11-year-old Akeelah Anderson has a way with words. After winning her schoolwide spelling bee, she decides to enter the competition, despite her classmates' derision and the antipathy of her mother Tanya. Thanks to the efforts of her teacher Dr. Larabee, she reaches the finals. As she gets to know her fellow competitors, Akeelah realizes that coming first isn't everything in life.
This documentary follows 8 teens and pre-teens as they work their way toward the finals of the Scripps Howard national spelling bee championship in Washington D.C.
WordWorld is an Emmy Award-winning children's television series partially funded by the United States Department of Education as part of the Ready to Learn literacy initiative targeted to 3- to 7-year olds. The show airs in 10 languages and 90 countries, including in the United States. The television series, created by Don Moody and Jacqueline Moody, stars Dog and his WordFriends. In each episode, Dog and/or one of his friends embarks on a series of adventures where the only way to save the day is to build or un-build words. The show's novelty is that when a word is built correctly, it morphs into the thing it represents, which gives instant meaning to the word. WordWorld has been translated into popular mobile applications, Internet-based games, magnetic plush and other toys. WordWorld currently airs in 90 countries and 10 languages. It premiered September 3, 2007 on PBS Kids and is currently in its third season, with 84 11-minute episodes. WordWorld currently broadcasts on PBS Kids it is produced for WTTW Chicago.
Sue Perkins hosts as the country's brightest spellers aged between nine and 13 compete in a series of word-related games and challenges, displaying a combination of speed, skill and brains to deconstruct words many have never even heard of, let alone spelled, before. Comedian Joe Lycett reports from backstage, where the youngster and their parents are making last-minute preparations, while newsreader Moira Stuart officiates as the show's pronouncer
