Dallas County Spelling Bee
As the host for the Dallas County Spelling Bee, Dallas County Schools has been sending Spelling Bee winners to the Dallas Morning News Regional Spelling Bee since 1980. The winner of the Regional Spelling Bee is sent to the Scripps Howard National Bee Championship in Washington, D. C. with an all expense paid trip for
three (3).
At the Dallas County level, two spelling bees are held, one spelling bee for Public/TX Charter Schools and one for Private Schools. Dallas County is the only county in the region permitted to send two representatives to the Regional Bee - one winner from the Public/TX Charter Schools Bee and one winner from the Private Schools Bee.
Dallas County Schools is proud to be involved in the Dallas County Spelling Bee. It is one more area where the agency is Strengthening Education Through Service.
Click to view the 2013 Spelling Bee Parking Map
Who May Enter
The Dallas County Spelling Bee Competitions are open to all 4th - 8th grade students in Dallas County. Advancing contestants and their schools must be pre-registered according to the Dallas Morning News and Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee guidelines. The contestants must compete in their district spelldown, home school association, or private school competitions to be eligible to compete in the Dallas County Spelling Bee. For more information, please contact the Dallas County Spelling Bee Coordinator, Carol Canterbury, at ccanterbury@dcschools.com.
Get On the Inside Track!
Words used in the Dallas County Spelling Bee may be selected from the following:
- Complete set of study words for grades 1 - 8
- 2013 Spell It! Available at www.myspellit.com
- Merriam-Webster's A Dictionary of Prefixes, Suffixes, and Combining Forms
- Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, Copyright 2002, Merriam Webster Inc., and its Addenda Section
Pronouncer Guides
The following pronouncer guides can be found online at www.spellingbee.com. You will need to use your password and user name to login.
RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS
1. Great American SpellCheck grade-specific word lists Grades 1 – 8
2. Great American SpellCheck grade-specific study
3. Current edition of SPELLIT
4. WORD CENTRAL – interactive online tool
5. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 2002, and its addenda section
RESOURCES FOR SPELLING BEE COORDINATORS
1. Classroom Spelldown | -- | SPELLIT and any other student word lists (from Scripps) |
2. Campus Spelldown | -- | CLASSROOM PRONOUNCER GUIDE |
3. District Spelldown | -- | SCHOOL PRONOUNCER GUIDE (from Scripps) |
*County Spelling Bee utilizes the “District” Pronouncer Guide
***IMPORTANT*** THE SCHOOL PRONOUNCER GUIDE IS NOT AVAILABLE TO ANY STUDENTS, THIER PARENTS, EDUCATORS, RELATIVES OR AQUAINTANCES PER SCRIPPS 2013 DICTIONARY.COM.
If your private school is independent of other schools, you will want to use SCHOOL PRONOUNCER GUIDE to determine the winner and alternate for the COUNTY BEE.
HOT TOPICS AND DEADLINES
After registering, all questions are to be directed to Dallas County Schools, not Scripps or the Dallas Morning News. For questions call (214) 944-4505 or fax (214) 944-4594.
The DISTRICT PRONOUNCER GUIDE is used at the County Level. Scripps does not have the same number of tiers Dallas County has. This has created the need for the districts in Dallas County and all private schools to use SPELL-IT or any other word list other than the Guide labeled DISTRICT PRONOUNCER GUIDE.
IMPORTANT DATES & DEADLINES
October 15, 2012 | Deadline for all schools in Dallas County to enroll with Scripps |
January 22, 2013 | Deadline for reporting Winners and Runner-ups to DCS and |
February 19, 2013 | PRIVATE schools County |
February 21, 2013 | PUBLIC/TX CHARTER Schools County Spelling Bee at UTD |
March 22, 2013 | Trophy Presentations at DCS Board of Trustees Meeting |
March 23, 2013 | Dallas Morning News REGIONAL Spelling Bee |
May 26 - June 1, 2013 | National Spelling Bee Week in Washington D.C. |
Dallas County Spelling Bee Champions
The Dallas County Schools Private Schools' and Public/TX Charter Schools' Spelling Bee Champions each receive an engraved Spelling Bee trophy. All participants in the two Dallas County Spelling Bees receive a Certificate of Participation. The champions then advance to the Dallas Morning News Regional Spelling Bee Competition.