How to Run a Classroom Spelling Bee

To run a classroom spelling bee, recruit a pronouncer, a judge and a record keeper, give each student a number, and go round by round. Every student still in the bee spells one word per round, a misspelling puts that student out, and if everyone in a round misspells, they all stay in. Under the Scripps National Spelling Bee’s 2027 Suggested Rules for Spelling Bees, written for local bees in the 2026-27 season, the bee ends when only one student spells correctly in a round, and that student is the champion (Scripps, 2027 Suggested Rules). The rest of this guide follows those rules and Scripps’ organizer guide, Spelling Bee 101.

Before the bee: words and study lists

If your classroom bee feeds into the Scripps program, your school has to enroll. Enrollment opens in late August each year and gives schools access to the study lists and competition lists (Scripps, Spelling Bee 101).

Students study from the School Spelling Bee Study List, which has 50 words for each grade level, with definitions and parts of speech, sorted from easiest to hardest into One Bee, Two Bee and Three Bee (same source). Scripps’ school checklist suggests handing out the grade-level list first and then the full study list, which combines all 450 grade-level words. All spelling bees at the school begin with words from that full list (Scripps, 2027 School Spelling Bee Checklist). Our guide to spelling bee word lists explains where each list comes from.

The pronouncer reads from a competition list. For classroom and grade-level bees, the checklist says to use the Classroom Competition List; school-wide bees use the School Competition List (same source). In the classroom list, words 1 to 225 come from the study list and words 226 to 300 come from Merriam-Webster Unabridged and aren’t on the study list. An optional oral vocabulary section sits at the end (Scripps, Spelling Bee 101). The checklist has you give competition lists to the teachers running bees and study lists to students. Scripps encourages local bees to use its lists but doesn’t require it (Scripps, 2027 Suggested Rules).

Who you need

Role	What they do
Pronouncer	Says each word and gives the allowed word information the speller asks for, from the competition list
Head judge	Applies the rules and rules on each spelling, out loud or with a bell
Other judges (optional)	Rule on spellings with the head judge and tell the pronouncer where in the list each round starts
Record keeper	Writes down each speller’s spelling as it happens, ideally with an audio recording too

Those descriptions come from Spelling Bee 101, which says one judge, the head judge, will typically suffice at classroom and school bees. The same guide says that classroom words are often familiar enough that the pronouncer doesn’t need to be skilled at reading dictionary pronunciation symbols (Scripps, Spelling Bee 101). Scripps’ school checklist, written for school-wide bees, asks whether you have a pronouncer, two to three judges and a record keeper (Scripps, 2027 School Spelling Bee Checklist). So for a single classroom, one judge will usually do, and you can add judges as the bee gets bigger. Spelling Bee 101 also advises against using a current speller’s relative as an official (Scripps, Spelling Bee 101).

What to have on hand

Spelling Bee 101’s basic list for any bee: several printed copies of the competition list for your officials, a record-keeping sheet from the School Portal, a bell for the head judge, a list of your spellers, and paper and pencils for the officials. It also suggests copies of the Suggested Rules if you’re using them, a phone or recorder for the record keeper, and certificates (Scripps, Spelling Bee 101). Under the Suggested Rules, everyone competing and watching should get the chance to receive a complete copy of the rules before the bee starts (Scripps, 2027 Suggested Rules).

Running the rounds

1. Give each student a number. That keeps the order the same in every round (Scripps rules page).
2. Every speller still in the bee at the start of a round gets one word (Scripps, 2027 Suggested Rules).
3. Students may ask the pronouncer to repeat the word, define it, use it in a sentence, or give its part of speech, language of origin or alternate pronunciations, but not root questions, a different definition or a slower pronunciation (same source). Our guide to what you can ask in a spelling bee goes through each one.
4. Spellers don’t have to mention capitals, accent marks, hyphens or spaces. A correct spelling is the right letters in the right order (same source).
5. A student may start over but can’t change letters already said or their order (Scripps rules page).
6. A misspelling eliminates the speller right away (Scripps, 2027 Suggested Rules). Scripps says you don’t need a bell: you can spell the word correctly, which it calls a great learning opportunity, and tell the student they won’t advance (Scripps rules page).
7. If every speller in a round misspells, they all stay in and a new round begins (Scripps, 2027 Suggested Rules).

Moving through the word list

You don’t have to read the list straight through. Spelling Bee 101 suggests starting with studied words, and if only a few students misspelled in a round, jumping ahead 25 or 50 words. Never switch from studied to unstudied words in the middle of a round, so check that enough studied words are left for every speller before you start one. Before the first round of unstudied words, announce that they’re coming, so spellers know and parents understand why the words may sound easier. If several rounds pass with no misspellings, an oral vocabulary round can help (Scripps, Spelling Bee 101).

Ending the bee: champions and ties

Under the 2027 Suggested Rules, if only one speller spells correctly in a round and everyone else in that round misspells, that speller is declared champion immediately (Scripps, 2027 Suggested Rules). Spelling Bee 101 calls this new for the 2026-27 year: the one-word championship round has been removed (Scripps, Spelling Bee 101).

Older Scripps materials say otherwise. The 2026 Suggested Rules had the last correct speller spell one more “anticipated championship word” to win, and if they missed it, everyone from the previous round came back (Scripps, 2026 Suggested Rules). The short school-bee how-to on Scripps’ rules page still describes that one-student, one-word final round (Scripps rules page). The 2027 Suggested Rules are newer and are the current season’s rules. Local officials can still choose their own end-of-bee procedure (Scripps, 2027 Suggested Rules), so pick one and tell your students before the bee starts.

Spellers who go out in the same round tie for the same place. If you need to rank them for prizes or to send spellers on to the next level, the 2027 rules let you run tiebreakers of your own design after the champion is decided (Scripps, 2027 Suggested Rules).

Tips for teachers

• Scripps encourages a record keeper to track every round, and calls it best practice to record each speller’s turn so judges can check it if there’s confusion (Scripps, 2027 Suggested Rules).
• Decide on appeals in advance. Scripps publishes two versions of the Suggested Rules in the School Portal, one with appeals and one without, and local officials decide (Scripps, Spelling Bee 101).
• Officials can change oral or written requirements case by case for students with documented conditions, so ask families to tell you well before the bee (Scripps, 2027 Suggested Rules).
• The School Portal has certificates for the champion and for categories such as most improved and good sportsmanship (Scripps, Spelling Bee 101).

For families, our guides to practicing at home and staying calm on stage are worth sending home before the day.