Manual 2015

Written in collaboration between MEP and the Peace Corps - Costa Rica

School Year 2015

This manual has all of the information necessary to have a successful institutional, circuit, regional, and national Spelling Bee in a spirit of friendly competition. Included you will find the description of the Spelling Bee, rules for the Bee facilitation and participation, information about word lists, and helpful practices to teach spelling.

Enjoy!

Description of the Spelling BeeA spelling bee is a spelling competition in which participants spell a word aloud letter by letter before a panel of judges. If the individual spells the word correctly on his or her first try, he or she remains in the competition and advances to the next round. If an individual

spells a word incorrectly, the participant is eliminated from the competition. The competition continues until there is only one participant remaining, who is declared the winner.

The Costa Rican English Spelling Bee is held in order to encourage participation in extracurricular English-related activities, to support the learning of spelling and pronunciation in English, to foster healthy competition in an academic setting, and to promote enthusiasm about learning English.

We hope that you find this manual helpful in planning and implementing a spelling bee in your own elementary and high schools. If you have any questions, please contact the MEP and Peace Corps coordinators listed in the contact information at the end of the manual. Happy spelling!

History of the Spelling BeeInspired by the success of the spelling bee organized by Peace Corps volunteers in Bulgaria, the Costa Rica English Spelling Bee is loosely adapted from the Scripps sponsored National Spelling Bee held annually in the United States. While there were only nine participants in the first National Spelling Bee, today over 11 million participants compete to be the Scripps sponsored National Spelling Bee Champion.

1925: The first competition was held in Louisville, Kentucky.

2012: Peace Corps volunteers helped organize the first English Spelling Bee in Costa Rica. This project began with four Regional Spelling Bees held in Guanacaste, Los Santos region, San Vito, and Limón.

2013: The Inter-regional Spelling Bee was held in Los Santos.

2014: The First Annual National Spelling Bee was held in Liberia, Guanacaste.

2015: The First Annual National English Festival will be held in Guápiles, Limón with the inclusion of the Spelling Bee as one of the events.

For the 2015 Spelling Bee, there will be an Institutional, Circuit, Regional, and National competition. Organizers and participants are responsible for holding their competitions within the allotted timeframe before the final national competition scheduled between November 16 - 18, 2015 in Guápiles, Limón.DatesTo ensure that all schools are able to compete in the National Spelling Bee, please use the guidelines below to plan your Spelling Bee competitions. These are the participation numbers for each level ( II Ciclo, III Ciclo y IV Ciclo-Diversificada).

•Institutional – any time from May to July In order to plan the Institutional Spelling Bee, please work with your director. One student from Bumble Bee and one student from Queen Bee qualifies for the circuit competition.

•Circuit – any time in August In order to plan the Circuit level Spelling Bee, please work with the Supervisor, other English teachers, and Regional English Advisor in your area. One student from Bumble Bee and one student from Queen Bee qualifies for the regional competition.

•Regional – Any time from September - October 14th*** In order to plan the Regional Spelling Bee, please work with your Regional English Advisor. One student from Bumble Bee and one student from Queen Bee qualifies for the national competition.

•The National Spelling Bee will be held November 16-18 in Guápiles, Limón.

For Regional English Advisors:

•Your region’s participation MUST be confirmed no later than June 30th. Please send the confirmation to lhorne1@binghamton.edu (Lindsay Horne, PC Volunteer)

•A complete list of the personal information of all regional winners must be submitted to the Spelling Bee Planning Committee no later than October 15th. Send this information to lhorne1@binghamton.edu (Lindsay Horne, PC Volunteer)

Age Groups and Participation RulesAny student who is registered in MEP public schools may participate in the Spelling Bee and English Festival within their respective level, regardless of prior exposure to English. As an English Spelling Bee is difficult for anyone, even native English speakers, the Bee will be open to any student who would like to participate.

The Costa Rican English Spelling Bee and Festival is divided into two competition levels:

1.Bumble Bee Level (Elementary School): Fourth, Fifth, Sixth grades will compete amongst each other.2.Queen Bee Level (High School): Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth grades will compete amongst each other.

The Spelling Bee Panel

Every spelling bee should consist of at least three staff personnel - the pronouncer and two judges. Their individual roles are as follows:

1.Pronouncer•The pronouncer can be any English-speaking adult other than the students’ English teacher. (If possible, it’s best to have a native English speaker for this role.) •The pronouncer calls the student up to the stage. •The pronouncer says the word in English, pauses, and then repeats the word in English again.•The pronouncer says the words slowly, without distorting the standard pronunciation of the word. •If a word has one or more homonyms, the pronouncer will indicate which word is to be spelled by providing the definition. (EXAMPLE: their, there, they’re)•The pronouncer can repeat a word, provide a definition, or use the word in a sentence at the student’s request. (Each word, definition, and sentence may only be repeated a maximum of 3 times per student. In other words - the student can hear the word, definition, and sentence a total of three times during their two minutes.)

