After A Spell
After A Spell
After A Spell
AFTER-A-SPELL
Hexco's Annual Newsletter - A Report on the 2016 National Spelling Bee
Nihar is the youngest winner on record and also had the only perfect score
on the written test. "I can't say anything, I'm only in fifth grade," he said.
Courtesy Photos. Pictured (left to right) Nihar Janga and Jairam Hathwar hoist the trophy; The 10 finalists take the stage.
www.hexco.com
Phone: 830-367-3825 or toll-free: 800-391-2891 | Email: hexco@hexco.com
Regional Spelling Bee Words
(including Words Used in Round 2!)
Many of the following words were used in Round 2 (first oral spelling round) of the National Spell-
ing Bee and many were first used at Regional Spelling Bees. This list was not available until all of
the Regional Spelling Bees had ended. In early April (about 50 days before the NSB), contestants
were provided this list of words inside their speller accounts at spellingbee.com.
• There was only one written round at the 2016 National • The rules state that after 25 championship words, if both
Spelling Bee and this was given in Round One. This Pre- champs spell their word correctly, they will both be
liminary test was separated into 4 parts and labeled A-D. declared co-champions. Interestingly, if both spell their
Only one contestant got a perfect written round score, word incorrectly, they would also be co-champions.
fifth grader Nihar Janga, who also tied for National • Co-champ Nihar Janga made Dallas Cowboy wide
Spelling Bee champion. receiver Dez Bryant's signature "x" move, crossing his
• Section A contained 12 multiple-choice spelling words forearms on stage as the championship was declared.
worth 1 point each; five different spellings were present- Dez sent a personal tweet to Nihar.
ed for each question and an abbreviated etymology was • Many spellers said "Hello" to Dr. Bailly in different languag-
provided. Five out of the 12 questions stated, "Please es; Ramon Padua Jr., speller 50, from Guam said, "Håfa
pay careful attention to the definition and part of speech. Adai!" which he said means hello in Chamorro. Henry Hein
This word has a homonym or could be confused with a said "Hello" in Burmese. Alexandra Snyder went with "Hel-
word that has a similar pronunciation." lo from the other side" and Cassie Rust opted for "Ahoy."
• Section B was a vocabulary test which also had 12 • 45 spellers were selected for the final rounds after being
multiple-choice questions worth one point each. A word ranked based on their Round One written scores.
was given in the question, and the contestants were • A few spellers had words that were Trademarks.
asked to choose the correct definition out of four pos- • Words from Japanese, Hawaiian, Africaans, Maori, Ma-
sible options. yan and Chinook were also seen.
• Sections C & D each consisted of one vocabulary ques- • 10 spellers advanced to the finals.
tion worth 3 points each; these were applied to Rounds • There are 476,000 words in Webster's Third Dictionary
2 and 3 respectively. not counting those in the Addendum.
• Instead of using the Spell It list in Round 2, the National • It was the 96th National Spelling Bee.
Spelling Bee added a brand new list of words which were • One speller air-typed her spelling before spelling her
from Regional Bees to spellers' accounts in early April word aloud, a sure sign students are using computers for
of 2016 (50 days before the Bee). A total of 33 spellers much of their spelling study such as our new eMentor
missed a word from this list whereas, in 2015, only 4 online software.
spellers missed their word from the same round which • Smrithi Upadhyayula has written a science fiction book
used the Spell It list. These words were used in Round called, "Glitches" in which she uses some of her exten-
2, however, not all spellers realized that they were given sive word knowledge.
this list and therefore had not studied those words. • Hexco's choice for favorite sentence from Dr. Bailly: "In
• After the bee, regarding the co-championship words, ancient Rome, the law regarded women as subservient to
men, which is precisely why ancient Rome went down
Paige Kimble told the Associated Press, "As difficult as
in flames."
those words offered to those co-champions were, we had
• The Spelling Bee added the Running Man challenge in
a more difficult section in our word list, but we couldn't
a commercial to show the excitement of getting a word
go to them because our rules bound us to stick to that
right and some spellers and and audience members also
25-word championship word section."
performed the move during the bee.
39% 25% 19%
Total percentage of all words in the
2016 National Bee found in New Nat's
Notes, Verbomania and Blitz list
Cheltenham Blitz 2
Now enrolling!
