As educators, we know that each student has unique learning needs – what works for one student may not work for another. This is why personalised learning is crucial for academic success. Spelling is no different. With the right tools and strategies, we can support our students in ways that speak to their individual strengths and areas of improvement. Spellzone offers a wide range of features that allow you to personalise spelling lessons and ensure students receive a learning experience that matches their pace and style. In this blog, we’ll explore 10 ways you can tailor spelling lessons to each student, enhancing their spelling skills and boosting their confidence. Whether y...
When it comes to learning, feedback is everything. Clear and timely feedback helps students understand their progress, identify areas for improvement, and build confidence in their abilities. Without feedback, students may feel lost or unsure of their next steps. If you’re supporting students with their spelling, knowing exactly how they’re doing can make all the difference. That’s where Spellzone comes in. Here are five ways Spellzone provides feedback so you can guide your students to spelling success with ease. Understanding the Role of Feedback in Learning Feedback isn’t just about pointing out mistakes – it’s a powerful tool for growth. Stud...
Everyone loves being recognised for their hard work and students are no different. When learners feel celebrated for their effort and progress, they become more motivated to tackle challenges and improve their skills. That’s why Spellzone goes beyond traditional spelling tools by rewarding students in fun and meaningful ways, transforming spelling practice into an exciting and rewarding experience. In this blog, you’ll learn about the benefits of recognising effort, how Spellzone uses rewards to inspire learners, and simple strategies to integrate these rewards into your classroom or home learning routine. Why Rewards Matter in Learning Rewards play a crucial role in eff...
In the past two decades, technology has revolutionised education, making it more accessible, interactive, and personalised. Spelling, once practiced with repetitive exercises in notebooks, is now being taught through innovative digital tools. As schools and parents embrace this shift, platforms like Spellzone are playing a pivotal role in changing how students learn and improve their spelling skills. In this blog, we’ll explore how Spellzone harnesses the power of technology to transform spelling education, supporting learners of all ages and abilities. The Role of Spellzone in Modern Learning Spellzone is at the forefront of modern spelling instruction, providing a comprehensive o...
Would you like to launch a spelling bee competition for your school, academy trust, or school district? Spellzone's multiplayer function allows you to effortlessly host spelling bee competitions to engage students while supporting spelling development. In this guide, we will walk you through the process of setting up and executing a spelling bee event using Spellzone. Whether you're aiming to showcase your school's top spellers or foster friendly competition between schools, Spellzone will ensure your event runs seamlessly. Let’s get started… Enabling Multiplayer Games on Your Spellzone Account Before diving into your competition, make sure multiplayer games...
From initial assessments to personalised spelling courses and real-time evaluation, Spellzone streamlines the educational experience for teachers and students, making learning easy and enjoyable. Spellzone adeptly manages each phase of the teaching, learning, and assessment cycle—identifying needs, planning learning, facilitating learning, assessing learning, and evaluating learning—so that educators can focus on what’s important: teaching. Initial Assessment: Identifying Learner Needs with Spelling Ability Test Spellzone begins the educational journey with an initial assessment—the Spelling Ability Test. This assessment efficiently identifies...
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 cons...
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 student&...
Close the attainment gap with Spellzone: the online learning resource that encourages students to work independently to build spelling confidence. Endorsed by teachers worldwide, Spellzone uses differentiated, multi-sensory teaching approaches to improve attainment in 8 ways: The Spelling Ability Test identifies specific spelling weaknesses and provides bespoke learning pathways for students to work through. Students can access Spellzone on any device, at school and at home, and work at their own pace and level. The flexible nature of the programme makes it ideal for closing the attainment gap. Each course unit presents a clear explanation of a phonics...
Do you spend a significant amount of time on administrative tasks such as data collection, marking, and lesson planning? 52% of teachers questioned in this 2022 Teacher Wellbeing Survey stated that workload was the main factor for increased stress at work. Here are 5 ways schools can use Spellzone to help teachers reduce their workload: Spellzone Assesses Each Student's Needs Spellzone uses the Spelling Ability Test to identify each student’s specific weaknesses and then creates tailored learning plans for them to work through at their own pace. Instead of spending time assessing each member of the class and trying to plan learning which is sui...
