If I happen to have a strong class of sixth graders in any one school year( usually half of the students), I take the opportunity to introduce them to this very popular competition in American grade schools…
Here are the instructions on how to organise it.
A spelling bee is a contest in which participants are asked to spell words in a round-robin format, where each person gets a turn to spell a word that is suitable for his or her level.
In planning your home spelling bee, you’ll want to make sure that you keep things challenging, but not so difficult that your kids get discouraged. Remember, the name of the game is f-u-n!
Step-by-step spelling bee guidelines:
Gather participants
For a truly competitive oral spelling bee, you’ll want to select about eight to 10 participants, though more or fewer is fine.
Tip
Make sure participants don’t feel uncomfortable when singled out to spell in front of a group. If a participant is not comfortable taking the spotlight to spell, give them another job to do: Let them read off the words and use it in a sentence (we’ll call that person “the reader”) or perhaps act as a judge. Remember: kids will also learn spelling by reading the words, thinking up sentences, and following along to judge the correct spelling.
Read clearly and spell carefully
The reader should pronounce the word clearly and correctly as it is written, then use it in a sentence, then read the word again,clearly.
So if the word was, say, “orchestra,” the reader might say “Orchestra. String, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments are all important parts of an orchestra. Orchestra.” Or if the word was “snowflakes,” the reader might say, “Snowflakes. I ran outside to catch snowflakes on my tongue. Snowflakes.”
The competitor would then say the word, spell the word, and say the word again: “Snowflakes. S-N-O-W-F-L-A-K-E-S. Snowflakes.”
Tip
Be sure to choose words that are suited to the level of the participants. You don’t want the words to be so easy that they’re not challenged or so difficult that they grow frustrated.
Move things along
If a competitor spells a word correctly, he or she remains inthe game, awaiting his or her next turn. If the competitor spells a word incorrectly, he or she is eliminated from competition and the next participant is given the same word to spell, continuing down the line until the word is spelled correctly.
Tip
Although traditionally a participant is eliminated from spelling bee competition as soon as his or she is unable to spell a word, for your home spelling bee, you may want to tinker with the formula a little. You may let a participant continue to compete until he or she misspells, say, five words. Or you might want to keep score and anoint the person who correctly spells the most words the winner, in order to let all the participants continue to play. Or you might give each person a one “pass”to use at some point during the game to trade in a word that stumps him for another word. Get creative with the rules in order to keep things comfortable and fun for participants.
Reinforce
Get a whiteboard or a big piece of cardboard to write each word on as it is spelled correctly. This will help participants to learn all the words in the competition, not just the ones they are asked to spell.
Repeat until you have your winner
If you’re playing by the traditional elimination rules, keep playing until only one participant is still standing. Then have everyone applaud the winner and let the winner take a bow.