Michigan History Day

There are a few different ways you can introduce NHD in your school! Different models might work better based on the size of your school and number of participating teachers. Here are a few recommendations:

1. You can team teach NHD across disciplines. This way, you can divide the workload and play to the strengths of your courses!
   1. Ex. A drama teacher and history teacher for performances
   2. Ex. A technology teacher and history or science teacher for websites or documentaries
   3. Ex. An English teacher and history or science teacher for papers
2. You can offer NHD as an extracurricular club, similar to robotics or quizbowl teams. This might work for you if you don’t teach every section of a particular course or have large class sizes.
3. You can require your students in a particular subject to participate in NHD as a culminating semester-end project in lieu of an exam (such as a paper for English or other projects for history or science).
   1. Weave NHD skills and steps into typical curriculum
4. You could also create a semester elective course for your school devoted to NHD and research and historical thinking skills.

• Sample Google Calendar Plan
• Recommended Timeline for yearlong project.

• Lesson Plans
  • We recommend the Guide to Student Research and Historical Argumentation. This guide has multiple lessons and graphic organizers that teach historical thinking skills and how to craft a historical argument.  You can do this by teaching your normal course content with these lessons.
  • Introducing the theme lesson
  • NHD Intro to Primary vs. Secondary Sources and Primary vs. Secondary Worksheet
• Group Contracts
  • Sample Group Roles & Contract 
• Helping Students Decide on a Topic
  
  • NHD Theme Brainstorm Sheet for HS
  • NHD Theme Brainstorm Sheet for MS
  • SPARK Test Guide from NHD
  • Final Selection Sheet

• Letter to Parents/Guardians
  • Make a copy to edit 
• Make sure to communicate registration deadlines and fee requirements.