2024-25 Spelling Bee News

The Daily Star has renewed its commitment to support the program. The newspaper covers the registration for our region to compete at the regional level and for the champion to compete at the national level and also covers the cost of lodging for the speller and family.

DCMO BOCES raises funds to cover a stipend for transportation, meals, and some expenses for the speller. They also offset the cost of refreshments for family and friends to join the spellers at the competition event. The public is invited to watch the competition. Family and friends are encouraged to participate in the event to cheer and support the participants.

Daily Star Managing Director Valerie Secor said the paper looks forward to the spelling bee every year. The support from the Daily Star makes this program possible for all the region's schools.

Take your students from the classroom to a special enrichment education experience. Spelling Bee is much more than memorizing words. It is an opportunity to increase reading, writing, and public presentation skills.

The registration fee of $180. gives schools materials to prepare for the school competition and allows the school champion to compete at regional and national level events.

Many of you have already registered for your school. The registration fee allows your school to compete at the regional and national competitions.

Registration is done online at the National Spelling Bee website.

ENROLL NOW!

Mark your calendar for these dates:

October 2024 - ENROLLMENT WITH NATIONAL SPELLING BEE

January 14, 2025 - LAST DAY TO HOLD SCHOOL COMPETITIONS

January 17, 2025 - LAST DAY TO REGISTER YOUR SCHOOL CHAMPION

Saturday February 8, 2025 - REGIONAL SPELLING BEE COMPETITION

DCMO BOCES will be releasing a social media campaign to help schools recruit spellers. Many schools are conducting movie days, games, and mock competitions. These are great activities to increase interest in participating in the program. The goal is to get students to read more, write, and comprehend vocabulary through fun activities. Do you want to do something fun? Feel free to check the links and resources listed on this page.

Below are also links to download the practice words or request additional supplies or resources. Please feel free to ask for any support you need.

Students have a new way to study by downloading Word Club for free in the App Store or Google Play Store. Choose from five spelling play modes and three vocabulary play modes. Track your progress as you conquer the School Spelling Bee Study List and Words of the Champions, the recommended study resource for classroom, school, regional qualifier and regional spelling bees!

1. Hold a "Mock Competition" at the Library Every Week and ask students to bring a list of new words and serve as the pronouncer and judges (guess what, the students will be learning vocabulary without thinking about it and will also help the champions prepare)

2. Invite teachers to a school assembly for a "Celebrity Teacher Bee" Ask the Champions to play the role of a pronouncer and a judge (The champions will have to study the words so that the remember the definition and the spelling)

3. Challenge the champions to a classroom "Word Duel" Ask them to spell as fast as possible as many words and have the students keep track of the spelling on a chart to determine who spelled the most words correctly (OMG! it gets the whole class practicing their spelling!)

Your help can make a difference. Please schedule time for the Champions to watch this movie at school. This movie showcases what happens at a formal competition. It will help them relax about the process and have better chances to compete at the Regional Spelling Bee when we have to follow all the national rules.

Important:

THIS LINK TAKES YOU TO FREE VIEWING ONLINE

If your School Blocks this movie, we have the DVD to lend

REQUEST DVD NOW

If your school participates in the SWANK library system, search for this movie on your system for student viewing.

Try this new twist on the traditional classroom spelling bee game. Students will be rooting for their teammates as they inch their way forward to victory. Your students are sure to love it!

CLICK TO VISIT SITE

The functional anagram solver decodes your words whenever and wherever you need anagram help. Our anagram generator finds different letter combinations, forms words and categorizes the results by word length. Use our free anagram generator to find the best solutions in your favorite word games, like Scrabble or WWF.

This excellent library is free and sends emails to students with the reading selections. We all know that the best way to improve spelling is by reading and comprehension. This library is free and the service is provided by the SCRIPPS National Spelling Bee organization.

This app is excellent for a Bee Club activity. Offers the first 50 words for free and students can compete with this resource and then compare scores to determine the app champion. We have used it and it is fun to use. Parents can purchase additional subscription for their children to study beyond the first complimentary words.

With a games subscription of only $5. a month, students can benefit from this daily game and have access to more then 10,000 crosswords and more. It is very interactive and fun. The complimentary resource can be accessed daily at this link:

https://www.nytimes.com/puzzles/spelling-bee

As educators, the main goal of this program is to strengthen student's use of vocabulary, encourage reading and writing and most importantly fostering activities that increase comprehension. The movie above touches on the subject of using etymology (share this video in the classroom and watch student's reaction) as a studying tool.

Martha Ryan

Email: ryanm@dcmoboces.com
Location: 6678 County Road 32, Norwich, NY, USA
Phone: 607-335-1292