We are very excited to prepare for our school’s first annual Spelling Bee, which will be taking place on the following dates: 

All Classroom Spelling Bees: Thursday, March 16th

School Finals: Friday, March 17th (Parents/Caregivers are Invited)

Below are a variety of words that your child may be asked to spell.  We encourage your child, or children, to study the words and understand their meanings in preparation for the Spelling Bee.  This is a great opportunity for each student to improve their spelling, expand their vocabulary, and have fun!  Please note that at least one of the word lists attached contains some words that are above your child’s grade level.  These words will be used after students have successfully spelled the words from their designated grade list.  Students will never be given words of varying difficulty inside of the same round.

• Example: If a Grade 1 student is asked to spell hat in round two, the next student will be asked to spell another word of similar difficulty like pet, NOT a more complex word like country.

The top 5 winners from each “classroom” will participate in their grades’ Spelling Bee Final.  Parents and Guardians will be invited to come and observe.  Once we get closer to the date we will send out a schedule.  

Our top three finalists will receive medals of achievement, while the top five will receive certificates.  Please find the Spelling Bee rules attached on the next page of this package.

Thank you for your support, if you have any questions or concerns please contact us!

Spelling Bee Rules

Please make note of Rule #2, #5, #6, #12, & #13 in particular.

General Rules

1. In competition, after the pronouncer gives the speller a word, the speller will be encouraged to pronounce the word before spelling it and after spelling it. The judges may not disqualify a speller for failing to pronounce the word either before or after spelling it.
2. The speller may ask the pronouncer to say the word again (3 times max.), define it (only once), and/or use it in a sentence (only once). The pronouncer shall grant all such requests until the judges agree that the word has been made reasonably clear to the speller.
3. The judges may disqualify any speller who ignores a request to start spelling.
4. The role of the pronouncer is (1) to correctly pronounce the word and (2) to give a sentence and/or define it at the speller’s request. The role of the judge(s) is to determine whether the contestant has spelled the word correctly. The role of the speller is (1) to gather as much information as possible to help spell the word correctly and (2) to spell the word correctly. The judges may not disqualify a speller for asking a question.
5. The speller can choose whether or not he/she wants to write the word on a white board or blank piece of paper.  However, only oral answers are accepted.
6. Having started to spell a word, a speller may stop and start over, retracing the spelling from the beginning. In retracing, however, there cannot be a change of letters of their sequence from those first pronounced. If letters or their sequence is changed in the respelling, the speller will be eliminated.
7. Please note that 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade spellers can correct his or her mistake before a judge indicates that the word is misspelt.
8. The speller shall not be disqualified for failing to note that a word is capitalised.
9. If a word has one or more homonyms, the pronouncer will indicate which word is to be spelled. If the listed word is not properly identified, either by defining it or distinguishing the homonyms, any correct spelling of any homonym of the word will be accepted.
10. The competition shall be conducted in rounds. Each speller remaining in the spelling bee at the start of a round shall spell one word in the round, except as provided in Rule 13.
11. Upon missing the spelling of a word, a speller immediately drops out of the competition, except as provided in Rule 13. The next word on the pronouncer’s list is given to the next speller.
12. If all spellers in one round misspell their word, all spellers shall remain in the competition.
13. If only one speller in a round spells a word correctly, a new round shall begin and the speller shall be given an opportunity to spell the next word on the list. If the speller succeeds in correctly spelling the new word, the speller shall be declared the champion. Otherwise, if the speller does not succeed in correctly spelling the new word, all the spellers at the start of the previous round shall remain in the competition. A new round will begin and spellers will remain in their original spelling order.
14. The rules change once the round consists of two players:
15. a) When one of the two spellers misspells a word in one round, the speller who spelled the word correctly shall be given a new word to spell. If that speller spells that word correctly, then the speller shall be declared the champion.
16. b) If both spellers misspell their word, then both shall continue in the competition and a new round begins.
17. In the event that more than one speller is tied for 2nd or 3rd place, a spell-off will be held to determine the final place.
18. The pronouncer must give all spellers in each round a word from the same level of difficulty on the list being used (e.g. beginning, intermediate, advanced, challenge).
19. Spellers may be asked to spell words from a non-study list after successfully spelling words from the challenge list on their grade level. It is not required that the challenge list be exhausted before moving on to the non-study list. The pronouncer must announce that the words will come from a non-study list before that round begins.
20. The judges are in complete control of the competition. Their decision shall be final on all questions.

Words to Prepare for Classroom Compeition (2 Lists per Grade)

Grade 1A
Grade 1B

Grade 2A
Grade 2B

Grade 3A
Grade 3B

Grade 4A
Grade 4B

Grade 5A
Grade 5B

Grade 6A
Grade 6B

Grade 7A
Grade 7B

Grade 8A
Grade 8B

Grade 9A
Grade 9B

Words to Prepare for Finals (National Spelling Bee Study List)

The National Spelling Bee Study List is broken down into three levels of difficulty: One Bee, Two Bee and Three Bee. We will use this list for the School Finals.

One Bee words include words appropriate for first, second and third grades.

Two Bee words include words appropriate for fourth, fifth and sixth grades.

Three Bee words include words appropriate for seventh and eighth grades.