Word Skills
Greek and Latin Roots for Spellers
Greek and Latin roots carry both meaning and spelling. Common roots with meanings and example words, and when you can ask about a root during a spelling bee.
Get bee ready.
Straight answers for spellers getting ready for a school, district or regional bee, and for the parents and teachers helping them, checked against official bee rules and dictionaries.
Browse by topic
- Getting Ready Practicing at home, building word lists and helping a speller prepare. 3 guides
- How Bees Work What you can ask during a turn, and how to run a bee of your own. 2 guides
- Word Skills Roots, language of origin and patterns that help you spell words you have never seen. 3 guides
- On Stage Nerves, focus and what to do on competition day. 2 guides
Latest guides
All guidesGetting Ready
How to Help Your Child Prepare for a Spelling Bee
Help your child prepare for a spelling bee: get the official 2027 study list, act as pronouncer by the rules, keep practice short and upbeat, and protect sleep.
Word Skills
Language of Origin: Spelling Patterns
How a word's language of origin helps you spell it in a bee: common patterns from Greek, Latin, French, German and more, and where those patterns break down.
Getting Ready
How to Practice for a Spelling Bee at Home
Practice for a spelling bee at home with daily self-tests spread over weeks, plus mock bees under real rules: say the word, ask questions, spell aloud.
How Bees Work
How to Run a Classroom Spelling Bee
How to run a classroom spelling bee: who you need, which word list to use, how rounds and eliminations work, and how to end it under Scripps' 2027 rules.
Word Skills
How to Spell a Word You've Never Heard
Facing a word you don't know in a spelling bee? Listen, ask for the definition and origin, break it into parts, match sounds to letters, then spell it slowly.