Are you a relatively new History Day teacher or a veteran in need of a refresher course? The Maryland History Day team is here to help you!
Emmie Schulz is just an email away! She is happy to come visit your class to introduce Maryland History Day, or to help your students sharpen their existing skills. Request a classroom visit by contacting the outreach team through the form below.
Department leaders, supervisors, and administrators can also schedule professional development sessions to prepare their teachers for History Day through the link below.
Courses
Maryland History Day staff can join your team in-person or virtually to present on a variety of topics. Session lengths are flexible and can be adapted to fit a standard 45-60 minute professional development session or extended to a workshop length session, approx. 90 minutes.
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Introduction to Maryland History Day | Teachers will learn how to implement History Day in the classroom. They will review and discuss basic information on how to use the program. Teachers will also practice analyzing primary sources from the Library of Congress. We can tailor this to your needs – for new teachers, for returning teachers who are looking for inspiration, a deeper dive on specific History Day skills, etc. Also available as a Youth Division Intro session for upper elementary educators and NHD for Media Specialists. |
| Analyzing Historical Documents with English Language Learners and Emerging Readers: Using Maryland History Day in the Classroom | Join us to learn strategies to ensure your ELs and emerging readers make the most of their time with primary sources. Practice using and creating scaffolds to support instruction with historical images and texts. Discuss what equity looks like for ELs in the social studies classroom. |
| Finding Reliable Online Sources for Student Research | As students work on their first research projects, their bibliographies might turn up a hodgepodge of sources on the spectrum from credible to questionable – Google Images, BrainPOP, personal blogs, biased organizations. It takes media literacy skills to be able to determine what makes a good online source for research and which sources have perspectives that need to be addressed. Participants will come away with strategies to coach students toward high-quality research. |
| Crafting the Thesis Statement | Students struggle with writing thesis statements for history class. Maryland Humanities’ Maryland History Day team offers a thesis-writing formula, so you can model, scaffold, and practice with your students. Will also include materials that can be used for thesis development and tips on what makes a strong thesis statement. (for NHD, but made applicable for all social studies) |
| Teamwork Makes the Dream Work! Fostering Student Collaboration Through National History Day Group Work | Dive into the benefits of group NHD projects and learn more about the student collaboration and skill development that makes up the History Day process. |
| Inquire, Analyze, Argue: Three Online Primary Source Teaching Tools | Explore and discuss three digital learning resources that enrich your students’ experience of gaining historical thinking skills using Library of Congress primary sources. In Civics! An American Musical, students practice primary source analysis in games centered on historical examples of civic action, where communities united by their common vision of a better country made change happen. Case Maker presents challenges on topics from Japanese internment to workers’ rights, and students must use primary sources to support their claim. Each of the TPS Inquiry Kits explores a moment in history through historical sources, with Research Learning Modules to scaffold deeper engagement. |
| Seeking Forgotten Stories with Student Research Projects | Encourages teachers to think about how to find unheard voices in primary sources. The presentation also highlights the three online tools that we work on, Inquiry Kits, Case Maker, and Civics! An American Musical, and how we’ve selected sources that incorporate multiple perspectives of the same historic topics and events. Includes strategies for supporting students, through project-based learning, as they exercise their choice and voice and to explore topics that reflect their interests, values, and backgrounds. |
| Primary Documents and Project Based Learning: Special Topics | Teachers will analyze Library of Congress primary sources related to one particular subject. They will discuss how to use such sources in their classroom, and how students can create projects based on primary sources. |
| Maryland History Day: Advanced | Explore Maryland History Day in depth with Outreach staff. Discuss tips for developing topics, research, writing theses, and creating projects. |