What is it?
The On This Day challenge asks students to develop their Web research and critical thinking skills by researching and writing about important events in history.
How is this accomplished?
A student (or group of students) chooses a significant event from history and uses the Web to research and gather information on the chosen event. Using critical thinking and analysis skills, the student then writes an article on the event, citing the Web sources.
What will students learn?
Students will:
- learn to find and evaluate quality Web sites for online history research
- learn how to organize and write a research article about historical events
- gain an appreciation of how historical events have shaped the world
How can I get my students motivated to participate?
A broad range of select articles from all grade levels will be regularly published, with a byline, on findingEducation’s partner site, findingDulcinea.com.
Active participants will also be entered into monthly drawings for $50 gift cards. A grand prize of $500 in cash will be awarded at the end of the 2010-2011 school year.
What’s in it for me?
The chance to be recognized for your efforts to improve your students’ Web research skills! Select teachers (and submitted articles) will be highlighted on findingEducation.com.
Through our blog and newsletter, you’ll also receive research tips, recommended Web resources and lesson plan suggestions designed to help students improve their online research skills.
How do I get started?
- A teacher, librarian or other educator joins findingEducation, a free and easy-to-use tool that helps teachers find and share useful Web sites, assignments and lesson plans. During registration, check the box that says “I would like to join the On This Day challenge.” If you have already registered, go to the “myProfile” tab and select “I would like to join the On This Day project.”
- The educator then assigns students, individually or in groups, to select, research and write an On This Day article. See “How to Write an On This Day Article” for more information. Teachers are welcome to tailor these guidelines to meet their students’ needs and abilities.
- The educator then posts the completed articles to his or her findingEducation On This Day classroom page.
- Alternatively, the educator may post the article to any other Web site or blog that is publicly available on the Internet, with a note that the article is an entry in findingEducation’s On This Day Challenge, and a hyperlink to the Challenge Home page, here: http://findingeducation.com/on-this-day-challenge/ as well as to findingDulcinea’s On This Day feature.
- If the alternative entry method is chosen, the educator must email to info@DulcineaMedia.com a link to the page where the article is posted.
- Educators should comply with any school or district policy about posting student work on the Internet; such policies typically mandate that the student’s full name not be used.
That’s it!
Still have questions?
Please see our FAQ page for more information.