A Comprehensive Guide to Everything You Need to Know about Spelling Bees

Regardless of where you are from, you must have heard about spelling bee before. Everyone who speaks English either as their mother tongue or as a foreign language has been asked to spell something before – both in and outside the classroom. At the same time, everyone who speaks English also knows that spelling in English is not the easiest task in the world.

Spelling bees are the most well-known spelling competitions which take place all over the world. Even though they are essentially designed for children, most adults would struggle with some of the words which the lovely young contestants have to deal with in these competitions. Winning a spelling bee is hard, but not impossible.

This competition has a long and interesting history, and there are many tips as to how to be the best at it.

Psst, now you can engage in real-time Online Spelling Bee practice with SBO. Here you can compete with players coming from all corners of the world.

Go on, give it a shot, it’s free and fun.

Our guide contains the answers to all of your questions about spelling bees. You’ll also find information and strategies for how to learn spelling bee words using an English learning system driven by technology and phonetics. 

With the Ultimate Spelling Bee Guide, we’ll help you –

 

• Know the best tools for learning and practicing spelling for spelling bees
• Learn the history of spelling bees and their significance in English learning
• Understand the rules and trends of English spelling bees
• Change the way you learn to spell and speak words by introducing you to new learning techniques with SpellQuiz
• Discover how spelling bees can benefit learning language and literacy

Table of Contents

Part I: Introduction to the History and Dynamics of Spelling Bees

Chapter-1: What is the Definition of a Spelling Bee?

Chapter-2: How Did the Name “Spelling Bee” Originate?

Chapter-3: When Was the First Spelling Bee?

Chapter-4: What are the Rules of a Spelling Bee?

Chapter-5: How Do They Choose the Words?

Chapter-6: How Do You Enter the Spelling Bee Championship?

Chapter-7: What is the Scripps National Spelling Bee?

Chapter-8: What Do You Get if You Win the Spelling Bee?

Chapter-9: Spelling Bees Around the World

 

Part II: How to Effectively Practice for a Spelling Bee Competition?

Chapter-1: What are the Best Ways to Practice for a Spelling Bee?

Chapter-2: How Do You Use Phonetics to Speak and Pronounce Words Correctly?

Chapter-3: How Can You Teach Your Child to Spell and Read Words with Precision So That They Can Win A Spelling Bee?

Chapter-4: What is School Spelling Bee Study List?

Chapter-5: What is a Spelling Bee Test?

Chapter-6: How Spelling Tests are Different from the Spelling Bee?

Chapter-7: What are the Best Resources for Spelling Bee Training?

Chapter-8: How Can You Make Spelling Bee Practice More Fun?

Chapter-9: What’s the Best Way to remember Long Words for a Spelling Bee?

Chapter-10: Where Could You Find a Spelling Bee Word List to Practice With?

Chapter-11: Prepare Yourself for the 2020 93rd Scripps National Spelling Bee (2020)

Chapter-12: Where to find the latest Spelling Bee Words for the championship?

 

Part III: Why Spelling Bees Are Important and How Spelling Bees Can Help Children and Young Adults?

Chapter-1: What is the Best Age Group for Spelling Bees?

Chapter-2: What are the Benefits of Entering My Child in a Spelling Bee?

Chapter-3: What Can My Child Take Away from a Spelling Bee?

Chapter-4: Will Spelling Bee Help My Child in the Future?

Final Thoughts

Part 1: Introduction to the History and Dynamics of Spelling Bees

Chapter 1: What is the Definition of a Spelling Bee?

At least one word in the name “Spelling Bee” clearly explains what it is – Spelling. A spelling bee is a competition in which contestants compete in spelling a variety of words in English.

Pretty straightforward, isn’t it?

Basically, participants in spelling bee competitions are asked to spell words of different levels of difficulty. The competition starts at the school level, and every correct, flawlessly spelled word keeps the participants in the competition until they reach the national finale.

The competition originated in the country where it still remains most popular – the United States. Nevertheless, nowadays, it is popularly held all over the world. In the US, the national spelling bee usually takes place once a year in late May or early June, and you can watch it on TV.

 

Chapter 2: How Did the Name “Spelling Bee” Originate?

Everyone knows what a spelling bee is, but not many people know what its name actually means. After all, it would be a bit bizarre to find a bee that can spell!

The truth is, the “bee” in “spelling bee” remains a mystery for most people. Students usually assume that the bee refers to the insect. This is only logical considering both the modern usage of the word “bee” and that the insect features on the Scripps National Spelling Bee logo.

Is It Actually a Bee – the Industrious Insect?

Generally speaking, today the “bee” in “spelling bee” could be the insect, but that’s not how the world’s most famous English language competition was initially named.

Over the years, the word bee has not only been used to describe the insect but has had many other meanings. Some centuries ago, bee (bean or been) used to refer to a social gathering – a meeting of friends and neighbors where everyone participated in one joint activity, such as sewing, for example.

Usually, such “bee” activities were done with the aim of helping a friend or a family member.

To give an exact Merriam Webster dictionary definition, the Middle English word bene normally meant “voluntary help given by neighbors toward the accomplishment of a particular task.”

That said, it is possible that calling the black and yellow insect “bee” was inspired by the fact that bees and beehives share their social and industrious nature with humans and their gatherings.

The English Linguistics Suggest Otherwise!

Yet, in recent years, linguists made a strong claim against this interesting theory. Instead, they suggested that the word bee derives from the Old English bene or boon which means “a prayer, a favor.”

This explains why bees were activities in which people helped a neighbor or friend in need. How the insect got its name most likely had nothing to do with them.

The first time the word bee appeared in print was in 1769, and it was in the context of a “spinning bee.” Later on, expressions such as “husking bee,” “apple bee,” and “logging bee” began to be used.

Was It Always a Spelling Bee?

The official website suggests that the word “spelling bee” was officially created in 1875, but it had probably been used in the spoken language for some years before. What is certain, though, spelling competitions had existed for quite some time before they became known as “spelling bees.”

For instance, spelling bees used to be connected to much more violent words, such as “spelling fight” and “spelling combat.” In print, the competition was addressed as a “spelling match” as early as in 1808. What inspired these “matches” was Noah Webster’s (the founding father of Merriam-Webster) spelling books, first published in 1786.

These books were part of the elementary school curriculum, so of course, students all over the country enjoyed getting into “spelling combats” for many years before the bee came along.

Evidently, “bee” is a much better choice, because it is short, easy to spell and remember and, most importantly, it has a positive meaning. We, for once, are glad there are no spelling fights on TV these days.

 

Chapter 3: When Was the First Spelling Bee?

Now that you know what the spelling bee (and the bee) is, you must be wondering who invented this amazing competition.

Although the ideas about “spelling matches” and “spelling books” appeared already in the late 18th century, the first national competition of spelling bee was organized on June 17, 1925, by a newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky called The Courier-Journal.

That’s right; it was a newspaper whom we need to thank for the spelling bee!

Another eight newspapers collaborated with the Courier-Journal to organize the historic first national championship which consolidated several local spelling bees. Since then, the national spelling bee competition has been held every year except from 1943 to 1945 during World War II.

Isn’t that an impressive record?

It All Began in Kentucky!

Going back to the 1925 national spelling bee – where did it take place? Although organized by a paper from Kentucky, the national spelling bee was organized at the National Museum in Washington, D.C. This very first national spelling bee had only nine contestants – six girls and three boys.

Can you imagine, about two million students had participated in school spelling bees?

But it was only the fantastic nine who all got to meet President Calvin Coolidge before the contest began.

The first person to win the first official national spelling bee was an 11-year old boy called Frank Neuhauser. The winning word he spelled correctly was a pretty tough one – “gladiolus.”

For his effort, young Frank received $500 in gold and, of course, the free trip to D.C.

Wait, the Story Gets Better!

When Frank returned to his hometown Louisville, Kentucky, the city even held a parade in his honor. Needless to say, the crowds made sure to bring bouquets of Frank’s new favorite flower – the gladiolus.

