HOW TO PREPARE FOR A SCHOOL AND/OR CLASSROOM SPELLING BEE
CLASSROOM SPELLING BEES
Scripps' School Spelling Bee Study List is used in most classroom bees and this can be found in Words of the Champions - Your Key to the Bee. Classroom bees are often held in order to determine who will participate in the school bee. Holding classroom bees preceding a school bee is optional, but when a school opts to hold classroom bees, they ensure a more fair representation, or “mix,” of good spellers who are qualified to participate in the school bee. Each grade (1st thru 8th) has a list of 100 words to study. We recommend starting with the first-grade list and working up thru your own grade level; then keep going until you have learned all of the words that you can possibly master. The entire list is only 450 words. If a class bee runs out of words, Scripps' generally supplies a collection of "off-list" words to use in determining a winner in their Classroom Pronouncer Guide or School Pronouncer Guide. These may also come from Words of the Champions. Read our BLOG.
SCHOOL BEES
School Spelling bees often determine who will advance to a district or county bee which then feeds into a regional or state bee for a chance to go to the National Spelling Bee. Some school spelling bees advance directly to regional or state bees. Scripps' School Spelling Bee Study List, separated by level is used for most school bees. This is the same list used to study for classroom bees. Again, our recommendation is to start at the easier words and work up to the more difficult words and keep going. The entire list is only 450 words. If a school bee runs out of words, there are "off-list" words to use in determining a winner; historically, these words have been found in the Classroom or School Pronouncer Guides that are only available to schools who sponsor a spelling bee. Again, we believe that these may come from Words of the Champions, but there could certainly be surprises including words that are new to the only dictionary.
WHERE DO I GET THE ANNUAL NATIONAL SPELLING BEE WORD LIST?
You can buy it on Amazon and it may also be provided by your school once they are officially registered for the National Spelling Bee. Please call us at 830.367.3825 if you have questions regarding this list.
WHAT IF THE SCHOOL USES UP ALL OF THE SCHOOL SPELLING BEE WORDS AND THERE IS STILL NO WINNER?
This occurs at bees with a large number or participants or at bees where two or more spellers have prepared exceedingly well and there is need to use another set of words in order to declare a winner. Where do these "extra" words come from? Scripps has such a list in both the Classroom and School Pronouncer Guides. We recommend our Spell Buddy books for study for these types of words as this collection contains all the annual study words for over 5 years PLUS all the off-list words from the same years. This will help build a student's word foundation and prepare them for fielding off-list words that might be given to determine a class or school champion.
