hard to leave. It’s hard to move old plants. Did you know that? Old plants die when you transplant them” (qtd. in Bailey: 21). Hancock County banker Leo Seal, Jr. said, “[Mississippi Senator John] Stennis appealed to the
national and civic pride [. . .]” of the residents in the battle
against Communism. Stennis asked them to make a
sacrifice, saying, “There is always the thorn before the rose
. . . you have got to make some sacrifices, but you will be
taking part in greatness” (qtd. in “Senator John”: 9).
Fig. 1. The end of Logtown The flag at the Logtown post office is taken down for the
final time by the postmaster, Mrs. Lollie Wright (center). Watching are the owners of the
building, Mrs. Roy Baxter and her son, Roy Baxter, Jr.

30. Historical Paper Sample
Appendix C: Street (A) and Aerial (B) Maps of Poletown
Add graphics, etc to appendix that you want to refer to.
Figure A is a street map of Poletown. The lighter area is the property taken to build the General Motors Cadillac plant (Wylie Poletown 1). Figure B is an aerial view of Poletown. The Poletown community encompasses all of the homes below the line (Interstate 94) that moves diagonally across the upper part of Figure B. The large building in the center of the picture is Immaculate Conception Church, headquarters for the group that resisted GM’s project Wylie Poletown 5). Both maps show the extent of the people affected and the property taken by the acquisition.

31. Documentary How is a Documentary Different from Other Categories?
Creating a documentary is different from other categories because of the technology necessary. Before deciding to create a documentary, you should ask yourself the following questions:
Am I interested in using computers, cameras, and other technologies?
Can I conduct and record interviews (for the purpose of including film clips in the documentary)?
Can I find film clips to use in my documentary?
Are there enough still photographs related to my topic and that I can use in my documentary?
Do I have access to equipment that will be needed to make a documentary?
Is creating a documentary the best way to show off my topic?

32. Documentary: Getting Started
Create a Documentary Notebook to write down all of your ideas and keep your research organized. Watch historical documentaries and write a list of what you think makes a great historical documentary
Make sure you have access to -a computer -a video camera -editing software -supplies: batteries, blank DVDs or videotapes, paper, pens, props
Research the topic first.  One way to choose your topic is to select a commonly known story and then find a different angle that brings something new to it.  Remember that there are many unknown stories that also should be told. Regardless of the topic you select, choose one that truly interests you, and remember to put it into historical context.
Keep a database. It is important that you have a database where you keep track of all of the information you are gathering. A database is simply any place where you can collect and easily access your sources and production materials.
Create a Timeline. Before you jump into your project, it is a good idea to create a preliminary timeline of when you want to finish important steps along the way, especially the start and end dates of pre- production, research, production, and post-production.

33. PERFORMANCE

34. Performance: Getting Started
Decide whether the chosen topic will be most effective as a group or as an individual performance.
Research the topic first. Write down important facts or quotes that may be important to the performance. Write a thesis statement, supporting statements and a conclusion. Think about how these might become part of your performance.
Prepare a script. Brainstorm with general ideas and how they might be presented.  If a group is performing, each member should describe different ways in which characters might interact. -Make sure your script contains references to the historical evidence found in your research. -Using actual dialogue, quotations, or brief excerpts from speeches are good ways to put historical detail into your performance. -Remember that your script should center on the thesis statement, supporting statements, and the conclusion that you developed from your research.
Prepare the set. Think about different types of sets that might help depict your topic. Is there a prop that is central to the story?
Prepare the blocking. To "block" a performance is to determine where the actors will stand, move, and/or relate to the set. You should think about these movements when deciding what type of set to design.
Prepare the costuming. Good costumes help make a performer convincing, but make sure they are appropriate to the topic. You do not need to purchase or make an elaborate costume - sometimes simple works best (e.g. white shirt and dark pants/skirt can fit almost any time period).
Practice, practice, practice! Work on speaking clearly, pronouncing all words correctly, and projecting your voice so that the judges and the audience can hear every word. Rehearse with the set and full costumes as often as possible.

35. Website
A historical web site is a collection of web pages, interconnected with hyperlinks, that presents primary and secondary sources, interactive multimedia, and historical analysis. Your web site should be an accumulation of research and argument that incorporates textual and non- textual (photographs, maps, music, etc.) description, interpretation, and multimedia sources to engage and inform viewers about your chosen historical topic.
How is a Web Site Different from Other Categories?
Web sites can display materials online, your own historical analysis as well as primary and secondary sources.  These can be photographs, maps, documents, or audio and video files. Web sites are interactive experiences where viewers can play music, solve a puzzle, or look at a video or click on different links. Viewers can move through the web site in various undirected ways. Web sites use color, images, fonts, documents, objects, graphics and design, as well as words, to tell your story.

36. Process: Outline RESEARCH OUTLINE FORMAT
I. Guiding Question 1
A. (include subtopics) B. C.
II. Guiding Question II A.
III. Guiding Question III
IV. Guiding Question IV
V. Guiding Question V.
Turn in with Research Notes and Annotated Bibliography

37. Process: Format Check Historical Paper: Turn in rough Draft
Performance: Turn in Script and list of costumes and
props
Documentary: Turn in Script with images, video and
audio clips listed at point of use
Website: Turn in sketch of each page and links
Exhibit: Turn in sketch of each panel of exhibit and
artifacts /models and list any other things
that will be added (i.e. audio, lighting, photo
albums, etc
ALL Turn in Final Process Paper

38. EVALUATION
Provide scoring sheet in advance and use as a grading rubric