 

This spelling battle took only 90 minutes. Right after Frank came 11-year old Edna Stover from New Jersey. Frank and Edna were competing for the first place, but she misspelled “gladiolus” as “g-l-a-d-y-o-l-o-u-s.” This brought her the second place and $250.

What other words appeared in this first short spelling bee championship? The other seven spellers failed to spell the following words –

• Moribund,
• Valuing,
• Statistician,
• Blackguard,
• Propeller,
• Cosmos, and
• Skittish.

Not so tough, was it?

Would these words make it to today’s national finals? Highly unlikely.

In fact, Mr. Neuhauser himself told the Washington Post he wouldn’t have been able to pass the first round of the spelling bee in 1993.

How Did Spelling Bee Become a Nationwide Phenomenon?

As you probably know, if you can’t attend, you can watch the national spelling bee on TV. But this wasn’t the case with the first national championship.

The NBC live broadcasted the national finals for the first time in 1946. However, even then the NBC did not make it a regular TV show, and the national spelling bee had only been shown twice more in 1974 and 1977 on PBS.

Since 1994, the national spelling bee has been broadcasted on the cable-television channel ESPN, with a short trip to ABC in 2006. We are all grateful for this improvement.

Evidently, the spelling bee has changed drastically since 1925. But the spirit of education, competition, and valuing the brightest young minds in the country and beyond still persist.

 

Chapter 4: What are the Rules of a Spelling Bee?

What are competitions without rules? There certain preset rules for every stage of the competition. In fact, the rules of a spelling bee change depending on the stage of the competition.

The Preliminaries

Let’s start with the first, preliminary round. Here, contestants are asked to take a written test before they advance to the oral spelling phase. What’s great about the preliminary phase is the spellers won’t necessarily be eliminated if they make a mistake.

That’s a relief, right?

Spellers can get maximum 36 points, but even if they don’t, and yet they find themselves among the 50 highest-scoring contestants, they will reach semi-finals.

So, let’s round that up!

The point distribution system of the preliminary round can be summarized as below –

Test Name	Points Achievable
Written and MCQ exam	30
Oral test – 1	3
Oral test – 2	3
Total	36

 

The written and MCQ test has 26 items which are again classified into four rounds. The point distribution goes as follow,

Round No.	Round Type	Items to Clear	Points Achievable
1	Spelling	12	12
2	Vocabulary – I	12	12
3	Vocabulary – II	1	3
4	Vocabulary – III	1	3
Total		26	30

 

During the afternoon of the oral test, generally, the results are published. It sounds easy, but what is this written test we are talking about?

Well, It’s More than Spelling, That’s for Sure!

Since 2013, spelling bee competitors are also required to memorize (or simply know) the meaning of the word they are asked to spell correctly.

This was a major change for the following reason – if you know the origin of the word and the rules of spelling in foreign languages as well as in English, it might so happen that you simply guess how a given word is spelled without necessarily knowing what it means.

Well, this is no longer the case.

Who is to blame for that? Probably one of the spelling bee’s finalists, Emily Stagg, who in her op-ed in the New York Times back in 2006, suggested that the organizers should make the National Spelling Bee a “definitions bee” for the purposes of education and teaching the spellers some real-world skills.

So, they did!

The Final Battleground

Following from that, all of the qualifying spellers who reach the preliminary round meet in Maryland before the actual live-broadcasted championship takes place.

This is where things get serious!

They are required to take computer-based vocabulary test and spelling tests – and definitions are a part of it. The spelling and vocabulary components carry equal weight, which means that spelling alone is nowhere near enough to be among to the top 50 spellers who will move on to the semifinals.

The semifinals come after additional two rounds of oral spelling. The 50 best spellers will then start Round 4, which consists of multiple-choice vocabulary questions and two rounds of oral spelling. Among them, only 12 will reach the national finale.

What Rules Apply to the Glorious 12?

In the final stage of a spelling bee, the spellers go through different rounds of oral spelling. Each competitor is asked to spell one word in each round within the 2-minute time limit. The clock starts ticking the moment the pronouncer announces the word for the first time.

The logic of the final round is pretty straightforward. Whoever spells their word incorrectly is eliminated from the competition. Whoever manages to spell their word right continues the competition. And the battle goes on and on until there is only one speller left.

There Can’t be Two Winners, Can There?

Sometimes, the first place can be shared, although this rarely happens.

There cannot be more than 25 consecutive rounds where there are only three or fewer spellers. So, if two spellers nail every word for more than 25 rounds, they will eventually have to share the title – and the prize.

But even then, the Tiebreaker Test scores – which are written tests the finalists take before the oral spelling part – will be taken into consideration. The spellers which are eliminated in the same round – say Round 14 – are all tied for the same place.

Would it be possible for all remaining spellers to make mistakes in the same round?

Definitely, and if that’s the case, all the remaining spellers will start a new round and spell in the same order.

This already sounds like a lot of rules. Are there any more?

Hint: the answer is Y-E-S!

In case there are any disagreements about how a particular word is spelled, there is only one supreme authority to consult – the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.

This dictionary is the primary source used when the words are chosen and crafted in terms of their definitions and origins. This means that if the dictionary allows for two or more different spellings of the word, then all of them will be accepted by the Scripps.

The Competition Doesn’t Offer Lifelines – Just Some Valuable Helps!

Because people are not dictionaries, spellers are not left completely without any assistance. Before spelling their words, contestants are allowed to ask several types of questions to the pronouncer.

 

Beyond “Could you repeat the word, please?” the speller can request that the pronouncer gives them a definition of the word, put it in a sentence, explain the word origin or any alternate pronunciations, and tell them what part of speech it belongs to.

If the pronouncer wants to be especially nice and helpful, they can, without any requests, offer word information that otherwise appears in the dictionary or the Scripps National Spelling Bee word list.

Be Careful; the Judges are Watching Over!

When it comes to judges, their role is to listen, make sure the rules are respected, and make a final say regarding whether or not words are spelled correctly.

On that note, what is the proper way to spell a word? If your word is “super,” spell it and then repeat it: S-U-P-E-R, super. That would be the ideal way to earn your points, although the judges must not disqualify you if you forget to repeat the word.

Once you say a letter, it is done, you cannot correct yourself.

It is against the Scripps rules to say “S-U-P-I” followed by “S-U-P-E-R.” You also cannot say any “nonsense” sounds or utter unintelligibly, as both of those would result in disqualification.

What you can do if you get confused is stop in the middle – having made no mistakes – and start over.

Hold on to the Mic, It’s Vital!

Finally, another rule of disqualification to be mindful of is that any speller who does not approach the microphone when it is their turn to receive a word will also have to say goodbye to the championship.

It would, therefore, be wise to practice holding a mic during your training for the championship.

There is no other way to put it – spelling bees are hard, period!

Still, these minor rules are easy to remember, so as long as you are confident about your spelling, you shouldn’t worry about breaking the rules by accident and being disqualified.

 

Chapter 5: How Do They Choose the Words?

Appoggiatura, chiaroscurist, knaidel… Where do these words come from?

We know that, at least in the final stages of a spelling bee competition, contestants can expect to be asked to spell any word in the English language. Still, the evolution of the words the spellers are being asked to spell has been studied so that certain patterns can be observed.

We already said little Frank Neuhauser won the first national spelling bee by getting the word “gladiolus” right in 1925.

But things are not that easy these days.

But as the New York Times correctly pointed out, “gladiolus” is merely “a cakewalk” when compared to the words spelling bee contestants are expected to know these days.

The evolution was slow, but it surely did make life harder for all the young spellers trying to make it these days.

While in 1970 Libby Childress from North Carolina spelled “croissant” and won the championship, in 2016, the winning word was “Gesellschaft,” a word very few adults who are not sociologists would know the meaning of.

Who Finds These Words?

