Alabama History Day
HOW TO REGISTER FOR THE ALABAMA STATE HISTORY DAY CONTEST: Note that teachers must register first and enter their school information, student names, entry category, division, etc. Once teachers/parents of homeschoolers have registered, students are able to register.
HOW TO REGISTER:
1. on your address bar type in al.nhd.org or click al.nhd.org
2. click on the link to the left that reads - "Online Registration"
3. scroll down the page until you see "2012 Alabama History Day" (a link in red)
4. click on the red 2012 Alabama History Day link.
5. scroll down to the bottom of the page and select from the pull down menu, "EDUCATOR WITH COMPETING STUDENTS."
6. at the bottom of the next page you will see a red link that reads "Don't have a username and password? Click here." Everyone must click this link even if you have a username and password from last year.
7. this page is where you will fill out all of your information and click the "save" button at the bottom of page."
8. the software will not take you back to the sign-in page where you will enter your user id that you created and your password. Enter your user ID and password than click the "go" or "submit" button.
9. now you will be on the page that allows you to enter your school name, co-teacher if you have one, student names, entries, and so forth. Be sure to select either "finished for now and save," or "ready to pay, click to confirm."
10. check to see that your registration is complete. Your students may now register for the contest.
Alabama History Day is a history competition for students in grades six through twelve. Students can be sponsored by any teacher or home-schooled students or students without participating teachers may serve as a sponsor. Schools and school districts participate first in school-wide history or social studies fairs. If individual schools do not hold a history or social studies fair/contest, then individual teachers and their students may still participate. The winners of school-wide contests or an individual teacher's class contest (1st through 4th place) may advance to regionals. Alabama has three regional contests: Space Region (North Alabama); River Region Contest (Central Alabama); and, Gulf Coast Region (South Alabama). The 1st through 3rd place winners at regionals advance to the state contest. The Alabama History Day Contest is sponsored by Auburn University at Montgomery and is held on the campus of AUM on the last Friday in March. The 1st and 2nd place winners in each category advance to the national contest held on the campus of the University of Maryland each June. Alabama History Day is held in conjunction with National History Day.
NHD Theme Sheet
Sample Topics
NHD Theme Book
2011-2012 Competition Theme:
Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History
HERE'S WHAT'S NEW!!!
The Alabama Historical Association is sponsoring 2 special awards this year! One $50 prize in each age division for the best exhibit on Alabama History. Please pass on the contact info below if there are new teachers or other folks interested in keeping up with Alabama History Day.
AHD now has a presence on FACEBOOK thanks to Cora Connelly. Please go to our FACEBOOK page and friend us.
How do I help my students prepare for History Day?
Teachers, parents and students: below, you will find some helpful links. If these links do not answer all of your questions, please call the State Director, Dr. Karen Riley, at (334) 669-2382, and she will be glad to answer all of your questions regarding the regional, state, and national contests. Remember, history day is not just a day, it's an experience.
Timeline: Teachers begin in the fall of each year by helping students identify a topic that they would like to research and study. Popular topics such as the Holocaust and Rosie the Riveter are always chosen by hundreds of students. One of the best ways to have that special unusual topic is to call the state archives and ask one of the archivists to help you select a topic that is somewhat unknown. Judges are especially interested in state and local topics that have gone un-noticed. Also, you can telephone your local historical society. They are great sources of information about local events and heroes of the past. Students should begin gathering all of the information about their topic in the fall.
December: Drafts of process papers and research papers should be received.
January: Students should bring projects and performances to school for review.
End of January: School-wide contests take place with the top four winners in each category advancing to regionals. If individual teachers are sponsoring students without holding a school contest, the top four students in their class/es in each category will compete at regionals.
February: Regionals are held during February with the top three winners advancing to the State Finals.
Divisional Structure
Students in grades six though eight (6-8) are assigned to the junior division, students in grades nine through twelve (9-12) are assigned to the senior division. In each division, students may compete in any one of seven categories:
- Individual Historical Paper
- Individual Project
- Group Project
- Individual Performance
- Group Performance
- Individual Media
- Group Media
- Website
Sponsoring Teachers
What is a sponsoring teacher? Each student works with a sponsoring teacher who is usually from the student's school. The teacher provides guidance and encouragement during the course of the project.
How to be part of the fun: Contact one of the regional directors or the state director and request a student workshop.
Help Section:
Getting Started
Background Info for Documentaries
Theme
Research Central
Teacher and Student Online Resources, Great!
NHD Calendar Guide (only a guide)
Sample Topics
Theme Book
Steps to historical research
Website for teaching and learning historical research
How to create a historical exhibit
How to create a historical paper
How to create a historical performance
How to create a historical website
How to create a historical documentary
How to create an exhibit board
How are entries judged?
How To Books for Sale by NHD
The second year for Weebly (documentary creation software site) - Weebly Portal
The Weebly Portal for students competing in the Website category. Just click on the Weebly link and it will take you to the portal where you can create your website. This new innovation helps students competing in the website category to stay within NHD competition guidelines.
State and National Contest Information