History Day Timeline

The following is a sample timeline for implementing Maryland History Day in your school or classroom. The schedule will vary, depending upon your classroom needs.

August

• Choose how you will use History Day:

          o Can be required for the entire class or optional for students who choose to participate
          o Can be for advanced students or students at all levels
          o Can be conducted by an individual teacher or shared between a team of social studies teachers or an interdisciplinary teaching team (social studies, English, art, etc.)
          o Can be implemented as an after school club

• Become familiar with the National History Day rules and review materials in the National History Day teacher theme book

• If needed, schedule a consultation or workshop with the Maryland History Day Outreach Coordinator

September
• Introduce History Day program to students by reviewing:
          o National History Day rules for each category
          o Annual theme
          o How to find and use primary and secondary sources
          o Research techniques

October

• Support students in choosing a topic

• Guide students in reading a variety of secondary sources to identify and narrow their topics (e.g., Can the topic be researched in the amount of time allotted? Are there enough resources to support a project on the topic?)

• Help students decide whether they will work individually or as a group

• Have students select project format (paper, exhibit, documentary, performance, web site)
  
  
• Contact your district coordinator about registration forms and procedures for your district/county contest

November/December

• Provide students with guided research activities, including note taking and annotated bibliography lessons

• Oversee in-depth research using primary sources and additional secondary resources

• Assist students with developing clear and concise thesis statements

• Explain analysis and interpretation of research and how it differs from reporting research

January

• Encourage students to strengthen their research where needed and help them draw conclusions from their evidence

• Have students prepare rough draft, process paper, annotated bibliography

• Support students as they begin constructing exhibit, rehearsing performance, reviewing paper, producing documentary or web site

February

• Students should complete their projects

• Oversee completion of process paper and annotated bibliography

• Conduct class or school competitions, if needed

March

• Students compete in district competitions  (some may take place in late February)

• Students who advance to the state competition revise their projects using the judges' feedback forms.

• Qualifying students register for the state competition using the online registration system (information provided to teachers and advancers).

April

• Complete online registration for state competition before deadline

• For paper students, mail four copies of paper to Maryland Humanities Council office (108 W. Centre Street, Baltimore, MD 21201) by deadline.
  
  
• For website students, make sure NHD Weebly URL is entered correctly into registration prior to deadline. 

• State competition at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (usually last weekend in April)

May

• First and second place winners in every category refine their projects for the national competition using the judges feedback forms

• Qualifying students register for the national contest using the online registration system

June

• National History Day competition at University of Maryland, College Park