2. Judges•The judges will each have 2 roles. One will also be the Time Keeper, and the other will also be the Scribe. (See below for more details.) •The judges are responsible for evaluating the accuracy of the words spelled by the bee participants. •They must agree on their opinions of the student’s spelling, BEFORE announcing whether the student spelled the word correctly or not. If they do not agree, they can ask the Pronouncer to opine as well. As a last resort they can ask the student to repeat the spelling. •Both judges must also work together to uphold the rules of the competition.•The decisions of the judges are final. No other participants, teachers, or audience members may approach the judges’ table during the competition. •Judges are advised to follow the following protocol:• Encourage spellers to face them when pronouncing and spelling the words. (Watching lip movements may be critical in detecting misunderstandings or misspellings.)•The judges participate in an exchange of information between the speller and pronouncer if they feel that clarification is needed.•While judges are responsible for attempting to detect a speller’s misunderstanding, it is sometimes impossible to notice until a spelling error has been made. The judges are not responsible for the speller’s misunderstanding. (Remember: The speller can always ask for clarification).•Judges may not disqualify a speller for failing to pronounce the word correctly either before or after spelling it or asking questions.

****Judge number 1 will also be the Timekeeper.

•The timekeeper starts a stopwatch after the pronouncer states the word for each student. Each student will receive 2 minutes to spell his or her given word.•The timekeeper will inform the speller of his or her remaining time by showing the student signs indicating “1 minute” and “30 seconds.”•The timekeeper announces when two minutes are complete. If the student still has not spelled the word correctly after the allotted two minutes, the student is eliminated from the competition.

****Judge number 2 will also be the Scribe .•The scribe is responsible for writing a list of all students eliminated in each round and reading those names at the end of each round. •The Scribe will record the spelling of each student’s word on a tracker. (See the chart that we provided in the appendix.) •The Scribe will track the number of times a student has asked for a word, definition, or sentence to be repeated. (Maximum of 3 times for each word, definition, or sentence)

Reasons for disqualification:The judges will disqualify a speller who:•Spells his or her word incorrectly or does not spell his or her word at all.•Does not approach the stage or designated area when it is time to receive his or her word.•Engages in unsportsmanlike conduct.•Mispronounces the letters or changes the sequence of letters from those first stated.•While spelling, says unintelligible sounds.

The Speller•The speller faces the judges, pronounces the word before spelling it, spells the word, and pronounces the word after spelling it.•The speller says each letter distinctly and loudly so the judges can understand.•The speller may ask the pronouncer to repeat the word again, define it, and/or use it in a sentence (no more than 3 times each).•The speller is responsible for any misunderstandings of the word unless:

The pronouncer never provided a correct pronunciation. The pronouncer provided incorrect information regarding the definition. The speller correctly spelled a homonym of the word, and the pronouncer failed to

offer a definition.

Teacher’s Role•While teachers are not a part of the Spelling Bee panel (and may not approach the judges’ table during the competition), they should keep a list of their participating students during the competition. This written record should include the words that their students spell correctly and incorrectly, and if the word was spelled incorrectly, teachers

should have the incorrect spelling included in their record. This record will help resolve any discrepancies after the competition.

The Rules and Procedures for Circuit, Regional, and National Spelling Bees1. Students are ordered alphabetically based on their last name and sit in that order on the stage or allotted participant space.2. The pronouncer calls the first student’s name.3. The student steps up to the indicated competition space. Only the pronouncer, judges, staff and participants are allowed in this space. Teachers and parents are not allowed to approach the table during the competition.4. The pronouncer randomly chooses a word from the word list. *Review “Word Selection During the Bee” section of the manual to understand how the pronouncer chooses a word*5. The student can ask for the word to be repeated, if necessary, up to three times. The student can also ask the pronouncer to read the definition of the word and/or the example sentence (up to three times each). Students may not ask for the word to be translated into Spanish.6. Once the student is sure that he or she understands the word, he or she states the word, spells the word, and states the word again. EXAMPLE: Apple. A-p-p-l-e. Apple.7. The student must say the word and its spelling loud enough for the judges to hear.8. The judges decide if the word was spelled correctly or incorrectly.

If the word is spelled correctly, the student returns to his or her seat. If the word is spelled incorrectly, the judge gives the correct spelling of the word.

