Thu, May 29, 2008 - 8:45 AM

When Kavya Shivashankar stepped onto the national spelling bee scene at the age of nine, she was considered a prime favorite to win the bee before completing her eligibility.

In 2006, the Kansas speller made it to round eight before missing gematrial, and in 2007 she made it to round seven before missing cilice. This is her third appearance at the national bee, and if she doesn't win, she still has two more years of eligibility.

She started her morning off by correctly spelling mobilometer in round two. Look for her to be in contention for the championship.

Below is an interesting article on Shivashankar from USA Today.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-05-28-bee-main_N.htm

-Josh Dawsey






http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-05-28-bee-main_N.htm

9:58 a.m.

This video of a trio of Florida spellers gives you a taste of the routine judges here are getting used to. It seems every speller has the same questions: they want the language of origin of each word and often ask for it to be used in a sentence. I'm still waiting for the smart speller who asks the judge, "Can you spell it."

Thu, May 29, 2008 - 9:47 AM

If you're interested in some friendly competition on your bee picks, check out this site.

And be sure to share some of your picks with us!

-- Amy Dominello

9:48 a.m.

Natalie Cosens must be thankful.

Cosens, a speller from Bloomington, Indiana, was asked to spell the word unilateral, which she quickly nailed.

The next speller, Jennifer Riedford received the word zoolatry, which most likely ended her chances of moving on.

What do you think is harder: unilateral or zoolatry?

-Josh Dawsey

Thu, May 29, 2008 - 9:38 AM

In case you couldn’t tell, I’m a novice when it comes to the bee.

But I know for some of you out there this is an annual event on par with the Super Bowl.

I suspect I’ll learn why it’s so popular before the end of the week. But I’d love to hear from you bee-watchers. What is it about the bee that you find so fascinating?

-- Amy Dominello

9:41 a.m.

Two spellers making their fourth appearances at the national bee have missed seemingly easy words.

Austin Hoke from Indiana just missed the word Sioux in round two. This is his fourth year in the national bee, and most regulars don't miss a word that's been in various study materials. That's a big surprise.

Here's another shocker: Sameer Mishra, a supposed favorite this year, just missed sudation in round two. Mishra is also making his fourth appearance in the bee, and he's previously done very well. For his sake, let's hope his test score is strong enough to pull him through this blunder.

-Josh Dawsey

9:27 a.m.

Wow, the spelling bee is pulling no punches today.

Seder, cassock, hypogeal, and yeomanry continue today's round two trend. Hats off to Aldrin D'Silva from Florida for nailing cassock.

-Josh Dawsey

Thu, May 29, 2008 - 9:07 AM

We’ve got some Florida and Georgia spellers hitting the stage right now.



Brian Mazurek of Lakeland nailed “palliative.”



Caitlyn Stewart of Blountstown, Fla., correctly spelled “solemnization.”



Grace Hernandez of Dade City, Fla., hit “arable.”



Unfortunately, Samantha Stewart of Evans, Ga., missed “hypogeal.” But remember, that doesn’t mean that she’s out.

-- Amy Dominello

All you need to know about the bee:

Stats: http://spellingbee.com/statistics.asp

Spellers: http://spellingbee.com/comp_spellers.asp

Prizes: http://spellingbee.com/comp_prizes.asp

Rules: http://spellingbee.com/comp_rules.asp

Procedure: http://spellingbee.com/comp_procedure.asp

-- Amy Dominello

8:52 a.m.

While these words aren't extremely difficult, they seemingly are much harder than last year's round two.

The bee has already given wassail, pinniped, perlustrate, zeppelin, ambuscade, juvenescence, sultana, vaudevillian,and gosling. Typically, they save these words for round three and give spellers easier words to begin.

Last year's round two brought words such as Wednesday, vacuum, felony, and incidental. Notice the difference in difficulty?

-Josh Dawsey

8:45 a.m.

Marie Mach of Dumfries, Va., says she's very nervous about the day ahead.
She will get her first on-stage word in the 11 o'clock hour.

8:35 a.m.

While the bee gave a 50-word test this year, they obviously picked 25 of the hardest words to count.

Spellers had to tackle words such as as cacoethes, galimatias, and tremolo. While none of the words compare to some of the monsters the bee gods have given before, not many are dead giveaways either. After looking at the list, I think the cut line this year will be either 21 or 22.

Below is a link to the words from the test:

http://public.spellingbee.com/public/results/round_results/summary/1

-Josh Dawsey

Thu, May 29, 2008 - 8:33 AM

In talking to spellers, there seems to be a common hatred of words with a French origin.

Marie Mach, a sixth-grader from Dumfries, Va., may have said it best early this morning when I spoke with her.

“I struggle with French words,” she said. “They suck.”

-- Amy Dominello

Thu, May 29, 2008 - 8:27 AM

The word “hydrotropism” might leave some spellers shaking in their boots.

Not Easun Arunachalam of California.

His reaction: “That’s a good word! Does it come for the Greek word for water or hydration?”

Yup, sure does. And he spelled it right.

-- Amy Dominello

8:24 a.m.

Something to notice: The words in round two are very simple for the national contest.

In recent years, the words were much harder. But many failed to realize that spellers were given a direct list with every round two word on it. Therefore, the words were actually some of the easiest in the bee even though they didn't appear to be easy at home.

While the words are much easier now, compare magenta to accouchement, round two words are now off-list. Spellers have no clue what they'll see first; therefore, bee officials try to make the words as easy as possible.

By the way, while we're discussing round two, let me explain how they decide who makes it to round three this afternoon.

All of the spellers took a 50-word written test. The bee randomly chose 25 words to grade, and each speller has a score between 0-25 following the test. Then, each speller is asked to spell a round two word. If they are able to spell the word correctly, a three-point bonus is added to their test score. Theoretically, if they miss their round two word, they are not automatically eliminated. However, in all actuality, spellers that miss their round two words have doomed themselves.

All of the scores are plotted on a graph, and "a threshold of 80" is found. The top 80 spellers advance to the next round. Usually, more than 80 advance due to ties. Example: If 77 spellers have a score of 21 and 11 have a score of 20, the bee takes all 11 to the next round. There will be at least 80 but most likely more.

-Josh Dawsey