So, how do these words get selected from the endless pool of English words and those we’ve recently (or not so recently) borrowed from people and cultures from all over the world?

Contrary to a logical explanation, the organizers don’t simply google “the world’s most difficult words” the day before the competition. The Scripps National Spelling Bee is an establishment, and like in all institutions, there are committees.

That’s right, the sufferings of young spellers depend on a committee of twelve people who are in charge of making a list of 1,000 words for the upcoming championship.

These 1,000 words are then rated by their level of difficulty, length, and etymological roots in the attempt to balance difficult words such as “Gesellschaft” with others, better-known ones.

Basically, it is up to these twelve people to determine the faith of the spellers from all over the United States. But there some hints as to what the spellers can expect.

Knowing the Modern English Words is not Enough These Days

A recent research shows that most words asked at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the past couple of decades originated from Latin and that these were closely followed by Middle English and French words.

In the past several years, those originating from German seem to have taken over. In any case, while it is impossible to know which foreign language the winning word is going to come from.

It is almost safe to assume it will come from one, as the most complicated words like “stichomythia” (the winning word of 2014) and “cymotrichous” (the winning word of 2011) tend to.

It isn’t really openly talked about how the members of the committee make recommendations for the final list of 1,000. Although, a couple of sources appeared revealing the selection process.

Most notably, lovers of the national spelling bee should take a look at James Maguire’s American Bee.

Choosing the Words is a Daunting Task – Give the Committee Some Credits!

It’s been suggested that the committee members spend the summer before the national championship simply reading and listening for any new interesting words.

Yes, it takes a whole summer!

After that, they meet for two days to discuss their lists and come up with a rough draft of the ultimate word list. That said, at the end of the day, the words tend to be chosen from newspaper articles and books the committee members read.

Some Tips for the Eager Participants

Here’s a special tip – shopping catalogs could be one of the main sources the committee members use to detect arcane words. What’s more, the members could be inspired to choose some of the more “fashionable words” that often appear in the papers that particular year.

While we are not certain whether this ritual is out-of-date or not, it is definitely worth spending some time on newspapers and listening to the radio to prepare for the spelling bee.

Needless to say, it is unlikely but not impossible for a word to reappear in the championship.

After 90 years of competition, the committee cannot keep track of all the words which came up on a spelling bee. Going through any comprehensive list of past spelling bee words could be good practice.

In this section, we tried to give some hints about how certain words end up in a spelling bee, and others don’t. But overall, you should know that the selection process remains a big mystery to date.

 

Chapter 6: How Do You Enter the Spelling Bee Championship?

Each year, millions of children take part in different spelling bee competitions around the country and abroad. Yet, only a few of them end up on national TV.

How do they do that?

There are two major steps to getting to the national spelling bee championship:

• First, you need to start low and win your school spelling bee.
• Second, you must then qualify to represent your school at a regional spelling bee and, of course, win it.

As if these two steps alone are not hard enough to accomplish, there is a number of other eligibility criteria that all aspiring spellers must take into consideration.

First things first. Not any school spelling bee contest will qualify you for the championship. Your school must be enrolled in the Scripps program and determined to send a student to the official regional spelling bee.

So, when should you enroll?

Each year, the pre-enrollment period usually starts on August 1, nearly ten months before the annual championship takes place, and it extends all the way to mid-December.

That being said, even if your school doesn’t participate in the Scripps spelling bee program, students and parents have a lot of time to convince the administration to give it a try.

Okay, School-Champ, It is Time to Beat the Regional Competition!

Once that is done, the winner of the school competition advances to the regionals. A regional spelling bee typically includes several counties, and sometimes even an entire state.

Not all the rules of the national competition apply to regional competitions. So, the organizers have some flexibility as to how they choose their representative.

What’s special about these regional-level competitions?

It is a must for them to have sponsors, usually local newspapers. They host the competition and send the winner to Maryland for the championship.

There are over 280 sponsors at the moment, meaning that there are over 280 regional competitions and winners who qualify for the national championship.

Is there any way, kids from schools which do not participate in the official Scripps program can end up in Maryland?

Technically, yes!

Self-sponsored spelling champions are free to send their application to the Scripps National Spelling Bee and hope to get an approval.

But remember, this small exception to the rules and regulations is especially useful for children who are homeschooled or live in very rural areas.

The National – the Dreamland for the Competitors!

It is also important that you fulfill these two criteria on the road to the national championship in the same year. You must enter the regional and the national competition immediately after you win the school competition.

More precisely, only the spellers who are declared champions of a local spelling bee in the same year when the national competition takes place can compete.

Age is NOT Just a Number!

The Scripps Bee also limits who can qualify for the national championship based on age and grade.

Only students enrolled in the eighth grade or below as of the year when the Scripps championship takes place can advance to the finals. The winners of any high school spelling bee, unfortunately, cannot run for the grand prize.

Because students (and their parents) go crazy about the spelling bee, Scripps has made it one of the eligibility rules that the speller must not repeat a grade in order to extend their spelling bee eligibility.

That means you can’t stay in grade eight until you’re 18 hoping to win the national spelling bee.

In fact, the maximum age is 15!

Skipped School? Bad Luck to You to Then!

Relating to that, skipping school to get to the spelling bee championship won’t do any good either. The Bee will check whether the applicants continue to follow “normal school activity” throughout the preparation period for the championship.

Here, Latin, Ancient Greek, Modern Greek, and English Literature do not qualify as “normal school activity,” but any four or more courses which are not languages and spelling taken for at least four hours per day will suffice.

Can’t Have Family Members Working for the Scripps Company

Another important thing to note is – if your parent, sibling or even a first cousin works for the E.W. Scripps Company – tough luck.

The Bee does not allow any relatives of the Scripps’ employees to be considered for the national spelling bee.

Yes, it’s really sad if you fall into this category!

The only way this could change is to politely ask your relative to find a new job.

Say Yes to Bureaucracy!

Finally, there is some level of bureaucracy to the national spelling bee, too.

Once a speller qualifies for the championship, he or she must register online by filling in a completed online Champion Registration form.

There is a number of other statements, certificates, and agreements that need to be signed and sent before the qualifying speller can head towards Maryland for the preliminaries.

As we said, there is a number of small things that a speller must comply with in order to get to all the way to the national spelling bee.

Still, the two most difficult tasks are winning the school spelling bee and winning the regional bee. After those two tasks are completed, all other requirements will be a piece of cake.

Best of luck!

 

Chapter 7: What is the Scripps National Spelling Bee?

Most of the time, you will hear that the national spelling bee competition is referred to as “the Scripps spelling bee.”

Why is that?

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is, in fact, the United States National Spelling Bee competition.

The E.W. Scripps Company became the sponsor of the National Spelling Bee in 1941, so the name of the national competition was subsequently changed.

In the past several years, the annual competition has been held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center hotel in Oxon Hill, Maryland, near Washington, D.C.

That means that all the best spellers from the country and beyond get to stay there for a few days.

Spelling bee competitors of the Scripps National Spelling Bee are not only Americans. They come from all 50 states of the U.S., as well as from Canada, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, New Zealand, and some European countries.

In fact, it is quite an international event, which makes it even greater.

 

Chapter 8: What Do You Get if You Win the Spelling Bee?

The one lucky (and, of course, hard-working) speller who wins the national spelling bee championship is in for a treat.

The winners are rewarded with a myriad of prizes. Obviously, the chance to become an international celebrity and achievement of immense glory comes along.

The main prize given to the winner amounts to the incredibly $40,000 in cash, an engraved cup trophy, and a number of other awards.

So, what are these other awards?

The winner also gets –

• A $2,500-worth savings bond,
• $2,600 in reference works,
• A reference library from Merriam-Webster,
• A life-long membership to Encyclopedia Britannica Online Premium portal,
• An additional $5,000 cash prize from the Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation,
• An online course, and
• A Nook e-Reader from K12 Inc.

It sounds like the winner is ready for college!

