Speaking Activities for the Classroom - NoblePath

ELT Spelling Bee
There are three variations of this game, each a little more and complicated,
confusing and harder to accomplish than the than the one before.
First, there is the conventional spelling bee in which everyone stands in a circle
and everyone is given a word to spell by the teacher or class leader. Anyone
who spells the word wrong has to sit down, and the next one tries, and the next
one until there is only one person standing who is applauded as the winner.
Second, students are given words to by their leader, with everyone standing in a
circle, with each student saying only one of the letters at a time, going around,
one-by-one, letter-by-letter, until one student spells a wrong letter and has to sit
down. Every time a word is finished, a new one is introduced into the round,
going round, word-by-word, letter-by-letter, until only one person is left.
Third, put the students in two lines standing opposite one another, each with
his/her own list of chosen words to spell out to the other. The first student
spells a word quickly and the student opposite must listen, hear and pronounce
that word without any hesitation in order to remain standing. The second
student then in turn spells his/her word to the other who must say it perfectly
and quickly to remain standing, and so on and so on, down the line and back
again, until there is only one remaining in the upright position, who is the
winner.
The words should be chosen appropriate to the level of the group, but if the
group is higher intermediate, perhaps some of the following words may serve
as models. If these words are too hard choose easier ones from the dictionary.
bureau, attorney, paralyzed, convalescent,
sheriff, syringe, hallucinate, censor,
mayhem, Wisconsin, Massachusetts,
expectorate, apologize, acquittal, mayor,
endearing, terrestrial, satellite, mural,
curriculum, peculiar, chimney, separate,
reprisals, inundate, prioritize, celluloid,
bombastic, immemorial, predestination,
ocular, juggler, residual, resin, pedantic,
jurisprudence, marital, martial, anorexia,
plethora, plebian, criticize, license,
bigotry, vacillate, prestige, cosmic.
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