Spellin bee rules

Spelling Bee Competition Rules

·  The competition will be oral; contestants must spell the words orally and pronounce them accurately.

·  The use of pens and/or pencils and paper will not be allowed.

·  There will be three judges. The role of the judges is to determine whether a contestant has spelled a word correctly.

·  There will be one pronouncer who will call out the word to be spelled out by the contestant.

·   The competition will be in 3 rounds.  ( If situation demands, there can be 4 rounds)

·  1^st  and 2^nd round will be –a Picking Up Round where a contestant will have to pick up a number and say it aloud.

·  The pronouncer will call out the word to be spelled by the speller accordingly.

·  The speller may ask the pronounce to repeat the word. 

·  After the pronouncer gives the speller a word, the speller has to pronounce the word before spelling it and after spelling it. If the speller mispronounces a word, she will be eliminated from the contest.

·  Once a contestant has begun to spell a word, she may not ask for a word to be re-pronounced.

·  Having started to spell a word, a speller may stop and begin again, retracing the spelling from the beginning.  However, in retracing , there can be no change of letters or their sequence from the first stated.  If letters or their sequence is changed in the respelling, then the speller will be eliminated.

·    The judges may disqualify any contestant who ignores a request to start spelling her word within a reasonable length of time (10 seconds) or if her spelling is not audible.

·  Upon missing the spelling of a word, the contest immediately drops out of the competition, except the Tie Round where the chance is given to the next speller.

·  The third round will be a Time Limit Round, where the speller will have to spell as many words as possible within the time limit of 1minute/60 secs.

·  In the 4^th round, Tie Round, the elimination procedure changes as the number of contestant is reduced to two. A new list of words will be introduced. These words are not form the primary list.  They are from the students books.

·  At this round, when one contestant misspells a word, the other contest will be given the opportunity to spell the same word.  If the second contestant spells the words correctly, plus the next word in the list, then she will be declared Champion.  If the contestant misspells that word, then both spellers continue in the contest.

Officials at the Competition.        

Role of the Pronouncer

1.       Calls  the words to be spelled correctly

2.      Indicates the time for the timekeeper to begin timing the contestant

3.      Must be well versed in oral English

4.     Must be capable of proper pronunciation of words with correct diction

Role of the Timekeeper

1.      Must possess a stopwatch so as to ascertain the time correctly

2.     Must have an instrument to indicate the passage of time. A bell/gong is preferable

3.      Indicates by the strike of the bell if the contestant exceeds the given time giving a warning strike first at 30 seconds then a final strike at 60 seconds.

Role of the Judges

1.     Must be well versed in oral English.

2.     Diligently monitor the contestants and audience for malpractice.

3.     Can recall words and ask for other words to be spelt.

4.     Have the ability to disqualify contestants.

5.     Play the role of an arbiter between the Spelling Marshal and the Speller.

Role of the Spelling Monitors

1.     They write down the words the contestants spell as they pronounce them.

2.     They help to monitor the contestants and the audience.