The Washington History Day state office offers a variety of resources for teachers
and student. Browse the list below, download your choices, and
contact us with questions or comments.
Getting Started:
In the Classroom:
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NHD in the Curriculum
– From the national office, a variety of materials to help you integrate History
Day into your classroom, including timelines, PowerPoint presentations, student
contracts, checklists and more.
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Classroom-Based Assessments
– OSPI’s overview of the CBAs
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CBAs and History Day
– History Day can fulfill a number of CBAs. Check out this bridging document to
see how History Day and the CBAs work together - Coming Soon!
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Meeting the Standards
– National History Day meets or exceeds academic standards; this document shows
you how, through a step-by-step overview of the process
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Washington Stories
– The Washington State Historical Society’s acclaimed curricula for a variety of
state history topics, excellent for use in a History Day classroom
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Group Project Contract
– Are students working in a group? All members should read and sign this document
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Individual Project Contract
– A contract for students working alone on History Day projects
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Working in a Group Worksheet
– Should students work in a group or on their own? This worksheet can help them
decide.
Doing Research:
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Washington History Day Topic Guide
– Searchable wiki of Washington history topics with suggestions for primary and
secondary sources in libraries and archives statewide. Student should begin their
research here, and check out theStudent Resources
page for more ideas.
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Anatomy of a Notecard
– Developed by History Day teacher
Janet Kragen
of Poulsbo Middle School, this will help your students learn effective notetaking
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The Thesis Statement: The Good, the Bad, the Worksheet
– Based on material developed by Naomi Peuse,
Minnesota History Day
coordinator, this worksheet offers some do’s and don’ts for constructing thesis
statements, and provides an easy-to-use template for students
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Incorporating Primary and Secondary Sources
– A short, helpful article about how to get both context and eyewitness accounts
into your History Day project
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Library Search Worksheet
– This will help you begin to identify library resources for research
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Writing a Thesis
– A short list of links to helpful thesis-writing sites for high school students
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Annotated Bibliography Template
– This worksheet will help your students construct their annotated bibliography;
courtesy of
Janet Kragen,
Poulsbo Middle School
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Analyzing Sources
– from history education researcher James Loewen, five quick steps to analyze a
source
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Innovation: Assessing Historical Significance
– Based on material created by Poulsbo Middle School teacher
Janet Kragen,
this three-part process helps students assess the historical significance of their
topic
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Evaluating websites for historical content and bias
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Checklist for evaluating websites
– From the University of Maryland, a useful checklist to determine the credibility
of websites
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Evaluating Internet Sources
– Almost every student will use the Internet to conduct research; this short article
will help them distinguish credible sources from all the chatter
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Evaluating Information
– An overview of how to evaluate information you gather during research
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Document and Photograph Analysis Worksheets
– From the National Archives, step-by-step guides to analyzing documents and images
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MLA Style Guidelines
- A quick guide to using MLA style from Purdue University
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Turabian Style Quick Guide
– An abbreviated guide to using Turabian citation style from the University of Chicago
Press; includes what’s new in the seventh edition
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Links to Bibliography Help
– Check out NHD’s link to helpful bibliographic cites
Constructing the Project:
NHD Making History Series – this series published by National History Day offers
student-focused guidebooks for creating a project. Available for
purchase
from National History Day or on loan from the state office;
email to request.
Student Resources
– Contains a variety of materials to help students with each category
Contests:
Project Evaluation:
Judges Instructions – These are the instructions given to judges prior to History
Day contests.
Evaluation Forms – These are the forms judges use to evaluate projects at the contest
level. Many schools use these at history fairs as well.
For further History Day information, please contact the
state office at historyday@wshs.wa.gov.