Spellzone is an engaging multi-sensory platform for students to improve their spelling, vocabulary, and comprehension while having fun. Here are 6 ways Spellzone helps build student knowledge: Spellzone Identifies Each Student’s Needs Using the Spelling Ability Test, Spellzone identifies each student’s specific weaknesses and provides them with a tailored learning plan to work through at their own pace. Spellzone Plans and Facilitates Each Student’s Learning Every time a student logs into Spellzone, they are guided on what to work on next. Each learning unit in the Course Pathway presents a clear explanation of a phonics or spel...
Planning Guides Signed Up for a Free Trial? Here's What To Do Next... How to Add Staff Members to your Spellzone Account How to Add Students to your Spellzone Account How to Remove Old Students, Classes, and Staff Members from your Spellzone Account 5 Ideas for using Spellzone in the Classroom How to Build a Lesson Plan with Spellzone How to Adapt Any Spellzone Word List for Your Lesson Plan End of Term Checklist for Teachers Results and Rewards Guides 7 Ways to Monitor Your Class's Activity and Results on Spellzone 10 Ways to Monitor Your School&rsquo...
3 Word Lists for the Month Tune in with your class each month for our latest spelling lists, including vocabulary for special occasions, weird and wonderful words, loanwords from other languages, and more. Use every word list in a variety of online and offline spelling activities. Word for Wednesday: Tricky Spelling Words We’ve been sharing interesting etymologies and useful example sentences for 10 years in our Word for Wednesday segment, looking at festive words, frightening words, funny words, and everything in-between. Join us each week for quick tips for spelling tricky words. Commonly Confused Words Accept or except? Allowed or a...
Before the Lesson Choose what spelling pattern you would like to teach from the course index. Top Tip: Have you tried mapping the course index with the National Curriculum? Top Tip: Click on the ▼ icon to find a specific spelling pattern within a unit. In a separate browser tab, choose a relevant word list from the Course Lists section of Spellzone. Top Tip: Don’t forget you can adapt any word list on Spellzone to suit your classroom needs. Choose what word list activities you would like your students to do during your lesson. Individual Activities: - Look Say Cover Write Check* Set as task for whole class. - ...
There are four ways to add students to Spellzone: 1) If you would like to add one or two students Log into Spellzone Click on ‘Students’ in the blue toolbar Click on ‘Create students' Under the ‘Manually add a student’ heading, click on ‘Add a student’ Fill in the student’s first name and surname. Choose between manual login or Google login If using manual login, fill in the username, password, and email address if you would like to If using Google login, fill in the student’s Google email address Choose whether you would like to enable the Course Pathway Click ‘Save&r...
With the new school year fast approaching, it’s time to make sure your Spellzone account is ready for your students and staff to start work. Students At the start of the year, it is likely that you will have students who no longer need to use Spellzone. To delete a whole class of students from your school’s account: Log into Spellzone Click on the blue ‘Classes’ tab Click on the class of students you would like to delete Click on the ‘Select all’ button at the end of the top row on the student roll table Scroll to the bottom of the student roll Click on ‘Delete’ Confirm that you have chosen the correct student/s Cli...
The best way to see evaluate how a Spellzone subscription might be used within your school is to trial it with as many student as possible. A free trial allows you to add 1200 students to your Spellzone account. The resource is suitable for students aged six to adult. Once you have signed up for a free trial, there are four ways to add students to Spellzone: 1) If you would like to add one or two students Log into Spellzone Click on ‘Students’ in the blue toolbar Click on ‘Create students' Under the ‘Manually add a student’ heading, click on ‘Add a student’ Fill in the student’s first name...
