Observations from School History Day Events

In the last two weeks I've visited five school events around the state. There are some comments I'd like to make to the whole group and common questions.

1. Make sure you have a thesis statement that tells your audience WHY your individual is important in history. Once you have a thesis statement, make sure all parts of your project support that thesis. I've seen a lot of biographical information that doesn't really help the audience understand the person's impact on history.

2. Do you place your topic in historical context? Make sure you recognize what may have happened before or after you individual acted that is relevant to your topic. EXAMPLE: Your topic is the Wright Brothers. Your project should address what attempts at flight were going on before the Wright Brothers first flight, and what the ultimate impact of their discovery was (use of airplanes commercially, use of airplanes for travel, use of airplanes in the military...)

3. The process paper is just about process, not a research paper. The process paper is only about four things: How you choose your topic, how you did your research, why you choose your category, and how your topic relates to the theme.

4. Double-check spelling in grammar!

5. Anything listed in the primary source section should be created at the time of the event or by someone who witnessed the event. If you took a picture out of a book, you need cite the book as secondary and explain what you used in the annotation.

Send any questions my way and good luck with final revisions!