The History Day ProjectHow can a focused approach help you

develop an inquiry project?

Dawn Bartz, Global Studies Academy

WritingImagina

t

ion

Creativity

Inspiration

Questioning

Revi

singresearching

understanding and analyzing different points of view

determination

Sho

wca

sing Reading

Editin

g

What is involved in the inquiry-based process?

Innovation

Exploration

Feedback

Collaboration

investigations

Constructing

Is your topic interesting to you? If it is, it will engage

others.

Choose something that excites you and that you want to know more

about.

Perhaps your findings will lead to new discoveries.

Choosing a topic for your inquiry

Planning and Prewriting

• What do you know about your topic?• What have you found from a first search?• What do you want to find out? • What questions do you have?• Can you narrow your interests to 2 or 3

choices/events/people?

What do you Think? What do you Know? What do you Wonder?

When you find something that intrigues you, ask and answer these questions

Steps in the researching and writing process

• Pre-writing• Researching• Drafting• Revising• Editing• Showcasing• Reflecting

Feedback occurs throughout each stage of the writing process (from peers, teachers, experts, and others).

Constructive feedback helps us to improve our projects and clarify our thinking.

Research and writing while incorporating different lenses of analysis

Research(gathering data, evidence,

detail, examples…)

Writing a research question(What question do you wish to answer or

what problem do you hope to solve through your project?)

Drafting(Reviewing, categorizing,

writing, creating)

Editing and Revising(Getting feedback and using it

to improve your project)

Prewriting(discovering topic,

purpose, and audience )

Using PERSIA+GT will provide various lenses to help you to go deeper into your research and consider different perspectives, events or situations that may have caused the stand in history to be taken.

PoliticsEconomicsReligionSocietyIntellectualArtistic +GeographyTechnology

There is no question that you have to do a lot of active reading to truly understand your topic and its impact. You will develop your own perspective and create your own conclusions that are evidence-based.

• Primary sources (Primary sources are first-hand accounts of an event. Newspaper articles, news shows, interviews of people who lived through the event, eyewitness accounts, original documents, etc. are all examples)

• Secondary sources (Secondary sources include books, magazines, interviews with experts, websites, encyclopedias, etc. )

Use a wide variety of resources

Writing the research question

Once you have explored your topic and started to refine your research, develop a question that will help to you to focus.

This question usually begins with Why or How. It is followed up by more research.

Feedback, Editing and Revising

• Your initial research will help you begin to craft your project proposal and outline. Constructive, targeted feedback will help you to improve your plan and final product.

Feedback can provide new ideas and help us clarify our thoughts.

Feedback is a collaborative process.

Being able to give and accept constructive feedback is essential throughout the inquiry process.

Reading, writing and research are integral parts of inquiry and the National History Day Project.

Creativity and innovation are part of the process

and end result.