Limited spaces available.
cypripedium Blitz 1
oecophorid no list
"For over eight years we've developed a program to coach spellers, and
psyllium NNN Vol. 2 have coached many kids to the National Bee including one National
reseau NNN Vol. 3 Spelling Bee Champion and two who were runners-up."
rhamphotheca no list ~ Linda Tarrant, Hexco President
18
salele Blitz 4*
terpsichore
Blitz 3
Verbomania Vol. 3
products. 81% of finalists used Hexco Products.
tyee Blitz 4*
vulsellum NNN Vol. 4 Over 50% of all National Spelling Bee competitors used
*Designates Hexco products under develop-
Hexco products. The year 2016 marked the
ment and not for sale as of June 2016. 19TH CHAMPION IN A ROW TO USE HEXCO PRODUCTS.
Register for the National History Bee
sign-up as a school or as an individual!
1. Sign up at www.aceqb.com/historybee
Or master them.
It's HERE! Try it online.
A modern version of Hexco's original Mentor.
(Yes, we did!)
SPELLING eMENTOR DETAILS: Browser-based, tracks progress for one user. Accessible for one year from any browser on a PC or Mac
computer. Works best on Chrome or Firefox. Subscription only; good for one year from date of purchase. Non-refundable and non-
returnable, sign up for FREE Sampler before you buy!
Valerie's Supplement NEW Paideia 1995 Spell Buddy
This travel-sized companion is packed with
eMentor Assign grade-appropriate, vocabulary en-
nearly 2,000 words, including 1,156 words riching words with 20 lessons per grade
Hear the word
from Spell It! Since topical word lists have level! Words were compiled from all past
and type in the
been proven to help students learn new Class and School bee lists and from the
spelling! Methodi-
and challenging words by grouping similar off-list words in the class and school bee
cally learn all the
words together by theme, this year we pronouncer guides, plus comparable grade-
words in Spell It,
have added a bonus of botanical words level words. Spell Buddy can help students
or in Paideia 1995
handpicked by our Word Wizards. The cur- field 'off-list' words in school bees and be-
(NEW!) or 2001, or
rent year's Supplement is considered to be yond. There are no duplicates, although
2006. Read details
an intermediate to advanced level book forms of some words are presented differ-
of each eMentor
(Note: the list of 450 Classroom words are ently on occasion. Excellent for young spell-
product at this link:
not included). Look for Valerie's Supple- ers, spelling bee clubs, and home schooling.
www.hexco.com/spelling-ementor-new
ment Classics on our website for out-of- View inside on the web; the entire set (all
print Supplement years: Paideia 1999 and 6 volumes) has 8,000 words, a significant
Also -- try FREE demos from a PC or Mac
2006 are selling out fast! word foundation!
computer with browser access; Chrome or
Firefox recommended.
Schools or Teams: 10 or more copies of
the current Supplements are only $9 per
»» Hear Audio Pronunciation
volume!
»» Read Phonetic Pronunciations
»» See Parts of Speech CODE ITEM PRICE
CODE ITEM PRICE »» View Definitions
»» See Etymology Displayed nsbdy Spell Buddy Grade 1-2, 3-4,
vs Collectors' Val's Supplement
5, 6, 7, or 8 $29
NEW 2016, 2015, 2014 $19
nsbdyall Spell Buddy (all 6) $87
vsmore Val's Supplement 'Botanical' CODE ITEM PRICE nsbdyc SB Coach Manual Gr. 1/2,
Bulk pricing for 10 or more $9
3/4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 $29
vsc Valerie's Supplement Classics nsmse Spell It eMentor
nsbdye Spell Buddy eMentor Gr. 1-2,
Choose: '99, '02, '05, '06, 2015-16 $95
3-4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 $49
'07, '08, '09 ,'11-'13 $29 nsep Paideia eMentor
nsbdyeall Spell Buddy eMentor (all 6) $149
'95 '01 or '06 $149
Verbo eMentor contains the same words with *Verbo eMentor full set is renewable at 50% off after a full-
audio and allows spellers to practice their year. Please renew before your product expires, or you risk
missed words on the computer until all words losing your history of missed words and starred words.
are mastered!
After-A-Spell
Hexco Academic's Newsletter
PO Box 199 | Hunt, TX 78024
www.hexco.com
AFTER-A-SPELL
Report on the 2016 National Spelling Bee - Hexco Newsletter