Why NHD Works!
National History Day is a highly-adaptable, highly-impactful program that can be implemented in many different ways to fit the classroom or learning setting in which you are working. Students use inquiry-based learning to develop their critical thinking, reading, research, and communication skills, while also learning about personal responsibility and agency in creating their own success. As an educator, there are many unique benefits that can be gained from implementing History Day in your classroom.
Among those benefits are:
- The program is an authentic assessment, and allows students to achieve success on their own terms.
- The program model is highly flexible. Teachers shape the project to meet their classroom needs.
- Students take ownership of their work through topic selection, independent research, and project selection. History Day empowers students to make their own choices.
- History Day meets the NYS Social Studies and ELA standards.
- Students learn historical thinking skills, and dive deep into historical content.
- The program fosters cooperative learning across disciplines.
- With over 300 teachers doing History Day across the state, there are many opportunities to network with your peers.
- 88 percent of students at the Regional competition were more interested in History Day compared to other classroom assignments.
- 91 percent of students at the Regional competition level say they worked harder on History Day compared to other classroom assignments.
- 92 percent of students at the State competition felt that History Day increased their connections to history that is personally relevant to them.
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