Starting the day with a focused spelling activity can set a positive tone for your students and significantly enhance their spelling skills. A morning spelling warm-up is a simple yet effective way to reinforce learning and make spelling a natural part of their daily routine. Here are five morning spelling warm-up ideas to help your students kickstart their day with spelling success. 1. Spelling Flashcards Flashcards are a classic and versatile tool for spelling practice. Here’s how you can use them in the morning: Preparation: Create a set of flashcards with challenging words tailored to your students' level. Activity: Each morning, instruct your students pick a f...
For the month of March, we are theming our Word for Wednesday blog posts around types of punctuation. So far we have looked at the word apostrophe and the word parenthesis. This week’s word is comma. Commas have a variety of functions yet many people are uncertain of how to use them. The main purpose of a comma is to clarify meaning by grouping together specific parts of the sentence. Each group within the sentence is separated by a comma which marks a slight break. One tip that teachers often use when teaching students how to read is to pause for one beat when there is a comma and pause for two beats at the end of a sentence. In this blog post, we...
Over the course of March we’ve decided to try something new for our Word for Wednesday feature and choose each week’s word to fit around a specific theme. Our chosen theme is punctuation, starting with the word apostrophe. As today is National Grammar Day in the United States of America, it is important to point out that grammar and punctuation are not the same thing. Grammar refers to the whole system and structure of a language and you can find a Word for Wednesday post about the word’s origin here. Punctuation on the other hand refers to the written marks used to separate sentences in order to clarify meaning. Punctuation marks have a variety of...
Punctuation is essential to make writing easy to understand. When used correctly, it shows the reader when sentences start and finish and what part of the sentence contains the most important information. Punctuation that is used incorrectly or sloppily, however, can confuse meaning. The addition of a comma in the following sentence, for example, makes a huge difference: ‘Let’s eat grandma!’ he said. Let’s eat, grandma!’ he said. Click here to learn more about how to use commas (and avoid implying that you’re partial to cannibalism). If you browse our archive, you’ll see that we’ve shared tips on how to use many of the more-c...
A few weeks ago we looked at how to use commas in direct speech. This week, let’s take a look at the other things to be aware of when formatting speech correctly. Before we begin, let’s remind ourselves on the differences between direct speech and reported speech: The term direct speech refers to when the actual words of a speaker are quoted in the text. For example: ‘I love you,’ he said. Reported speech (also known as indirect speech) refers to when someone’s words are described rather than quoted. For example: He told her he loved her. This article will focus on how to correctly punctuate direct spee...
Commas have a variety of functions and many people are uncertain of how to use them. The main purpose of a comma is to clarify meaning by grouping together specific parts of the sentence. Each group within the sentence is separated by a comma which marks a slight break. Earlier this year we looked at how to use commas in a list. Scroll down to read about how to use commas in direct speech. What is direct speech? In writing, there are two types of speech: direct speech and reported speech. The term direct speech refers to when the actual words of a speaker are quoted in the text. For example: ‘I love you,’ he said. Reported speech (also ...
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
"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 HillConnect with us at: 
