Make way for the upcoming National Spelling Bee Contest in May! There are many online resource sites that can be used to study for spelling bees. The following resources can be used to help your little (and big) busy bee students become A number 1 spellers (even if they are not officially enrolled for the National Spelling Bee)…

The set of activities found on Interactives Spelling Bee are similar in nature to the old spelling bees of years gone by. Students in grade 1-8 listen to three stories, one at a time, and then spell words from each story. Older student, grade 9-12 listen to separate sentences and then spell the words from each sentence. These online listening activities help build listening comprehension skills as well as spelling skills! I highly recommend this resource site to students all ages who are working to become great spellers.

The Dateline National Spelling Bee game site strives to imitate the National Spelling Bee we are more accustomed to watching…a word is pronounced. The speller can ask to here a definition of the word and the word can be spelled in a sentence. While the site certainly mimics the spelling bee we watch on television, I had trouble understanding the virtual mediators pronunciation of some of the words.

Spell It Scripps National Spelling Bee study site was created in cooperation with Merriam-Webster. Spell It! focuses on approximately 1150 words, divided into sections by language of origin. By studying language of origin students are better able to learn and remember several important rules, tips, and guidelines for successfully spelling words in English. Each section of the site also contains one or more “challenge words” in addition to the basic study list. You should study these words to prepare for classroom bees. All of the words listed are linked to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary with audio pronunciations. If a list word has a dialog bubble next to it, click on the bubble to see a spelling tip for that word. And don’t miss the general tips available under the Tips tab in most sections. The site also includes exercises that are intended to give further information about words that come from a particular language. Some of the exercises are pretty challenging!

I’ll be posting additional Spelling resource links in the near future. Keep studying and spelling!