The written round at the National Spelling Bee in Washington contains words that run the gamut on difficulty levels from fairly easy to very esoteric. Remember, the written round is the critical round which narrows the field for those advancing to rounds shown on national TV.  The companion booklet that accompanies each volume lists the words in each test, so that a student may study and improve on troublesome words.

Written Round Readiness 1, 2, & 3 - PC Software
Written Round Readiness volumes 1, 2, and 3 are all in a computerized format, much like the format used at the National Spelling Bee prior to 2011.  This software is delivered on CD and can be installed on PC compatible computers.  For this program, each test is 50 words, as were the written round tests in Washington before 2011. 

The format is as follows:

• Each word is pronounced while a screen shows dictionary information.
• Dictionary information includes part(s) of speech, definition, language of origin, and sentence.
• The word may be pronounced again with a click of the mouse.
• A student types in his/her attempt, hits enter, and the program advances to the next word.
• After the test is completed, a grid is shown with all spelled words, language of origin, part of speech, and definition. (NOTE: Changes may be made on this grid before checking the button for the computer to check spellings

Written Round Readiness 4 -  Audio CD  (NEW)
The format of this product matches the format given at the 2011 National Spelling Bee.  Ours is delivered on an audio CD which can be played on your computer or on any device that plays CDs.  At the 2011 National Spelling Bee, the pronouncing was done by Dr. Bailly (the pronouncer for the bee); the words were not recorded.  Similarly, in Written Round Readiness 4, each word is pronounced with part(s) of speech, definition, sentence, and language of origin --- without the help of a computer screen prompt.  This is repeated for each word, and the pronouncer then proceeds to the next word.   At the 2011 National Spelling Bee, the papers were turned in for grading by Scripps' officials.  Following suit, in Written Round Readiness 4, the student writes each word, and answers must be manually corrected.  For 2012, Scripps' has returned to a 50-word test, and they will grade on 25 of the words, but students will not know which 25 until after the results of the written round are announced.

The History of the Written Round at the National Spelling Bee

The National Spelling Bee written round was established in 2002.  For the first few years, Scripps' conducted the written round with a pronouncer speaking each word along with its dictionary information while students were asked to choose the correct spelling from a multiple choice answer sheet.  A few years later, each speller took a 50-word test on a computer with the recorded pronunciation given by the computer while the definition, part of speech, sentence, and language of origin were shown on the screen.  The speller then entered his/her spelling, and after all the words had been spelled, the student could review his spellings and make any changes.   In 2011, the written round changed once again, and the National Spelling Bee did not use recorded words, but instead, a total of 25 words were pronounced by Dr. Bailly and he also verbally gave the dictionary information.  Students manually wrote each word and the papers were turned in for grading. 

What's Next?  Our goal is to offer all 4 Written Round Readiness products in both formats, so that a speller may choose either the installable program or the audio CD.  Over the summer of 2012, we will make these changes for next spelling season.  At that time, we will also review all of the words and their pronunciations to concur with the current approach being taken on words with the d-stop pronunciations.  Historically, these were pronounced either with a 'd' or a 't' sound.  The current pronouncer sticks strictly with what is shown in the dictionary.  For instance, biometer is pronounced only <bii.AHM.uhd.uh>, and the pronunciation with a 't' in the last syllable will not be given as it is not shown specifically in the dictionary.  Pronunciations on WRR 1, 2, and 3 will not necessarily pronounce such words with the d-stop pronunciation.