SPELLING BEE RULES

1. The spelling words used for the in-class Spelling Bee come from the current Voorhees literacy program, Reading Street, and will be online two weeks prior to the Spelling Bee. The words in the grade-level finals will come from Reading Street and the students’ science, social studies and math textbooks. These additional words will be given to the qualifying students after the preliminary round.

2. A Word Pronouncer will pronounce each word. When homonyms are involved the Pronouncer will also provide a definition.

3. Each speller will be encouraged to pronounce the word given by the Word Pronouncer, spell the word, and then pronounce the word again. A contestant will not be disqualified for failing to pronounce the word before or after he/she has spelled it. The contestant may be reminded by the Judge to complete his/her turn by saying the word after spelling it. A turn shall be limited to twenty (20) seconds.

3. Having started to spell a word, a speller may stop and start over, but there can be no change of letters or sequence of letters during the respelling or the student shall be eliminated.

4. A speller may ask for a re-pronunciation of the word. A speller may also request a definition of the word and/or for the Word Pronouncer to use the word in a sentence, so that the word has been made reasonably clear to the speller. The Word Pronouncer shall grant the request until the Judge agrees that the word has been made reasonably clear to the contestant. The Judge may disqualify a speller who ignores a request to start spelling and twenty seconds have elapsed.

5. If the Judge feels that a speller misunderstood a word due to difficulties with the sound system or acoustics in the room, they will ask the Word Pronouncer to pronounce it again.

6. The Spelling Bee is based on single elimination. Upon missing the spelling of a word, the speller is immediately eliminated from the competition. The Word Pronouncer should give the correct spelling of the word. The next word is given to the next speller.

7. When the spellers are reduced to five children, the in-classroom spelling bee will be concluded. These five children will be invited to move on to the grade-level Spelling Bee.