The Vocabulary Bowl is the world’s largest academic competition! Hosted by Vocabulary.com, this bi-annual competition recognizes the premiere achievements in vocabulary learning.
Winning schools, teachers, and students receive trophies and prizes to inspire and award academic excellence.
Schools, teachers, and learners worldwide race to master the most words during the Vocabulary Bowl season. Our leaderboards track real-time results, motivating competitors to top the rankings and achieve word domination.
Why should I participate?
These top teachers motivate and engage their students to master words and quickly climb the leaderboards. Here’s what they have to say about Vocabulary.com, specifically the Vocabulary Bowl.
Read more from fellow educators on our Success Stories page.
How do I participate?
All accredited K-12 schools and teachers with an active site or classroom license are automatically registered when the competition starts. Schools and teachers can purchase a license anytime during the contest period to join the fun. Rostered students earn points for their teacher and school as well as competing in the learner division.
Check out How to earn Vocabulary Bowl points for the easiest, most effective ways to score and climb the leaderboards.
There are two Vocabulary Bowl seasons per year:
- Fall season: October 1 to November 30
- Spring season: February 1 to March 31
How are schools classified by division and school type?
Our Vocabulary Bowl leaderboards categorize schools by division and school type. For the purposes of this competition, a school will be considered
- Division I: full-time enrollment of 1000 students or more
- Division II: full-time enrollment of from 500 - 999 students
- Division III: full-time enrollment of up to 499 students
Schools that teach 12th-grade students are automatically considered a high school in the competition.
To learn more about the Vocabulary Bowl, check out the Rules page to find divisions, prizes, and more!
How to prepare for the Vocabulary Bowl
Make sure you’re at the starting line for the first day of the competition!
Correct school name: This one is very important! All classes must display the correct school name to ensure you earn points for the right school.
- To check your school, choose My Account from the hamburger menu. Click the Edit button next to My Profile. Confirm or enter the correct school in Your School and save changes.
- When setting up classes, this school in your profile will be selected as the default. You can check the school associated with current classes by selecting My classes from the hamburger menu.
Active classes: Make sure you have active classes for the duration of the Vocabulary Bowl season! Create classes before the Vocabulary Bowl starts so your class is set up for success.
Add students: Make sure all your students are rostered in your active classes! Only points from rostered students will count. Add students so you can monitor activity, keep track of performance, and set class goals together!
Fun, effective ways to win
Learn success strategies from some of our Vocabulary Bowl champions. They have shared their award-winning strategies and we’ve compiled the Top Vocabulary Bowl engagement strategies for ideas on creating engagement on your campus and in your classroom.
Vocabulary Bowl printables
Fuel school and classroom excitement with Vocabulary.com printables!
- Hang this fall or spring Vocabulary Bowl poster up in your school hallways or classroom walls to remind students about the competition.
- Use this Word Mastery Tracker at the beginning of the season to set a classroom goal and fill it up as you reach the top.
- Have students fill out this Student Activity Log as they master words and keep track of their personal goals using this Student Goal Tracker.
- As they reach their goals, reward them with customizable coupons or this achievement certificate if they reach the next achievement badge.
- At the end of the Vocabulary Bowl, reward your top contributors with this Vocabulary Bowl MVP certificate.
Social shenanigans
Post your progress throughout the season! The competition is fierce and this is the perfect opportunity to show off your students academic success. With national championships, state titles, and teacher awards, the Vocabulary Bowl is proof of your school’s academic excellence.
Make sure to tag us on whichever platform you’re posting on:
- Twitter: @VocabularyCom
- Facebook: Vocabulary.com
- Instagram: @VocabCom
- LinkedIn: Vocabulary.com
If you don’t use social media, feel free to send images to [email protected] with permission to use your photos across social media and our website! We love seeing and showcasing the excitement the Vocabulary Bowl brings to classrooms.