SPELLING BEE MOROCCO

Instructions and Best Practices for Judges

The Judging Team (Jurors)

There are 4 types of judges for a spelling bee.

 Pronouncer
 Scorekeeper
 Timer
 Judge at Large
These four types of judges work as a team, with the Pronouncer, setting the tone and speaking for
the group. Decisions on challenges or disqualifications should always be made in conference
before a decision is announced. In small, less formal competitions, such as the classroom, some of
the judges' functions may be handled by one person.

In general, the responsibility of the judges is to ensure that

 The competition proceeds according to the rules
 That the information used is accurate (to the degree that can be determined)
 That contestants are treated respectfully and that none are advantaged or disadvantaged
 That disputes are resolved promptly, according to the rules and, if no rule applies, made
with common sense

The judges should keep in mind that the contestants, especially at the beginning, may be nervous.
In general the competition should proceed in an efficient, dignified, and friendly manner. Any
attempts to assist spellers must be stopped. In some cases that could result in the speller being
disqualified. By the same token, judges should be on the lookout for situations or attempts to
upset individual spellers.

Pronouncer
 The pronouncer should obtain the word list ahead of time and review all of the words to make
sure he or she knows them and how to pronounce them.
 Prior to the start of the bee, the pronouncer should let the audience know which type of bee is
being held and make sure the contestants are ready. If demonstration words will precede the
actual competition, that should be made clear to both audience and spellers.
 Begin your spelling bee with the Demonstration words to make sure the participants know
exactly how the competition will proceed and to give the audience an idea of how the process
works.
 All spelling bees, no matter at which level, should begin with words that most of the spellers
should know. As organizer of the bee, you want to give students some chance to succeed – so
start easy. But the object is eventually to eliminate all spellers/teams but one – so you have to
increase difficulty gradually.
 The pronouncer should use his judgment as to when to move to more difficult words. If you go
a round or two with few spellers misspelling, you should move to the next level. You should
change levels only at the end of a roundr
 As you give words to the competitors, check them off in the margin so that you do not repeat
words and know which ones are still available.
 Give the words in order in each section.
 You do not need to give every word at each level.
 The spelling bee should proceed in rounds. That is, all the spellers still in contention receive
one word. The pronouncer should note the end of each round. That will provide an
opportunity to identify teams with 2 misses (in the case of a team bee) or in the solo bee to
keep things calm and remind spellers and the audience of the special rules that apply once the
spellers are reduced to two or three.
 These should be an ample number of words to proceed to a single champion, but if you should
exhaust all the words on the list with more than one speller remaining, declare them co-
champions.

Best Practices for Pronouncers

 Pronouncers should try to keep spellers at ease. He/she may speak in a friendly way to spellers,
though no favoritism should be shown.
 Words should be pronounced distinctly but naturally, then repeated. (For example, words that
contain a schwa should not be overpronounced so as to indicate the character of the written
vowel)
 The normal script would be: "Your word is elbow. Elbow."
 In the case of homonyms, the pronouncer must also inform the speller (it is not up to the
speller to ask).
 The normal script would be: "Your word is guest. This word has a homonym. The definition
of the word we want is 'a visitor to your home.' Guest."
 The pronouncer should NOT provide information that is not in the dictionary of record. For
example, the Macmillan Dictionary for Advanced Learners does not supply information about
etymology. Sometimes, however, spellers will ask if the word is of French or German (or
whatever) origin, or about the meaning of a root. Even if the pronouncer knows the answer,
he/she should say, "I'm sorry, I cannot give you that information. You may only ask for
pronunciation, part of speech, definition or use in a sentence." The reasons for this are
 Equitable treatment. A pronouncer might know the answer to one speller's question but
not another's.
 Accuracy. The pronouncer may be mistaken. The information given must be verifiable by
checking the dictionary of record.
 When a speller asks for additional information, the pronouncer should provide all that is
allowed (repetition, pronunciation, part of speech, definition, example sentence). It is up to the
pronouncer to decide when he has repeated the information often enough and tell the speller
to proceed. All conestants should be treated comparably in this regard.
 When a speller finishes spelling a word, the pronouncer should give a quick visual check with
the other judges before saying "that is correct," or "Sorry, the correct spelling is _______."
 If there is any doubt, about the way the word has been spelled, there could be a conference
to discuss it. This should be infrequent.
 It is possible to ask the speller to respell a word, but this creates problems of its own
because the speller may think he has misspelled, or some audience member may
have winced (correctly or incorrectly) at the spelling.
 When the speller finishes spelling, it is easy to tell when they are done if they repeat the word.
If they do not, it is up to the pronouncer to decide how and when to decide that the speller is
finished. If, for example, the speller does not repeat the word, but there is a longer pause, the
pronouncer might ask, "Have you finished?"
 The pronouncer (and other judges) should listen carefully to the way the speller pronounces
 the word (if they do). If it sounds as if the speller has mispronounced it, the pronouncer should
intervene. For example:
 The word is guest. It sounds as if the speller has said guess. The pronouncer says, "Would
you repeat the word, please?" If the speller again says, "guess," the pronouncer would say,
'No, the word is guest.' Of course, the pronuncer must pronounce the "t" naturally, not
emphasizing it so much as to constitute coaching the speller.
 This kind of intervention can only go so far. If the speller persists in mispronouncing, the
pronouncer must allow him or to proceed with the spelling.
 Intervention by other judges
 If other judges detect a problem (such cheating or inteference of some sort by an audience
member), he/or she should get the pronouncers attention immediately, to pause the
proceeding, then go to the pronouncer and privately explain the situation. If necessary,
there will be a conference to determine what action to take.
 If other judges believe there has been a serious mispronunciation or other action on the
part of the pronouncer that disadvantages the speller, he/she should get the pronouncer's
attention immediately, then go to the pronouncer and privately explain the situation. Again,
there will be a discussion and decision about the proper remedial action, if any, to take.

