NWACHEA

Parents, please CAREFULLY READ the deadlines and requirements for this event. There is a great deal of advance preparation for the spelling bee, and these are necessary to save our (volunteer!) coordinators extra work and confusion at the last minute. Thank you for understanding. Please contact Marni Hendrix with any questions.

DATE AND TIME OF K-3rd BEE:  Friday, January 11, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. at Grace Church in Fayetteville (located on the east side of Crossover, between the Old Wire and Township stoplights)

DEADLINE TO SIGN UP:  Friday, January 4

To register, please send child’s name and grade level, as well as a contact phone number, to Marni Hendrix.  You may also call her at 479-444-6405 to register.

Entry is free for current members of any NWACHEA branch. For non-members, there is a registration fee of $5 per child. The fee must be received by January 4 to secure a spot in the bee, and is non-refundable if the student is unable to participate for some reason. Please make checks payable to ‘NWACHEA’ and contact Marni for the mailing address; DO NOT mail your check to the addresses on any NWACHEA membership application.

FORMAT FOR THE K-3rd BEE:  Rather than have a child get “out” when they miss a word, each child is given a total of 10 words to spell. The kindergarteners will be tested by themselves as a group, then the first graders, etc. Each child takes a turn spelling one word, going through all the kids in the group ten times. At the end, the child in each grade level that has spelled the most correct out of the 10 words wins for that grade level.

There will be no microphone. Students will sit in a row of chairs at the front, facing the audience, and each child will stand when it is his turn to spell, then sit back down.

When a student registers for the bee, Marni will provide lists of the same words that will be given in each grade level, for the kids to practice at home. Unknown (unpracticed) words will be given in the bee to break a tie, and/or if the judge runs out of words.

Other things to practice with students before the bee:  When it is their turn, they should say the word, then spell the word, then say the word again to end their turn. They don’t HAVE to say the word at the beginning and end, but it is a very helpful signal to the judge to know they are done and is also good practice for the older bee protocol. If it is hard for them to juggle this protocol, then just have them say the letters only.

Students should THINK before they speak, rather than think with their mouth, because the judge will not allow responses such as:  “number. n, n, n, n….u, m, b, e, r. number” or “number. n, u, n, I mean m, b, e r. number” or “n, u, m….number, n, u, m, b, e, r, number” or “n, u, can I start over?” Once it comes out of their mouth, that’s their literal spelling of that word. Please understand, parents – this all sounds quite strict for young students, but once we allow exceptions and second-chances, it becomes unfair very quickly.