Just thinking ...

Bee sentences
1/14/2010 6:46:30 PM by: Elsi

Today was the oral Spelling Bee at Elk Creek Elementary, from which I retired in 2002. They invite me back every year, and I am honored to accept. I've been doing the Bee for decades now, and fancy I'm quite good at it. Which is why I was so horrified at the mistake I made! Bee administrators provide sentences for the more advanced words, but I write the sentences for the simpler words. When I finished last night, I did the following sentence for base: Amelia Bedelia thought 'Take your base' meant to pick it up and leave. Made perfect sense to me! Amelia Bedelia is a literal person in a series of funny, primary books, and even I know enough baseball to realize what 'Take your base' means! The speller, a 5th grader, spelled bass. I said, "I'm sorry, but that's a homonym. The correct spelling is base." And we moved on. At a break, a parent came up to me and pointed out that bass (as in an instrument) would make just as good sense in the sentence. He was absolutely right! The child's dad is in an orchestra, and the sentence never mentions baseball! I apologized to the child and her father and returned the girl to the line-up of competitors. She didn't win the Bee, but she made a good showing, and I was impressed with her ability to pull herself back together and participate after all that!

Comments

	1/26/2010 8:35:08 PM

	Hi Elsi, It sounds like you handled the situation with good grace and diplomacy. I'm sure the young lady will enjoy telling the story in years to come of how her father pointed out the judge's error and how she got through to the next round. So much more exciting than just getting knocked out.

	Mandy,

Posts

on marshmallows
8/29/2012 1:07:58 PM by: Elsi

just when you thought it was safe to get out of the water …
8/19/2012 11:17:16 PM by: Elsi

My friend Shannie
7/17/2012 4:59:13 PM by: Elsi

fun at Safeway
7/16/2012 10:56:05 AM by: Elsi

Maurita is 90? Goodness!
7/5/2012 5:53:58 PM by: Elsi

Beware!
6/20/2012 4:50:19 PM by: Elsi

Life Lessons from Dads
5/30/2012 6:43:36 PM by: Elsi

“Stars and Stripes Forever”
5/27/2012 10:26:41 AM by: Elsi

My yard …
4/17/2012 3:05:00 PM by: Elsi

Elk Creek’s Spelling Bee
1/27/2012 5:29:04 PM by: Elsi

Snow
12/3/2011 7:16:30 PM by: Elsi

Ho ho ho!
11/24/2011 3:57:39 PM by: Elsi

busy … busy … busy …
11/23/2011 9:51:50 AM by: Elsi

Student advocacy …
11/12/2011 8:31:07 PM by: Elsi

Small world!
10/18/2011 3:41:24 PM by: Elsi

July 1st
7/1/2011 12:00:01 AM by: Elsi

fretting …
6/24/2011 4:52:00 PM by: Elsi

my new plants
6/9/2011 6:39:09 PM by: Elsi

“The Lord planted a garden …”
6/5/2011 3:59:21 PM by: Elsi

Worms
5/20/2011 5:40:45 AM by: Elsi

hideously horrible, absolutely wonderful writing conference!
5/16/2011 6:58:01 PM by: Elsi

