Information for all teachers and tutors
Spellzone is an online spelling course that provides comprehensive teaching in English spelling rules, followed by extensive word lists and practice in the form of interactive tests and games. Previous experience in teaching spelling is not needed; all teaching points are presented clearly, in a logical progression.
As the course is online, your students can use it in school or college and then reinforce their learning at home, on computer, mobile phone, iPad or similar device. This gives Spellzone a significant advantage over software that is only available on campus. All test results are stored online so teachers and tutors can monitor progress at any time.
Please choose your area of interest:
- Teachers in High Schools
- Teachers and Tutors in Colleges and Universities
- Dyslexia Tutors
- Teachers of English as a Foreign Language
Teachers in High Schools
Many students still need help with spelling at the secondary stage of their education. However, most of the spelling software available is aimed at younger children; teenagers find this too babyish. Spellzone was written especially to overcome this problem. The content is non-patronising and is even popular with adults.
Spellzone can be used in Learning Support Departments and is particularly suitable for dyslexic students. It can also be used in regular English classes with other pupils needing help with spelling, for example those whose first language is not English. A built-in dictionary allows learners to check the meaning of any unfamiliar words and a translation feature enables them to see the word in any one of 35 languages.
Spellzone is very suitable for supervision by Teaching Assistants. No previous experience of teaching English spelling is required, as all teaching points are clearly explained. Teachers have found that the ability to use Spellzone at home makes it popular with parents who are keen to support their son or daughter’s school work. For assessment purposes, all results are stored securely online.
These are some of the comments we have had from teachers and students:
- You have such a useful site here. The whole course is so well thought out and organized.
- I think Spellzone is a very good web site. I used to find spelling boring but now I think it is pretty fun!
- The site, the idea, its contents and its possibilities are BRILLIANT
- Very clear and easy to follow.
- I have enjoyed using it with my pupils ..... they love your site. In fact they wanted to work through break time as well! High praise indeed.
- Very impressed with your scheme ..... lots of nice things about it - good breakdown into phonic patterns and good progression.
Is Spellzone suitable for use in primary schools?
We are sometimes asked if Spellzone is suitable for use in primary schools. Although it is mainly directed towards older learners, some teachers have used Spellzone successfully with 9-11 year olds and even with some younger children on ‘Gifted and Talented’ courses. Please contact us to ask about our reduced rates for smaller schools.
For more detailed information on the teaching content please click here:
Notes for teachers and tutors
You can also try our Free Units or to get our full course, click
here
Teachers and Tutors in Colleges and Universities
Spellzone is widely used in Further Education and Community Colleges. Teachers and Tutors appreciate its non-patronising appeal to their older teenage students and adult learners. It is suitable for many types of learner:
- Key skills students and adults returning to education
- Dyslexic students following a variety of courses at College or University
- ESOL students; the course covers both British and American spellings, so it is also suitable for international students. The dictionary and translation features are particularly helpful for these students.
The course teaches all the English spelling rules in a logical order, with clear explanations at each stage; tutors do not need to be experienced in teaching English spelling. A site licence allows an unlimited number of your students to use the course either in college with the help of a tutor or for independent study in their own homes. For assessment purposes, all results are stored securely online.
Spellzone covers these areas of the UK Adult Literacy Core Curriculum:
- Entry Level (Entry 2 & 3)
- Level 1
- Level 2
These are some of the comments we have had from college tutors:
- "Very impressed with your scheme .... it treats people with spelling problems as adults."
- "Wow - what a wonderful looking site for use with Basic Skills adult students."
- "I must praise it unconditionally. It’s logical, clear and very effective.....I shall be recommending it to all my older teenage and adult dyslexic students."
- "I haven't found anything else like it on the WWW"
- "Fantastic - the most relevant material/resource ever seen for both dyslexia and teaching spelling methods."
This feedback came from adult students themselves:
- “For the first time in my life I am excited about improving my spelling. This course looks just great. There seem to be so many interesting ways at looking at the difficulties.
- “I love your course!! You explain so much that I didn't know, forgot, or wasn't taught.”
