IMPORTANT MPSEA SPELLING BEE CHANGES
To: All MPSEA Spelling Bee Coordinators
From: Kay Shanks/David Derrick
Ref: Paideia Discontinued
The Paideia word list that we have utilized for a number of years has been replaced by a new list that comes from Scripps-Howard Company, called “Spell It”. We assume that this is the list that will be used by the county, state, regional, and national spelling bees sponsored by the major newspapers across the country. After examining this list, we immediately recognized that it does not contain enough words for us to prepare a word list to cover 5 grades.
As challenging as the new list might be, the reduction in the number of words required us to seek a solution. We contacted Hexco, publishers of the Natalie’s word list, and learned that they had received numerous calls from around the country with the same concern. They immediately put together a list that includes the words from “Spell It” and additional words drawn from the theme of “language and origin” used in the new publication.
Last year’s Paideia had over 4,000 words compared to 700 words in the new “Spell It” publication. The Hexco list that we will use and that we are enclosing has approximately 2,500 words. That number represents a drop of approximately 1,500 words from previous years. That means that our spellers will have 1,500 less words to learn this year.
We have enclosed the list of words that will be used at MPSEA District and Over-all Spelling Bees. You may duplicate them as needed for your spelling competition preparation. Natalie’s Organizers will still be available from Hexco in the same format as in past years. A copy of “Spell It” and the word list has also been hard-copy mailed to each school with spelling bee eligible students (grades 4-9).
Word List Below