Mini-Lesson

Objective: Students will visualize as they read.

1. Take a poll. Ask: Would you like to be in a national spelling contest? As a class, try spelling some of the words from the Scripps National Spelling Bee Preliminaries here. Discuss how hearing different pronunciations and finding out a word's language of origin can be helpful to a speller.

2. Tell students that the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee took place last Thursday and Friday. Have them visualize the setting based on images of spelling bees they have seen in photographs or on television. Pass out the timeforkids.com story, V-I-C-T-O-R-Y! As students read, encourage them to adjust their mental picture based on the details in the article.

3. Have students share which details they incorporated into their mental picture of the spelling bee as they read. Ask: Did any details about the contest surprise you? How do you think it would feel to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee?

Extend Learning: Challenge students to learn four unfamiliar words. Have them complete the worksheet Be a Word Detective!