National History Day: Here comes the judge, here comes the judge... - It is Alive in the Lab

National History Day: Here comes the judge, here comes the judge... - It is Alive in the Lab:

National History Day: Here comes the judge, here comes the judge...

NHD Judges Photo courtesy of Joni Reynolds, Bay Farm 6^th Grade Teacher

National History Day (NHD) makes history come alive for students by engaging them in the discovery of the historical, cultural, and social experiences of the past. NHD is an outstanding example of project-based and inquiry-based learning that can be integrated into any social studies, history, or humanities classroom. ^{source: nationalhistoryday.org}

Many years ago, our children attended Bay Farm Elementary School in Alameda, California. We were one of the first 250 families to open this new school that featured year-round education instead of a traditional calendar. The school has since reverted to a traditional schedule due to issues with trying to coordinate two different schedules in the same school district. Since my wife still substitute teaches at the school, I was asked to be one of the judges for NHD.

This is Bay Farm's first year participating in NHD. A teacher, Nancy Ely, who championed NHD at another school transferred to Bay Farm this year. She brought it with her! At her former school, she had only a few entrants. Though it was Bay Farm's inaugural year. there were 80 projects — the most of any elementary school in Alameda county. That speaks volumes about the students, parents, and staff at Bay Farm Elementary. (Forget the fact that they know a good judge when they see one.)

As part of NHD, students could do one of the following:

• research paper
• dramatic re-enactment of a historic event
• documentary film
• website

Bay Farm is participating in the junior division which means that projects submitted by 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th-grade students are judged together rather than by grade level. Our teacher who provided the judging instruction noted "Just because the 6^thgraders are small and cute doesn't get them any more points on their projects." Based on the judging, Bay Farm will select 12 projects that will advance to the county level. From there, county winners can advance to the state level, and state winners will be judged nationally in Washington, D.C. NHD is a BFD.

This year's NHD theme is leadership and the legacy of history that these leaders created. I was among some judges who looked at 4 websites.

• Alexander the Great
  
• Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli
  
• Johann Sebastian Bach
  
• Tutankhamun
  

Our process was to look at each website, interview the students about their site (to get them to talk, think on their feet, and answer ad hoc questions), and then complete a rubric where we scored the site against pre-defined criteria specific to NHD. Our scale was:

• 0 = missing
• 1 = needs improvement
• 3 = good
• 5 = excellent
• 7 = superior

Each site had something unique to offer.

The teachers then collected all of the judges' rubrics, tabulated the results, and announced the winners that will move on. All of the projects wereNational History Day: Here comes the judge, here comes the judge... - It is Alive in the Lab: