Welcome to History Uncovered: ABC-CLIO’s Annual History Research Competition for Middle Grades

Who were the most influential people in American history? What were the most important events from ancient times through the Middle Ages? Which places have provided the settings for the most significant occurrences in the history of the modern world?

Get the Details

This year, History Uncovered presents your middle grades students with the following challenge:

Select the top 10 people, events, or places that have shaped the course of history.

Identify and defend your ten choices—citing supporting details you’ve “uncovered” in ABC-CLIO online database products. We’ll help you get started with some key questions and lists of possible selections. Or you can make your own list!

Put your Students on the Path to Deeper Historical Understanding
It’s Easy to Get Started...

  1. 1Form a Student Team … or Multiple Teams!

All teams need a Coach (a social studies teacher and/or library media specialist) and 2-6 students enrolled at the same school. One Entry may be submitted per student Team; however, a school site can have multiple student Teams. Go to Get the Details for more information on Teams.

  1. 2 Select a Category

Each Student Team may submit an Entry in only one category.

Choose from the following options:

  1. Ancient Civilizations
  2. World History: Middle Ages to Contemporary Times
  3. U.S. History and Government
  1. 3Students Research Their Selections

ABC-CLIO’s online databases provide your students with instant access to the high-quality, authoritative content they need for history research. Encourage your students to explore the array of resources. You’ll be amazed by what they’ll learn!

School sites must have access to all 8 ABC-CLIO history databases to ensure that all Teams have an equal ability to compete. NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY. School sites may obtain a free 90-day subscription to all 8 online databases (or add the databases you do not subscribe to). Click HERE to obtain your free 90-day subscription.

  1. 4Develop a Team Entry

The Team Entry is the culmination of the students’ work, and may be in the form of an essay, slide show, animation, audio podcast, or a video. Encourage students to be creative and have fun! Each of the Team’s top 10 choices must include at least one citation from an ABC-CLIO online database. They may include other references as well, as long as they are appropriately cited.

We’ve provided a Middle Grades Team Entry Guide, written with a student audience in mind, so you can provide your students with everything they’ll need to produce an Entry.

  1. 5Submit Completed Entries to ABC-CLIO

All entries must be submitted before midnight, PDT, on March 30, 2009.

Entries will be accepted in a variety of digital file formats. When you’re ready, just click on the Submit Entry button at the top of the History Uncovered Welcome Page, www.abc-clio.com/historyuncovered. Complete the online Entry Submission form and follow the simple instructions to upload your file to the ABC-CLIO server. You’re done!

  1. 6Win Prizes!

Prizes for the Middle Grades Competition will be awarded in each of the three categories. Prizes include digital whiteboards, monetary grants, ABC-CLIO online database product subscriptions for schools, and cash awards for student winners. All Team Entries have an opportunity to be included in the History Uncovered Hall of Fame, and are also eligible for monthly drawings for school site prizes! Go to the Prizes page for more information.

For every Entry submitted, your school will receive a discount on the purchase of a new ABC-CLIO database subscription (some restrictions apply).

Don’t wait—get started on your Entry today!

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Get the Details

History Uncovered: Middle Grades Competition 2008-2009

Middle Grades Team Entry Guide

Middle Grades Competition Overview for Coaches

The objectives of the Competition are to:

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Eligibility and Your Site-based Team

History Uncovered is open to all accredited schools, public and private. A site-based Team is comprised of a social studies teacher and/or library media specialist serving as a Coach, and 2-6 student members. All students must be currently enrolled at the same school for the duration of the Competition Entry submission time period. Students are not required to be in the same grade, nor in the same social studies class.

See the Rules and Regulations for more information on eligibility.

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The Categories

The categories are broadly aligned to standard curriculum for the middle grades. A Team may not submit an Entry in more than one category.

Each Team will submit an Entry in one category selected from the following options:

  1. Ancient Civilizations
  2. World History: Middle Ages to Contemporary Times
  3. U.S. History and Government

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The Role of the Coach

Before the student Team or Teams begin, the Coach should review the Rules and Regulations and the Evaluation Criteria to understand how Entries will be scored.

A Coach may help students form Teams, and provide guidance and advice to help students locate resources and project manage the creation of an Entry.

As a Team Coach, you will also:

More information about citations is included in The Research section of the Middle Grades Team Entry Guide and the ABC-CLIO Database Citations section of the Competition Rules and Regulations.

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More on Student Team Entries

Team Entries may not have been submitted in whole or in part to any other national competition.

Each Entry must include content citations from one or more of ABC-CLIO’s online databases, and each of the Team’s top 10 choices must include at least one citation from an ABC-CLIO online database. Entries may include other references as well, as long as they are appropriately cited.

The final Entry must be in a digital format, which a Coach will upload to our server.

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Submitting Your Entry

When your Team is ready to submit an Entry, you must have the digital file on or accessible from your computer, such as on a flash drive. Entries may only be submitted by the Team Coach or Coaches. The Team Coach will:

You will receive a confirmation when you have successfully uploaded your Team Entry.

An email will also be sent to your school principal (or another site-level administrator who has legal signing authority for the school) to confirm your school’s participation. No action is required if the principal or administrator is in accord with the confirmation email. See Rules and Regulations or Submitting an Entry in the FAQ section for more information.

For more information, and to submit a Team Entry, go to Submit Entry.

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Evaluation Criteria and Scoring

The History Uncovered Competition emphasizes inquiry-based learning, research, and analytical and historical thinking skills.

Accordingly, Team Entries will be scored using a rubric that ranks:

Scores are not impacted by a Team’s choice of Entry format (essay, audio podcast, animation, video, or slide show), or by a Team’s specific selections of people, events, and places. Download the Evaluation Criteria here.

