Social Studies Through Project Based
Learning: National History Day in Ohio
Megan Wood, State Coordinator, National History Day in Ohio
2009-2010 School Year

What is History Day?
•Grades 4- 12 (4-5 exhibits & performances only at State level!)
•Research Project based on an annual theme
•Create projects and attend local, state, and national competitions!

Ohio’s Program
•11 Districts with local events, March and early
April
•Ohio History Day, April 24, 2010 at the Ohio
Union, OSU (4-5 only attend this event!)
•National History Day, June, College Park, MD

What is History Day?
• Papers
• Exhibits
• Performances
• Documentaries
• Web Sites

Ohio’s Program
• Divisions • Categories
– Historical Paper
– Youth, grades 4-5
(exhibits & – Individual
performances only) Documentary
– Junior, grades 6-8 – Group Documentary
– Senior, grades 9-12 – Individual Performance
– Group Performance
– Individual Exhibit
– Group Exhibit
– Website

How do teachers
use the program?
Required Class Project
•Example Schedule (AP teacher from Dayton):
•November- Topics
•December- Topics/Research
•January- Research/Project
•February- Project

How do teachers
use the program?
Required Class Project
•Example Schedule (AP Teacher from Dayton):
•Due Dates:
•December 15th- 10 sources (5 primary, 5 secondary) in
correct format with annotation
•January 3rd- Essay due explaining project and research
•January 17th- 20 sources (10 primary, 10 secondary)
•January 30th- Process paper due
•February 6th- Finished project due

How do Teachers
use the program?
Team Teach:
•English Language Arts and Social Studies
•Social studies helps guide content and research
•English helps with writing and thesis statement

How do Teachers
use the program?
After School:
•History Day Club
•Extra Curricular
•Smaller Group

Getting Started
•Pre Register with the NHD-OH office
•Attend a workshop
•Teacher Resource CD
•Classroom Outreach Visit
•Phone and email consultation

Student Process
• Deciding who to work with
• Selecting a topic
• Preliminary research
• Primary and secondary source
research
• Developing a student- composed thesis
• Project creation/construction

Thinking Like a Historian
To Guide Research:
What were the causes and effects of past events?
What has changed? What has stayed the same?
How did past decisions or actions affect future
choices?
How does the past help us make sense of the present?
How did people in the past view their world?

Approaching the
Topic
•Compare and Contrast
•Case Study
•Multiple Case Study

Approaching the
Topic
Compare and Contrast

Approaching the
Topic
Case Study

Approaching the
Topic
Multiple Case Study

Three C’s
•Content
•Context
•Conclusion

Highlighted
Resources
INFOhio- Username: INFOhio Password: Explore:
http://www.infohio.org/
Internet Archive: www.archive.org
History Day Expert Blog:
http://historydayexpert.blogspot.com
Purdue Online Writing Lab: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
American Memory: http://loc.gov/ammem
Cornell Making of America: http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa
FBI Freedom of Information Act Reading Room:

Good, Cheap, Fast

Papers
• 1500-2500 word essay about historical topic
• Includes cover page, annotated bibliography
• Images
•Include YOUR conclusion
•Only completed as an
individual

Papers: Tiffin, OH
Good and Cheap!
•Papers on local history
•AP History Class
•Submit to a local paper competition
•Double as NHD projects

Performances
• Up to 10 minute original performance
• Sets, props, music, blocking….
• Includes process paper and
annotated bibliography

Performances
• Cheap and Good: Borrow set and costumes from
drama department
• Good and Fast: Rent costumes from a shop
• Fast and Cheap: Use creative resources around the
classroom!

Documentaries
• Up to 10 minute media presentation
• Like something you’d see on the History Channel
• Includes process paper and annotated bibliography

Documentaries
•Good and Cheap: Photo Story(free) or PowerPoint
• Fast and Good: I Movie or Movie Maker
•Good: (not cheap or necessarily fast!) Final cut pro

Websites
•Web-based project
• Navigate in Explorer
• Images, text, graphics, video, sound
• 1200 visible student composed words
• 100MB of file space

Websites
•Cheap and Fast: Microsoft Word
•Fast and Good: What you see is what you get software
•Good and Cheap: Templates from the internet

Exhibits
• Much like a Science Fair project
• Up to 6 feet tall
• Text, images, interactives, objects
• 500 student composed words

Exhibits
• Good and Fast: Pre-made boards
• Fast and Cheap: Cardboard boards at office stores
• Good and Cheap: Pre-made or teacher made activity!

Questions?
Contact Information:
Megan Wood- State Coordinator
614.297.2343
mwood@ohiohistory.org
www.ohiohistoryday.org
Blog:
ohiohistorydayexpert.blogspot.com