Thanksgiving Terms/Being Thankful

Sorry that I have not posted for a while. Here are some terms related to Thanksgiving:

pilgrims
turkey
thankfulness
hunting
cornucopia
leaves
colonist
gratitude
cider
harvest
blessings
casserole
celebrate
drumstick

I am thankful for many things, including shelter, friends and family, and food. But since this blog is about the Spelling Bee I will thank the many companies, friends and family, and other people who encouraged me to continue on:

Tia Thomas - for encouraging me during and after my spelling bee career
My family - for coaching me along the way and always telling me to do my best
Hexco - for the amazing products that helped me do my best in the Bee
Visual Thesaurus - for letting me practice my spelling skills with the Spelling See
My Teachers - for teaching me great study skills that I used for the Bee and now
All Spellers - for always doing you best and reaching your goals
The International Children's Choir - for teaching me many languages that were very beneficial to me in the Bee
My friends - for being cheerleaders that encouraged me to always do my best

Thank you all! Spell on!

It is Time for a Fresh Start

Many schools and school districts have ended the first quarter of the school year. Ask yourself, "How did I do last quarter, and how can I do better next quarter?" During my spelling bee career I reviewed how well I studied every quarter. If I did not do well one quarter I try to improve the next quarter. It is the same with school. Even if you received all A's there is always room for improvement. For example, "I must manage my time better while taking tests."

The Spelling Bee taught me great studying techniques that help me do my homework and study for tests. For example, "Writing down words several times helps me remember them better, and when I study for tests I write down facts several times."

You should set goals, and stay on top of things. If you want to read my post about setting goals click on the link: http://annespellingbee.blogspot.com/2011/07/setting-goals-has-great-rewards.html.

Remember to find time to do homework, activities, and spelling.

Good luck, and continue studying!

Happy Birthday to "The Phantom of the Opera"!/Music to My Ears!

Belated Happy Birthday to The Phantom of the Opera! On October 9 the show turned twenty-five, and celebrated the show on October 1-2. I think the show is spectacular, the costumes are lavish, the sets are extravagant, and so much more to describe it!

Why am I talking about this? If you have seen the musical, read the book, and/or seen the various versions of movies you may know that it takes place in France. Since the most famous version of the show is the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, here are some musical terms:

Dixieland
descant
monotonic
subinterval
choral
cadence
cadenza
adagio
schmaltz
attacca
gravicembalo
psalmist
brilliante
skirl
cantillate
fortississimo
guaracha
lacrimando
piacevole
passacaglia
appoggiatura
euterpean
ossia
sfogato

Early Enrollment ends Soon

Make sure your school is enrolled by October 17 (Monday) for the early enrollment. Late enrollment will begin on October 18th, then it will end December 16.

Click on the link, and type in your school's zip code.
https://secure.spellingbee.com/enrollment/register

If your school is not enrolled, email your teacher, principal, or other people, or talk to them on Monday. Good luck spellers!

Is it Misspell or Mispell? DING for Mispell

There have been many words that have been misspelled, even the really easy ones. Several months ago there was a news article that said Chicaco instead of Chicago. What other silly misspellings have you seen? On one of my spelling bee trophies the word sarsaparilla is spelled sarsaaparilla. I noticed this once I received the trophy. There is a small store in my city called Millennium. Unfortunately, it was missing one n, so it was misspelled as millenium.

Misspellings are all around us, and they are sometimes obvious, and often disturbing. There was an article about spelling and grammar mistakes that make you look unintelligent. In business, excellence is extremely important to aim to. Misspellings and bad grammar can hold you back in your career.

http://work.lifegoesstrong.com/7-spelling-and-grammar-errors-make-you-look-dumb

http://www.oddee.com/item_96509.aspx

An email that was sent out by the principal of my school for the spelling bee, misspelled the word mispell. I was pretty glad that it was not the letter sent out by The Valley Journals (the Salt Lake Valley's Bee Sponsor), or else 84 spellers would have seen the mistake.

There have been many news articles that have had misspellings. I even caught several spelling mistakes in my school newsletter several months ago.

http://www.alphadictionary.com/fun/funny_misspelled_words.html

Have you ever read a list of excuses from parents with the spelling unchanged? Here are some of my favorites:

"My son is under a doctor's care and should not take P.E. today. Please execute him."
"Please excuse Jason for being absent yesterday. He has a cold and could not breed well."
"Please excuse Mary for being absent yesterday. She was in bed with gramps."
"Please excuse Jackie for not having her homework she was a little under the weatherman, and there was a big flurry in Central America."

Here are more:
http://madtbone.tripod.com/school.htm

It is fun teaching others spelling. I have several classmates who have trouble with it, and I am there to help them. It is sometimes disappointing to my classmate when a teacher does not know how to spell a certain word (gratefully not any of the English, Language, or Creative Writing teachers).

It does not matter if you are in your spelling bee career or not! You know you can help other people no matter where you are!

Words Relating to International Relations/Choir Performance

Since my choir had a performance for dignitaries from around the world today, here are words that have to do with international relations:

Easy
accord
agripower
disarmament
doctrinaire
preferentialism
outsourcing
imbalance
federation
potentate
superpower
trusteeship

Intermediate
aeropolitics
cartel
ambassadorial
deterrence
espionage
asylum
alliance
expatriate
viceroy
jingoish
protocol
treason

Advanced
Balkanize
enclave
rapprochement
weltpolitik
Eurocrat
bellicose
machtpolitik
Hanseatic
maquiladora
mercantilism
renvoi
reconnaissance
satrap
shogunate
thalassocracy

I recall that several members of the choir spoke to people from other countries, in the language they spoke. There were people from Brazil, Spain, Philippines, Germany, Russia, African Countries, America, Finland, China, Korea, Mexico, Canada, Italy, Peru, and many other countries! Members of the choir look forward to this event every year! We sang songs in Swedish, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, English (American, Irish, and British), Chinese, Arabic, Ghanaian - Fanti (can also be spelled Ghanian), and a song originally Maori (we sang it in English).

The best part was meeting people from all over the world. People took pictures of us, asked what country we represented (by our costumes), and spoke to us. I cannot wait to do this next year!

My Sister's Studies

My sister has been consumed into her studies. She loves so many of the words and we also talk about their history. She is really excited for the National Spelling Bee and thinks she will make it! Her goal for 2012 is to still make it to Championship Finals and that is excellent! She looks up to me and a lot of the spellers who have done exceptionally well at the national finals. Her spelling bee role model is me, because I inspired her to do the spelling bee. She would have not done it, if it was not for me.

Just last night she spelled 150 words with only 13 misspellings. It is currently difficult to figure out her trouble spot. Every speller has difficulties and I know she has at least one. I will figure out her difficulty spot, even if it may take me a few more days.

This is late and I am sorry that I never posted a list from Hexco. My sister finished the 2011-2012 Word List several days ago. We will go through it again, although. http://www.hexco.com/content/National_Spelling_Bee_2011_word%20list.pdf

If a family member or other adult does not have time to coach you, there are certain products that you can buy so you can study on your own.
http://www.hexco.com/categories/National-Spelling-Bee/

You can also use Visual Thesaurus Spelling Bee to help you. Even if it does not have etymology, it is also a pretty useful tool for learning new words.
http://visualthesaurus.com/bee

My sister has been using a lot of the sites and products for studies when I am not around.