The student returns to his or her seat and waits for the round to end. At the end of the round, a judge reads a list of students who incorrectly spelled their word. All disqualified students leave the stage together to a round of applause.

9. The pronouncer calls the next student in alphabetical order, randomly choosing a new word for that student.

** For the institutional, circuit, regional and national competitions, the bee ends when there is only one student left.

** The entire Spelling Bee will be presented only in English.

Additional Guidelines

•The student must spell the word correctly on the first try. This is considered incorrect: Apple, a-p-l…… a-p-p-l-e, Apple

•However, students are allowed to stop spelling and begin spelling a word again, as long as the letters are the same as the first attempt.

This is considered correct: Apple, a-p-p……a-p-p-l-e, Apple

•Students are allowed to bring a whiteboard and marker with them to the stage or designated area. Students may write the word first on their whiteboard before spelling the word out loud. The whiteboard must not be visible to the audience, judges or other participants.

*Word Selection During the Bee

•There is one word list per group (Bumble Bee and Queen bee). Each group’s word list is divided into different levels of difficulty. Another secret list should be created by each Regional English Advisor and will not be shared with the students or teachers before the competition. (The words on the secret list should be more difficult than those from the highest level.)•Level 1 words are used for a practice round during the competition in order to prepare students, calm their nerves and review the procedure of the bee. •After the practice round, the pronouncer chooses words from level 2 at random, and the competition begins in earnest. The national competition will begin with a practice round using the word from level 1 before beginning the competition officially with level 8.•If there are more participants than remaining words in a given difficulty level, the pronouncer will continue by using words from the next difficulty level.•The word selection proceeds in this manner until a winner is declared.

End of Bee Procedure

•If all spellers in a round misspell their word, all students remain in the competition and a new word from that round will be given to each of them.•If only one speller in a round spells his or her word correctly, he or she is the winner.•If all of the words have been used and there are still spellers remaining, there will be a championship word list which will be secret to the teachers and spellers.

Word Lists

Each word list was created through collaboration between MEP English teachers and Peace Corps Volunteers. The words are based on the MEP curriculum and include words that students should have learned, or will learn, in their classes. When placing the words into their respective levels, length of the word, familiarity of the word, and if the word is a cognate were all taken into account. Additionally, while a word may be short, vowel combinations or silent letters can make a word tricky to spell. Examples include mouth, limb etc. In those cases, the word was moved to a more difficult level.

•Institutional Competitions: It is expected that the levels one through four will be enough for the institutional competition, although this is largely dependent upon the number of contestants and the enthusiasm with which they studied. A practice round

beginning at Level 1 will allow students to warm-up. The competition will officially begin at Level 2.

•Circuit Competitions: Students competing in the circuit competition should study words through level 8. A practice round beginning at level 3 will allow students to warm-up. The competition will officially begin at level 4.

•Regional Competitions: For the regional competition, the competition will begin with a practice round at level 5 and regular play will continue with Level 6.

•National Competition: The national competition will begin with a warm-up round beginning at level 1. The competition will officially begin at level 8. A secret championship word list will also be created for the national bee; however this list will not be shown to any students before the competition. The championship word list will also be used if all words in the original list have been spelled but more than two students remain in the competition.

The word lists include words that students have learned or will learn in the I, II, III and IV Cycles. The lists are separated either by spelling pattern or by theme based on the topics in the curriculum. Teachers will have the opportunity to use the word list as a study tool with their students during the institutional phase of the competition, even if many students choose not to participate.

How to Practice

A spelling bee is a new concept to many students and thoroughly explaining the purpose of the competition, how it is conducted, and the rules of participation is extremely important to students’ success.

The main purpose of participating in spelling bee preparation is to help students develop phonemic awareness & vocabulary. The students will develop confidence in their ability to correctly spell and recognize a wide array of words when reading and writing in the English language. Developing phonemic awareness starts with teaching the letters of the alphabet (correct pronunciation, order, sounds, etc) and progresses to learning minimal pairs, spelling patterns & rules, and even exceptions to the rules.

We recommend choosing no more than 20 words per week for your students to study. The best kind of practice is through a word study. The students can sort the words in order to discover spelling rules, patterns and exceptions. A typical week could be:http://www.readingrockets.org/article/word-study-new-approach-teaching-spelling

Monday Introduce the spelling pattern by choosing words for students to sort with partners or in groups. (See below for more information about sorts.) Meet with students to discuss the spelling pattern, rule, or theme. You can do this in stations.

group 1 group 2 group 3

teacher center activity cut and sort

cut and sort teacher center activity

center activity cut and sort teacher

Homework that night could be for students to sort them again on their own or you could give students a spelling Tic Tac Toe assignment sheet for the week (See image below.)

