High School History has the tradition to assign semester project every year. Near the end of this semester, students finally had the chance to show and present their finalized work which had taken them one year to accomplish. 9^th, 10^th, and 11^th graders chose their topics from ancient civilizations, modern history, and ancient Chinese history, accumulated materials and explored more details. They were required to make an academic journal, prepare for the artifacts, create a guide or flier of sorts for said exhibition, and build a website to show all their finished work digitally. They made full use of their talents and skills to apply their knowledge into some creative practice. The completion and showcase of their semester project could be considered as a perfect ending of this semester. The following is the introduction and summary of the semester project.

Requirements and Expectations

The semester project of 9^th and 10^th grade share the same requirements and a long checklist to be completed throughout the whole semester year. They are designed to help the students better understand the meaning of teamwork, master the basic methods of historical research, improve their skills of academic writing, attach importance to the academic standards of citation, strengthen their confidence in presentation and communication, and demonstrate their skills of creativity and critical thinking. The ideal state teachers want their students to achieve is to learn history happily with a solid foundation. 9^th and 10^th graders were free to choose any topic from ancient civilizations and modern history, which they mainly focused on during the semester year. They could find their own group members to form 4- to 6- person teams. The process of their researching would help them consolidate and extend what they had been learning in class. History teachers played their role of clarifying the requirements, providing some guidance and support, and reminding their students of the due dates. 11^th graders were required to write original storyboards and make a newscast video based on what they had learned about ancient Chinese history. It was a challenging task for them to use their knowledge to create a full newscast with headlining news, field interviews, international news and entertainment part.

Challenges and Adjustments during the Online Learning Period

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the museum exhibition to display the artifacts and the grade- and level-wide presentation had to be canceled. History teachers quickly figured out the way to solve the problems and assigned new task to their students with detailed instructions. The students were required to build a website to showcase all of their finished work which included the finished academic journals created last semester, all the diverse types of artifacts prepared for exhibition and exhibit guides, maps, as well as bibliographies. Students then turned to study how to build up and design an informative website, from which they got some new skills. More possibilities were achieved to showcase history semester project.

Achievements Showcase

Students made great efforts in preparing for their finalized work. Most of their finished work finally impressed their teachers with their diverse themes, abundant content, well listed cited work, and creative designs. From every word, image, piece of audio and video, it’s easy for people to learn how dedicated the website creators were when they contributed to this group work. History teachers let their students present their work in class and then shared them with more great work from other grades and levels for reference and learning from each other.

The following is a list of some great examples of websites from 9^th and 10^th grades:

catherinethegreat-russiain18th.godaddysites.com/

https://websterhistoryclass.squarespace.com/

https://museumexhibit188094420.wordpress.com/

https://gesv8.weblium.site

https://historyofilms.weblium.site/

https://sailorthesailors.wixsite.com/axispowerwwii

https://7l3zm.weblium.site

https://secondopiumwar.godaddysites.com/

https://feudaljapanmuseum.wordpress.com/

https://geoffreyku92.wixsite.com/website-1

https://grandmuseumoftimbuktu.wordpress.com/

https://com632413565.wordpress.com

https://mandywvan.wixsite.com/ancientgreece

https://columbusadventures.wixsite.com/columbus-adventures

https://dtk2e.weblium.site/

https://renaissancemuseumexhibition.wordpress.com/

https://ancientegyptproject.weblium.site/

https://gardenia-cranberry-7e7c.squarespace.com/config/?frameUrl=%2F

Communications and Reflections

The fulfillment process of the semester project was full in terms of communications between teachers and students. When the final due date arrived, many history teachers not only organized class presentations but also designed reflection sessions. Students were asked to introduce their contributions to their group and summarize their gains and regrets. Many students showed their admiration to their group members who were good at artistic design or thought like a working dictionary. Some students reflected some mistakes they had made when they collected and analyzed some documents. Some students also mentioned the difficulties of time management and communication problems among the group members. Their honesty showed they were aware of their limitations and emphatically emphasized their potential for their own future, which also deserved the respect from their teachers.

The semester project is just one of the History Department’s assignments. The accomplishment of the semester project of this year will become a key to the new learning period. Students are expected to make full use of the knowledge and method they have achieved to confidently face any and all challenges in the future.

(Written by: Shen Zhou Pictures by: Grades 9-11 students' work of semester project Reviewed by Qian Zuo)