REGISTRATION CHECK LIST :
1. Have you filled in all the required fields? 2. Have you entered a valid e-mail address? 3. Have you confirmed your email address by activating the link send to you?
If you've done all of these, and still can't see your profile on the site, do not hesitate contact us.
  • ×
    Email login
    Restore Password
    Enter your email address or phone number provided during registration. Then click "Restore".
    cancel
    Confirm your Phone
    We sent to your phone SMS with a verification code . Please enter the code in the box below and click «Submit»
    Restore Password
    In your e-mail we have sent a verification code, enter the code in the box below , enter the new password , confirm it, and then click «Set Password» Confirmation code is valid for 10 minutes.
    On your phone number we will send an SMS with a confirmation code , enter the code in the box below , enter the new password, confirm it, and then click «Set Password» Confirmation code is valid for 10 minutes.
    cancel
    Registration successful!

    This page will be
    refresh through 1 sec.

    refresh the page

    Login successful!

    This page will be
    refresh through 1 sec.

    refresh the page

    Password changed successfully!

    This page will be
    refresh through 1 sec.

    refresh the page

    Unknown error!11

    An unknown error occurred.
    Reload the page and try again!22

    refresh the page

    Log in
  • Register

Events For Children's

PRICES   New!

SPELLATHON 2017 (young learners and teenagers)

SPELLATHON 2017 (young learners and teenagers)

Add to favorites
May 14, 2017 was the date when young members of ICAN Club demonstrated their spelling and writing skills in English.  ICAN Club members had been developing their writing skills through out the year by running their journals and writing for our Community Talk section of this web-site.

The list of words for Spellathon 2017 contained useful lexis, which have the potential for making their speech and writing more exact, expressive and natural.
ICAN Club's Spellathon spelling competition differs from the  popular Spelling Bee contest by two features, which make it more suitable for non-native speakers of English:
a) there is a list of words to be practiced
b) it tests not only spelling, but also the meaning and usage of the words
c) there is a writing task in the form of dictation-translation, which focuses on elimination of the most frequent mistakes caused by the interference of the first language. 

Here is the report from the event.
The certificates and prizes (behind the certificates) are awaiting their winners. 
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English
There were three groups of learners: Middle, Junior and Senior. Each group competed among themselves.
We also invited parents and guests to support the contestant.
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English
One guest, a teacher of English, was a jury. We thank Anna Bondarchuk for her time, the supportive attitude and encouraging comments! 
At the beginning of the contest they drew their numbers, which established the order of taking the challenge. 
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English

The competition offered four challenges:

Challenge 1: Name it!

Participants in turn looked at an image on the slide, guessed the word from the list and spelled it out.
We usually give two tries. If a participant makes a mistake, we allow to spell the word once again. 
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English. Spelling Task 1


Challenge 2: Guess it!

Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English

Participants were to read a statement in the slide, guess the word from the list and spell it out.
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English

Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English
A funny photo! No, we are not praying - the word  had been spelled correctly and we are applauding :-)

Challenge 3: Spell And Write!

In this challenge two participants interacted. The first one had to draw a card with a word from the bag, remembered the word and give the card to the teacher to present it to the viewers. 

Then the first participant would be spell the word without looking at the board and the other one had to write what they were hearing.
In case the spelling and the writing were correct, both of them were given a point.

Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English
Now the second participant is spelling the word from the card and a third one is writing the letters of the board.  
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English.
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English
Challenge 4. Dictation – Translation
This was the hardest part. The purpose of including this task was to see how well the learners were able to use the words they had learnt.
We had been practicing the structures that are often confused by learners of English, such as "they are/ there are/ their",  Present Simple and Present Continuous, Past Simple and Past Perfect, the Passive Voice. The sentences offered for translation from our first language into English contained all these structures filled with the target words. A special emphasis had been placed on avoiding word for word translation and using the target phrases instead. To prepare for Spellathon many learners had been practicing writing and publishing their texts in our Community Talk.
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English

While the teacher was marking the translations and giving scores, the participants and judge played table games from the Activate set for developing speaking skills and well as the gamed designed by ICAN Club members.
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English

And now - the exciting moment! We are counting the final score! Can you guess the winners?
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English
Here they are: three winners in each group!
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English
Middle Group:
1st place: Sabina Shaban
2nd place: Nikita Prykhoodzka
3d place: Daniel Shaban

Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English
Junior Group
1st place: Ilya Avgul
2nd place: Andrey Kuzmich
3d place: Stepan Urganou
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English
Senior Group
1st place: Alexander Alexin
2nd place: Christine Alhimovich
3d place: Nikita Ahramovich

The certificates, the prizes, the feeling of satisfaction, and the most important - dramatically improved accuracy and precision of expression. 
We usually buy interesting books with audio disks and learning tasks or videos from Lexis book store, which specializes in literature for learning English and other languages. 
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English

The most rewarding part of ICAN Club is to see how the kids are growing both as learners and as personalities, and also how they transform from little kinds into teenagers and young adults. 

We have had Spellathon over ten years already. Here are some flash back to 2014 and 2015. Can you recognize our today's heroes and heroines  in these pictures? :-)
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English. Flash back 2014
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English. Flash back 2015
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English. Flash back 2015
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English. Flash back 2014
Traditional Spelling Contest in ICAN Club, an English speaking Club in Minsk, Belarus, for non-native speakers of English. Flash back 2015

Spellathon is a great challenge. Students work very hard towards it. Each year I ask them if they wish to do it again, with new, more challenging words, and each year they say "Yes!" Who invented the myth that teenagers today have lost motivation to study?
Could it be that they need a real challenge?
We would like to bring this exciting competition to the next level and invite other clubs or schools to join. We usually start preparations in January. Please, do not hesitate to contact us if you wish to try this activity. 

Author
About Author

Valiantsina (Val) is the founder and leader of ICAN Club, the owner and the admin of this site. She is the person to approach whenever you need help or advice. Val is an experienced teacher of English, who has worked in a variety of contexts and capacities and also as an interpreter/translator for international organizations, such as the World Bank, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, etc. She is an ideal candidate for cross-border creative educational projects.

Comments (0)

To leave a comment, please, register and log in