Spelling Bee Championship Academic Year 2024 – 2025 “Spelling the Past, Mapping the Future”

Goals & Objectives

The Pennsylvania American International School System (PennSchool) is organizing the Spelling Bee Competition for the academic year 2024 – 2025 with the theme “Spelling the Past, Mapping the Future” to provide students with a valuable platform to enhance their listening, comprehension, and spelling skills and improve their memory and vocabulary in English.

Participants

All students from Grades 1 to 8.

Agenda

Competition Rules

There are 3 official rounds as follows:

Class Level Round – Beginner Buzz 

• Date: September 30 – October 4, 2024
• Location: Classroom
• Review materials:
  • Grades 1 – 5: Here
  • Grades 6 – 8: Here

In Round 1 – Beginner Buzz, each contestant will be provided with a whiteboard and a marker. The Pronouncer will give the word and repeat it 3 times. Contestants must write the correct spelling of the word within 30 seconds without asking for the word’s meaning. After 30 seconds, contestants will raise their boards to show their answers. Contestants who provide incorrect answers or have no answers will be eliminated. If none of the contestants answer correctly, the Pronouncer will provide the word’s definition. The round will continue until the 5 best contestants from each class are selected and enter to Round 2 (Grade Level) – World Whiz Challenge.

Grade Level Round – World Whiz Challenge 

• Time: Tentatively scheduled for October 21 – October 25, 2024.

• Location: Auditorium at the 10 Ba Thang Hai Campus or Auditorium at the 240 Tran Binh Trong Campus.

Contestants will compete in groups of 3 or 5 students per round, according to their grade level. In each round, contestants will spell 5 words. The Pronouncer will give the word, and contestants must listen and respond using the following format: say the word – and spell it (e.g., “PEN – P-E-N”).

For each word, contestants have 60 seconds to think. After the time is up, they must quickly press the buzzer to gain the right to answer.

During the first 30 seconds, contestants may use the following lifelines if they cannot answer yet:

• Repeat: The contestant can ask the teacher to repeat the word once more.
• Definition: The contestant can ask for the word’s definition.
• Read a sentence: The contestant can request the teacher to use the word in a sentence.
• Parts of speech: The contestant can ask the teacher to identify the word’s part of speech.

If a contestant presses the buzzer and answers incorrectly, the remaining contestants have the chance to press the buzzer and attempt to answer. Each correct answer earns 1 point. The top 5 contestants with the highest scores will move on to the school-wide Final Round. However, if enough contestants are not selected for the Final Round, those who have not yet answered correctly will have another chance to compete in Round 2.

Final Round – Spellmaster Finale 

• Time: Tentatively scheduled for November 4 – November 8, 2024.

• Location: Auditorium at the 10 Ba Thang Hai Campus or Auditorium at the 240 Tran Binh Trong Campus.

Contestants participating in the Final Round will compete in a knockout format by grade until a final winner is determined. In this round, each grade will have 5 contestants. Each contestant will spell 5 words provided by the Judges and must respond using the format: say the word – spell it – read the answer within 60 seconds per word (e.g., “PEN – P-E-N – PEN”). Each correct answer will earn the contestant an additional point.

During the competition, contestants are allowed to raise a board that says “repeat please” to request the judges to repeat the word once more, but they will not be permitted to ask for definitions or examples of the word in a sentence. This opportunity is still counted within the 60-second countdown.

If multiple contestants have the highest score, the judges will organize a tiebreaker round to determine the winner. In the case of two or more contestants with the same score, the judges will consider the following factors to decide:

• Time taken to complete the rounds.
• Difficulty of the words that the contestant spelled correctly.
• Confidence and demeanor of the contestant.