Me and the Beatles?
4/16/2011 8:15:13 PM by: Elsi

April 14 snowstorm
4/14/2011 5:24:55 PM by: Elsi

of Apples and support services
12/11/2010 5:45:51 PM by: Elsi

Peak-to-Peak’s Christmas concert
12/7/2010 6:04:36 AM by: Elsi

Let there be lights
11/26/2010 6:49:56 PM by: Elsi

Mrs. Miniver
7/16/2010 7:58:40 PM by: Elsi

fireworks—soggy, glorious!
7/4/2010 9:04:15 PM by: Elsi

An island, just for me?
6/16/2010 3:01:48 PM by: Elsi

Contemporvant
5/31/2010 8:14:05 PM by: Elsi

Trip reading
5/29/2010 6:01:15 AM by: Elsi

May!
5/1/2010 7:06:23 AM by: Elsi

Flamingo in a snowbank
4/11/2010 7:17:38 AM by: Elsi

An abundant week, part 3
4/4/2010 7:37:29 AM by: Elsi

An abundant week, part 1
4/3/2010 7:17:25 PM by: Elsi

Girl Scout cookie time
2/16/2010 7:58:53 PM by: Elsi

Crash Blossoms
2/10/2010 6:32:55 PM by: Elsi

Low mood …
1/20/2010 8:57:28 PM by: Elsi

Bee sentences
1/14/2010 6:46:30 PM by: Elsi

Jesus-is-born scenario
12/14/2009 7:44:20 PM by: Elsi

Habit
12/4/2009 10:13:02 AM by: Elsi

After Thanksgiving dessert
11/14/2009 10:02:44 PM by: Elsi

11.11.11
11/11/2009 7:53:04 PM by: Elsi

New dawn?
11/8/2009 8:21:09 AM by: Elsi

Snail mail
11/5/2009 7:27:14 AM by: Elsi

Tardiness
10/12/2009 6:28:23 PM by: Elsi

Oh, yawn!
10/8/2009 12:20:37 PM by: Elsi

Technology
10/5/2009 6:22:28 AM by: Elsi

Weather
10/1/2009 7:19:33 PM by: Elsi

Organization?
9/25/2009 4:12:09 PM by: Elsi

Memory lane?
9/11/2009 2:44:46 PM by: Elsi

Techno-speak for the elderly
8/27/2009 9:31:46 AM by: Elsi

“Where Go the Boats?”
7/21/2009 7:49:13 PM by: Elsi

Jumble ®
7/11/2009 6:10:36 AM by: Elsi

Fireworks in Westminster
7/4/2009 9:21:00 PM by: Elsi

Solution
6/28/2009 7:13:07 AM by: Elsi

“Up” from Disney/Pixar
6/14/2009 7:52:18 PM by: Elsi

Summer in Colorado
6/9/2009 3:39:00 PM by: Elsi

June!
6/1/2009 7:43:54 AM by: Elsi

“Grand re-opening”
5/27/2009 6:18:40 AM by: Elsi

Flag waving
5/25/2009 6:10:50 AM by: Elsi

CU Graduation
5/7/2009 8:09:26 PM by: Elsi

Snowstorm on my mind
4/17/2009 9:16:54 PM by: Elsi

Cat at Red Lobster
4/16/2009 9:08:22 PM by: Elsi

Cheers for FedEx!
4/11/2009 6:40:07 AM by: Elsi

Name game
4/6/2009 6:40:20 AM by: Elsi

New leaders
1/20/2009 5:30:14 PM by: Elsi

Sable samovar
1/16/2009 4:13:39 PM by: Elsi

Magformers ™
1/3/2009 8:42:41 PM by: Elsi

“Boy in the Striped Pajamas”
11/21/2008 4:43:45 PM by: Elsi

Visiting author
10/30/2008 6:37:25 PM by: Elsi

Dizzy dame
10/27/2008 4:24:32 PM by: Elsi

Recess?
10/16/2008 7:24:26 PM by: Elsi

A mossy stone?
10/10/2008 4:27:49 PM by: Elsi

October 4, 1957
10/4/2008 6:35:38 AM by: Elsi

Autumn
9/23/2008 8:20:56 PM by: Elsi

A hint of fall in the air
9/6/2008 6:10:09 AM by: Elsi

What a day!
8/15/2008 8:34:44 PM by: Elsi

Home!
8/8/2008 8:32:59 PM by: Elsi

Cirque de Soleil
7/17/2008 12:34:30 AM by: Elsi

“Gave proof through the night”
7/5/2008 6:10:07 AM by: Elsi

EN-ER-giz-ing …
6/8/2008 5:45:00 PM by: Elsi

Pretend friend
5/14/2008 5:36:08 PM by: Elsi

Cockroach letter
3/8/2008 3:04:46 PM by: Elsi

Sunday
2/17/2008 8:10:58 PM by: Elsi

Oral Spelling Bee
1/15/2008 2:39:15 PM by: Elsi

9 ladies dancing …
1/3/2008 7:29:23 PM by: Elsi

Registered trademark
1/2/2008 8:45:21 PM by: Elsi

Meme?
12/30/2007 7:24:13 PM by: Elsi

Christmas carol basics
12/21/2007 8:30:26 AM by: Elsi

Snowed in (sort of)
12/11/2007 5:55:11 PM by: Elsi

Lights
12/5/2007 6:15:57 PM by: Elsi

Just moosin’ around …
12/4/2007 7:08:03 PM by: Elsi

Spelling Bee screener
12/3/2007 8:01:32 PM by: Elsi

Brigadoon?
12/1/2007 2:42:21 PM by: Elsi

Not till after dessert …
11/15/2007 7:15:49 PM by: Elsi

November …
11/1/2007 7:22:57 PM by: Elsi

“Life” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, 1922
10/31/2007 4:57:31 PM by: Elsi

A bookish day
10/30/2007 8:08:19 PM by: Elsi

Charles Martin’s books
10/15/2007 8:14:22 PM by: Elsi

“children of all ages”
10/14/2007 6:44:17 PM by: Elsi

CU Band Day
10/6/2007 8:12:07 PM by: Elsi

Fall into Reading update
10/2/2007 8:38:13 PM by: Elsi

First full day of fall
9/24/2007 6:56:30 PM by: Elsi

Fall into Reading
9/23/2007 8:23:10 PM by: Elsi

Unnecessary quotation marks
9/22/2007 7:46:09 PM by: Elsi

Busybusybusy day …
9/19/2007 7:30:10 PM by: Elsi

The system …
9/8/2007 8:09:08 PM by: Elsi

Celebratory mood!
8/27/2007 7:07:11 PM by: Elsi

First day …
8/21/2007 6:21:04 PM by: Elsi

Supper with friends
8/18/2007 8:06:35 PM by: Elsi

Youthful exuberance?
8/17/2007 8:55:02 PM by: Elsi

Kitty grass
8/15/2007 8:28:08 PM by: Elsi

Sharp crayons, new spirals …
8/8/2007 7:54:57 PM by: Elsi

Songs and choices
8/7/2007 8:33:24 PM by: Elsi

Camp songs
8/6/2007 8:29:04 PM by: Elsi