Because getting all the way to the national spelling bee is such a great success anyway, there are some prizes for those who don’t manage to win.

All other spellers receive Webster’s dictionary, $100 in U.S. savings bond, a technological gadget, and a cash prize from Scripps.

The prize is determined based on how far into the competition the contestant managed to reach. For instance, the second-place speller receives $12,500, which is still pretty great.

Chapter 9: Spelling Bees Around the World

Spelling bee competitions have become popular around the world. Most English teachers organize mini spelling bees for their students at some stage.

On top of that, spelling bees are also organized at a more serious, national or even continental level in some parts of the world. It’s not just the most popular educational competition in the US but throughout the whole world.

So, how the competition is faring in the world?

African Spelling Bee

Several African countries run their own spelling bees at the national level.

What’s incredible is that these spelling bees are not only in English but also in local languages and sign languages.

For example, in the country Uganda, the national spelling bee celebrates the competition in 10 different languages (8 of them are native or local languages) including English and in sign languages.

Wait, there’s more!

The annual African Spelling Bee which gathers children between 6 and 16 years of age from all over the continent. These countries take part in the African Spelling Bee –

• Botswana
• Uganda
• Nigeria
• South Africa
• Kenya
• Zimbabwe
• Ethiopia
• Malawi
• Lesotho
• Rwanda

The Annual Asian Spelling Cup

Asian countries follow a similar path. One of the spelling bee competitions organized all over the Asian continent is MaRRS International Spelling Bee, and it is extra challenging. 

The contest is mainly held in –

• India
• UAE

In many cities in Asia, to win a spelling bee, competitors must know not only the correct spelling of words but also their use in sentences and different contexts.

Furthermore, they are being tested on both antonyms and synonyms of the chosen word.

You guessed right; there is even more!

Since 2012, participants are also requested to know some information about the etymology of the word.

Apart from that, different Asian countries have their own version of spelling bee –

• Bahrain – Spellbound Bahrain
• Malaysia – National Spell-it-Right Challenge
• Taiwan – National Spelling Bee Championship
• Bangladesh – The Daily Star Spelling Bee
• Kuwait – Kuwaiti Spelling Bee
• Nepal – Spelling Bee-Nepal
• Pakistan – Dawn in Education National Spelling Bee
• UAE – The Abu Dhabi University Spelling Bee

The Times Spelling Bee – The United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, spelling bees are nearly as old as they are in the United States.

In the past decade, they have been organized by The Times newspaper under the name “The Times Spelling Bee.”

The competition starts at the local level. The winner of each round moves on to the next level until they eventually participate in a regional spelling bee.

Finally, a national competition is organized each year, bringing together children from all parts of the country.

Canspell National Spelling Bee – Canada

Canspell National Spelling Bee is the only spelling bee that has a direct affiliation with the E.W. Scripps Company. It even has the similar sets of rules like the Scripps National Spelling Bee. 

Although, you shouldn’t confuse this one with another competition – Spelling Bee of Canada. They both are different and organized by different organizers.

 

Part II: How to Effectively Practice for a Spelling Bee Competition?

 

Chapter 1: What are the Best Ways to Practice for a Spelling Bee?

You’ve decided you want to take part in a spelling bee, you’ve signed up and informed your friends and family.

The only thing you need to do now is – practice.

This is where all the fun begins.

Preparing for a spelling bee requires diligence, persistence, and ambition. That is the only way forward to winning a spelling bee.

However, it would be hard to say there is only one best way to practice for a spelling bee. Each speller finds different methods to stay engaged and motivated, and learn new words with ease.

That being said, of course, there are a few necessary steps that no serious speller should skip.

Start with the Basics

The first step to being ready for a spelling bee is, obviously, to make sure you know the basics of spelling.

Although there will always be exceptions, it is important to know the rules that are embedded in English grammar.

Just to give you a couple of quick examples, at the very beginning of your training, you should know that the “f” changes to “v” before “es” when a singular noun turns into the plural.

So, you can never have three “leafs,” but you could have four “leaves.”

Similarly, many children make mistakes when they are asked to add something to a word that ends in “e.”

You should go through all different examples and situations to know when the final “e” stays in the word and when it is magically lost, like in the case of “argue” and “argument.”

Silent Letters or Silent Killers?!

The next step would be to discuss more advanced structures such as silent letters. These are the letters that are present in spelling but not in pronunciation, so it can be very easy for the contestant to omit them.

Things could be confusing for the children at the beginning.

Always give them examples.

Some classic silent letters are “b” in words like “lamb” or “comb,” and “p” in foreign-origin words like “psychology” and “psalm.”

Again, Another Basic – Create Your Own Spelling Bee Word Lists

Now that this is done, you might want to move on to spelling bee word lists. Long lists of words you should know how to spell can serve as a great starting point.

Even at a later stage of the competition, you might want to continue with word lists unless you are ready to read the entire dictionary!

Yes, they read the whole dictionary, we didn’t believe either.

Schools which participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee contest provide the competitors with such spelling bee lists.

Don’t forget the online sources – some have great collections.

Create a Friendship with a Dictionary

On that note, you do still want to get your own copy of the Merriam Webster Unabridged dictionary, since this is the official dictionary used by the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

This means that the only correct spelling of a word is the one which is in that dictionary.

Remember, word lists are study guides and not the ultimate spelling bee material. Memorizing all the words from a word list will not guarantee victory.

For this reason, there are several steps you need to take to ensure that you have such a solid understanding of spelling rules, patterns, and history in the English language that nearly no word can surprise you.

Where Does That Word Come From?

Following from that, it is crucial that you study etymology or the origins of words.

This is where things get really interesting since the English language has been influenced by many foreign languages. This means that sometimes the spelling of the word will not comply with the rules of English grammar and pronunciation.

Yet, with time, you will start to notice certain patterns.

To be more precise, many words which come from the same foreign language have the same root, so studying etymology can really help you be able to spell a word even if you are not sure what it means.

For example, words such as television, telegraph, and telephone all have the same root “tele-“ (from telekinesis) and they are all devices operated from a distance.

For this reason, it is advisable to explore words based on the language grouping they belong to.

By doing so, you will discover that, for example, German words tend to end with “z”s more than other words. You will be able to assume that words such as “glitz” or “waltz” originate from the German language and apply any corresponding spelling rules.

You might also discover that words which originate from Greek might come with a silent “p” in the “p+s“ combo, like “psychology” or “psychic.”

All of these small revelations will help you build strong spelling skills.

Accents – Do They Matter?

Now, we can’t really answer that question. When it comes to accents, it doesn’t matter what kind of accent you have to be good at spelling.

It does, however, matter how the word you will be asked to spell is going to be pronounced.

The pronouncer is going to pronounce each word the way they are meant to be pronounced according to the dictionary.

To be on the safe side, it is useful to learn about diacritics. These are small symbols found above words in the dictionary that tell you how and where to put an accent on a word.

Trace, Copy, and Remember!

Now that you’ve understood all that, what is the best way to remember the words you practice?

There are different strategies you can apply to make it easier to remember how certain words are spelled.

One such strategy is making a Trace, Copy, and Remember guide.

It’s a fun and simple method – the only thing you need to do is create three separate columns.

• The “trace” column contains all the words that you still need to learn.
• In the “copy” column, you can write your trace words as many times as you want by looking at them in the trace column.
• However, in the “remember” column, you should be able to write the same trace words without any help. Do it several times, and you are bound to succeed.

Obviously, there is a great number of resources you can use to practice for a spelling bee.

Each year, Scripps publishes new school bee materials for the year, including study lists. These lists will certainly prepare you for the first level of the competition, but to win the national one, you will have to go beyond them.

In addition, there are many word spelling games available online.

Some of them even allow you to make your own set of words so that you can practice the most difficult words only.

Finally, you can always ask your family members and friends to help you practice. Ask them to make a list of words for you and have you spell them out loud.

Also, to be completely honest, you will have to accept that some words you simply have to learn by heart.