A free trial allows you to add unlimited members of staff to your Spellzone account. Staff can have teacher or administrator accounts: Teachers have full access to student details and their results. Administrators have the same access as teachers, but they can also manage the account. We recommend having more than one administrator per school There are two ways to add staff members to Spellzone. 1) If you would like to add a single member of staff: Log into Spellzone Click on ‘Staff’ in the blue toolbar Click on ‘Create teacher(s) and administrator(s)' Fill in the staff member’s first name/title, surname, and em...
Have you signed up for a free trial? Here’s what to do next… Free training? Yes please! To help you get the most out of your Spellzone experience, we offer free training sessions for all teachers. Choose a: - 20 minute whistle-stop tour of the main Spellzone features - 50 minute in-depth tour of all the Spellzone features, including how to track your students’ progress. Each session can be tailored specifically for your school’s needs. Book a session for your team today. Add your people Now that you’re familiar with what Spellzone h...
Are you making the most of your Spellzone experience? We’ve put together this list of guides to help you take advantage of all our site features: How to Find Your Student's Spellzone Score in 5 Minutes The Spellzone score provides a useful data point for monitoring a student’s progress. Do you know where to find it? How to Cross-reference Your Student’s Course Pathway with the National Curriculum Want to make sure your students’ pathways align with the National Curriculum? Learn how to fill in any gaps in this blog post. 3 Spelling Tasks to Set Your Students on Spellzone Learn how to set the three types of Spellzon...
With Easter just a few weeks away, here is an end-of-spring-term checklist to help you get ready for the holidays: Reset the Spelling Ability Test End of term is the perfect point to reset the ability test. Your students will be provided with an updated pathway for the start of the new term and you will have a data point to help you map their progress. Compare each student’s end-of-term Spellzone Score to their start-of-term one to see how much they have improved. Look at your class results As well as exploring the results section for each student, you can look at and download the results for your class as a whole. C...
What are Spellzone points? While working on Spellzone, students collect effort points and achievement points. These rewards are displayed as medals and medallions. Effort Points Effort points represent effort made and one point is awarded for every learning activity the student attempts. Learning activities include: course pages; the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check activity; pattern-recognition games; and problem-solving games. These activities are found throughout the course and in the Word Lists section. Students are also rewarded a certificate upon completing a course unit. Achievement Points Achievement points represent student achievement and up to ...
Here are 7 ways to monitor your class's activity and results on Spellzone: Click on the blue ‘Classes’ tab. Choose your class, filtering by ‘My Classes’ if necessary. Use the dropdown menu above the table to change the time period you want to look at. Click on the green ‘points’ heading to see which student scored the most points over that time period. Click on the green ‘activities’ heading to see which student completed the most activities over that time period. Scroll down and click on ‘View course tests for this class' to see an overview of which units your students have comp...
Last week we looked at 13 ways to monitor an individual student’s results and activity. Here are 10 ways you can monitor your whole school's activity and results: Log into Spellzone and scroll down to see an Activity Split for your whole school. Hover over each segment of the pie chart to see how often your students in your school have used each type of spelling activity over the last year. Look at number of times the students in your school have logged into Spellzone over the last 7 days, 30 days, and 90 days. Look at how much your students have improved on average. This figure is calculated using the difference between each s...
On Spellzone, you can click on any student’s name to find out more about how they have been using the resource. Click on the blue ‘Students’ tab or choose a class from the blue ‘Classes’ tab to find a list of your students. Here are 13 ways to monitor a student’s activity and results: Click on the green ‘Results’ tab. Hover over each segment of the pie chart to see how often your student has used each type of activity. Look at the table to see what activities your student completed each time they logged into Spellzone. Use the dropdown menu above the table to change the time period you want to look at. Each r...
There are 3 types of task on Spellzone: the Spelling Ability Test, a Spellzone course unit, and a word list task. Teachers can set classroom and homework tasks for individual students, for a class, or for the whole school. Tasks can be set alongside or instead of the Course Pathway. How to set the Spelling Ability Test as a task If your student is working on their Course Pathway regularly, it is likely that their Spellzone Score will be up-to-date. However, in some instances, you might want to reset the test: If you would like to give your students a fresh start, for example, at the beginning of a new school year If you want a score for ...
