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3 Word Lists for December 2023

'Tis the season for festive word lists! Whether you're dreaming of sugarplums or perfecting your pronunciation of ‘Joyeux Noel’, let's unwrap the gift of language together! Here are our 3 word lists for December 2023… Christmas Words Improve your holiday vocabulary and explore seasonal gems like mistletoe, nutcracker, and Yule with our list of Christmas words. Try our games to ensure you sleigh your way to improved spelling skills in time for the festivities! Christmas Food Indulge in the world of Christmas culinary delights! Perfect for English learners, our second list for the month covers festive food...

November 2023 Round-up

Celebrating the Season with Spelling Lists In November’s spelling lists blog post, we embraced the season with a vibrant collection of Autumn vocabulary, learned how to spell the /l/ sound after the letter ‘n’, and shared 10 alternatives for the word tired. Don’t forget all Spellzone word lists can be used in a variety of online and offline spelling activities. Boost Your Vocabulary Series Continues This month, in our Boost Your Vocabulary series, we continued sharing words to help you elevate your writing. Explore 22 sentence starters to help you link contrasting ideas and 24 sentence starters for emphasising ideas. Remember, the...

Boost Your Vocabulary: 24 Sentence Starters for Emphasising Ideas

With the right words, you can choose what you want to guide your reader’s attention to. Over the last few weeks, we’ve looked at sentence starters for different purposes: introducing, expanding, and illustrating ideas, demonstrating cause and effect, and linking contrasting ideas. Here are 24 sentence starters to help you emphasise a point: Above all Above all, mastering grammar is essential for effective communication. All things considered All things considered, a strong foundation in literacy skills is important for academic success. As a rule As a rule, regular practice is the key to improving one's English proficiency. ...

Boost Your Vocabulary: 22 Sentence Starters to Help You Link Contrasting Ideas

The right words give you the power to connect different ideas and give your reader an idea of what to expect. So far in this series, we’ve shared sentence starters you can use to introduce, expand on, or illustrate an idea and sentence starters that demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between two ideas. Think of today’s words as bridges that allow you to smoothly guide your reader from one idea to a contrasting one. Alternatively You may wish to check spellings in the dictionary. Alternatively, using a spellchecker may be quicker. Although Although English grammar can be complex, many students excel with at it practice and...

3 Word Lists for November 2023

Autumn/Fall Vocabulary In the UK, the Autumn season is in full swing: the days are getting shorter while the leaves are changing colour and falling from trees. Learn some Autumn vocabulary while testing yourself on the qua and squa spelling patterns, -ey endings, the /or/ sound, the long /e/ sound, silent letters, and more. Have you played Autumn Anagrams? The /l/ sound after n For this month’s spelling pattern, we are looking at how to spell the /l/ sound after the letter n at the end of a word. The words in this list all contain the al or el spelling pattern. Learn more about how to spell this sound in Unit 26. Word endings: -le, and exceptions...

October 2023 Round-up

Have you tried out our October spelling lists? This month, we explored how to spell l sound after the letter m, shared 10 alternatives for the word talk, and prepared for Halloween with these scary words. We also brought back our seasonal game Spooky Spelling – are you brave enough to play? Is it a which or a witch? What do the words evil, scream, banshee, zombie, and spooky have in common? Why does Frankenstein need a capital letter? We celebrated spooky season by sharing 10 writing tips for Halloween. When you are writing, it is important to choose the words you use to begin a sentence carefully. You can...

10 Frightful Mistakes to Avoid this Halloween

Are you ready for Halloween? Make sure you don't make these 10 mistakes this spooky season: Don’t muddle up the words witch and which! Our spelling game Which Witch is great for practice! Heard a scary sound? It’s a probably a creak, not a creek! As Frankenstein is a name, it needs capital letters. Make sure you don’t confuse forget the apostrophe if you’re writing about Frankenstein’s monster. Don’t get caught out by silent letters – watch out for the sneaky ‘h’ in the words ghost and ghoul . Describing...

Boost Your Vocabulary: 15 Sentence Starters to Demonstrate Cause and Effect in Writing

When you are writing, the words you choose to begin a sentence are really important. The right words will give you the power to connect different ideas and show your reader what to expect. Last week, we looked shared sentence starters you can use to introduce, expand on, or illustrate and idea. Here are 15 sentence starters that demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between two ideas: Accordingly She diligently studied spelling rules every day. Accordingly, her spelling skills improved significantly. As a consequence As a consequence of his persistent efforts in English language classes, he improved his English and earned top grades. ...

Boost Your Vocabulary: 20 Sentence Starters to Help You Introduce, Expand, and Illustrate Ideas

The way you begin a sentence is crucial. Selecting the right word will guide your reader through your work and show them what they can expect from the rest of the sentence. In this blog post, we will share 20 sentence starters you can use to introduce, expand on, or illustrate ideas. These words will help you express your thoughts clearly and keep your readers engaged. Look at the example sentence next to each sentence starter to see it used in context. Additionally Additionally, using a spellchecker will help you find spelling mistakes. Again Again, it's important to spell words correctly to make your writing look professional. Along with Along with...

3 Word Lists for October 2023

It’s time for our spelling lists for October. Did you know that you can adapt any Spellzone word list to suit your lesson plan? The l sound after m This month’s spelling pattern explores how to spell an l sound when it falls after the letter m. Learn more about this sound and whether to use the letters al or el in Word endings: -le, and exceptions e.g. -al, -el, -ol. Halloween From pranks and pumpkins to spiders and shadows, spooky season upon us! How many of these Halloween words can you spell? Check back later this month for our Spooky Spelling game and in the meantime here are more spooky spelling lists...