Scorer
 The scorer must keep track each person or team's performance and make clear when they
have misspelled a word so that they will drop from the competition. The score sheets provide a
mechanism for doing that.
 He/she should also keep track of rounds and notify the pronouncer at the end of each round.
 In the team bee, the scorer should let the pronouncer know of any teams that now have 2
misses or any that were eliminated in that round.
 In the solo bee, the scorer should let the pronouncer know which round has just ended (#5,
for example), which spellers were eliminated, and, as it gets down toward the end, which
ones remain so that the judging team (and contestants) will be ready for the special end-of-
solo-bee rules
 The scorer should also let the pronouncer know if there will need to be any spell-offs to
determine order of finish (for example if three teams are tied for 3rd place). The
pronouncer would announce that and say that those teams/individuals will return for the
spell-off once a champion is determined
 At the end of the competition, the scorer must mark the score sheets to clearly indicate the
place of finish through the level of awards.
 As the other judges, the scorer should listen for the spelling and make sure he/she agrees with
the determination of the others.

Timekeeper
 The timekeeper is especially busy during Team Bees. In that bee, the time keeper
 Starts the clock when the pronouncer is finished giving the word for that round. The time
allowed is usually 30 seconds
 Announces "5 seconds" when five seconds remain in the allowed time.
 Calls "time" or rings a bell when time has expired.
 The timekeeper must coordinate with the pronouncer to make sure that adequate time has
been given to present the word and for teams to produce the spelling.
 In solo bees, the timekeeper is called into play if the pronouncer has decided to put a time limit
on a speller who is dawdling. For example, if the speller fails to begin spelling, or to finish
 spelling, the pronouncer may say, "________, you must begin spelling." After a warning, the
pronouncer may say, "__________, you have one minute to complete the spelling." At such a
point, the timekeeper must begin the timing. Again, the timekeeper should announce when 5
seconds remain.
 In solo bees, if no time limit has been set, the timekeeper simply functions as an "Other Judge"
(see below).

Other Judges
It is useful to have other judges who can do the following:
 In solo bees, keep the line moving and usher the next spellers into position.
 Make sure that spellers stay in their spelling order
 Hold the line at the end of each round until the pronouncer has made the end of round
announcement.
 Make sure that eliminated spellers/teams, leave the stage (or whatever other action has been
determined for them) at the appropriate time
 Watch for infractions among the spellers (using aids)
 Watch the audience for improper behavior that might help or hinder the spellers
 Listen to the pronouncer. If there is a serious question about the pronunciation of a word,
judges should notify the pronouncer about concerns (tactfully - the procedure for this should
be worked out prior to the bee).
 Take part in discussions/decisions relating to challenges or procedural questions.