Personalise your profile by adding an avatar. Collect achievement points by working on test activities and effort points by working on learning activities. Work your way from a Spelling Newbie to a Spelling Grandmaster by collecting achievement points. Check out your current level on your Spellzone profile. Up for a little competition? Our league tables are updated weekly. Finished a unit? Rate how confident your feel about your new learning on the end-of-unit-summary page. Made a mistake? Practise spellings as many times as you need to in the My Difficult Words section. Create word lists for y...
Reset the Spelling Ability Test The final week of the first term is the perfect point to reset the ability test. Your students will be provided with an updated pathway for the start of the new term and you will have a data point to help you map their progress. Compare each student’s end-of-term Spellzone Score to their start-of-term one to see how much they have improved. Look at your class results As well as exploring the results section for each student, you can look at and download the results for your class as a whole. Click on the class name and then scroll to the results section. You may wish to look at the tasks, activity, and logins ...
There are over 1.5 million Word Lists on Spellzone which can all be used in a variety of spelling activities including spelling games. Spellzone games fall into three main categories and many of them can be played in multiplayer mode: 1) Pattern recognition games Crack the eggs in the correct order to spell the words in Egg Hunt Click on the balls in the correct order to spell the words in Bouncing Anagram and Bouncing Anagram Extreme Collect the rain drops in the correct order to spell the words in Rain Drops 2) Problem solving games Find the words in our small, medium, and large Word Searches 3) Voice and vocabulary games ...
Spellzone is a dynamic resource that allows students to work on tailored Course Pathways at their own pace. Each time a student makes an error on a spelling test, Spellzone will add the word to the My Difficult Words section on their profile. The My Difficult Words section is tailored to each student and is updated every time the student takes a spelling test. To find the My Difficult Words section, students should: Click on My Spellzone (this is also the page that appears when a student logs in) Choose My Word Lists from the red tool bar Choose My Difficult Words from the list. They can then practise the words in various spelling activ...
What is a Course Pathway? Spellzone is a dynamic resource that allows students to work on tailored Course Pathways at their own pace. When a student logs into Spellzone for the first time, they will be prompted to sit the Spelling Ability Test. The test will take approximately five minutes (depending on the student) and will identify any gaps in the student’s knowledge. Upon completing the test, each student will receive a Spellzone Score and a learning pathway that will indicate where they should begin the course and which units they should study. A typical Course Pathway is eight units long. Each subsequent time the student logs i...
Spellzone has over 1.5 million word lists which can be used in a variety of spelling activities. As a teacher, you can adapt any word list to suit your specific needs and save time when creating resources. Where do I find relevant Word Lists? All our lists can be found on the Word Lists section of the site: See which word lists are popular with users on Spellzone and within your school by scrolling to the bottom of the page. Use the search bar to find word lists that are relevant to a key word. For example, ‘homophones’ or ‘poetry’. Click on the tabs at the top of the page to explore our banks of ‘Course Lists’, &lsq...
What is a Spellzone Score? Spellzone is a dynamic resource that allows students to work on tailored Course Pathways at their own pace. When a student logs into Spellzone for the first time, they will be prompted to sit the Spelling Ability Test. The test will take approximately five minutes (depending on the student) and will identify any gaps in the student’s knowledge. Upon completing the test, each student will receive a Spellzone Score and a learning pathway that will indicate where they should begin the course and which units they should study. A typical Course Pathway is eight units long. Each subsequent time the student logs in they will be...
Did you know there are over a million word lists on Spellzone? You can find them on our Word Lists homepage by using the search bar or following the links on the green toolbar at the top of the page. Today we are sharing 10 things you can do with any of the word lists on Spellzone: What does the word mean? Click on a word to see its dictionary definition. Scroll down for synonyms, scrabble scores, and other lists the word appears in. How do you pronounce the word? Click on the speaker icon to hear the word and the example sentence spoken. What does the word mean in my language? Did you know Spellz...
