NHD History Celebrations

What an exciting week! The entire 8th Grade presented their NHD projects over the course of two days (my classes on Tuesday, Mr. Leone's classes on Wednesday). Close to 300 Student Historians culminated their semester-long project presenting Websites, Documentaries, Papers, Exhibits, and Dramatic Performances centered around this year's Theme: Conflict and Compromise in History. 


One huge change this year to make the projects more interactive centered around creating Weebly QR Codes. Making and printing close to 60 QR Codes was time-consuming but such a great addition to the events. The 6th and 7th Graders that came in to see and write about the projects were able to not just view them, they were now able to easily read the code on their own iPads and interact with the sites themselves! One of my tech-savvy students created a QR Code for his Documentary, Documentary QR Codes will be an addition to our District event and next year's school Celebrations.


One team decided to focus on the Vietnam War because one of the girls had a Grandfather that served there and her Grandma that was a nurse during the war. The team interviewed the Grandfather and I suggested she invite them to come in and see her presentation. What a powerful family history moment for them to experience together!


I think my favorite project category has to be the Dramatic Performance. I have had 3 performances over the past two years (one last year, two this year) and I believe the reason they're my favorite is because of the risk involved in performing in front of peers at this age and the personal stories that come from these actresses. Each stated they've viewed the project as a positive challenge to overcome and they've done it, with great success.  I get a bit emotional watching them shine, seeing how they weave primary source documents into their dialogue, defending their thesis and keeping their theme in the forefront. It's a site to behold. The performances this year were about Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, along with a poignant monologue on the Emancipation Proclamation. Bravo to these young Historians!

The events were special for me this year for one more reason--my son, Joey (in the blue dress shirt), completed an NHD project. It's been really nice working with him when we combined classes. I am not his History teacher but was still able to guide and shape his work and it's something I won't forget. In a cool twist of fate, his 6th Grade sister just happened to be in the Media Center during his presentation and was able to view his completed project!



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