Words of Wisdom – Listen to What the Winners Have to Say

How did some of the past Scripps National Spelling Bee champions prepare for taking over the throne?

The 2004 spelling bee winner David Tidmarsh read all 450,000 words in the Merriam-Webster dictionary!

The 2006 spelling bee champion, Kerry Close, suggested being persistent and taking small steps first – and by small, she meant 50 new words each day – is the key.

Snigdha Nandipati, who won the championship in 2012, started preparing when she was only four years old. She also studied with 30,000 different flashcards with some of the trickiest words.

Arvind Mahankali, who won in 2013, was determined not to be eliminated on a German origin word like the year before, so he studied the German language spelling patterns. It paid off as the winning word was “knaidel.”

Similarly, you should look up to the tips the winners have shared for the future participants.

Last but not Least

Maybe you don’t have to read the entire dictionary like David!

However, it is wise to skim through it every now and then, pick several pages and see how well you would do if any of those words were picked by the pronouncer.

When you read other material, even if it is for your science class or for pleasure, always look up words which are new or you are not sure what they mean and how you would use them.

They are going to stick around in your head because you will remember in what specific context they appeared.

Lastly, all these tips are important, but that doesn’t mean you can’t invent the new best way of winning a spelling bee!

 

 

Chapter 2: How Do You Use Phonetics to Speak and Pronounce Words Correctly?

Knowing how to spell a word in English won’t necessarily instruct you how to pronounce it.

It’s trickier, obviously!

English is not the simplest language when it comes to pronunciation, considering that some letters have more than one sound, while others are not pronounced at all.

This can create a lot of problems for spellers because they might confuse what they hear with a completely different word they know how to spell but cannot pronounce correctly.

For example, hearing /ləʊ/ and spelling L-A-W is not going to work.

This is because written English is based on a phonetic alphabet.

Learn the Alphabet, No, Not the Regular One – the Phonetic Alphabet!

When compared with the regular alphabet, phonetic alphabet consists of many more symbols. In fact, there are 12 vowel sounds, 8 diphthongs, and 24 consonant sounds.

Phonetics, the study of speech sounds, is therefore absolutely crucial in your preparation for a spelling bee.

This article tried to signify the importance of phonemic symbols in teaching pronunciation.

Every speech sound has a symbol or symbols which are called phonetic transcriptions. Vowels, for instance, can be long or short, which you can learn based on the length mark “:”.

For example, the word “sheep” has a long /i:/ vowel, while the word ship has a short /i/ vowel.

Seeing how the two words are written using the phonetic alphabet makes that much clearer than by simply memorizing how to spell the words.

Even the NATO phonetic alphabet can help you in many cases if you are practicing for the competition.

Next, a diphthong is a union of two vowels which occur in the same syllable and make a unique vowel sound.

For instance, the /ai/ in “eye” is a diphthong.

In addition, the 24 consonant sounds are usually marked with one phonetic symbol, such as /z/ in “zoo.”

Study of Phonetics + Regular Spelling Bee Study Plan = SUCCESS!

If you incorporate the study of Phonetics into your spelling bee study plan from the very beginning, this can significantly improve your spelling ability throughout your life.

In fact, children who learn to read with the help of phonetics grow to read more accurately than those who resort to other methods.

So, what is the best way to do it?

First and foremost, you need to learn all the phonetic symbols.

At the same time, such knowledge must be accompanied by your understanding of different sounds in the spoken language. More precisely, at the very beginning, try to connect a sound in spoken English with a phonetic symbol.

Slowly, you will be able to form complete words with phonetic symbols only – kind of like having secret language skills!

Of course, like with everything in English, there will be some irregular or unexpected spellings, but English is still based on the phonetic code, so it is absolutely necessary to master it.

Once you have completed these first steps, you should identify any phonetic weakness you might have such as, for instance, the diphthongs, and work on it in isolation for a while.

In your later practice, when you are learning how to spell a particular word, always try to also write down its phonetic symbols.

This will allow you to truly understand – and not merely memorize – the composition of the word and its phonetic nature.

Trust us when we say this will make it much harder to misspell the word!

It will also help you lots with words which are written in the same way but have different pronunciation, or those which are spelled differently but sound the same, like whales and Wales!

Take a Closer Look; There is a Pattern!

Essentially, once you’ve learned the rules of phonetic transcription, you won’t even need to search for audio recordings of people or ask family members to pronounce a specific word you’re struggling with.

The laws of phonetics and a good dictionary are basically all you’ll ever need!

You will discover that there are spelling patterns that you can learn and use comfortably in your practice. Even when you learn a new word for the first time, link “bun” you guess that it will follow the same rule of phonetics – and spelling – like “fun”.

However, you will also find that there are some tricky or surprising spellings on your spelling bee list, although these tend to be pretty well-known so that you can memorize them in one day.

Consider, for example, a common word “again” /əˈɡɛn/ and how its spelling differs from “gain” /ɡeɪn/ or “stain” /steɪn/.

There isn’t much you can do about such words but identify them early on in your training and memorize them if they can’t be broken down into any patterns.

And remember – phonetics is an absolute must when it comes to improving your spelling and reading skills! You should try going through various spelling list online.

 

Chapter 3: How Can You Teach Your Child to Spell and Read Words with Precision So That They Can Win A Spelling Bee?

Winning the title of the Scripps National Spelling Bee is not a piece of cake. It takes years of constant practice, exceptional mental stamina, and sheer will to succeed.

Moreover, you cannot make anyone practice for such a daunting task. One has to feel the connection, the passion for spelling and has to love learning new words.

It would be foolish to compare the spelling bee to a regular spelling test on the schools.

So, how should you teach your kid to achieve that level of precision to win the title?

You should look into the stories of the winners from recent years. They can give you so much insight and better than anyone.

Let’s consider the story of Sameer Mishra in this case – the winner of 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

He won the title when he was thirteen. However, his practice sessions started when he was just six or seven years old!

That means, to achieve it, he had to work hard relentlessly for about seven years!

Is it only the fruit of seer hard-work?

Well, you have to be technical and smart about it. So, in this case, it’s not about working hard or working smart, it’s about working both hard and smart!

Mishra himself believes that it has a lot to do with pattern creation and recognition.

He believes, “It’s pattern-building, a lot of really good spellers are really good at patterns.” 

Still confused?

Let’s get to the root of the situation here.

What Does the Science Say?

When you are older, you will naturally adopt words, even complicated ones. It is quite natural, with age, you will broaden up your vocabulary.

But things are not simple for the young spelling bee contestants.

They have to have a stronger cognitive capability, to be more precise – orthographic long-term memory and orthographic working memory.

Brenda Rapp, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, cleared this idea in simpler words. She explained that the knowledge of spelling is stored in our brain as an orthographic long-term memory.

So, we remember all the common words like day, night, sing, dance, etc. with the help of the orthographic long-term memories.

But things work differently for the odd words like Gesellschaft, Scherenschnitte, or Stichomythia – words loved by the spelling bee committee.

This is where orthographic working memory comes into play.

We can remember such memory as we have unconsciously related it something relatable and easy to remember. Take the word “Yacht” for example.

The pronunciation suggests that spelling should be something like Y-O-T, not Y-A-C-H-T. But we generally remember them associating it with an identifier, something more familiar like a particular shape, name, or just as an “exception.”

So, when someone asks us to spell “Yacht,” we convert the identifier to spell out the correct order of the letters of the word “Yacht.” This unique processing is referred to as the orthographic working memory.

Sadly, not everyone has the talent to fight for the title. Some people just have a better grasping capability.

A poor speller typically lacks the capability to utilize the orthographic working memory.

But with practice and right guidance things can improve.

Is There A Proper Guideline?

Scientists are yet to find a perfect and guaranteed methodology to learn to spell. So, there is no roadmap that applies like a one-size-fits-all method.