Tuesday: Students perform a timed word sort with their partners. One partner can read the word and the other partner has to sort or write it under the appropriate rule heading. (This turns the activity into listening, speaking, reading, and writing practice!)

Wednesday & Thursday:

Activities to practice spelling (See the ideas below.) The students can also do a word hunt for their spelling words or other words that match the pattern in independent reading texts.

Friday: Spelling posttest

If studying a certain spelling pattern, the test can include other words that follow the pattern but were not on the original list. (For example: If studying the -at sound the word “vat” could be on the final test even if it wasn’t on the original list. ) That will ensure that students are making generalizations about the language rather than just memorizing the order of letters in a given word.

**Please note that the above schedule is just a suggestion and is not required.

Types of word sorts:For each of these, students need to see it, hear it, say it:

Concept Sort: a categorization task in which pictures, objects, or words are grouped by shared attributes or meaning to develop concepts and vocabulary. Writing sort: Students write the key words at the top of the page and write the words under the appropriate key words. Another option is for students to work in partners. Student A reads the words, and student B writes the words under the appropriate keyword. Then they reverse roles. Open sort: allow students to consider the words and set his or her own rule for sorting. For Example, words could be sorted according to their initial letter, meaning, use, or part of speech.Sort and Guess: invites each partner to create his own rationale and sort the words. Then the partner tries to guess the rule. Speed sort: Pictures or words that are sorted under a timed condition. Students try to beat their own time. No Peek Sort: Student A collects all of the words and places the key words down. Student A says one of the words and student B says that word and puts it under the category it belongs. Mix and Fix: the game begins with all of the words sorted under their appropriate keywords/categories/rules. Partner A turns away and partner B scrambles some of the sorted words. Partner A then turns around and identifies which words are out of place. The partners reverse roles. Spelling pattern sort: Students sort the words according to their spelling patterns. For example - if you are studying the long a vowel sound, the students could sort the words on their list based on the way the long a sound is created in that word.

sort the -at (cat) and -an (pan) word families sort short vowel words that end in ck (-ick, -ack, -ock, -uck, -eck) sort short a words (mat) , long a words spelled with a silent e (cake), and long a words

spelled ai (rain) sort the long i patterns: i-consonant-e (kite), igh (might), and i-consonant-consonant (mind) sort words with diphthongs: oy, oi, ow, ou sort words that have the ed ending: by doubling the final consonant (robbed), doing nothing

(walked), or dropping an e (amazed)

Ex: Let’s say their words are gate, hail, weight, hey, hate, play, neighbor, say, trail… They could sort the words like so:

rules/patterns > a_e -ai- eigh ay odd ball(doesn’t fit under any

category)

Long A sound: hategate

trailhail

weightneighbor

playsay

hey

*The tasks in the Tic Tac Toe game are completely adaptable and can include some vocabulary type activities, too. Here are some other options:

Below are some other fun activities to do with your students while practicing for the spelling bee

Music

•Turn tricky words into songs. For example, spell a word to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” or the “Happy Birthday” song.

Crossword Search•Use http://www.puzzle-maker.com/CW/ to instantly create a crosswords where students have to correctly fit all the words into the chart

Word Scrambles•Use http://www.armoredpenguin.com/wordscramble/ to create a word scramble where students have to correctly unscramble words

Hangman *(You can give it a different name.) •The teacher chooses a word and put lines on the board to indicate how many letters are in the word•The students in the class guess letters one by one. If the letter guessed is in the word, the teacher writes it in the correct space. If the letter is not in the word, the teacher draws a head.•The students continue guessing and the teacher continues to add correct letters and parts of the body when incorrect letters are guessed.•When a student knows the complete word, they call it out.•If it is correct, they get to choose the next word to spell.•Have the entire class spell the word out loud.

Alphabet Bingo•Create bingo cards with a letter in each box. •The teacher says a letter and the students mark off the correct letter on their bingo card.•The first person to get a bingo wins, and calls the letters for the next round.

Fly Swatter•Players: Two teams of 2 to 6 •Supplies: Two fly swatters, each letter of the alphabet1. Tape all letters to the chalkboard, or write each letter on the board.

2. Students line up in front of the chalkboard in two lines3. The first student in each line has a fly swatter4. Say one letter out loud5. The first student in each line needs to run the to board and hit the correct letter with the fly swatter6. The team that hits the correct letter first gets a point.NOTE: Once the student hits the letter you can ask them to make the sound that the letter makes, or state a word that starts with that letter.

