Chicago History Fair

This year 7th grade students will be entering the Chicago History Fair. This fair will involve exploring debate and/or diplomacy in Chicago or Illinois history. Within these ideas we will be focusing on successes, failures, and consequences. As students research and write, they will investigate time and place, cause and effect, change over time, as well as impact and significance. Most of all, students are looking for the lasting influence of their topic Chicago and the world.

This year students will have a choice as to the format of the historical project. Students may choose to prepare an exhibit, paper, or documentary. All of these formats will require in-depth primary and secondary source research and quality writing. Each format is different and will present various challenges.

Your Choices

Exhibit: A History Fair exhibit is like a room in a museum-not a report on a display board with pictures. It relies on clear, succinct text (labels) and a substantial amount of visual evidence to communicate the student's research and analysis.

RULE 1: Individuals or groups of no more than three students may do an exhibit.
RULE 2: Size limitations: 6 feet high X 40 inches wide X 30 inches deep from the front of the table to the back of the exhibit. So long as the exhibit fits within the required dimensions, it may be constructed in any shape.
RULE 3: Exhibits must be free standing.
RULE 4: Plagiarism is not tolerated, and constitutes grounds for disqualification.

The exhibit will be similar to previous curriculum projects. You write an introduction, a conclusion, and guiding paragraphs, using primary sources with text, images, and labels that prove your points. All of this will be displayed on a poster board

Research Paper: The research paper allows students to develop a historical argument in a lengthy written form.

RULE 1: Individuals only.
RULE 2: Papers may be 1500-2500 words in length.
RULE 3: The paper is preceded by a cover page (title and student name only), thesis statement, and outline. It concludes with an annotated bibliography, which is divided into primary and secondary sources. These pages are not included in the word count.
RULE 4: In addition to the annotated bibliography, citations must be included as either endnotes, footnotes, or in-line notes. Either Turabian or MLA styles are acceptable, so long as the style is consistently followed.
RULE 5: Plagiarism is not tolerated, and constitutes grounds for disqualification.

This option is for students who are comfortable with long form writing, and will still require serious research. In text citation requires great attention to detail and organization.

Documentary: Documentaries are visual and aural productions of students' historical research, analysis, and interpretation which have a narrative structure and are created and presented on videos, DVDs, or CD-ROMs.

RULE 1: Individuals or groups of no more than three students may produce a documentary.
RULE 2: Projects may not exceed 10 minutes. Time begins when first image or sound appears and concludes after credits.
RULE 3: Documentaries must be research, created, narrated, and produced by the students.
RULE 4: Documentaries conclude with a list of credits for major audio and visuals sources. The simple credits do not replace an annotated bibliography. The bibliography and Summary Statement Form must be printed for the judges and do not appear on the documentary.
RULE 5: Documentaries should be self-running and students must operate all equipment. No live narration is allowed. Projects that do not comply are ineligible for Finals, State, or National levels.
RULE 6: Topics must be connected to Chicago-even when the national theme is being used. Non-related Chicago topics will not be eligible to advance. Junior Division participants may explore topics in Illinois history.
RULE 7: Plagiarism is not tolerated, and constitutes grounds for disqualification.

You will be taught how to research and write, and will be given advice on combining text with images. You will not be producing your documentary at school. You will be responsible for creating your own documentary. This means you need the technical know-how and actual equipment to create your documentary. It is strongly suggested that you have a working knowledge or I Movie or Movie Maker, and have a computer that can support those softwares. A working video camera is also strongly suggested.

Expectations:
No matter which form you choose, you will develop a thesis statement that matches the theme “Debate and Diplomacy: Successes, Failures, and Consequences.” Students will begin by looking for a good topic and will then incorporate primary and secondary sources into their exhibit. To find ideas for topics, I suggest research at libraries or online, discussion with parents or grandparents, and good use of the field trip to the Chicago History Museum.

Some great Internet resources on Chicago history and the project include:
www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org
http://chicagohistory.org/research/resources/history-fair/historyfair
www.chicagohistoryfair.org

Students have had success in the past mailing authors or historic figures to ask questions or set up interviews. Others have taken tours of important place. Still other have visited libraries, museums, and archives to get access to dare documents. The Chicago History Museum has been very helpful to students in the past. All these can create a richer History Fair Experience.

History Fair is a long-term project that will take the first half of the school year. Exhibits judged highly enough will move on to a regional competition, and then can move downstate. The School Fair will be held in the Parish Center on Wednesday January 12th. The Regional Fair will be held at Illinois Institute of Technology on Saturday April 9th. The State Fair will be held in Springfield on Thursday, May 5th. If projects should be chosen to move on, revisions should be expected. If students are unwilling o revise their projects, please inform me before the school fair.

Students will have the option of working alone or in groups of two or three. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these. The student who works alone will have complete responsibility but also maintains complete creative control. A group of two or three will have to work together and compromise when necessary. Groups must find time to work together on a regular basis out of school, so consider your schedules. As a teacher, I will not act as arbitrator within groups. This means students should pick their groups wisely. Consider the work ethic, and study habits of any potential group partner. Once you join a group, you must follow through to the end. Be wary of choosing best friends as partners, especially if you would prefer to remain best friends through the end of the project. The most important qualification for a partner is interest in the same topic. Choose wisely.

The foundation of a superior History Fair project is a solid thesis statement supported by evidence from primary and secondary sources. These sources must be cited correctly. Plagiarism means using an author’s words without crediting him or her so that a reader would have the impression they are a student’s own thoughts and words. Plagiarism is not acceptable. Students who plagiarize will fail the project and face disciplinary action.

The Perfect Argument:
Historical Argument: This superior project begins with a clear thesis or claim and then develops its argument through step-by-step use of primary and secondary sources as evidence. It grapples with complexity and the multiplicity of factors involved in any historical topic. It reveals the way society develops, how and why things change, and the political, social, economic, and cultural factors involved. It also situates the topic in its historical context and within the context of U.S. or world history. Finally, the project’s conclusion is more than a summary of the argument and evidence presented; it addresses the historical significance of the topic, what we learn about society and change, and, perhaps, implications for the present.

These are the criteria for judging the final projects:
Knowledge 30%
Analysis 30%
Quality of Source Material 20%
Quality of Presentation 20%

Included is a schedule of all the due dates related to this project along with the corresponding point values. Also included is a guide for how to narrow and evaluate your topic sheet. Everything related to this project is to be kept in your History Fair Binder. This will help with organization and time management. This may seem intimidating but this project will be challenging and fun. As a class, we will learn about long-term projects, research methods, and local history. As with all projects, certain details may have to change during the course of the year. Students will be kept aware of all changes.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, and concerns.

Mr. Graham-McHugh
mchughm@stmaryschool.net

Note Taking

As you begin your research you will need to keep track of all the things you are learning by taking good notes. This process will require you to do two things.

First, you must record the bibliographic information so you can keep track of where your information is coming from. You will do this on source cards. You will have one card for each source and will find the bibliographic format on the class handouts. You should also include a brief comment explaining why this is a good source to use.

Example:

After you have created a source card for a source, you will take notes on note cards. Each card should contain the following: Author's name (or first significant word in the citation), the page number where you found the information, a general topic of the card and your piece of information.

Example: