Spelling bees are hot.
Broadway plays host to one nearly every night with an award-winning musical about six overachieving spellers in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” Hollywood has embraced them too: “Akeelah” would be nothing without her “Bee,” not to mention “Bee Season.” And the Scripps National Spelling Bee, set for May 30 and 31, is popular enough for the finals to be televised in prime time for a second year.
Still, don’t expect to find a spelling bee in Sue Ann Gleason’s first-grade classroom at Cedar Grove Elementary School in Loudoun County. She doesn’t think much of them.
“They honor the children who already know how to spell, but they do little to support those who need explicit instruction,” she said.