National History Day: Paper and Documentary Notes

When I watched documentaries at NHD Nationals in 2012, I took some general notes that friends have told me are useful, so I thought I'd share them. I also have some very brief notes on my experience competing in the paper category. Hope this is useful!

Documentary

Most people had their documentaries on DVDs. I would recommend having multiple DVDs and a copy on a flash drive.

Starting screen while waiting on judges to read process papers – preferably with no sound.

Students serve as the narrators of the documentary.

Sources are listed in the credits, but sources in the credits may be very general.

Most of the entries have background music. Awkward cuts of the background music can be distracting. For example, most senior entries have an intro, then go to the title screen, then continue. If there is music in the intro, it should carry through the title screen into the beginning of the main section of the documentary.

Almost all finals documentaries at Nationals have interviews, even if they’re with professors.

Documentaries use photos, video clips, sound clips, music, interviews, drawings and other art, charts, graphs, maps, and images of documents (especially newspaper articles). Common techniques are zooming in and out, panning on images.

The students should give the process papers to the judges before going to set up the video. They will have to wait for the judges to finish reading.

The student(s) should stand throughout the showing of the documentary, and competitors are responsible for adjusting the volume if it is necessary.

Technical problems are pretty common and are not held against the entry. It’s important that the competitor remain composed through technical issues.

Students must introduce themselves and their documentaries before starting, so they should know how to project their voices to be heard throughout a room.

It’s a good idea to check Fair Use policies before using video clips/music/photos.

National History Day: Performance Notes

At NHD 2012, I watched a lot of performances, both individual and group, and I took some notes that friends have told me are pretty helpful. These notes are split into individual performance and group performance, but a lot of the individual notes apply to group as well! Some of these notes will be more helpful early in the process of coming up with a performance, and some will be more helpful later on.

Individual Performance

Most competitors start with an introduction: “I’m (name), and my performance is (title).”

Most competitors have multiple characters, usually but not always including a narrator.

Character changes should be very clear. It’s best to change voice/accent. Many competitors change costume. Turning around or bowing the head also often indicate a character change.

Small costume changes may be sufficient – adding a pair of glasses or a shawl. Some performances had much more extensive costume changes. The 2^nd place entry brought a black curtain hung on a PVC pipe frame behind which he changed coats, vests, hats, and wigs.

Costume changes have the possibility to be awkward silences. Many competitors fill this by playing music. The 2^nd place entry either continued speaking in the character he had been or was an unidentified gossiper. He was *very* quick with his changes, or this could have become confusing.

Costumes do not tend to be simple. They should be appropriate to the character(s), and some of them are so elaborate.

Props/backgrounds varied greatly. The winning senior entry had elaborate sets – three backgrounds hung on PVC pipe frames, a small loom, a spinning wheel, a desk, a mannequin, a bell, and a telephone. However, one of the other entries that made finals had only two pieces of paper meant to be letters. Props should be significant, not just there to look good.

National History Day: Exhibit Notes

At the NHD National Competition a couple of years ago, I took a lot of notes about what I saw from exhibits. At any stage in the process, whether you're just starting or trying to fix up your exhibit for Nationals, these are some things to consider.

Exhibits
 

The best exhibits are more like museum exhibits than science fair boards. The colors, decoration, and even design of the board tend to correspond to the topic.

Lots of entries use video screens integrated into the board.

Most entries use a trifold shape, and many of them make use of the traditionally empty are on the table between the sides of the trifold. Here there may be models, maps, relevant timelines, etc. It’s important to not just try to fill this space, though – everything present should add something to the exhibit.

Because of the limit on student produced words, most boards have lots of quotes, images, and documents.

No one will read a long block of text – split the text up. However, too many short text blocks can make the board look busy, so there has to be a balance. The board should provide lots of information in an organized fashion.

Choose two or three thematic colors that go together, and make sure there is enough contrast that the board is easy to read. Choose a readable font in a large enough size, and don’t use very many different fonts.

Some exhibits use texture backing material on the board to theme it – thin cotton for Triangle Shirtwaist, woven plant mats for Guam, etc.

Most exhibits were trifolds – cardboard, foamcore, wood, even corrugated metal – and tall. However, others had three or four sides and spun. One of the entries that made finals was in the form of a very large book because the topic was Dr. Seuss.

Some of the exhibits were two pieces vertically joined with latches, Velcro, or braces.

Don’t just glue everything flat to the board. Using foamcore to bumpt things out creates a more polished appearance.

Some exhibits are interactive: lift the flap areas, layered stacks of pages, trains that ran, video selections.

National History Day: General Nationals Notes

If you're headed to the National History Day Contest in Maryland, congratulations! Here are some roughly organized general notes and suggestions from my tip to NHD Nationals a couple of years ago. I'll also be posting notes for different events. Hope they're helpful!

Entries

Process papers are often awkward by nature. This can be minimized with correct grammar and spelling and varied sentence structure. For group events, the process paper should be written in first person plural, and team members should be referred to by name.

Referring to historical figures by first name only is rarely appropriate. Characters in a performance are an exception.

Judging

Within each event, entries are split into seven rooms. From each room, two entries move on to finals. In finals, the entry must stand on its own – no judge questions. This means that paper, website, and exhibit competitors don’t know until after the awards ceremony if they made finals because they don’t have to be present for finals judging.

60% of the judging is based on the history – accuracy, context, analysis, use of available primary sources, and wide research. Another 20% has to do with the theme – relation to the theme, showing the significance of the topic of the entry, drawing conclusions. The last 20% is based on balanced research, clarity, and presentation of the entry.

Wide research – variety of sources, both primary and secondary

Balanced research – multiple perspectives, identifies biases

Competitors should always know more about their topic than they present, and they must be able to answer specific questions about their topic and sources.

Typical questions about sources: Which was the most interesting, most influential, or most important? Judges may also ask more specific questions, for example, “I see you interviewed Professor X. How did that influence your entry?”

Typical general questions: When did you start working on your entry? What have you changed since districts/state? What surprised you most in your research? What did you learn? What single thing should we take away from your entry? Questions also often require bringing the topic to the present – what influence has it had?

Students should be able to defend unusual choices they made in their entry. For example, I saw a performance that was almost entirely pantomime, and they were asked to explain the decision to do pantomime instead of a more traditional performance.

Students should shake hands with the judges. In paper, the most convenient time is at the beginning of the interview. For all the other events, it’s best done while passing out process papers.

Students should not tell the judges that they’re from a certain state. The judges aren’t supposed to know.

Bring four process papers to the competition. There are three judges for prelims and three judges for finals. At each step every judge will take a process paper, but after the judging they keep only one.

Students should dress well on any day they’re competing competing – so for paper, website, and exhibit, have one nice outfit, and for performance and documentary, have two in case you make finals.

Delegation Related:

Pin trading is a big deal, particularly if you stay in the dorms, I think. State pins are for sale at the state NHD competition, and then at nationals the competitors trade and try to get a pin from every affiliate.

Most states wear the state NHD t-shirt to the awards ceremony, so bring it!

Going to the performances and documentary showings of other people in one’s delegation is highly encouraged.