September 2023 Round-Up

With back-to-school action words, rule-breaking el endings, and synonyms for nice, we hope our September spelling lists kept you on your toes! Didn’t get a chance to try them out? Don’t worry: now you can use them in our Autumn Anagrams spelling game. Tailoring Spellzone to your students’ needs has never been easier! As students work through the Spellzone course, they are automatically assigned Learn the Words activities such as Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check; Listen and Spell; and a range of spelling games. Our latest update means you can now choose which Learn the Words activities you would like your...

Boost Your Vocabulary: 150 Movement Verbs to Elevate Your Writing

Want to make your writing more energetic? From a leaf trembling in the wind to an adventurer clambering up a mountain, our collection of 150 verbs includes movements big and small, fast and slow, animated and languid. These doing words will give you the tools to describe actions in a detailed way and make your storytelling more interesting. Let’s begin… accelerate: to increase in speed or velocity ascend: to move upward, typically in a steady manner amble: to walk slowly and casually bike: to ride a bicycle bolt: to move suddenly and rapidly bounce: to spring back after hitting a surface bound: to move forward with big leaps brake: to apply...

Making Spellzone a Team Effort: 3 Simple Ways to Involve Parents and Carers in the Learning Journey

We know that involving parents and carers in their children's learning journey can be a game-changer - especially when it comes to remote learning! At Spellzone, we're here to help you make this as simple as possible. Here are 3 easy ways to get parents involved, complete with links to the necessary documents: Sample introductory letter and consent form If your school is new to Spellzone, this adaptable letter explains the benefits of Spellzone and how the students can participate. As each school uses Spellzone differently, make sure you edit the sample letter to suit your school’s specific purposes. You can also adapt and send home this...

Help Your Students Ace Spelling Tests with our ‘Learn the Words’ Activities

What are Learn the Words activities? As students work through their Course Pathways, they are provided with Learn the Words activities for practice. These activities include: The Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check learning activity The Listen and Spell test Nineteen spelling games To get the best out of their Spellzone experience, we recommend students complete a range of Learn the Words activities before moving onto the course tests. You can choose which activities you want your students to complete via the Account tab on the blue bar. How do I see if a student is using Learn the Words activities? Click on a...

3 Word Lists for September 2023

With back-to-school action words, rule-breaking el endings, and a variety of ways to say something is nice, our September spelling lists will keep you on your toes! Back-to-School verbs The summer holidays have come to an end and it's time to sharpen those spelling skills! From answering questions to erasing mistakes, the verbs in this list describe actions that might take place at school. How many can you spell? Rulebreakers - the el ending The /Əl/ sound at the end of a word is usually spelt with the letters le, but this month’s rulebreakers use the letters el instead. Make sure you’re up to speed with this...

August 2023 Round-Up

Boost your spelling skills and immerse yourself in a world of words with our 3 Word Lists for August 2023. Our spelling activities and games will have you tackling this month's tricky rulebreakers, fruity flavours, and, lightning-fast vocabulary in no time. Why not try our Summer Spelling game? English can be confusing, especially with homophones like meat and meet. Don't worry, our latest Commonly Confused Words blog post is here to help! We provide a straightforward breakdown of the distinctions between these two words and offer practical tips to help you confidently choose the right one. Fed up with using the same words over and over again?...

Boost Your Vocabulary: 300 Amazing Adjectives to Replace 'Very' (part 2)

Do you want to become a more powerful writer? Last week, we shared 150 adjectives to try instead of using the word ‘very’ to emphasise your point. Here are 150 more words: very impatient: restless, antsy, fidgety, agitated, eager very lazy: slothful, idle, sluggish, inactive, indolent very lively: energetic, vivacious, animated, spirited, dynamic very loud: deafening, thunderous, booming, resounding, cacophonous very messy: disorganised, untidy, chaotic, cluttered, dishevelled very neat: tidy, organised, orderly, immaculate, uncluttered very nervous: anxious, jittery, edgy, apprehensive,...

Boost Your Vocabulary: 300 Amazing Adjectives to Replace 'Very' (part 1)

Do you want to make your writing more compelling? Stop using the word ‘very’ to emphasise your point! Here are 150 adjectives to try instead: very angry: furious, enraged, incensed, livid, irate very annoying: irritating, bothersome, vexing, grating, exasperating very bad: terrible, dreadful, abysmal, horrendous, atrocious very beautiful: gorgeous, stunning, breathtaking, exquisite, radiant very big: enormous, massive, colossal, gigantic, immense very bitter: acrid, pungent, sharp, biting, acerbic very brave: courageous, valiant, fearless, heroic, bold very bright: brilliant,...

Commonly Confused Words: Meat vs. Meet

What does each word mean? Meat refers to the flesh of animals (including fishes and birds and snails) when it is consumed as food. The word is also sometimes used figuratively to describe: a) the inner and usually edible part of a seed, grain, nut, or fruit, b) the most essential or most vital part of an idea or experience. Here is meat used in an example sentence: We are cooking meat and vegetables on the BBQ. Which meat do you prefer: chicken or pork? Extract the meat from the pumpkin before you carve it. Let’s get into the meat of this discussion. The verb meet describes the act of coming together. The word is also...

3 Word Lists for August 2023

From deciphering tricky spellings to embracing the fruity flavours of summer, our August word lists will take you on a high-speed language adventure! Are you ready? Rulebreakers - the al ending While most words use the letters ‘le’ to spell the /Əl/ sound at the end of a word, this month’s tricksy rulebreakers use 'al' instead. Brush up on spelling the 'al' ending in Unit 26 - Word endings: -le, and exceptions e.g. -al, -el, -ol. Fruity Words From the juicy sweetness of peaches and strawberries to the zesty tang of lemons and limes, this month’s fruity words will no...