Wednesday, July 15, 2009

INTERSCHOOL SPELLING BEE COMPETITION(Male' Zone)


INTERSCHOOL SPELLING BEE COMPETITION

(MALE ZONE)

A Joint Competition of ESQID and MALE’ ZONE of the

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

Coordinated by: EDC

August - October, 2009

CONTESTANT RULES AND RELEVANT INFORMATION

1- Eligibility:

All students in Male’ government schools who are in grades 3,5,7 and 9

2-Format:

The competition is conducted in four rounds: preliminaries, quarterfinals, semifinals and the finals

a) The preliminaries (first round) consist of a 25 multiple choice test. The Ministry of Education will prepare the test and the schools will conduct and mark the test. Half the students in the grade regardless of the score proceeds to the quarterfinals (second round)

b) The quarterfinals (second round) consist of a 25 – item multiple choice test and one oral round. The Ministry of Education will prepare the test and the schools will conduct and mark the test. In the oral round students are given a word to spell and students can ask for the definition, or pronunciations from the judge. The school will then choose the best ten students from the grade who will proceed to the semifinal round.

c) The semifinals (third round) consist of rounds of oral spelling (minimum All ten students will be included in the third round. All students will spell one word in each round and if a student cannot spell a word correctly, then the student is eliminated from the competition.

Unlike the previous year, this round will be conducted by the school.

In the oral rounds, students can ask for the definitions, or pronunciations from the panel of judges selected by the school. The school will then choose the best five who will proceed to the final round.

d) The finals (fourth round) consist of rounds of oral spelling.

The rounds will continue till the first place is selected.

The final round will be conducted by the Ministry of Education. In the oral rounds, the contestants can ask for the definitions or pronunciations from the judge. All contestants will spell one word in each round , and if a contestant cannot spell a word correctly, then the contestant is eliminated from the competition.

Interschool Spelling Bee, organized by ESQID and Male’ Zone, 2009

3- Official Dictionary and source of words:

The official dictionary of the competition is Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary. The word list is all the words in the students’ textbooks.

However, in the final round words selected from a list developed by the Ministry of Education will be asked. This list will be developed taking into consideration the age appropriate story books that students are expected to read at that particular age.

4- Eliminations in the preliminaries and quarterfinals:

a) In the preliminaries and quarter finals, students receive one point for each word spelled correctly on the 25 - item multiple choice test. Therefore, the maximum that a student can get in this test is 25. Half the students in this grade are selected based on the points attained in this test.

b) In the quarter finals in the oral round, apart from the 25 points that can be scored on the test, 3 points are awarded for a correct spelling and zero points for an incorrect spelling. The maximum combined score that a student may achieve for spelling in the quarterfinals may vary.

5- Eliminations during the semifinals and the finals:

a) All contestants will spell one word in each round. Upon incorrectly spelling a word, the contestant is eliminated from the competition. This will continue till we select the first place.

6- Disqualifications for reasons other than clear misspelling:

a) A contestant will be disqualified when (i) the contestant refuses a request to begin spelling, (ii) the contestant engages in unsportsmanlike or inappropriate conduct, (iii) the contestant in the process of spelling, utters unintelligible or nonsense sounds (iv) seeks help from his team mates or any other.

7- Contestant activities that do not merit disqualification:

a) The judges may not disqualify a contestant for (i) failing to pronounce the word either before, or after spelling it , (ii) asking a question, (iii) for noting or failing to note the capitalization of a word.

8- Time constraints:

a) Each contestant is expected to spell familiar words without delay and to refrain from routines that employ unnecessary or repetitive questioning.

Interschool Spelling Bee, organized by the ESQID and Male’ Zone,2009

Unlike the previous year, every contestant will get fifty seconds for each word. The contestant gets the thirty seconds time period that begins when the pronouncer first pronounces the word.

9- The Pronouncer:

a) The Pronouncer strives to pronounce the words according to the phonetic markings given in the Dictionary.

b) Homonyms: If a word has one or more homonyms, the pronouncer indicates which word is to be spelled by defining the word.

c) Spellers’ requests: In the oral rounds, the pronouncer responds to the

spellers’ requests for a definition, sentence, part of speech and alternate pronunciation (s). When requested for alternate pronunciations, the pronouncer will check the Dictionary. The pronouncer will grant all such requests as long as they are in accordance with the time constraints outlined in Rule 6.

10- Dates:

a) First RoundAugust 2nd, 2009 . MOE will prepare a one hour written exercise and the schools will conduct and correct the exercise. It is advised that teachers include such types of exercises in other English lessons. All students will sit the second round.

b) Second Round August 14th, 2009. MOE will prepare a one hour written exercise and the schools will conduct and correct the exercise. Teachers to take the average of both rounds and then select the best thirty from each grade.

c)Third Round – September 06th – 10th , 2009. Schools will conduct written and oral exercises of their own from their own lists . They will select the best five students from each grade and inform their names and particulars to the Ministry of Education, Male’ Zone.

DEADLINE FOR FINAL ENTRIES – SEPTEMBER 17th 2009

d) FINAL ROUND - SECONDARY- September 29th, (Tue) 2009

e) FINAL ROUND - PRIMARY- October 01st,(Thu) 2009

Interschool Spelling Bee, organized by the ESQID and Male’ Zone,2009

11- Awards

Award presentations will be held in the afternoon of October 07th , 2009

12- Categories:

a) Certificate to the best 10 students of each grade

b) Certificate and prize to the best 5 from each grade

c) Special prize to the best speller of each grade

d) Certificate to the best 5 schools

d) Certificate and cup to the best 3 schools

e) Special award to the best school

13- Venue:

The first , second and subsequent rounds will be held in the individual schools. Only the final round will be organized by the Ministry of Education and will be held in Tajuddin School.

14- Lists of words:

a) The Ministry of Education will review the lists of the previous year and will prepare their own list of words taking into consideration the grades, the texts , curriculum, and the syllabi for the following grades

Grade 3 - 200 words

Grade 5 - 400 words

Grade 7 - 600 words

Grade 9 - 800 words

15- Schools

The competition will be conducted for grades 3,5,7 and 9 of Male’ Government schools during the months of August to October 2009

a) Primary – (Iskandhar / Jamaluddin / Tajuddin / Kalaafaanu / Ghiyasuddin / Imaduddin / Muhyddin / Ghaazee / Arabiyya)

b) Secondary – (Aminiya / Majeediyya / Dharumavantha / Muhyddin / Ghaazee / Arabiyya) Hiriya School

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