Gita Morris and Julie Noble

The New Community School

Richmond, Virginia

Doing National History Day with Dyslexic Students

What are dyslexic students like?Active and energetic Hands-on learners

What are dyslexic students like?Want to be involved Often very visual

What are dyslexic students like?Enjoy learning when they get it Creative

What are dyslexic students like?Poor readers and spellers Slow processors

What are dyslexic students like?

Each student is like a treasure box.

As you work with them you can discover what their strengths are!

What is reading like for dyslexics?

Reading and Decoding, from the PBS documentary, “F.A.T. City: How difficult can this be? (Frustration, Anxiety, and Tension)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJQAFPG25hY

What are the challenges of doing NHD with dyslexic students?

The students cannot independently read texts accurately, rapidly, or with the kind of comprehension that their age/intellectual peers can.

Their vocabularies are often weak and so they misinterpret things they read.

They have great difficulty expressing their ideas clearly in writing.

What are the challenges of doing NHD with dyslexic students?

They struggle with mechanics of grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Everything has to be proofed multiple times.

The annotated bibliography is a struggle – following the format consistently, categorizing sources, explaining how they used the source.

What are the challenges of doing NHD with dyslexic students?

Organization! Managing sources, time management, prioritizing.

Some students are very technologically savvy, but others are not.

Some students have fantastic collaborative skills, while for others learning to work in a team is a struggle.

What are the challenges of doing NHD with dyslexic students?

Memorizing names, and dates. They are often much better at the “big picture” than they are at the details.

Issues with memory, anxiety, and processing speed can affect their ability to respond smoothly to the questions judges ask.

ADHD is another challenge students face

As with dyslexia ADHD can look different from student to student

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl7Ro1PUJmE&app=desktop

So, what works?

These students need a coach! Our students do much of their project work at

school, where they have an easy time getting help with both the small things (what is this word?) and the big ones (how do I decide what to include and what to omit?)

Usually they need some concentrated work time on a weekend, over a vacation, etc.

So, what works?

We introduce the theme early in the year, well before students actually select their topics.

Students spend some time exploring the NHD website to study exemplary projects so they can get an idea of what is possible.

Teams are usually more successful than individuals because they can “divide and conquer” as well as take advantage of the different strengths of team members.

So, what works?

School-wide, we employ a very structured and sequential process for conducting research projects. So we don’t have to teach that as part of History Day – students already know how to create note cards, organize them, and use them to create a project.

Frequent check-ins to make sure students are on track, and holding them to catch up if they fall behind.

8th Grade NHD Weekly Plan(It takes time but it’s worth it!)

Week One 

Intro NHD movie. Show samples of boards and movies from past years. 

HW: Topic Selection Sheet: Come up with 3 topics you might be interested in for NHD. Find an encyclopedia article about each topic and learn more about the choices. List 3 interesting facts for each topic.

Week 2

Section I: Getting Organized for Historical Research

 HW: Narrow topics to two. Use the chart, which also makes you consider how each topic fits the theme for NHD. Also consider your personal strengths that could help you with your project. Decide on who you might want to work with.

Week 3

Topic Development

 

Library Research- Find at least 3 books that relate to your topics. Copy important pages as well as Title Page and Bibliographic Info……

 

HW: Complete the NHD Topic Development Question Worksheet.

Week 4

Beginning Research Hand Out Student Steps 3 and 4

 

Fill out a Source Sheet together. Write some cards together. Computer option…..

 

HW: Complete 10 cards each person.

 

Week 5

Determine your research Questions (Student Handout Chapter Two)

 

Look at your question sheet again, could you make your research questions better? Use the ideas on the handout to help you consider this.

 

HW: Answer the questions from the handout with your NHD Team.

Week 6

Beginning Research Requirements

What are Sources?

HW: Brainstorm a variety of possible sources about your topic. Remember to think of both Primary and Secondary Sources! Make a plan to collect these resources! Write down your plan and check with parents to help make it happen. Give me a copy of the plan and possible sources.

How we start the research process

Sources are anything that you get information from! This can be from interviews, pictures, movies, museums, and more traditional sources such as books, magazines and the Internet.

 

Begin with Library Books and your textbook. Reliable magazine articles from Calliope are also good.

Keeping track of your sources

For every source you use, create a source sheet. There are different sheets for each type of source.

 For example: Books, Encyclopedia, Magazine Article, and Web Site

 

For pictures create a word document with a copy of the picture and the URL address where you found the picture. Keep this file on a flash drive to make it easy to work both at school and at home.

Sample Note cards

Source #

One fact or idea written in complete sentences in your own words.

If you want to use a quote put it in quotation marks and say who said it to whom… a quote analysis would be nice!

Page #

Project Calendar

Weeks 1-6 = research. Students complete 100 note cards each.

Week 7 and 8 = outline and project plan Week 9 = 1st draft of project Week 11 – final draft of project Week 12 = Annotated Bibliography and

Process Paper.

Why History Day?

History Day helps them gain research skills that are transferable to many fields, develop interpersonal skills, learn to manage multi-step projects, and gain confidence and pride in a job well done.

History Day Builds Poise and Confidence

Why work with these students?

These students have so many strengths! History Day is a wonderful opportunity for them to tap those strengths – whether they ever win a medal or not! They are worth the effort.

“The Big Picture: Re-thinking Dyslexia”

http://dyslexia.yale.edu/DYS_BigPictureMovieTrailer.html