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Middle Grades Team Entry Guide

We’ve created a Middle Grades Team Entry Guide to provide your students with the information they’ll need to develop a Team Entry. You’ll want to review the contents also, and you may want to print a copy for your reference. You may download the Guide in PDF form and distribute it to your students.

The Guide contains:

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Prizes! Prizes! Prizes!

Yes, there are prizes for school sites and for student Team members. Some prizes will be announced and awarded at the end of the Competition, and some will be awarded each month in a random drawing from all of the Entries. Increase your chances of winning a monthly drawing by getting your Entry in early!

The Prizes page has all the details.

Still Have Questions?

If you have questions, try the FAQ (frequently asked questions) page first. If you don’t find the answers you’re looking for, you may contact us at: HistoryUncoveredSupport@abc-clio.com.

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Middle Grades Team Entry Guide

Your Challenge

Your Team will create an Entry in which you will “select the top 10 people, events, or places that have shaped the course of history.” In your Entry, you will identify and defend your selections, supporting your choices with research from the ABC-CLIO online history databases.

A few questions and answers:

What do we mean by “people, events, or places”?

People: an individual, or a group of individuals who share purpose, ancestry, or ethnicity, e.g., Mahatma Gandhi, the Huguenots, the Aztec civilization

Event: a specific day, date, or happening, e.g., D-Day; July 4, 1776; the Boxer Rebellion

Place: a geographical location, area, or political entity, e.g., the Gobi Desert, Plymouth Rock, Cuba

What do we mean by “defend your choices”?

Your Entry will communicate your viewpoint and the research that you feel strengthens your position. You should be able to provide the historical basis for each of your choices and back up your statements using facts, evidence, and other resources from the ABC-CLIO databases.

What sort of evidence or resources may be used?

You may use information from articles and reference pages, photographs, quotes, audio files, maps, graphics, music—anything you think will enhance your Entry. You must include a minimum of one (1) citation from the ABC-CLIO databases for each of your top 10 selections.

Are there guidelines or restrictions for selecting our top 10 people, events, and places?

Your Entry may be any combination of 10 “people, events, or places” in your chosen category. You must represent each classification: people, events, and places; however, you will decide how to combine your choices to total 10. For example, you could choose 1 individual for people, 6 events, and 3 places, or select 5 representations for people, 3 events, and 2 places.

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The Research

ABC-CLIO’s online databases are just what you need to jump start your research. Log in and look around. Explore the Related Entries. Let your curiosity be your guide. You’ll be amazed by what you’ll learn!

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Developing an Entry

This is your chance to be creative!

We have provided starter lists for each of the 3 middle grades categories:

  1. Ancient Civilizations
  2. World History: Middle Ages to Contemporary Times
  3. U.S. History and Government

You may make all of your selections from the starter lists, combine choices from the lists with your own ideas, or choose your 10 people, events, and places on your own. Whether you use the list for your category or not, your Entry’s score will not be affected.

Your Entry can be a "collection" or an assembly of "connections". You may want to consider telling a story, or following an organizational theme. Again, the decision is yours. More details on this are in the Developing an Entry section of the FAQ.

Guiding Questions:

For each of your 10 choices, you must explain why you believe the person or people, event, or place has shaped the course of history.

1. In your own words, how would you describe the impact or contribution of each selection?

Examples: Was it a natural phenomenon, a military conflict, the birthplace of important innovations, or a single revolutionary discovery? Was your choice central to a development in medicine, philosophy, religion, politics, math, or science? Was it an individual who demonstrated exceptional leadership abilities or a prominent people or society?

2. How did each choice “shape the course of history”?

Examples: Did it set the stage for later developments? Did it improve or have a negative effect on the wellbeing of a population or the environment? Did it advance transportation, communications, or technology? Did your choice influence human rights, government, the economy of the time, or international relations?

3. What evidence or research did you find that supports your choice?

Examples include information from ABC-CLIO online database articles, quotes, audio clips, photographs, graphic files of maps, paintings, drawings, or documents, video clips, and so on. You may also include information from other sources.

This doesn’t cover all of the possibilities, but you get the idea.

Include the evidence that you think is important, and don’t forget to cite all of your sources!

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More information on Entry types

Your Team Entry will be a digital file containing your original work product in the form of an animation, essay, podcast, slide show, or video. No entry type may have been submitted in whole or in part to any other national competition.

Note: The names of student Team members and the Coach or Coaches will be required on the Entry form. To protect your privacy, please do not include students’ last names, or any other identifying information in your Entry file.

Read on for more information on each Entry type…

Animation

Essay

Audio Podcast

Slide show

Video

If your Entry file is larger than 75MB, you may be able to reduce the file size by compressing the file. You may submit your Entry as a compressed file (ZIP file), as long as the compressed version of your file is within the 75MB file size limit.

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Submitting Your Entry

Entries must be submitted by the Team Coach or Coaches. When your Team is ready to submit an Entry, send or give the digital file to your Team’s Coach, and he or she will submit your Entry to ABC-CLIO.

How Will Your Entry be Evaluated?

Your Team Entry will be scored using a rubric, or score sheet that ranks:

Your score is not affected by your choice of Entry format (essay, audio podcast, animation, video, or slide show), or by your Team’s specific selections of people, events, and places. Ask your social studies teacher for a copy of the Evaluation Criteria, or download a copy here.

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Prizes! Prizes! Prizes!

Yes, there are prizes for student Team members. In the History Uncovered middle grades Competition, each grand prizewinning student Team member will receive $100. If your Team Entry is inducted into the History Uncovered Hall of Fame, each winning student Team member will receive $30.

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