Here in the UK, we are entering our third week of lockdown and we know that elsewhere in the world you are having similar experiences. At Spellzone, we want to do everything we can to make this time easier for our community. Here are three things we have been working on over the last few weeks to help us stay connected while at home: Rainbows from around the world Children all over the world have been creating rainbows of hope and putting them up in their windows to show members of their communities that they are not alone. At Spellzone, we have been collecting and showcasing rainbow artwork made by our students. Many of you have already sent ...
Whether you’re a teacher, student, or parent, we hope you’ve had a restful summer and are rejuvenated for the term ahead. If you’re looking to change up your lesson plans or get to grips with spelling this year, Spellzone is the course for you. What better time to try it out than the start of a new academic year? Spellzone is an online English spelling resource used by students aged seven to adult. It unlocks the mystery of English spelling and is adaptable for all abilities including students learning English as a foreign language and those with dyslexia. Want to find out more about how to integrate the course into your studies? Here are some back-to-school...
1) Sign up for a free trial The best way to find out if Spellzone is right for your school is by signing up for a free 30-day trial. The free trial will give you access to all our resources. Find out more here. 2) Talk to your colleagues If your school is subscribed to Spellzone, it’s a great idea to get as many of your colleagues involved as possible. We offer site licenses covering up to 1200 learners and the more students you sign up, the cheaper the course is per head. Learn more about developing a whole-school spelling policy here. 3) Sign up for a free online demo Once you’ve got yo...
Welcome to a new school year! Here are our top tips on how to use Spellzone for lesson plan success: Set the Spelling Ability Test Even if your students are seasoned Spellzone users and you have their activity and results from previous years, it’s still worth setting the Spelling Ability Test to confirm they are at the level you expect. The site will provide a tailored version of the course for each student depending on their results and the gaps in their knowledge. A baseline spelling score will also help to document the student’s progress and achievements. Find out more about how the test works here. Which course is best for your students? Spellzone ...
For Spellzone users, word lists are a vital part of learning how to spell. While most of our students are looking to improve their spelling, it is important to remember that not everyone will find the same words difficult to learn. Students studying different subjects at school may also have different sets of vocabulary that they are required to be familiar with – it is unlikely that someone studying Biology will need to know the same terms as someone studying Drama. Our word list feature is a great way to adapt Spellzone to your specific needs by creating lists featuring the words you personally struggle with. Click here to learn how. We also have a huge collection of existing w...
If you have logged into Spellzone recently, you may have noticed a link to the Spelling Ability Test – a new resource we’ve added to make Spellzone even easier to use. What is the Spelling Ability Test? After many requests from both teachers and students, we have a developed the Spelling Ability Test to help students ascertain the best point for them to begin the Spellzone course. The site will provide a tailored version of the course for each student depending on their results and the gaps in their knowledge. A starting spelling score will also help to document the student’s progress and achievements. Who can use the Spelling Ability Test? The Spelling Abi...
We like to make sure you’re getting the most out of our website, so over the years we’ve shared various tips for using Spellzone on the blog (find the full list at the end of this article). However, we understand how busy teaching can get – and that you may not have time to sit down and work your way through all of the resources. This is why we’re introducing our new free online demos. What is a free online demo? Our free online demo gives you the opportunity to learn about Spellzone face-to-face (or screen-to-screen!). During a pre-arranged 45 minute session, we will run through all of Spellzone’s features and answer any questions you and your colleagues ...
Here at Spellzone we’ve had a rather busy summer. As well as producing a new Starter Course which takes students through the early stages of phonic spelling, we have put together a collection of new word lists targeted at Key Stage 3 pupils. Within the collection there is a general secondary spelling list, a list of common homophones, and a variety of subject-specific spelling lists. None of the lists are intended for blanket teaching, but instead as tools to help identify weak spots and from which to develop personalised word lists. View our lists here. Click here for our guide on how to make the most out of the Spellzone word list feature. General Secondary Spelling List ...
