Two Years in the Making


 

My Language Support Historians and I began our National History Day journey today. My first group was getting started when we went virtual, and this project was too daunting a task to do with all of us at home. My students have come so far this year, and this is a great way to challenge them to continue their growth. We did book tastings and each student selected a topic.

I've streamlined the NHD project into two parts: a presentation to their class (to practice speaking skills) and a paper bag album (to not overwhelm with many choices, and to focus on the key points of the project, in a novel way). I'm also creating a model album, with a topic none of my students are studying: Rosie the Riveter. A model project will make expectations clear. Paper bag albums were something I made for an elective class years ago, the kids loved them because they are easy to complete and keep when finished. This will also be a good way for students to practice the art of writing (not typing) in English.



Students will practice using Noodle Tools again with me this year, and we will make notecards (this will help make the final album go smoothly). 

We will meet with our Media Specialist to review research and learn about proper research writing skills. We will study US History topics and learn about the who, what, where, why, how, and when of our topics, the time and place of the topic (the historical context of the issue), the allies and non-allies of our topic (for example, Rosie the Riveters had allies that supported the idea of women in the workforce, the non-allies would have been people that didn't want to see women leave their home to enter the workforce). Students will also locate and print out at least one primary source.

Students and I will also analyze the theme of debate and diplomacy (this will be tricky with many different project topics, but it's one of the parts of the project I enjoy working on with students the most). We will also examine the short term and long term changes that result. 




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