Step Up!•Players: 4 minimum•Supplies: masking tape, word lists1. Divide your students into 3 teams. It’s okay if teams do not have the same number of students.2. Clear a large space in which students can stand. Each team should stand in a single-file line. 3. Make 4 lines on the floor with masking tape for each team. Place the lines about one foot apart. Students stand behind the last line of masking tape.4. To begin the game, call out the first word for the first player on Team 1 to spell.5. If the player spells the word correctly, s/he steps up to stand on the first line of tape, and the entire team moves forward. If s/he does not spell the word correctly, s/he moves to the back of her team, and the team does not move forward.6. Call out a word for Team 2 and continue in the same manner.7. Each time a word is spelled correctly, the entire team moves forward one line.8. The winning team is the first one to reach the last line of tape.9. Play several rounds as time allows.

Silent Spelling•Players: 4 minimum•Supplies: Word lists, homemade whiteboards and whiteboard markers (or paper and pencil)◦ Variation 1 1. Divide your class into two teams. Have each team line up on opposite sides of the classroom.2. Give the first person in each team a dry-erase board and marker (or a clean sheet of paper and pencil).3. Announce the first word to be spelled. Note: Because there is no talking and the writing is hidden from the other team, both groups can spell the same word at the same time.4. All team members are to remain silent as the first player on each team writes the spelling word.

5. The player passes the board to the second player. He or she is allowed to keep the word as is, or to correct it.6. When the teacher calls time, the second person on each team reveals the spelling of the word to everyone.7. The teacher awards 1 point for every correct word.8. For the next spelling word, the player with the board passes it to the third player on the team. Play continues in the same manner.9. At the end of the time period, the winning team is the one with the most points.

◦ Variation 2 This time, ask the first person in each team to write only the first letter of the word on the dry-erase board. She then hands the board to the second player who adds the next letter, and so on. When a team member has added the last letter to the word, the next person on the team checks it. He may leave the word as is, or correct any or all of the letters in it.

Group Spell•Players: Teams of 2 to 5•Supplies: Sets of one letter on one paper (all 26 letters plus doubles or triples of common letters)◦ Variation 1 1. Each team gets a set of letters (all 26 letters plus doubles or triples of common letters)2. Say a word out loud two times. 3. Give them 30 seconds to spell the word. 4. Each team that spells the word correctly gets a point.◦ Variation 2 1. Each team gets a set of letters (all 26 letters plus doubles or triples of common letters)2. Say a word out loud two times and the first group to spell it correctly gets a point.◦NOTE: Make sure to spread out the teams so they do not copy each other

Group Correct•Players: Teams of 3 to 6•Supplies: Chalkboard and chalk◦ Variation 1 1. Have teams lined up at the chalkboard2. Say a word out loud two times.3. The first person in each line writes the word4. Give ten seconds to allow the second person in the line to correct it if they think it is necessary.5. If the word is spelled correctly, the team gets a point.

◦ Variation 2 1. Have teams lined up at the chalkboard2. Say a word out loud two times.3. The first person in line writes the first letter4. The second person in line writes the second letter5. The third person in line writes the third letter6. Continue in that manner until the word is spelled7. Give the team ten seconds to make corrections.8. If the word is spelled correctly, the team gets a point.

Practice Spelling Bee•Go through a pretend spelling bee. It is advised to do this a few times before the actual competition in your school, district, or region to help the students feel comfortable with the program and know what to expect during the real competition.

Incorporating Spelling into English Class

While all of your students may not be interested in competing in a spelling bee, learning the pronunciation of letters and the process of spelling words is integral to learning and communicating in a new language. For daily warm-ups, teachers could spend 5 minutes reviewing the ABC song, having a word scramble or review, and choosing students at random to spell familiar words.

A spelling bee is a great way to promote healthy competition and English language learning. Even if it is not possible to send students to a circuit or regional bee, the value of organizing and hosting a spelling bee in your school is not lost. Students will still have the opportunity to participate in a nation-wide movement, and they will gain a wealth of knowledge that they might not receive during daily classes.

Resources and Contacts

•Costa Rica English Spelling Bee website: crenglishspellingbee.wordpress.com

•The website includes the word lists for all grades, the manual, letters to the directors and regional English advisors, permission slip and brochure for parents, time keeper signs, judge’s scorecards, and many other resources.

•Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/crenglishspellingbee

•Peace Corps Volunteer contacts:Lindsay Horne - 8317-4165Dorothea Vieira - 8498 3690Mark Pigott – mcpigott23@gmail.com