1. GUIDE FOR HISTORY IA By: Victoria Wystepek

2. Step 1: Pick a topic Inspiration comes from everywhere, but usually the best ideas arise from spontaneity. Childhood questions Life experiences Topics of interest

3. Step 2: Reflection You’ve picked a topic! Great, but did you pick it for the right reasons? “The best History IAs are the ones that kids want to write.” –Mrs. Hall “You know you’re passionate about something if you think about it when you don’t have to.”-Mr. Dobbie If you don’t pick a topic you like, things won’t go the way you want it to.

4. Step 3: Research History has the most extensive bibliography than any other class (probably). CITE AS YOU GO! Mrs. Hall’s Chicago citation link is a life saver! Bonus: If you are doing a History EE, manual citing helps in your IA helps you a ton for your EE

5. Step 4: Section B Yay! You finished most of your research (you might find that totally awesome source later on) Now it’s time to organize it in your summary of evidence Use headings Doesn’t need complete sentences, just bullet points (do this to stay focused and save word count) P.S. You’ll probably need it.

6. Step 5: Section D Analyze and evaluate! This is where you put your summary of evidence together to analyze and evaluate your findings You are answering your RQ (research question) (I know, another acronym) (like we need it)

7. Step 5 Continued Marius book advice: Students often write about other historians opinions, which makes for a boring and unoriginal essay Write your own opinion, which is backed up by your evidence Be unique and offer a fresh perspective

8. Step 6: Section C Congratulations! You have now completed the most time consuming and most difficult parts of the IA Section C is the evaluation of sources Fancy word for OPVL, which Mrs. Hall has already made you master Evaluate your two most important sources You can explicitly state: origin, purpose, value, and limitation

9. Step 7: Section E Conclusion Wrap everything up into a neat little bow and tie up loose ends Summarize most important points

10. Step 8: Section A Section A is your introduction, or plan of investigation Include the scope of your IA TIME PERIOD RQ I underlined mine so it would not be missed

11. Step 9: Title Page Basically, create a title for your IA and center it Add your name, your exam date (May 2016), History IA #1, and Mrs. Hall in the bottom write hand corner No fancy font or bold, just use the classic Times New Roman 12 pt. font

12. Step 10: Editing Mrs. Hall will read a rough draft Have your friends read it Leave it alone for a few days and then read it when you become less invested to it.

13. Step 11: Turn it in ON TIME! Congratulations! You’ve completed your IA and you’re one step closer to your IB diploma Getting all of your work done during junior year is not easy, but it’s worth it.