Upper Shore Reading Council
2014-2015 Young Authors Contest Guidelines
Elementary/Middle School Grades 1-8
Eligibility
Students in grades 1 through 8 are eligible to enter a previously unsubmitted short story and/or
poem written within the 2014-2015 school year. Each entry may have only one author, and only one
entry per author may be submitted for each category.
Contest Guidelines
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Entries must be the student’s original work. Peers or adults may provide editing assistance
(spelling, punctuation, etc.), but revisions should be student-generated, and the final product
must be the student’s own work.
Each short story entry may range from 300 to 800 words for elementary submissions and 600
to 1,600 words for middle school submissions.
Each poem entry will consist of a single poem, which may be any style a range from 25 to 150
words for elementary submissions and 25 to 300 words for middle school submission.
All entries must include a completed cover sheet signed by the student author, parent, and
sponsoring teacher.
Selection Criteria
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Entry meets all of the above guidelines.
Story reflects creativity and appropriate use of language and short story structure.
Poem reflects creative and appropriate use of language and imagery.
Entries of a violent nature will be deemed inappropriate.
Any violation of these guidelines or criteria will disqualify the entry. The decisions of the state
judges’ panel are final.
Deadline
Entries must be received by December 19, 2014. (See next page for detailed submission guidelines.)
Winners
The Upper Shore Reading Council will honor all participants at a county-wide celebration in the
spring. All winning entries will be published in an anthology and each student author and his or her
teacher will receive a copy. The first place short story and poem in grades 2 through 12 will be
submitted to the state contest. The state committee will then select a first and second place winner
per category at each grade level. A reception honoring all state winners, their parents, families,
teachers, chairpersons and judges will be held during the Somirac Conference (April 15-17, 2015) at
the Hunt Valley Marriott in Hunt Valley.
Guidelines for Submission
Formatting
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Entries must be created using either Google Docs or Word.
Entries should be typed in either Times New Roman or Comic Sans, 12 point.
Entries must not include graphics.
The file name must be the author’s first name, last name, and type of entry.
Examples: maryjonespoem.doc, johnsmithshortstory.doc
Submission
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A printout of the entry and a completed paper cover sheet must be sent to Kelly Sell at StMS.
(An electronic cover sheet is not required.) The cover sheet must be signed by the student,
parent, and sponsoring teacher.
Word documents should be sent as an attachment to qacyoungauthors@yahoo.com.
(Teachers, if you are submitting entries for your students, feel free to attach multiple files to
your email rather than sending a separate email for each entry.) Please do not send entries to
the email address below.
Entries created on Google Docs should be shared with kelly.sell@qacps.org.
Deadline
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Entries and cover sheets must be received by December 19, 2014.
Questions about submitting your entry?
Contact Kelly Sell (StMS) at kelly.sell@qacps.org
SoMIRAC 2013-2014
Elementary/Middle School Young Authors Contest Cover Sheet
Please Print Clearly
Student/Author’s Full
Name
(as it should appear in the
publication)
Student/Author’s Full
Home Address
Student/Author’s Home
Phone:
Email Address:
School Name/Full Address:
Grade:
Teacher: First/Last Name
Teacher Email:
Local Reading Council:
Upper Shore Reading Council
Title of Entry:
Circle one:
POEM
SHORT STORY
Permission for Publication
I, _________________________________________, give permission for SoMIRAC representatives to
Print first and last name
reproduce my child’s work in an anthology of writing, in the event he/she becomes a State Winner.
Student Signature: ___________________________________________ Date: _________________
Parent Signature: ___________________________________________ Date: _________________
Teacher Signature: __________________________________________ Date: _________________
SoMIRAC 2013-2014
Elementary/Middle School Young Authors Contest
Writing Rubric
Trait
Writing Content
Ideas and
Development
Clear message, intriguing details, relevant details to support
the main idea
Organization
Beginning catches the reader, logically organized, appropriate
transitions, closing ties ideas together
Voice
Appropriate use of tone for the purpose, reflects the writer’s
style , writing style keeps the readers’ attention
Word Choice
Interesting, specific , vivid words or phrases, appropriate
words to convey meaning, vocabulary suits the topic and
audience
Sentence
Fluency
Sentences flow together well, begin in different ways, vary in
length and type
Presentation
Appropriate form, neatly presented, visually appealing
Conventions
Correct grammar, punctuation, conventional spelling, and
sentence structure