For more detailed information on the teaching content please click here:
Notes for teachers and tutors
You can also try our Free Units or to get our full course, click
here
Dyslexia Tutors
The Spellzone course is written by an experienced dyslexia teacher who holds the British Dyslexia Association Post Graduate Diploma in teaching dyslexics. Shireen has had many years experience of teaching dyslexics from age 7 to adult and has also worked as for a Special Needs Advisory Service, training teachers to manage dyslexia in the classroom. She is the author of the widely used “Stile Dyslexia” and several other publications on phonics and spelling.
Spellzone follows the principles of multi-sensory teaching: using sound, sight and movement (writing or typing) to teach spellings and to fix them in the mind. The aim is to cater for:
- Milder dyslexics whose problems may not have been identified earlier and who have a patchy level of achievement
- Those with more serious problems who have followed a structured, multi-sensory program but still have residual problems e.g. remembering the correct spelling choices for a particular sound.
Spellzone is not a complete literacy program and, for independent study, it assumes a reading age of around 9 years. This should not cause a problem as the reading ability of most dyslexics is higher than their spelling age. Spellzone does not claim to be a complete 'cure-all' for dyslexics, some of whom will need extra help at some stages of the course. However, it will fill many of the gaps in basic spelling knowledge and teachers of dyslexics will find Spellzone useful, either as the basis of a course or as a back-up to their own material.
Teachers of dyslexics will be interested to know that Spellzone covers an area ignored by many spelling courses: the unstressed vowel or 'schwa' sound, which is the cause of many spelling errors. E.g. calender or calendar? importent or important? definite or definite? Spellzone provides the student with strategies for learning words where the sound is not clear.
These are some of the comments we have had from dyslexia teacher and tutors:
- "I must praise it unconditionally. It’s logical, clear and very effective.....I shall be recommending it to all my older teenage and adult dyslexic students."
- "Fantastic - the most relevant material/resource ever seen for both dyslexia and teaching spelling methods."
For more detailed information on the teaching content please click here:
Notes for teachers and tutors
You can also try our Free Units or to get our full course, click
here
Teachers of English as a foreign Language
Spellzone is now used in over 60 different countries. This spelling course is suitable for both:
- learners living in an English-speaking country who don't have English as your their language
- and those in other countries who are learning English as a foreign language.
Although English spelling is so hard, most language courses do not offer any special teaching in spelling - they just expect learners to pick it up as they study vocabulary. Many students complain that English spelling is so difficult. Unlike many other languages it does not follow clear rules such as always using the same letters for the same sounds. Indeed, many teachers of English find our spelling system hard to grasp. Don’t worry; you don’t need to be an expert in English spelling to use Spellzone with your students! The course follows a logical pattern and all teaching points are clearly explained.
Spellzone provides a complete English spelling course; where a spelling rule exists, the course teaches it and where there are no rules to help, we give ideas for learning and remembering difficult words.
Learners may even find that Spellzone helps their pronunciation as well as their spelling, because the words are grouped by their sound, for example:
- These words are in the same unit because they have the same sound:
fair bear share there their
- The letters ou have a different sound in each of these words. You will find them grouped with other words which have the same sound:
cloud group double though thought
Spellzone also has a dictionary, a text reader and a translator on every course page.
- Text reader - this helps with the pronunciation of words.
- Dictionary - it’s easy to check the meaning of any word, so Spellzone can also help with vocabulary.
- Translator - finally the translator provides another method to check the meaning of words by allowing students to see them in their own language.
Many English language teachers find Spellzone a useful addition to their own teaching course. Students can work at the course either on a school or home computer or on their mobile phone. As all progress and results are stored online it is always possible to monitor a student’s progress.
This comment is from an EFL teacher in Minsk, Belarus:
- “Spellzone greatly helps learners to get command of spelling through matching the sound and the characters. It involves some analysis, not just memorizing, and, in my opinion, it is very good. I also liked that you provide access to online dictionaries, use some pictures to suggest the meaning and make the site livelier, and that you present words in context.”
For more detailed information on the teaching content please click here:
Notes for teachers and tutors
You can also try our Free Units or to get our full course, click
here
