Zaila Avant-Garde is 14 years old and lives in New Orleans, USA. Last week she won the US Scripps National Spelling Bee. This is a competition that began in 1925 and is held annually. Schools from across the US send students to compete to represent their region. At the final there are three rounds; round 1 is a written spelling test of 25 words, round 2 is an oral test where competitors spell each word out loud. If they miss or get a letter wrong, they are eliminated and have to leave the stage. The final round is televised and usually includes 10-16 students.
In the final round, Zaila had to spell querimonious and solidungulate. Her final word was Murraya. You can watch a video of the moment she wins in the link above. She checks for meaning and pauses before spelling it out.
Zaila is the first African-American student to win the competition since it began almost 100 years ago.
Zaila practices spelling 13,000 words for 7 hours a day but says her spelling is just a hobby. She also loves basketball and she holds the world record for the most basket balls dribbled at one time. Here is an amazing video of her basketball skills. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH2E1m8Fseg
Asked on CBS This Morning about why she practices spelling for 7 hours a day, she compares having the roots of words to like having a back-pass in basketball, "There are a lot of words and ... it sounds really difficult but if you study and know the roots, it's really easy. Just knowing roots it's really helpful in spelling and I love that part of it." Watch the interview here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z6CWoBd5lQ
- what is a spelling bee?
- how do you think it feels to spell a word our loud knowing if you get it wrong, you are eliminated?
- Zaila talks about knowing roots of words, what does that mean?
- Why do you think knowing the root to a word is like a back pass in basketball?
- How has Zaila become so good at basketball and at spelling?
- As the first African-American winner, what is she showing about education in the past and education today?
- what can we learn from Zaila?
- why is this about No Outsiders?
www.no-outsiders,com
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