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  • Do I get to decide when we play the Great History Challenge?
    Absolutely! After you register you will get access to the Sponsor Panel where you will get to select which day you'll administer the Great History Challenge at your school.
  • Do all of my students have to play at the same time?
    No! After you register, you will select the day of your school administration, and your students can play the Great History Challenge anytime during that day.
  • Do I need to download any software/apps?
    No! The Great History Challenge is web-based, meaning that students can play from virtually any device that connects to the Internet (laptop, Chromebook, tablet, phone, etc.).
  • How long will it take to administer the Great History Challenge?
    The game itself takes about 25 minutes for students to play, but we recommend teachers to budget 35 minutes for the administration to allow for instructions, questions, etc.
  • How do my students access the Great History Challenge?
    After you register, you will get access to the Sponsor Panel. There, you will generate a unique play code for each of your students. On your scheduled administration day, you will direct them to historychallenge.org/play, and they will enter their play code to start the game.
  • What is the Great History Challenge?
    The Great History Challenge is a nationwide academic competition for middle school students. We ask questions in a unique, fun, and engaging way to allow students to demonstrate their history knowledge.
  • Which of my students is the Great History Challenge best for?
    We designed the Great History Challenge specifically for all middle school students. Because of the format of the competition and the way that we structure the questions, any student - not just your superstars - can have a great experience with the competition.
  • When is the Great History Challenge?
    The window for school administration of the Great History Challenge is from December 2 - 20, 2024. Top scoring students from the school administration will be invited to a Live Regional Event in the spring.
  • Where does the Great History Challenge take place?
    The school administration of the Great History Challenge is online and is taken at the students' school. Top scoring students will be invited to a Live Regional Event which will take place in a location near you.
  • Where do the questions for the Great History Challenge come from?
    Our team of educators writes the questions for the Great History Challenge based off of the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies created by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). Want to know more? Here's a video!
  • What if my school curriculum doesn't align directly with the content?
    We get this question frequently (which is why it's in the FAQ), and the short answers are: Every district has its own curriculum, and it is impossible to create a national event that would align perfectly with all districts. However, by using NCSS Social Studies Standards, we believe that we can provide the best possible fit for the most districts. Students do not need to know ALL of the material in the Great History Challenge to be successful. The Great History Challenge is an extracurricular academic competition, much like a spelling bee, and we believe that participation encourages students to prepare and challenge themselves to explore more history. If you'd like a more detailed explanation of why we believe our competition benefits your students regardless of curricular alignment, you can read it here.
  • How do I register for the Great History Challenge?
    It's easy! Simply click HERE to register. It's so quick, you can register during a class change!
  • What does my registration include?
    Your registration fee covers every student (grades 6-8) in your school for the School Administration of the Great History Challenge, plus a copy of our study guide for the event. It also includes the registration for any of your students that qualify to participate in the Live Regional Event.
  • Do I need to pay when I register?
    No! We've worked in schools for a long time and understand that requisitioning payment takes time. Go ahead and register, and we can worry about payment later. For the record, we accept credit card, checks, and purchase orders. Questions about payment? Email us (hello@historychallenge.org)!
  • My school's payment system is complicated. Can you work with me?
    Absolutely! With decades of collective experience working in schools, we certainly understand red tape. Whether it's vendor forms, invoices, W-9s, we've seen it all. Just reach out and let us know what you need, and we can get it for you. Or better yet, have your bookkeeper reach out so you can focus on what's important - your students!
  • I really want my students to participate, but my school just can't afford it. Help!
    The Great History Challenge is committed to being accessible for all students – regardless of circumstances. For this reason, we have budgeted a limited number of fee waivers. If your school wants to participate but cannot because of financial limitations, email us (hello@historychallenge.org) for more information about our fee waiver program.
  • What is the Regional Championship, and how does it work?
    The Great History Challenge Regional Championship is an event for students who participated in the first round of competition within their own schools and who scored well enough to receive an invitation. This event is an opportunity for those students to compete against one another and earn an invitation to the final stage of our competition - the National Championship! Unlike the first round event, which is held online, the Regional Championship is a live, in-person competition event. Students arrive at the competition location, check in at our registration desk, and then attend a brief opening meeting before competition play begins.
  • Are spectators allowed? Do we need tickets?
    We LOVE having spectators at our event! Parents and other family members are welcome! No tickets are required - the more the merrier!
  • Is the Regional Championship a virtual event?
    No. The Regional Championships is live and in-person event.
  • Is there an elimination round? Do I stay for the entire event?
    The Regional Championship is NOT an elimination event. ALL students who attend will play in three separate games during the evening. Students should expect that they will be at the event site for the full duration of the competition. At the end of the evening, we will present awards to the top five scorers from each grade for the evening, and announce the names of students who are invited to compete in the National Championship! We encourage everyone to stay and cheer for these outstanding students.
  • How do I prepare for the Regional Championship?
    The questions that we ask come equally from three broad categories: * Ancient World History (up to 1000 AD) * Modern World History (after 1000 AD) * American History We don't provide a complete list of topics to participants. This is on purpose. We want to test students' overall knowledge of history rather than their ability to memorize. We base our content on standards published by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) which forms the basis of what is taught in most middle school social studies classes across the country. That said, some content might not be taught in every school. That's OK - we want to encourage students to learn beyond what is taught in their classes, but we have purposefully designed the competition so that students can have success without answering every question. If you are looking for a place to get started, we encourage you to start with the study book that we mailed to each teacher (75 Key Lessons in History). It's not a complete list of what we ask, but is a good overview of the types of topics that we might ask about. We've also have a lot of students who use YouTube to prepare. We are big fans of the "Crash Course" series of videos (links below). They are well-researched and engaging for students. Each video is also short enough to work for students with limited attention spans. World History American History There's no "perfect" way to prepare, but we encourage students to consume as much history content as they can. Look through your textbook, skim through websites, watch YouTube videos, listen to podcasts. Find history content that interests you and dive in!
  • Is there food available or provided? Is there a dinner break?
    We do not provide food or drink at the Regional Championship events, but every student participating in the event has a 30 minute break scheduled as part of their evening. Feel free to bring a snack!
  • What's the dress code for the Regional Championship?
    We don’t have a formal dress code, but we encourage players to dress "nicely", especially since family members are going to want pictures when they win!
  • What if I am late to the event?
    The best answer to this question is “Don’t be!” Please plan to arrive early, and keep in mind that traffic may be heavy as we approach the event’s start time. We cannot delay the start of the event to wait for late arrivals. If you arrive late, you may have to wait for the start of the next round of play to be seated to compete, and you will not have the opportunity to make up missed questions.
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