Spelling Bee Rules

IES EL FONTANAL- April 16, 2008

1. The pronouncer should make every effort to pronounce the word properly.

2. In competition, after the pronouncer gives the speller a word;

• the speller is encouraged to pronounce the word before and after spelling it,

• the judges may not disqualify a speller for not pronouncing the word before
or after spelling it.

3. The speller may ask the pronouncer to say the word again.

4. The judges will disqualify any speller who ignores a request to start spelling.

5. The judges will disqualify any speller for asking a question.

6. The role of the judges is to determine if the speller has correctly spelled the word.

7. The role of the speller is to spell the word correctly.

8. Having started to spell a word, a speller may stop and start over

9. The speller must use capital letter when necessary. Example: if the word to be
spell is February the speller must begging to spell the word by saying “capital F”
then he or she will continue spelling the word.

10. The competition should be conducted in rounds. A speller MUST spell his or her
word correctly in each round to advance to the next round of the
competition.

11. The speller will have 15 seconds to spell the word. If the speller hasn’t spelled
the word in 15 seconds he or she will be disqualified from the competition.

12. The speller will be immediately eliminated from the competition if he or she
misspells a word.

13. When there are two spellers left in the competition, in order to win the
speller must:

• When the first speller misspells a word, then the second speller will have to
spell that same word and the next word in the list correctly in order to be the
winner.

• If the second speller spells correctly the misspelled word but not the next
one on the list, then the first speller will have to spell that word and the next
word on the list correctly in order to be the winner.
 • This will continue until either of the spellers is able to spell the misspelled
word and the next on the list correctly.

14. The judges are in complete control of the competition. Their decision shall be
final.

Good luck to everyone! 