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June 2023 Round-up

Our 3 Word Lists for June 2023 were words ending in '-stle’, 10 Words for... SAD, and – to celebrate the summer solstice here in the Western hemisphere – Characters in A Midsummer Night´s Dream. Studying Shakespeare at school? We’ve got lots more word lists for you.   This month, we’ve also been busy adding word lists to our Characters from English Literature collection. Can’t find a list for a text you’re studying? Let us know!     At Spellzone, we are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible learning environment to ensure as many users as possible can engage with our resources. &...

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September Round-up

3 Word Lists for September  This month we looked at words ending in ‘ctor’, education vocabulary, and, in celebration of Roald Dahl Story Day, words invented by the author Roald Dahl. There are lots of different ways you can use a Spellzone word list to help you practise your spelling  – learn more about them here.    How to Adapt Any Spellzone Word List for Your Lesson Plan Spellzone has over 1.5 million word lists which can be used in a variety of spelling activities. Did you know teachers can adapt any word list to suit their specific needs and save time when creating resources? Learn how here....

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Word for Wednesday: Exam

September's Word for Wednesday theme is school.  So far, we’ve looked at the words semester, teacher, pupil, and uniform. Our final word for September is exam. An exam is a formal set of questions or exercises that evaluate a particular skill or knowledge. In schools, exams are often set at the end of a term or a year to assess a student’s progress. Exam has been used as an abbreviation for examination since 1848, when it was a slang word used by college students. Examination comes from the Old French ‘examinacion’, from the Latin ‘examinare’ meaning ‘to ponder’ or ‘to consider’. The word took on ...

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Word for Wednesday: Uniform

Our Word for Wednesday theme for September is school. The word school comes from the Old English ‘scol’ meaning ‘place of instruction’, from the Latin ‘schola’ meaning ‘intermission of work’ and ‘leisure for learning’. The idea of children attending a school is from around 1300 and the idea of a school building is from the 1590s. Over the last few weeks we’ve looked at the words semester, teacher, and pupil. Today’s word is uniform.  A uniform is a specific outfit worn my members of a particular group as means of identification. In the UK, it is common for p...

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Word for Wednesday: Pupil

This month's Word for Wednesday theme is school. The word school comes from the Old English ‘scol’ meaning ‘place of instruction’, from the Latin ‘schola’ meaning ‘intermission of work’ and ‘leisure for learning’. The idea of children attending a school is from around 1300 and the idea of a school building is from the 1590s. So far we’ve looked at the words semester and teacher. Today’s word is pupil.  A pupil is a learner who is enrolled in an educational institution. The word is usually used to refer to schoolchildren.  Pupil was the Late Middle Eng...

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Word for Wednesday: Teacher

September's Word for Wednesday theme is school.  The word school comes from the Old English ‘scol’ meaning ‘place of instruction’, from the Latin ‘schola’ meaning ‘intermission of work’ and ‘leisure for learning’. The idea of children attending a school is from around 1300 and the idea of a school building is from the 1590s. Last week we looked at the word semester. Our second word of the month is teacher. A teacher is someone whose occupation is imparting skills or knowledge.  The word teacher dates to around 1300 and comes from the verb ‘teach’. ‘Teac...

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Word for Wednesday: Semester

It’s back-to-school season! To celebrate, we’ve chosen school as our Word for Wednesday theme for September.  The word school comes from the Old English ‘scol’ meaning ‘place of instruction’, from the Latin ‘schola’ meaning ‘intermission of work’ and ‘leisure for learning’. The idea of children attending a school is from around 1300 and the idea of a school building is from the 1590s. Our first word of the month is semester.  A semester is one of two divisions of a school year. The word is common in North American schools where the academic year is usually split into two eighteen-week semesters. Here i...

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May Round-Up 2021

3 Word Lists for May  For this month’s word lists, we looked at synonyms of funny, exceptions to the ‘i before e except after c’ spelling rule, and colours. There are lots of different ways you can use a Spellzone word list to help you practise your spelling – learn more about them here.     10 Words for…Fast In our 10 Words blog post. we shared alternatives for the word for fast. From breakneck, to hasty, to swift – we’ve got the word for you!   American English vs. British English: The School Edition   Semester or Term? Student or pupil? Math or Maths? Some ...

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Support Resource Our Schools

Here at Spellzone we want every school in England to be able to afford the learning resources needed to support its pupils. That’s why we are supporting the #ResourceOurSchools campaign: "Students who attend schools that have good textbooks, science equipment and IT labs score two grades higher at A level than other children- the difference between getting AAA and ABB. 1 in 4 schools in England can’t afford to provide sufficient stationery and books for their pupils, and 6 in 10 children attend schools that can’t afford to spend the national average of £300 per pupil on classroom materials. Every child deserves to receive the learning materials they need...

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Back to School: Are you using Spellzone in your classroom?

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...

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Ten Ways to Make the Most Out of Spellzone

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...

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Ways to Tackle Tricky Spellings: A Recap

Over the last few weeks we’ve been sharing different methods which we hope will help make learning to spell a little easier and a bit more fun. Here is a recap of our posts – which ones did you find most helpful? In our blog post about why English spelling is so difficult, we discussed heterographs, homonyms, and heteronyms. These groups of words make it difficult to solely rely on the ‘sound’ of a word in order to figure out its spelling. The word heterograph refers to words that sound the same, but have different spellings and meanings. Hetero- comes from the Greek heteros which means ‘other’ or ‘different’, whilst -graph comes ...

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"Thank goodness for Spellzone during this remote learning phase. The site is easy for students to navigate independently and they're really enjoying the activities and spelling games. You get an awful lot for your money with Spellzone. Really reassuring is the very prompt response with helpdesk queries. I've very rarely needed the helpdesk, but when I have, the issue has been addressed and sorted within a very short time."

Sarah Taggart, Oasis Academy Lord's Hill