National History Day and RRCHNM
National History Day's new prompt and Education Materials.
The beginning of a new school year also brings the excitement of a new year for the National History Day competition. RRCHNM and National History Day have collaborated many times over the years as we have a shared mission of supporting teachers and students as they engage in active historical inquiry and learn to use primary and secondary sources to make evidence-based claims about the past. Many RRCHNM resources, in particular Teaching History and Word History Commons, are great fits for students working on National History Day projects and we have curated a number of useful links below that relate to this year’s NHD theme: “Innovation in History: Impact, Influence, Change”
Teaching History and World History Commons are great resources for both students and teachers as they develop their projects for National History Day. You will find history content, teaching guides and materials, as well as reviews for digital history tools, and resources from national history education centers. Students interested in both American history and world history will benefit from using the resources provided there.
The table below features a list of resources from both Teaching History and World History Commons that are related to this year’s theme “Innovation in History,” and can help students and teachers as they prepare for the National History Day competition.
Beyond the Textbook/History Content and Blog provides deeper historical analysis to common textbook narratives. These pages are great for students who want to delve deeper into a particular topic that they’re interested in.
Teaching Guides/Teaching Materials allow teachers to explore new teaching methods and approaches for bringing history to life in the classroom. They include primary and secondary sources to help guide students through larger themes in history. The WHC Teaching Module works similarly, but is specified for world history, not just the US.
WHC and TH Website and Source Collection Reviews link the reader to outside websites that often lead to collections of primary sources and secondary narratives that historicize these primary sources. Our Education team has reviewed the resource and shared thoughts on how they are useful for historical researchers and teachers.
| Title | Explanation | Type of Resource |
|---|---|---|
| Innovation and Technology in the 19th Century | Overview of 19th-century technological innovation. | History Content |
| Girls’ Labor and Leisure in the Progressive Era | Girls in the Progressive Era, reform and social change. | Beyond the Textbook |
| The Early Conservation Movement | Legacy of environmental conservation movements. | Beyond the Textbook |
| Women’s Reform Movement | Antebellum women reformers, economic growth in the 19th century. | Beyond the Textbook |
| Coal and the Industrial Revolution | Examining the history of fossil fuels in the US and how it shapes our world today. | Beyond the Textbook |
| National History Day Project: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 | National History Day project; an example for a project on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. | Teaching Materials |
| Native Women and Suffrage - Beyond the 19th Amendment: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers | Re-examining women’s suffrage in the US to include minority voices. | Teaching Guides |
| Using Old Maps as Tools to Explore Our World | Student collaboration; maps as primary sources and as tools for modern life. | Teaching Guides |
| StoryMapJS: Maps Tell Stories | Review of StoryMaps and how they can be useful for students. | WHC Website Review |
| The Disaster of Innovation | The cotton gin examined as an innovation and its effect on plantation life. | History Content |
| Patents as Primary Sources | Short overview of how to use a patent/copyright as a primary source. | Blog |
| Inventing Entertainment: The Early Innovations of the Edison Companies | Links to the Library of Congress Thomas Edison digital collection highlighting his inventions. | History Content |
| Thomas A. Edison Papers | Links to the Rutgers Thomas Edison Papers collection. | History Content |
| The Enlightenment and Human Rights | A source base for the Enlightenment and human rights. | WHC Source Collection |
| A History of the World in 100 Objects | Links to a BBC collection and essay about material culture in world history. | WHC Website Review |
| French Renaissance Paleography | Links to a source of French Renaissance maps, manuscripts, and calligraphy books. | WHC Website Review |
| Project Wittenberg | A collection of Luther’s writings and how he revolutionized religion. | WHC Website Review |
| Dream Anatomy | An overview of the evolution of the study of human anatomy. | WHC Website Review |
| Agricultural Knowledge in the Late Nineteenth Century | A teaching module about agricultural innovation in the 19th century. | WHC Teaching Module |