GAM 2024 Conference (Gifted Association of Missouri)

National History Day (NHD) is a program that allows students from across the United States and affiliate territories to participate in a scholastic competition and develop critical thinking and research skills. Students in grades 6-12 identify a topic of their choice, conduct research, and present their findings as either a paper, exhibit, performance, documentary, or website. These projects are evaluated by professional historians, professors, teachers, and information professionals as they rise through contest levels, eventually making their way to the National competition in Maryland.

NHD is an excellent opportunity for gifted children to develop their project management and communication skills, as well as preparing for higher education by learning how to do scholarly research and compile primary and secondary sources. With purposefully broad annual themes and limited project requirements, students are free to make their projects about topics that interest them personally. Ultimately, this results in products of a higher caliber than their typical school report.
In our presentation, we will examine the way NHD ties into the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Missouri Gifted Learner Outcomes (MO-GLOs), how NHD is implemented in gifted classrooms in the central Missouri region, as well as how the Missouri State Archives can support students statewide with their research and project development.