SpellingBeeRevisedRulesandGuidelines - Al-Ghazaly School

Spelling Bee Rules and Guidelines:All words on Al-Ghazaly Elementary Spelling Bee word lists are entries inWebster’s Third New International DictionaryEach speller in the spelling bee spells one word in each roundContestants should: Say the word- Spell the word- Say the wordContestants should say the letters clearly and slowly(Take Your Time)Once a contestant begins spelling a word, she/he may not ask for a word tobe re-pronounced, defined or used in a sentence. Also, having started tospell a word, a contestant will not be given any opportunity to change lettersalready pronounced. A speller may retrace provided that the letters andtheir sequence are not changed in retracing.Contestants have 45 seconds from hearing the word, or its explanation, tospell the word.Pronouncer’s role: The pronouncer strives to pronounce words according tothe pronunciation guide in the Webster’s Third New International DictionaryHomonyms: If a word has one or more homonyms, the pronouncer indicateswhich word is to be spelled by defining the word.Speller’s requests: The pronouncer responds to the speller’s requests for adefinition, sentence, part of speech, language(s) of origin, and alternatepronunciation(s). When presented with requests for alternatepronunciations, the pronouncer or an aide to the pronouncer checks foralternate pronunciations in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary.Judges’ role: The judges uphold the rules and determine whether or notwords are spelled correctly. They are in complete control of the competition,and their decision is final on all questions. Interaction with the speller:Because seeing the speller’s lip movements may be critical in detectingmisunderstandings or misspellings, the judges encourage spellers to facethem when pronouncing and spelling the word.Notice of rules: The judges ensure that all spellers and audience membersare given an opportunity to receive a complete copy of the rules prior to thestart of the spelling bee.

Misunderstandings: The judges participate in the exchange of informationbetween the speller and pronouncer if they feel that clarification is needed.Also, the judges listen carefully to the speller’s pronunciation of the word;and, if they sense that the speller has misunderstood the word, the judgeswork with the speller and pronouncer until they are satisfied that reasonableattempts have been made to assist the speller in understanding the word.While the judges are responsible for attempting to detect a speller’smisunderstanding, it is sometimes impossible to detect a misunderstandinguntil a spelling error has been made. The judges are not responsible for thespeller’s misunderstanding.The pronouncer will give the speller a word. If they spell it correctly, theygo to the back of the line, and continue in the contest. If they spell itincorrectly, they are out.The pronouncer does not give the same word to the next speller. Thepronouncer should move down the list. When the number of spellers isreduced to two, the elimination procedure changes. At that point, when onespeller misspells a word, the other speller shall be given an opportunity tospell that same word. If the second speller spells that word correctly,then the second speller shall be declared the champion.If both spellers misspell the same word, both shall continue in thecontest and the one who first misspelled the word shall be given a new wordto spell.