The Spelling Bee
(Spoiler alert: the activity that strangely has nothing to do with bees)
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Does anyone else share this experience? It’s a Friday afternoon. All of the week’s work is done. It’s too close to the bell ringing to start a new project. And even though we had a spelling test earlier in the day, we still get separated into two teams after the teacher announces we’re going to have (cue ominous music) a . . . Spelling Bee!
Ominous music for me because I did not find this activity fun. It’s not that I didn’t like spelling. I did and do. I love words – their etymology - along with grammar and punctuation and all that stuff. What I didn’t like was the competitive energy that infected the air in the room the moment she made the announcement. I didn’t like competing. My spelling became unreliable under pressure, and I didn’t like being made to feel dumb, which is what always ended-up happening.
I’m a good speller on paper when there’s no rush to spit the letters out as fast as possible, but verbally! Agony! I have this in common with Pooh who expresses it perfectly:
“. . . my spelling is Wobbly. It's good spelling but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places.” ~A. A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh, 1926
Spelling Bees flustered me, and no surprise, I always went down early, to the groans and chastisement of my teammates.
So! What’s behind this concept of a “spelling bee” in the first place and why is it even called that? Good questions! There’s some super cool history attached to both answers.
First of all, spelling bees are kind of an American thing dating back to the 1850s. But the word “bee” is a much older word dating back to Old English that refers to a group of people joining together in a single activity like canning a bumper crop of fruit. Seems peculiar, but there it is.
Photo Credit: J. Howeth
In the early days of the United States, the 18th and 19th centuries, spelling was all over the place. Predominantly sounded out, the English language was littered with inconsistent spellings. In an attempt to bring some order to written communication, two men rose to the task to standardize an American language – Noah Webster by compiling the first truly American dictionary and Benjamin Franklin by inventing a new alphabet. Some of this was driven by the Revolutionary War and America’s newfound freedom from England and the King’s English. The colonists wanted something of their own and what better place to start than with the new nation’s language. Noah was more successful than Ben whose idea included eliminating silent letters by adding completely new ones that were based upon sound alone. Ben’s idea was ingenious but a little complicated and, in the end, failed to attract a following.
The origination of spelling bees came about as a way to teach children the meanings of words and how to spell them. More of a game, their popularity grew in the mid-1800s with Noah’s Blue-backed Speller, the first standardized compilation of Americanized English words. They took on a more sports-like patina in the 20th century when competitions became more serious by offering prizes and prestige.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of The Scripps National Spelling Bee, the largest spelling bee held worldwide. Every May more than two hundred 8-15-year-olds from public schools, private schools, parochial schools, charter schools, and homeschools will converge upon Washington, D.C. to share a stage for the honor of winning some impressive cash prizes and a trophy.
Considering my experience with spelling bees, I have great admiration for these kids. Granted, some of becoming a good speller is just plain memorization, but I believe there is also a natural gift involved for understanding the intricacies of a language’s words.
From a winner’s perspective, check out:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/history-spelling-bee-180971916/
in which Rebecca Sealfon reflects on her time in the spotlight as the winner of the1997 Scripps National Spelling Bee - what she gained from participating and the lessons that have shaped her life.
