History Fair Help

Sunday, December 13, 2009

History Fair can be a daunting task--especially when trying to find a topic. The Chicago Metro History Education Center provides students with all types of services--including helping students identify topics, providing research tips, and helping students create thesis statements. When we return from winter break, we will be diving straight into working on history fair. Our LMSA fair will be held in mid-late February and winners from that event will have the option of competing at the city level. In the past two years LMSA has sent students to both the state and national competitions. Some students have won cash prizes ranging from $100-$5,000 for having exceptional projects.

Most students have already selected their projects based on this year's theme (see my last post for more infor about the theme: Innovation in History--Impact & Change). For those still considering their options, keep these tips in mind:

• The best projects are narrowly focused and add to an understudied field (example: the light bulb is a widely studied field--but the effects of the light bulb on climate change is a more narrowly focused and perhaps more understudied topic)
• The history of the topic must go back at least 30 years
• It should have a local connection
• Students should be passionate about the topic they chose!

This LINK will take you to the History Helpers page that will allow you to search for topics and evaluate them for historicism--simply click on the pdf files to view topic ideas. Also, you may wish to browse the website for other reasons--to check out the rules, or simply to get a feel for what types of projects you can do.

In addition to history fair, we'll be starting our next unit: Protest & Rebellion.

I hope you find this useful and hope you all have a Happy Holidays!

History Fair and the Amazing Race

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

In the weeks leading up to our winter break, students in U.S. History have two foci: winning the LMSA Amazing Race, and working on their history fair projects. Below I'll explain what we're doing for both, and where we're going from here.

AMAZING RACE
Inspired by the reality TV show, students in all U.S. History classes are competing in a series of 10 challenges in a (virtual) race across the United States! Okay, so our prizes might not be a million dollars, but the overall winners of the race will receive a free quiz pass, and winners of each leg of the race will receive bonus points.

Our goal for creating the amazing Race was to make geography fun. In teams of 3 and 4, students complete two challenges per day in which they answer trivia questions about things like national parks, sports teams, and landforms. Teams must research the answers to each question and then plot their answers on a U.S. map. The team who answers all questions correctly receives a clue to take them to the next round.

So far, teams have completed three challenges and seem to be having fun while doing so. There's a competitive spirit in class lately and next week one team will be crowned winners of the Amazing Race:LMSA

HISTORY FAIR
In between competitions, and for homework, students have been working on starting their history fair projects. This year's theme is "Innovation in History:Impact & Change." At this point, students should have selected a topic and started researching. Students in the colloquium I teach with Mr. Linderman should have a completed annotated bibliography and a working thesis statement.

There are 4 options for creating a history fair project: a historical essay, an exhibit, a performance, or a documentary. In February (date to be determined), U.S. History and colloquium students throughout the school will compete in a LMSA History Fair. Winners from this round who have a project with a Chicago connection will be eligible to compete in the city competition in March.

History fair is a challenging, but also a rewarding process. It requires a lot of work, but the pay-off can be tremendous. Last year we sent students to state and national finals and some teams earned cash prizes. Two years ago, Ms. Myers guided a team of students to the national competition where they won a $5,000 prize. But, even if teams don't walk away with cash or top prizes, students learn to become researchers and historians--thus better arming themselves for college. Additionally, students gain a wonderful sense of accomplishment for adding their own voices and research to otherwise understudied fields.

Students in my U.S. History classes will have annotated bibliographies of 6 sources (2 must be primary) due on Wednesday, December 16th.

Please feel free to post and questions or comments!