Massachusetts History Day!
Attention Boston Public School Teachers!
Massachusetts History Day program is offering a special introductory workshop to Boston Public School teachers who are interested in the National History Day curriculum & competition!
With generous support from Mass Humanities and the MHD Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Celebration, we will be offering BPS participants a $250 stipend and 45 PDPs upon successful completion of this workshop. The program will show teachers how to use the NHD toolkit to do primary source exploration in the classroom, and walk them through how to participate in the competitions at different levels.
Together we will walk through the History Day project from start to finish, using NHD methodologies and toolkits to approach primary source research. Activities will model research skills such as:
• collecting evidence
• analyzing information
• drawing conclusions
• assembling your findings into an historical narrative
• designing a history project as a paper, website, exhibit, documentary, or performance
We will also provide tools for introducing History Day to your school, including mentoring students through the program, connecting to the new curricular standards, participating in competitions, and more.
Requirements: Workshop is currently open to BPS teachers and those working with BPS students. Participants must also commit to judge at one of the Mass History Day competitions in March or April (1-day Sat/Sun commitment, dates TBA).
For questions or more information, please contact State Coordinator Kate Melchior at kmelchior@masshist.org or 617-646-0588.
Massachusetts History Day (MHD) is the state affiliate of National History Day (NHD), which is a highly regarded academic program for elementary and secondary school students.
National History Day is an inter-disciplinary research project for students in grades 6-12 that encourages exploration of local, state, national, and world history. Each year more than half a million students, encouraged by thousands of teachers nationwide, participate in the NHD contest. History day teaches students to:
- Conduct in-depth research
- Use primary and secondary sources
- Work with libraries, archives, museums, oral history interviews, and/or historic sites
- Analyze and interpret their findings
- Write and present their historical research
Students choose a topic that relates to an annual theme, research that topic, draw conclusions about their topics’ significance in history, and present their research in one of five presentation categories: Research Paper, Exhibit, Documentary, Performance, or Website. Students may then enter their projects into History Day competitions at school, local, state, and national levels. The program culminates in the Kenneth E. Behring National Contest each June held at the University of Maryland at College Park.
In addition to discovering the exciting world of the past, NHD also helps students develop the following attributes that are critical for future success:
- critical thinking and problem-solving skills
- research and reading skills
- oral and written communication and presentation skills
- self esteem and confidence
- a sense of responsibility for, and involvement in, the democratic process
More than 5 million students have gone on to careers in business, law, medicine, education and countless other disciplines where they are putting into practice what they learned through NHD.
2019 Theme
Triumph and Tragedy in History
Details of Regional, State, and National Competitions will be announced this fall. Stay tuned!
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And thanks!
Massachusetts History Day is sponsored by the Massachusetts Historical Society, Mass Humanities, and the Mass Cultural Council.