But Brenda Rapp suggests that repetition can play a big role to improve a speller’s skills. She said, “Study a word, then try to spell the word, then study the word again, then try to spell the word again. Study, spell, study again, spell again! It’s very important to test yourself.”

A smart move could be finding patterns to identify the spellings. Spelling correctly is closely tied to pattern recognition.

It is quite impossible for someone to memorize the whole dictionary. But once you are finding patterns, it will be like puzzles being solved automatically. It can be even fun for a lot of students.

Four Traits of A Great Speller

Yes, there is no definite path to success, but there are some common traits present in all the good spellers. Sameer Mishra, the champion came up with these common traits he can still see them among the best spellers.

Self-Motivated and A Bit Competitive

A person can go a long when someone is pushing him or her constantly, even he or she doesn’t truly wish to. However, such a person can never wear the crown. It is actually destructive to make someone prepare for spelling bee if he or she doesn’t actually like spelling that much.

The thing about being a bit competitive doesn’t mean to be competitive against other contestants. The competition should be against oneself where the dictionary is the enemy!

A Great Coach

The spellers need support from someone else. It could be their teachers or their parents or siblings.

Basically, they need someone who could help them to focus and stay on the course. It causes a tremendous amount of mental turmoil to the speller’s mental health. Sometimes they need someone to say “take it easy!”

Being Curious and Knowledge Hungry

If you think a spelling bee winner just practices spelling, then you are getting things wrong. They study everything.

Actually, they don’t just study just for the sake of practice – they just loved to study, they are simply curious!

Let’s consider Sameer Mishra’s another example. Someone once said, “It’s a pogonotrophic fun fact” after seeing him growing beard. Sameer didn’t know the meaning of the word pogonotrophic.

But he knew two things; the word pogono means beard and the suffix -trophy means development. Combining these two parts, you will get “beard growing” which exactly the person said to him.

You see, finding a pattern is the key to winning the spelling bee.

Perseverance

Most of the spelling bee winners have practiced for at least five years to be on the winning position. It doesn’t come easily.

Despite having the talent, countless participants fail to achieve the winning title. You will be surprised to know how many excellent participants fail in spite of trying again and again until they age out.

So, you shouldn’t try to make your kid a spelling bee winner.

Let him or her decide if he or she actually loves to spell or not and always be there to be the support and the coach he or she deserves.

 

Chapter 4: What is School Spelling Bee Study List?

Evidently, the Scripps National Spelling Bee organizers understand that the participants need to have some guidance as to which words they should pay special attention to.

Well, at least for the first stages of the competition.

For this reason, every year they publish the School Spelling Bee Study List.

This resource contains a list of 450 essential words to prepare for a school-level spelling bee. All of these words are taken from a series of books which can be found of the Scripps “Great Words, Great Works” list.

Reading these age-appropriate and interesting books prior to the competition is highly recommended.

They will introduce you to some of the potential words you will be asked in the school competition and are more generally great pieces of literature.

The word lists are divided by grade, so each grade from 1-8 gets a separate study list. For example, you can take a look at the 1st grade spelling bee words or 8th grade spelling bee words. 

But these are just warm up lists.

Once you’ve mastered the words which are specific to your grade, you should move on and learn all 450 words.

Needless to say, that’s not the end of it.

The next source to use is a collection of words called Spell It!, made in collaboration with Merriam-Webster.

Spell It! contains 1,100 words separated into different categories based on their origin, so you can see which are the main languages which left an impact on English.

 

Chapter 5: What is a Spelling Bee Test?

In general, a spelling test is any test that is a form of an assessment of a student’s ability to spell words correctly.

When it comes to the national spelling bee, the spelling bee test is also known as the Preliminaries Test.

Spellers need to pass the Preliminaries Test in order to qualify for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Prior to that, they must win in their respective regional competitions.

So, once you win a regional competition, you must take part in the round one of the national spelling bee consists of the Preliminaries Test.

Such a test is taken on a computer.

Then, you must pass the two rounds of spelling onstage the day after.

In 2017, 291 spellers qualified for the Preliminaries Test which contained 12 spelling words and 12 vocab quiz.

After the preliminaries, only 40 spellers went up to the next round of the national competition.

 

Chapter 6: How Spelling Tests are Different from the Spelling Bee?

Students often have to go through spelling tests in the classroom. In some cases, these tests are included in the curriculum while in some cases the English teacher creates such tests to improve the spelling skill of the students.

But there is a big question.

Are these tests similar to the spelling bee?

One could say that the spelling tests are almost like the spelling bee. But it is kind of like the other way around. A spelling bee is a type of spelling test.

Well, you can see different types of spelling tests happening in the Scripps National Spelling Bee competition. In the preliminary rounds, there are different types of tests that a contestant has to go through.

The main difference between these two is – the purpose and event type.

A spelling bee is a type of competition. Here, the competition organizers try to find out a winner among the participants who have the highest spelling skill.

On the other hand, a spelling test is like the other tests held in educational institutes like a school. Such a test has the purpose of enhancing the spelling skill of all the students and assess the education that has been passed on them during teaching.

A spelling test tries to evaluate the skill and see overall improvement. It doesn’t try to find a winner.

This is the most important difference between them.

Classification of the Spelling Tests

A spelling test can be classified into four categories –

• An oral test
• A spelling bee type test
• A proofreading-style test
• A multiple-choice question (MCQ) test

So, you see, a spelling bee is actually a form of the spelling test. But the word spelling bee commonly refers to the world-wide popular competition now.

You shouldn’t think that the spelling tests held in your kids’ school are close to a spelling bee in general. The competition needs a lot more synergy, composure, hard word, practice, and mental strength.

A spelling bee is far from being an ordinary spelling test in schools.

 

Chapter 7: What are the Best Resources for Spelling Bee Training?

Luckily, there is never a lack of great resources you can use to practice for a spelling bee. These come both from the Scripps and from everyone’s best friend – the Internet.

Each year, Scripps publishes new school bee materials for the year, including study lists.

So, is that it? Doesn’t seem like that big of a syllabus.

These lists will certainly prepare you for the first level of the competition, but to win the national one, you will have to go beyond them.

In addition, there are many word spelling games available online. Some of them even allow you to make your own set of words so that you can practice the most difficult words only.

What Can You Find in The Scripps Resources?

Evidently, the Scripps National Spelling Bee organizers understand that the participants need to have some guidance as to which words they should pay special attention to.

Well, at least for the first stages of the competition.

For this reason, every year they publish the School Spelling Bee Study List. This resource contains a list of 450 essential words to prepare for a school-level spelling bee.

All of these words are taken from a series of books which can be found of the Scripps “Great Words, Great Works” list. Reading these age-appropriate and interesting books prior to the competition is highly recommended.

They will introduce you to some of the potential words you will be asked in the school competition and are more generally great pieces of literature. These spelling bee study lists are divided by grade, so each grade from 1 to 8 gets a separate study list.

But these are just warm up lists!

Once you’ve mastered the words which are specific to your grade, you should move on and learn all 450 words.

Needless to say, that’s not the end of it.

Spelling Tests

 

The next source to use is a collection of spelling words of SpellQuiz.

SpellQuiz contains around 17,000 words separated into different levels based on the school grades.

Each origin grade has the basic study list and then some more challenging words which you can struggle with if you are aiming high in the competition or are simply curious about what they mean.

The thing most helpful is the fact that each spelling test has a grade-appropriate spelling exercises base on Spelling Bee words, like for example in Spelling Test for Grade 3.

These words do not only prepare you for a spelling bee competition but for life in general, as they are the key words to use in essays and other written assignments.

And the final step, at least when it comes to the Scripps National Spelling Bee is Merriam-Webster dictionary.

You don’t have to read it in its entirety, but you should definitely use it as a reference or to dig out new fancy words.

Then, There are Online Resources!

The Internet is an endless pool of (mostly) great stuff.

However, if you attempt to find spelling bee sources online, you might feel a little bit overwhelmed because there are simply too many.

