Spelling bee

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A spelling bee is a competition where contestants, usually children, are asked to spell English words. The concept originated in the United States, and is usually perceived to be a solely American practice.[1]

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The earliest evidence of the phrase spelling bee in print dates back to 1825, although the contests had apparently been held before that year.[citation needed] (The etymology of the word "bee" in this sense is unclear. Historically, it has described a social congregation where a specific action is being carried out, like a husking bee, a quilting bee, or an apple bee.) A key impetus for the contests was Noah Webster's spelling books. First published in 1786 and known colloquially as "The Blue-backed Speller," Webster's spelling books were an essential part of the curriculum of all elementary school children in the United States for five generations.

The United States National Spelling Bee was started in 1925 by The Courier-Journal, the newspaper of Louisville, Kentucky. In 1941, the Scripps Howard News Service acquired sponsorship of the program, and the name changed to the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee (later simply "Scripps National Spelling Bee"). As well as covering the 50 U.S. states, several competitors also come from Canada, the Bahamas, New Zealand and Europe.

In the United States, spelling bees are annually held from local levels up to the level of the Scripps National Spelling Bee which awards a cash prize to the winner. The National Spelling Bee is sponsored by English-language newspapers and educational foundations; it is also broadcast on ESPN. Since 2006, the National Spelling Bee's championship rounds have been broadcast on ABC live. In 2005, contestants came from the Bahamas, Jamaica, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Canada, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, and a German military base, as well as the United States. This was the first year that spellers from Canada and New Zealand attended the competition.

The Spelling Bee of Canada started with a local contest in 1987 in Toronto, Canada. In 1996, contestants were accepted from other provinces. However, it has been overtaken in media coverage by the newer (and newspaper chain-affiliated) CanSpell National Spelling Bee.

The National Senior Spelling Bee started in Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1996. Sponsored by the Wyoming AARP, it is open to contestants 50 and older. Maria Dawson is the only contestant to ever win two back to back titles at The National Spelling Bee.

The Internet is now home to a virtual version of the Spelling Bee, launched in September of 2007. The Word Cup is an annual global vocabulary challenge for all ages. Hosted by eSpindle Learning, the event is quizzing both vocabulary and spelling skills in a time-restricted environment. All three rounds of the competition take place online, with increasing levels of supervision. Over $75,000 prizes wait for the top contestants in each of four age categories, as well as participants of varying proficiency levels Future events will reward those who show the largest improvement, making this an event where everyone has a chance to win.

Word Cup also includes a fundraising campaign for literacy organizations, whose funds are distributed by the Word Cup winners to participating projects.

Spelling bee students usually start competition in elementary schools or more commonly middle schools. For elementary schools, kids usually have a class bee to select kids for the school bee, and are given a list of words to study. For middle schools, a bee is usually given in one's English class, or is open for anyone. A list of words is also given to middle school students.

Usually, the student who places 1st place at their school bee goes on to a district or regional bee. There is no given list to study for at either. The top 10 kids at the district bee, (ie. 1st place-10th place) goes on to the regional/state bee. Many schools in the country stop spellers at this point from continuing on to the national bee, mainly because of inexperience. The number of students who do head on to the national bee varies from state to state. If a student succeeds the regional bee, they usually hire tutors to help them prepare.[2]

Scripps National Spelling Bee logo
Scripps National Spelling Bee logo

Serious spelling bee competitors will study root words and etymologies, and often foreign languages from which English draws, in order to spell challenging words correctly. Spellers also study words used in previous bees; there are several preparatory materials published in connection with the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The previous resource was called the Paideia word list (from the Greek word meaning education and culture), and has since been discontinued.

In the year 2006-2007, the Scripps National Spelling Bee started publishing a new book of words called Spell it!. Devoted spelling bee participants also use other reference books, which feature strategies, methods and lists to help the contestant further develop their spelling skills. Tutoring materials to aid spelling skills are also becoming available on the web.


  • A British television show called Spelling Bee, featuring adult contestants and broadcast by the BBC on 31 May 1938, is generally held to have been the world's first television game show.[citation needed]
  • A game on The Price Is Right in the United States, called "Spelling Bee", requires the contestant to spell CAR by selecting cards from a board, in order to win a car. The contestant also has the opportunity to take up to $2500 instead of the car.
  • A game show on the former Black Family Channel cable network, Thousand Dollar Bee engaged children in a spelling bee-like competition.[1][2]
  • Famous singer and actress Jessica Simpson won two local spelling bee championships in her hometown of Abilene, Texas, and a state championship from Texas at the age of 17.
  • The 1986 ABC TV-movie The Girl Who Spelled Freedom, about a Cambodian immigrant girl who competes in spelling bees.[3]
  • The 2002 Academy Award-nominated documentary, Spellbound, featured eight competitors in the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
  • The 2004 game show The Great American Celebrity Spelling Bee featured four teams of four celebrities playing for charity. The show was hosted by John O'Hurley, and help for the celebrities was provided by Scripps National Spelling Bee participant Samir Patel.
  • Five episodes of the ESPN show Cheap Seats presented and satirized the taped television coverage of the 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997 Scripps National Spelling Bees.
  • The NBC game show The Singing Bee is like a spelling bee but instead of spelling words, contestants have to identify lyrics to popular songs.

  1. ^ http://www.rte.ie/tv/theview/archive/20031007.html
  2. ^ SEMMLAA (Southeastern Michigan Middle Level Administrator's Association) regional spelling bee administrator's packet

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