Levels of Spelling Bees
Spelling bees are useful activities for teaching students how to spell. However, spelling bees also expand beyond the classroom to various higher levels that can allow select students to compete with others across the country. Such an esteemed accomplishment is something that kids can later include on their resumes and personal essays for getting into college preparatory schools or universities.
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Classroom Spelling Bees
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Classroom spelling bees are on the bottom of the spelling bee tier. A classroom spelling bee is usually conducted by the teacher, and the students in the classroom compete against each other to see who can spell the most words correctly. Classroom spelling bees are based on words that the students are given to study according to their grade level.
Grade-Wide Spelling Bees
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A grade-wide spelling bee is a spelling competition between the top spellers of each grade. For instance, one teacher's fifth-grade classroom might have five exceptional spellers, while another teacher's fifth-grade class might also have five top spellers. In this case, the school hosts a spelling bee in which students from the grade's different classrooms compete against one another to determine the best speller of the entire grade. Spelling bees based on grade level or that are schoolwide are usually performed in front of the rest of the students, as well as parents and faculty.
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City, County or State Spelling Bees
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City, county or state spelling bees involve students competing at higher levels that are beyond their schools. A city spelling bee gives spelling champions within the same school district a chance to compete for the city title, which then allows them to advance to the county or state spelling bee event. Winning a county or state spelling bee gives the champion and runners-up a distinguished title, and the opportunity to advance to regional or national championships. City, county and state spelling bees lump together champion spellers of the same age level so that the words to be spelled are fair and appropriate.
Regional and National Spelling Bees
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Regional and national spelling bees are highly advanced competitions in which champion spellers from across the country are gathered together to spell comprehensive words that are no longer within the comfort zone of the students' grade level. According to the Scripps National Spelling Bee website, students competing in the regional or national level events should focus on spelling words that are appropriate for up to the eighth grade, as well as more advanced words from the dictionary.
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References
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