Showcasing Student Work on the U.S. Constitution
A team of five students from Woodbridge High School in California, took an in-depth look at the U.S. Constitution and created an award-winning website at the 2008 National History Day competition in June in College, Park, Maryland.
Christine Lin, Lisa Takenaka, Nathaniel Schuetz, Kellie Kamimoto, and Nathan Turner received second-place in the Senior Division in the newly created website category for From Conflicts to Compromise: A More Perfect Union. Ratifying the United States Constitution.
The team’s well-documented, comprehensive, and balanced analysis of the process of ratification moved from explaining the views of Federalists and Anti-Federalists through conflicts over the role of the Legislative Branch and the inclusion of a Bill of Rights. It included explanations of subsequent compromises and an analysis of economic and social impacts. Primary source documents and images clarified the foundation and process of critical historical thinking behind this award-winning presentation.
Related Materials
Amy Trenkle on National History Day—It's More than Just a Day…and It's More than Just History
National History Day’s categories encourage students to develop 21st-century skills—but 8th-grade teacher Amy Trenkle …
The People Speak: To Zinn or Not to Zinn
Howard Zinn is controversial and he makes students think.
Veterans, Oral History, and the Library of Congress
Veteran oral history projects relate the classroom to real people and real life.