Now you’ve seen our exam tips and learned how to create and use word lists, let’s take a look at some of the ways you can test yourself to see how much your spelling has improved. Spellzone offers three testing methods which you can access straight from your word lists. Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check Test This method is a classic when it comes to learning spelling – and with good reason! At Spellzone we believe that learning while using as many senses as possible really helps to fix the spelling of a word into your memory, and the Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check method does just this. We encourage our students to really look a word; to notice the shapes of t...
Have you got exams in the upcoming weeks? We’ve compiled a list of our favourite tips to help you make sure that spelling mistakes don’t lose you easy marks. Remember these marks might end up making the difference between one grade or another. Our word list feature is a great way to adapt Spellzone to suit your needs. While we already have a huge collection of existing word lists – in a wide array of subjects – the best way to make sure you’re practising the vocabulary most relevant to your subject is to create a list of your own. How to create your own word list: To create your own word list, and to take any of our spelling test or play any of our s...
As you may have discerned from our last few posts, Spellzone’s adaptable features make it the perfect spelling resource for a wide range of users from a variety of different fields. If you are a homeschooler, this blog post is for you! Have you thought about incorporating Spellzone into your schooling routine? Today we are going to share some ideas for how you can make the most of Spellzone at home. Spellzone can be accessed from any device with an internet connection, depending for whatever your IT resources you may be. The course units, as well as the games, word lists, and blog, can be viewed on a conventional computer, as well as on a laptop, or mobile device. The ...
Now that the summer holidays are well and truly over, we thought it might be worth sharing a few ideas for how you can use Spellzone both in the classroom and for setting homework. To find some general tips for teaching spelling click here and for a typical lesson plan click here. If your school doesn’t already have a school-wide spelling policy, it is really worth implementing one. Consistency is vital for learning spelling, so it is important that students are encouraged to spell correctly in all fields and subjects – rather than just in English lessons. With spelling feedback from all subjects, students will be able to create a more detailed record of their spelling erro...
Would you like to trial Spellzone in your school or college? We can offer a free trial of Spellzone. This includes everything within the website and normally included in a site subscription. There is no obligation to buy Spellzone after the free period. If you would like to trial Spellzone for your school or college just click here and follow the instructions. Should you then wish to subscribe after the free period all you need to do is either pay online or by invoice and you can continue using the same account. ...
You may have recently noticed that our word lists now sometimes have sentences appearing on them. We have started the process of adding sentences to all word lists associated with the Spellzone course. This will provide a database of around 5000 sentences. These sentences are available on the word list pages and will be used in the spelling activities and games. We believe the addition of sentences will help users with vocabulary and will add a feature that has previously been requested. We expect it will take a few months to add 5000 sentences. In early 2012 we then plan to add a new facility which will allow you to add your own sentences. ...
In most schools the teaching of spelling skills is regarded as the responsibility of the English Department but virtually all teachers have some written work to mark. Despite the increase in computer-based work, where spellcheckers are available, many assignments and most exams are still handwritten. Recently many exam boards have said they are tightening their standards and penalizing poor spelling. Therefore the teaching of spelling is still important. By developing and following a consistent approach across the whole school, teachers can not only contribute to their students’ spelling improvement but also ease their own marking load by reducing the number of mistakes made. The...
American vs. British English
Common Mistakes
Commonly Confused Words
English Idioms Explained
English Literature
Exams & Tests
Grammar & Punctuation
Mindful Spelling
Spelling at School
Spelling Games
Spelling Homework
Spelling Tips
Spellzone Tips & Tools
Supporting Adult Learners
Supporting Dyslexic Learners
Supporting EAL Learners
Word Origins & Stories
Writing & Vocabulary
"Spellzone fits in beautifully with our Scope and Sequence of Phonological Awareness and Spelling. It also aligns perfectly with the four areas of spelling knowledge and uses the Brain, Ears, Eyes approach to learning spelling."
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