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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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3 Word Lists for September 2021

Did you know there are over a million word lists on Spellzone? Every word list can be used in a variety of online and offline activities – learn more about them here. Here are 3 word lists to try in September:  Words ending in ctor  This month’s spelling pattern is 'ctor' endings  After the letters 'ct', many words use 'or' to spell the weak vowel ending. Learn about ctor words in Unit 25 and practise spelling them in this word list.   Education - Places September means back to school and to celebrate we’ve chosen education as this month’s Word for Wednesday theme. Over the next few week...

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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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August Round-up

3 Word Lists for August  This month we looked at Words ending in ‘er’, Eponymous Words, and, in celebration of National Honey Bee Day, Insects. There are lots of different ways you can use a Spellzone word list to help you practise your spelling – learn more about them here.     Commonly Confused Words: Shore vs. Sure For this month’s Commonly Confused Words blog post, we looked at the words shore and sure. Do you know which word refers to certainty? What about the seaside? Click here for tips and tricks to help you tell them apart.    10 Words for … SAD In our ...

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Word for Wednesday: September 

For some reason, even though it’s been many years since I finished school, I still associate September with fresh starts. There’s something about the evenings falling slightly earlier each day and the tiniest chill to the summer air that makes me want to knuckle down and achieve my goals before the end of the year.  Those of you who speak French, may have noticed that ‘sept’ is the French word for ‘seven’ – a little strange perhaps given that September is the ninth month of the year. This is because until around 700 BC, when the second King of Rome Numa Pompilius added January and February, the Roman calendar was made up of ten ‘officia...

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Anne Shisler, SENCO, City of London School for Girls

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