The Bee's official dictionary—Webster's Third New International Dictionary and its addenda section (©2002, Merriam-Webster)—has more than 472,000 word entries.
Resources for Students
For any spelling bee:
- Read How to Study for a Spelling Bee by national finals pronouncer,
Dr. Jacques Bailly.
For a classroom, grade level or school-wide spelling bee:
Step One: Students should first learn the 100 study words for their grade level. Teachers provide the study words to students. Teachers may obtain the study words by logging into spellingbee.com and clicking on Student Materials. It is there that teachers print out "Study Words for (Grade Level)."
Step Two: When your students master the 100 study words for their grade level, they are ready to learn the study words for all other grade levels.
- Step Three: When your students master the study words for grade levels 1–8, they may get a head start on the next level of competition by learning the words in Spell It!
For a district, county, city, regional or state spelling bee:
Step One: Ensure that your school spelling champion knows the study words for grade levels 1–8.
Step Two: When your school spelling champion masters the study words for grade levels 1–8, he is ready to learn the words and do the activities in Spell It!
- Step Three: When your school spelling champion masters the words in Spell It!, he is ready to expand his spelling skill set by playing the fun word games at Merriam-Webster's Word Central.
Schools enrolled in the
Scripps National Spelling Bee receive access to:
- Study words for students
- Pronouncer guides
- Rules
- Certificates and more
YOU CAN'T MEMORIZE IT