Spelling Bee

I have started doing a weekly spelling bee in 3rd grade English. It all began when I realized that even though they have English and Science class twice a week and they have learned things like the water cycle and plant reproduction in English, they STILL can´t pronunce the alphabet prefectly . "E," "i," "a," "j," "h," and "y" are the big problems so once a week we have the spelling bee to practice vocabulary they have learned from the unit and to practice the alphabet. The head teacher Maria Carmen calls two names of the students and they come to the front where I am standing and I give them a word to spell. If the first student makes a mistake he/she steps back and the other student has a chance to spell it correctly. If the student spells it correctly I write their name on the blackboard. The winners play each other until we have a 1st place winner. He/she gets a big sticker and the runners up get smaller stickers. They get so excited and nervous for the spelling bee. When it gets down to the finals and a students spells the word correctly they all clap and cheer, it really is precious. Maria Carmen told me that when I´m not in class they all ask where I am and if we can have the "concurso."