Here's all you need to know!
Round 1
When: Dec 12, 2023
Where: Individual Classrooms
Details: A list of 50 words will be provided to the students by the individual classroom teachers. A written test will be conducted by the respective classroom teachers on Dec 12th. The words will be from the list provided. For students in K-2, this will be the only round as only Grade 3, 4 and 5 students will compete for further rounds. Students with a perfect score from Grade 3, 4 and 5 will qualify for the 2nd round.
Round 2
When: TBD (Target Jan 2nd week)
Where: TBD
Details: Only the qualifying students with a perfect score from Grade 3, 4 and 5, will be receiving a list of 450 words. This round will take place in the span of 3 days(1 day for each grade). It will be in the same format as the actual Spelling Bee. Students will be assigned numbers, there will be a pronouncer who will read the words for the students to spell. The students will be scored and the round will continue until there are only 4 students from each grade.
Round 3
When: Feb 15h, 3:30 pm
Where: Main Gym
Details: Qualifying students from round 2 will receive a list of 4000 words. These students will compete to be the 2 finalists that will represent Riker Hill Elementary at Essex County Bee where any word in the dictionary can be used. The Essex County Bee is usually scheduled sometime at the end of March.
Here are the timelines for the competition:
3:30 pm - Arrival and check in
3:40 pm - Welcome and general rules announcement
3:50 pm - Begin the spelling round
4:50 pm - If we are unable to identify 2 Champions, we will conduct the written round(s). The words for the written round can be any word from the dictionary chosen by our Judges and/or Pronouncer.
5:30 pm - Declare the champions and conclude the competition.
Helpful guidelines to be followed during the competition:
1. Everyone is welcome to the event, however because of the nature of the competition, we would request you to refrain from bringing the little ones at the event. We would like to avoid any appeals because of external interference.
2. We request you to kindly remind your kids to use the bathroom before the competition begins as once we start the spelling round it will be continuous until 4:50 pm.
3. Spellers are expected to make an effort to face the judges and pronounce the word before spelling it and after spelling it to avoid any confusion. The pace and enunciation of the word is of utmost importance. Each letter should be pronounced distinctly and sufficiently loud for the judges to avoid confusion.
4. Spellers may ask the pronouncer to repeat the word, ask questions like definition, root, use in a sentence or any other question that would help them understand the word being asked. Please do keep in mind once they begin spelling the given word they cannot retract or restart the word, neither can they ask any questions.
5. Spellers will be alloted 60 secs for spelling the word. The timer will begin only after the speller spells the 1st letter. The time spent in asking any questions prior to beginning the spelling will not be counted towards the 60 seconds.
6. Spellers do not need to provide capitalization or any other special characters or punctuation or spacing in the word.
7. If a speller provides a wrong spelling they are immediately out of that round.
8. Spellers have the opportunity to appeal if they feel there was an error in the judgement. They can raise their hand before they leave their position on the stage. The judges and the committee will take every effort to hear the recording of the word and either retract the decision or stay put with their decision. The Judge's decision will be final.
9. Towards the end if/when there are 3 spellers left and during that round if more than 1 of the spellers provided a wrong answer, then all 3 spellers get a chance again.
10. If there are 3 spellers and only 1 of them answers incorrectly then the remaining two proceed to the next round. In that next round if both of them answer correctly then they will be declared School Champions. However if one of them failed to answer correctly then the previously disqualified 3rd student gets back in and a new round starts with all the 3 spellers participating again.
11. By 4:50 pm, if we are unable to find the 2 champions we will be conducting the written round(s).
12. As with any competition, we cannot accommodate any absences for any reason and an absence would mean immediate forfeiture.
On the day of the competition:
1. The Final round will take place in the Main Gym and arrival time is 3:30 pm.
2. If your child is a busser please either arrange pick up or you can let us know and we will ensure that the child stays back at school where one of the committee members will be there.
3. If your child is going to stay back at the school irrespective of the mode of dismissal please let us know so we can gather everyone in the same room. Also, if you can provide a small snack so they do not get hungry until the end of the competition.
4. Please update genesis.
If you have any further questions please feel free to reach out to our chairs.
Architha - architha.s@gmail.com
Inna - inna1982@msn.com
Shruti - virvalsanschool@gmail.com
