A spelling bee is a competition where contestants, usually children, are asked to spell English words. The practice originated in the United States and has since spread to elsewhere in the English-speaking world.
The earliest evidence of the phrase "spelling bee" in print dates back to 1825, although the contests had apparently been held before that year. A key impetus for the contests was Noah Webster's spelling books. First published in 1786 and known colloquially as "The Blue-backed Speller", Webster's spelling books were an essential part of the curriculum of all elementary school children in the United States for five generations.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee was initiated in 1925 as the National Spelling Bee by the Louisville, Kentucky Courier-Journal. In 1941, the Scripps Howard News Service acquired sponsorship of the program.
The Spelling Bee of Canada started with a local contest in 1987 in Toronto, Canada. In 1996, contestants were accepted from other provinces.
The basic rule of spelling a word in the competition is that once the contestant has started to spell a word, he may start over, but the letter or sequence of letters already spoken may not be changed. Failure to spell a word correctly disqualifies a contestant, who is removed from the competition. The competition is conducted in rounds until only one contestant remains.
The study of root words and etymologies is especially common among participants at the National Spelling Bee, who use their knowledge of foreign language influences on English words to spell challenging words correctly. Also, spellers study words used in previous bees.
In the United States, spelling bees are annually held from local levels up to the level of the Scripps National Spelling Bee which awards a cash prize to the winner. The National Spelling Bee is sponsored by English-language newspapers and educational foundations; it is also broadcast on ESPN. In 2006, the National Spelling Bee's championship rounds will be broadcast on ABC live. In 2005, contestants came from the Bahamas, Jamaica, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Canada, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, and a German military base, as well as the United States. This was the first year that spellers from Canada and New Zealand attended the competition.
This kind of competition is depicted in the 2002 Academy Award-nominated documentary, Spellbound. Fictional works about spelling bees include the 2001 novel Bee Season, Akeelah and the Bee and the 2005 musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. It was also depicted in episode 12 of season 14 in the Simpsons (I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can).
The etymology of the word "bee" is unclear. Historically, it has described a social congregation where a specific action is being carried out, like a husking bee, or an apple bee.
The earliest evidence of the phrase "spelling bee" in print dates back to 1825, although the contests had apparently been held before that year. A key impetus for the contests was Noah Webster's spelling books. First published in 1786 and known colloquially as "The Blue-backed Speller", Webster's spelling books were an essential part of the curriculum of all elementary school children in the United States for five generations.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee was initiated in 1925 as the National Spelling Bee by the Louisville, Kentucky Courier-Journal. In 1941, the Scripps Howard News Service acquired sponsorship of the program.
The Spelling Bee of Canada started with a local contest in 1987 in Toronto, Canada. In 1996, contestants were accepted from other provinces.
The basic rule of spelling a word in the competition is that once the contestant has started to spell a word, he may start over, but the letter or sequence of letters already spoken may not be changed. Failure to spell a word correctly disqualifies a contestant, who is removed from the competition. The competition is conducted in rounds until only one contestant remains.
The study of root words and etymologies is especially common among participants at the National Spelling Bee, who use their knowledge of foreign language influences on English words to spell challenging words correctly. Also, spellers study words used in previous bees.
In the United States, spelling bees are annually held from local levels up to the level of the Scripps National Spelling Bee which awards a cash prize to the winner. The National Spelling Bee is sponsored by English-language newspapers and educational foundations; it is also broadcast on ESPN. In 2006, the National Spelling Bee's championship rounds will be broadcast on ABC live. In 2005, contestants came from the Bahamas, Jamaica, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Canada, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, and a German military base, as well as the United States. This was the first year that spellers from Canada and New Zealand attended the competition.
This kind of competition is depicted in the 2002 Academy Award-nominated documentary, Spellbound. Fictional works about spelling bees include the 2001 novel Bee Season, Akeelah and the Bee and the 2005 musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. It was also depicted in episode 12 of season 14 in the Simpsons (I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can).
The etymology of the word "bee" is unclear. Historically, it has described a social congregation where a specific action is being carried out, like a husking bee, or an apple bee.
