As you all head off for a few weeks of much-deserved time off, consider a History Day assignment for your students over the break. In January, research is much more intense and in February, students are frantically trying to assemble their projects, and then all of a sudden, it’s March. Having students complete a History Day assigment over their holiday break keeps their topics fresh in their minds and allows them to make some headway. Here’s a couple ideas:

• Require them to visit a library, whether it’s a public, university or historical society library.
• Charge them to set up or prepare for a personal interview.
• Have them draft a first version of a thesis statement, if they have completed some research.
• Ask them to begin seeking out primary sources, starting with the Internet or sources they may have at home, such as old yearbooks, family photo albums, or old newspapers.

When you arrive back at school in January, you will be receiving your “Winter Bundle” packet of information from us, which includes your Participation Survey. This is the most important information we need from you – an accurate count of the total number of projects in each category being created at your school. It is very important that you provide an accurate total, as these are the numbers we use to determine how many projects you will be allowed to send to the regional events. Your surveys are due to us by January 23. If you have questions about how we determine the number of projects allotted in each regional event, don’t hesitate to give us a call. We try to be as fair as possible, without making the regional events overwhelming in size!

Have a happy and safe holiday season!