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Spellzone June Round-Up

This month one of our users wrote in and asked us to write an article about the difference between the words prophecy and prophesy. Do you know when to use each word? You can also learn about the difference between more ‘c’ vs. ‘s’ spellings here.    For this month's 10 Words feature, we chose a word that we’ve occasionally heard teachers describe as their nemesis: nice. Click here to learn ten alternatives and here to practise spelling them.    There are an estimated 25,000 idioms in the English language and many of them are about animals. In the past we’ve shared  idioms about cats, do...

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Word for Wednesday: Lacrosse

It’s time for our final sports-themed Word for Wednesday article. The Spellzone dictionary defines sport as ‘an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition’. The word dates to the early-fifteenth century when it meant ‘pleasant pastime’. Sport was a shortening of the Anglo-French ‘disport’ meaning ‘activity that offers amusement or reaction’.  So far, we’ve looked at the words badminton, tennis, and hockey. Our chosen word today is lacrosse. Lacrosse is based on games played within many North American Indigenous communities and is the oldest organised sport playe...

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Word for Wednesday: Hockey

Our Word for Wednesday theme for June is sports.  The Spellzone dictionary defines sport as ‘an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition’. The word dates to the early-fifteenth century when it meant ‘pleasant pastime’. Sport was a shortening of the Anglo-French ‘disport’ meaning ‘activity that offers amusement or reaction’.  So far we’ve looked at the words  badminton and tennis and today’s word of the week is hockey. Hockey is a game in which two opposing teams use curved sticks to drive a ball into the opponents’ net. The ...

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Word for Wednesday: Tennis

Our Word for Wednesday theme for June is sports.  The Spellzone dictionary defines sport as ‘an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition’. The word dates to the early-fifteenth century when it meant ‘pleasant pastime’. Sport was a shortening of the Anglo-French ‘disport’ meaning ‘activity that offers amusement or reaction’.  Last we looked at the word badminton, and today’s word of the week is tennis.  Tennis is a game played with rackets by two or four players who hit a ball back and forth over a net that divides the court. The word tennis entered...

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Word for Wednesday: Badminton

Our Word for Wednesday theme for June is sports.  The Spellzone dictionary defines sport as ‘an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition’. The word dates to the early-fifteenth century when it meant ‘pleasant pastime’. Sport was a shortening of the Anglo-French ‘disport’ meaning ‘activity that offers amusement or reaction’.  Our first sports-themed word of the month is badminton.  Badminton is a court-based game in which players use light long-handled rackets to volley a shuttlecock over a net. While people also play on indoor courts (so that the game is not affected by wind conditions), badminton is ...

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Thirty Sports Idioms to Help You Through the Summer

With everyone’s attention on Wimbledon and the World Cup at the moment, it’s hard to leave home without sports coming up in conversation. But do we actually talk about sports more than we realise? Today – just in case you’re not sick of sports quite yet – we’re sharing some sports-related idioms alongside their definitions. across the board – applying to all   at this stage of the game – at this point during the activity/event   ball is in your court - it is up to you to make the next move   ballpark figure – an approximate guess   blow-by-blow – detailed step-by-step description  ...

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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