ATHS/STS

SPELLING BEE
2014 - 2015

Whats it about?

Our students are non-native English speakers who need

to learn and practise new vocabulary in order to progress
in their studies.

The Spelling Bee is a means to provide that practice,

hopefully in an enjoyable manner. The word lists are
compiled from the English textbook and vocabulary
provided by the cluster subjects departments.

The Spelling Bee offers one of the few occasions when

students from different ATHS/STS campuses can meet.

THE RULES - for staff

There will be two separate competitions for ATHS Grades 9 and

10 plus one for STS Grade 10.

Each campus will hold its class finals between Sunday 22nd
February and Wednesday 25th February 2015. Dates may differ
for STS depending on scheduling.

The campus finals will be held on Thursday 26th February.

New for this year we will be holding a Northern versus Southern

Emirates grand final on Wednesday 11th March 2015.

The inter-campus finals will be held in Dubai on Sunday 1st

March 2015.

THE RULES - for staff

will use the same word lists for the class
Aandll campuses
campus finals. These lists must not be used for
practice sessions.
top three students from each section will compete
The
in the campus final.
top five students from grade 9 and the top five
The
students from grade 10 from each campus will
compete in the inter-campus finals.

THE RULES - for staff

ROUND 1
should pick a number from a hat to decide
Students
the order in which they will spell words).
student will spell one word from the
Each
Round 1 class final list.
the word is spelled incorrectly, the student is
Ifeliminated
from the competition and should sit down.

THE RULES - for staff

ROUND 2
remaining student will spell one word from the
Each
Round 2 Class Final list.
the word is spelled incorrectly, the student is
Ifeliminated
from the competition and should sit down.

THE RULES - for staff

ROUND 3
3 is an open-ended round. All students
Round
remaining in the competition will take turns to spell
words from the Round 3 Class Final spelling list.
a student spells a word incorrectly, they are
Ifeliminated
from the competition.

THE RULES - for staff

WHEN ONLY 2 STUDENTS ARE LEFT IN THE
COMPETITION

The final elimination procedure changes when the contestants are reduced to two. When
one contestant misspells a word, the other contestant will be given the opportunity to
spell that word. If the second contestant spells the word correctly, plus the new word,
then the second contestant will be declared the champion.

In round 3 if one of the last two spellers misses and the other, after correcting the error,
misspells the next word given, the misspelled word will be referred to the first speller. If
the speller then succeeds in correcting the error and correctly spells the next word, that
person will be champion.

If both spellers misspell the same word, both continue. If the round continues with the
final two spellers until the round 3 spelling list is exhausted, both will be declared the
champion.

THE RULES - for staff

CAMPUS FINAL
If possible, there should be four members of staff to
manage the campus final.
Spelling Bee judges:
1 pronouncer to read the words out and keep track of the number of
students remaining in the competition.
1 person with laptop to give meanings and sentence if needed
1 to say if the spelling is correct or not
1 time-keeper

THE RULES - for students

Students MUST KEEP QUIET unless it is their turn to

spell a word.

All students in the class should start by standing. If

they spell a word incorrectly, they should sit down
QUIETLY.

When the pronouncer reads a word, the student

should repeat the word, spell it and then say the whole
word again e.g. bee
b-e-e
bee

THE RULES - for students

Students may ask the pronouncer to repeat the word,

define it or use it in a sentence.

The contestant will say the letters clearly and distinctly

enough for the judges and pronouncer to determine
spelling.

Once he has begun to spell a word, the contestant will

have 30 seconds to finish.

A contestant may request to begin spelling a word

again but will not be allowed to change letters already
pronounced.

Prepared by Margaret Smallpeice, Librarian ATHS Dubai

with grateful thanks to Rehab Rajab, former IAT Instructional
Technology Senior Co-ordinator for creating the original
framework for the IAT Spelling Bee.
October 2014