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spell a thon ideas

I am taking over for our schools spell a thon and am looking for some fun and creative ideas to make the event exciting for the children and drive participation. Any and all ideas would be appreciated.
- kkhawkins2

I ran the first ever Spelling Bee at our elementary school this year, and it was a big success and a lot of fun. I'm not sure if a Spell-A-Thon is different from a Spelling Bee, but ... some of the things we did which helped make this event a success are below (and if you want more detail, email me at rajeev@ourschoolpages.com): * Posted large signs around the school a couple months in advance, advertising the event. * Encouraged all teachers to talk to their kids about the event and generate excitement within the classrooms. * We bought tiny bumblebee erasers (pack of 144 for only $2.49) from www.ustoy.com, and asked teachers to give one to every student. * We posted practice word lists on our website, so parents and kids could study at home if they wanted. But more importantly, the kids who were nervous about participating saw that the words weren't as hard as they had imagined. * During lunchtime in the cafeteria a couple weeks before the event, we announced the event and explained a bit about it. Also, we called up some kids to the stage and had them spell some words into the microphone, just for fun, during lunch. This was a TON of fun, and it generated a lot of excitement. * During the event itself, we had fun pop/rock music playing before the event began, just to give the event some energy and relax the kids' nerves. Hope that helps ... and good luck!! --Rajeev Goel Founder, OurSchoolPages.com
- RajeevGoel
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