Different teachers and institutions have distinct ways of approaching the topic, so they have come up with a variety of word lists and games which you can use during your training.

We recommend that you stick to Merriam Webster and, of course, SpellQuiz spelling website.

Merriam-Webster created a platform called Word Central where you go through different challenges trying to beat your computer.

Word Central tests your knowledge of synonyms, antonyms, and a lot more. You can also create your own mini-dictionary from the Scripps lists.

Last but not least, you should explore SpellQuiz further as you will discover unique materials which are grouped by grade level. For each grade level, the online system spells out a word or a sentence for you to write. What’s special about this pool of resources is that it is not only designed for children, but for adults, too.

SpellQuiz has comprehensive word lists for every grade, with short descriptions of what they mean, how they are used, and where they come from.

With these several resources at hand, you will be ready to shine at a spelling bee.

 

Chapter 8: How Can You Make Spelling Bee Practice More Fun?

Spelling bee practice is already fun on its own – for most of the kids at least.

However, if you need to make it even more fun for some reason, there are a myriad of ways in which you can do it, regardless of your age or spelling proficiency.

First off, you can make crossword puzzles.

To create a puzzle, you can either use some of the more problematic words from your list, or a set of completely new words. In addition to writing them down and putting them together, you will also inevitably learn or remind yourself of their meaning.

Crossword puzzles are fantastic tools for improving children’s spelling skills, but also a way to brush up your knowledge and entertain yourself as an adult.

Next, learn through word games.

Many traditional word games such as Words with Friends or Scrapple are now available on the internet. You can also buy a set of playing cards such as Scrabble Slam where you compete in building words letter by letter.

Otherwise, you can create a game yourself with simple pen and paper.

For example, a game that used to be called Hangman but now is better known as Invisible Man (since it had an awful name). It requires the participants to fill in the missing letters in order to create a word.

Every correct guess erases one piece of the figure (man) in the paper or board. Once you succeed to create an invisible man, you should also tell the definition of the word or use it in a sentence.

That’s it!

All of these games need at least two players involved, so the best way to make spelling bee fun is to get yourself a spelling partner!

Looking for More Games?

When it comes to spelling bee games that you can play by yourself, Roll and Spell is a great one. All you need are some words and a dice.

Depending on how you have organized your words in different categories.

For example, you might have subject-based groups like “technology” or “science,” or etymology-based groups like “German words” – you should label each number on the dice to fit a specific category.

By way of example, if you group your words based on their origin, you should label number 1 on the dice as “spell three words from your Greek words list,” number 2 as “spell four words from your Latin words list” and so on.

You can then roll the dice as much as you want!

Now, those of you who feel super inspired and creative can learn new words by setting them to a simple tune or even trying to create a short song with rhymes. This definitely makes learning fun as words become easier to remember.

Surely, creating spelling bee songs by yourself is super challenging.

If you are an active person and want to learn without having to sit and read a dictionary for 10 hours each day, you can try the classic game of hopscotch – but with a twist!

The difference between spelling hopscotch and other ones is that you will have to spell a word as you jump through the boxes.

That’s some multitasking for your brain, isn’t it?

Another creative way to improve your memory and vocabulary is to post notes with tricky words all over your study room (or your house). In that way, you are visually exposed to them all day long, so you are bound to memorize them for good.

Your Ever Trusted SpellQuiz

SpellQuiz has the best idea to make the preparation for a spelling bee fun – with different kinds of fun spelling quizzes of course. Playing different kinds of quizzes can make your child not only efficient at spelling but also can make him or her love the sessions.

There is a funny thing about the quizzes. It might make your kids competitive. As SpellQuiz allows a user to share the results on the social media platforms, kids might all participate and compete with each other in a friendly way.

Moreover, the practice sessions on the website are based on dictations.

In this way you can get to practice spelling, listening, typing, writing skills all at once. Very few online resources allow a spelling bee competitor practice in such a scientific way.

Evidently, there are so many activities you can do to have more fun while preparing for a spelling bee.

The best thing is – it won’t matter if you’re a child or a parent preparing their child for a competition, anyone can enjoy the bee!

 

Chapter 9: What’s the Best Way to remember Long Words for a Spelling Bee?

Longer words and shorter words fall into different categories when you are trying to memorize them. In most cases, the longer words tend to have different patterns and often could fall into the “unorthodox” spelling category.

So, you will have to approach in a different way when you are trying to learn the longer words.

Their approaches could help you out for remembering the long words –

Breaking into Syllables

The longer words are typically poly-syllabled. That means, there are multiple syllables forming the words.

This technique is even more effective when you are asked to spell a word that you have heard for the first time in your life. When you are competing for the spelling bee, you will have to be prepared for spelling unknown word.

Suppose, you are asked to spell “Incomprehensibility.”

That’s a fairly long word, isn’t it?

So, the smart move would be to break it down into smaller parts, like IN-COM-PRE-HEN-SI-BIL-I-TY.

You shouldn’t break a long word down randomly. There has to be some kind of reason behind the breaks.

For example, “IN” is the prefix here, which give negative meaning to any word.

Then comes the base word or the root word “COM-PRE-HEN-SIVE.” The noun means the quality of something being understandable or graspable. Of course, the noun form of the word comprehensive will not be used here.

Lastly, comes the suffix “I-BIL-I-TY.” This suffix determines ability or accessibility of something.

If you put the words together, you will get “the inability of something to be understood.” So, the smart way to spell a word would be to break it into the syllables based on the meaning of the syllables to put together a meaning.

This is the science behind spelling an English word.

Identifying Prefix and Suffix

You most probably got this suggestion from the section above. Most of the longer words contain prefixes and suffixes. This elongates the length of a word.

Although the word seems long and complicated, in reality, it might be a compound of two or more meaningful words.

Just like “Incomprehensibility” you can think of the word “Independence” here. You can break this word like this – “IN-DEPEND-ENCE.”

IN is the prefix and ENCE is the suffix in this case while DEPEND is the root word.

You should make your own list of prefixes and suffixes. This will help you make longer words easily and spell them correctly every time.

Using Reference Words

When you are completely at a loss hearing a new word, you should try to find similar know words that have the same pronunciation.

A smart and effective strategy could be going through the sound and the pronunciation of each letter. At first, you might feel confused among the closely pronounced letters.

With more and regular practice, you will be able to distinguish the differences among them.

For, example, in some cases, “S” and “C” might sound the same. But you listen closely; you will find that there is a distinguishable difference between the sound of the two letters.

Consider the word “Independence” again. You might have a feeling that there could be an “S” at the end of the word. But if you listen closely, you will feel that it sounds more like “CE” than “S.”

Didn’t get it?

Consider three words – “-ence,” “fence,” and “pens.” If you repeat the pronouncing the words a few times, you will feel that “-ence” and “fence” sound similar while “pens” sounds a bit different.

This is a different but effective approach while figuring out the spelling of an unknown word.

Make a List of the Unorthodox Spellings 

No matter how hard you try to categorize every word in the English language, you will fail. It is an impossible task as there will always be some words that you cannot put in a generic category.

There is no shortcut other than memorizing the differently spelled words. Let’s just call them hard spelling words. 

These words might derive from other languages like German, Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, etc. Being originated from another language, they could have such an unusual spelling pattern.

For example, Colonel, Lieutenant, Euouae, Liaison, Playwright, etc. are some of the examples of unorthodox spellings in the English language.

There is no easy way to handle them.

Making Visual Patterns

This is a creative way to memorize the spellings of complicated words. Try to give images in your head to the words that you find difficult to memorize.

It doesn’t mean that the mental image has to have a connection with the words. This could be your personal preference.

There is a famous example that clarifies this idea – the ghost and the gherkin. There is no connection between the meaning of ghost and gherkin.

One means an unearthly paranormal being while other means a pickle. But both of the words start with “Gh-.”

But in your mind, you could make your own bridge just to remember the correct spelling of them both. This technique is often regarded as the “donkey bridge method.”

