Spanish Spelling Bee

W.M. Irvin Spanish Spelling Bee annual trophy

A little over a year ago, I came across a twitter post about students participating in a Spanish Spelling Bee in TX. (Go #PLN!!)
I was immediately drawn to the pictures and intrigued for more information. As matter of fact, what really caught my full attention was the number of Hispanic parents who were present to witness the event. 
I started doing a little research and came to find out that the USA actually holds a National Spanish Spelling Bee every year!

Spanish Spelling Bee at W.M. Irvin Elementary

So an idea was born...an Annual Spanish Spelling Bee at W.M. Irvin Elementary school!
I immediately shared the idea with our technology facilitator, Crystal Turney, who was very supportive and joined me plan our very first competition.
We made the announcement and invited all students in grades 3 to 5 to participate. We were very surprised with the response since we had never done it before; students didn't know what to expect but they were curious about it.  

2017 Participants

Our 2017 competition was such a great success that we decided to do it again in 2018! This year, of course, we had a lot more students to participate. We had three rounds of eliminations before getting to the finals. We had 17 students in the finals!!! All students were very well prepared and super excited to participate. 

Process: 

• We make the announcement about six weeks before the date of the competition.
• Students who are interested receive the list of words (see below) an average of 80-100 words chosen from the National Spelling Bee list. They also receive the rules to follow the day of the competition.
• Students practice on their own for two weeks. After these two weeks, we assess them to see if they can: 1) say the letters of the alphabet in Spanish; 2) Can they write the given word is Spanish (at least get close enough).
• Students who make it to the competition practice with the moderator for 10-15 every day. Read and spell the words chorally. 
• Depending on the number of students participating we decide how many eliminations to do before the big day...(10-15 students for the competition would do)
• Students who make it to the competition day receive this invitation a couple of weeks before the event. 
• The day of the competition we invite community professionals to serve as judges. We normally have 4-5 judges. 
• Each judge receives the list of words selected for the competition. List 1 and List 2 
• All grade levels are invited to join us and watch the competition.

A fun way to practice the last two weeks leading to the big day is by cutting out all the words in strips and crumble up each word. Students take turns picking out an unknown word and spell it out loud.  
P.S. students are allowed to write the word before spelling it. I provide dry erase boards and markers during practice days. 

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The logistic behind this event is to provide an opportunity for our English learners to demonstrate their language asset. We want our students to know that being bilingual is very important.  
Our greatest joy is watching our students being so proud representing their grade level.
Watch our 2018 competition in the youtube video below.

2018 Spanish Spelling Bee Word List by Emily Francis on Scribd

Local Press appearances

Perez crowned Spanish Spelling Bee winner for second year
Elementary school holds first Spanish Spelling Bee

Thank you for reading!