 

Chapter 10: Where Could You Find a Spelling Bee Word List to Practice With?

People are desperately looking for a quality word list when they are planning to start practicing for a spelling bee.

Finding a good word list is not that much of a hard job. The harder job would be to read them with heart from start to finish.

But willing participants must understand something – the same list of words will not help a participant each year. Actually, it is even a better strategy to “make” a word list rather than going for the ready-made word list.

The reason is simple!

Each individual has their own set of strengths and weaknesses. So, an individual can make a list according to their own preference. Such a list will be more effective than any online copy by some other author.

But there are some great spelling bee word lists you can begin with.

The Scripps Company Will Help!

For example, you should start by going through the book list published by the spelling bee authority. The name of this word list is Great Words, Great Works.

This list has a grade-wise book list that is updated each year.

But you should keep in mind that the books don’t have word lists in them rather some great fiction and non-fiction storybooks.

These books help a student to enhance their vocabulary that suits their age and experience. You shouldn’t expect a first-grader to have the same vocabulary as an eighth-grader.

Apart from the Great Words, Great Works list, the official website also publishes a word list of 450 essential words a willing participant must learn before the competition. It is not mandatory that the words will be from this list but it helps.

Other Sources

If you are planning to be actually competitive, you cannot rely on the official source given by the Scripps team.

If you just look for word lists for the spelling bee, you will find thousands of results. To be fair, all of the list quite good but the lists cannot get you far enough.

Don’t be pessimistic!

The wrong approach would be trying to find word lists. There are certain reasons why the lists will not help you.

First, memorizing the word lists is extremely boring. You will certainly lose the drive to complete the whole list.

Second, as there is no pattern, your brain will soon forget the spellings of the words you tried to learn for months. In a plain word – ineffective and fruitless.

Third, no matter how many word lists go through, there is no guarantee that you will find the common words in the actual competition.

The solution to this problem would be to learn words as you go by. Keep a pen and a paper while you are reading fictions and non-fiction. Whenever you find a new word, note it down.

Try to maintain this practice every day. Soon you will notice that you have learned new words every day. This would more scientific approach compared to memorizing word lists made by someone else.

SpellQuiz – Your Trusted Partner

SpellQuiz knows that word lists are ineffective. That’s why we have dictation practices for each grade. for example, kids can practice dictation for class 1 or dictation for class 12 as per their need. 

You will have to write the sentence after listening to it. This practice is really close to the template of a spelling bee.

In the competition, you will have to spell a word after listening to the pronunciation of the word.

By the time you have completed the whole practice session, you will learn so many new words that can boost your confidence in the spelling bee.

So, the bottom line is –

• Read regular books, not word lists
• Make your own word list
• Prepare yourself by participating in dictations
• Practice regularly, there is no magical shortcut!

 

Chapter 11: Prepare Yourself for the 2020 93rd Scripps National Spelling Bee

This year’s 93rd Scripps National Spelling Bee is going to start on May 24, 2020. This means you have little to no time to prepare for the event from scratch.

All you need to do is now is relax and polish up your existing skills.

First of all, I would suggest you have an ample amount of sleep every day. Your number one enemy would be stress, and stress does mysterious things to even the best competitors.

Next, you should only focus on practicing uncommon and rare words in English. Commonly misspelled words should also be on your target right now.

You surely don’t want to lose misspelling a simple word that you already know.

SBO can be a great place for your relaxed practice session. Here, you can compete with players all around the world in real-time. This virtual arena will also boost your confidence and a glimpse of the pressure that you will have to handle in the main event.

To get yourself accustomed to the situations, you can try watching the videos of previous events. Watching these videos will make you familiarized with the customs and situations that a participant has to go through.

Lastly, I want you to be confident and relaxed at the same time. If you can remain calm and collected throughout the whole event, you will win half the battle!

Relax, you have worked hard, and it’s time to show the world your sheer will and determination.

Go on, spell like a champ!

 

Chapter 12: Where to find the latest Spelling Bee Words for the championship?

As you can guess, the “Spelling Bee Words” are quite different from the day to day regular vocabulary that we use.

These words are way harder.

The reason is also simple, knowing the spelling of these words will make you world champion. So, obviously, the words will challenge you.

Now, you must be thinking – where can I get a list of such words? Where to find the latest Spelling Bee Words for the championship?

Well, the simplest answer is you need to hit the books and magazines.

The organizers don’t just google “the toughest English words.” They find these words while reading. So, you need to do the same too.

Still, we have a list of great sources that might help you find such words.

Check it out –

 

Words You Need to Know – Words of the champions!

This list is made in cooperation with Scripps National Spelling Bee organization.

Going through this list is a must!

Words of the Champions is the only official study resource of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. 

The Herald in Sharon

The Herald is a newspaper company that has created three extremely helpful word-lists for the Spelling Bee competitors.

They have divided the list into three categories – beginner, intermediate, and advanced. You will find long lists along with definitions of the words.

 

Misspelled Words From 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee

Time magazine has published a list of all the words that contestants have misspelled in last year’s (2019) Spelling Bee competition.

It’s true that the chance of a repetition of the same word is very low but you can get an idea about the words that participants often misspell.

 

Spelling Words Well

Spelling Words Well has a wide collection of Spelling Bee words in their website. You can check their website to find different lists.

 

Hexco Top 100 Hardest Words to Spell

Spelling Bee is all about mastering hardest of the words. Hexco has developed a list of hardest words that a participant might ever face in the competition.

Let me remind you, this list dauntingly tough!

 

 

Part III: Why Spelling Bees Are Important and How Spelling Bees Can Help Children and Young Adults?

 

Chapter 1: What is the Best Age Group for Spelling Bees?

A lot of parents have this question in their mind – is my child old enough to participate in the spelling bee?

Some parents, on the other hand, think that their child is learning reading and writing quite well at a very young age and they should participate in the competition.

Well, you should always keep in mind that the Scripps National Spelling Bee is an extremely competitive event and it takes years of practice before anyone could be ready enough to go for the title.

Moreover, you should also think about whether your child can take the mental toil of this competition.

But is there is an official restriction?

Well, of course, there is!

The Official Age Restriction

The official website has a rule that no participant can be older than 15 years.

In fact, they have stated clearly in their rule book that no participant can reach their 15^th birthday before a certain date.

But that was the upper limit, how about the lower limit?

Well, there is no lower limit to the age. But kids under the age of 10 is quite rare in the competition. In 2016, only six students under the age of ten had taken part in the competition.

Typically, students from first-grade to eighth-grade can take part in it.

The youngest competitor ever is a 5-year-old-kid named Edith Fuller. She could clear off words like “Jnana,” “Panglossian,” and “Baedeker!”

Can you imagine a 5-year-old kid taking on the teenagers?

She is such a talented kid.

Common Age Groups

Typically, different popular opinions suggest that students can be divided into five age groups. They are as follows,

Group	Typical Participants
1	6-7 years old
2	8-9 years old
3	10-11 years old
4	12-13 years old
5	14-15 years old

 

Although, the presence of the 13-year-olds is found in most of the cases. Statistics show that almost 40% of the total students are in this particular age group. Almost, 25% of the contestants are 14 years old. 

7^th or 8^th graders are the main participants in the spelling bee.

About 75% of the total crowd read in the 7^th or 8^th grade.

So, you should have gotten a solid idea about the age group of the students.

The Ideal Age Group

Starting preparation from the age of 10 seems like a smart idea.

Before the age of 10, it might be too tough. Although, there are participants under that limit. But handling the pressure might seem too much some kids.

You should consider that fact as well.

As a child can take part in the competition up to three times, you should plan out the age of starting carefully. A lot of people feel that 5^th or 6^th grade is the ideal time for a student to participate.

 

Chapter 2: What are the Benefits of Entering My Child in a Spelling Bee?

Before you begin, answer this question first, “Is spelling bee just another competition?”

Starting from the 1920s, the competition has become extremely popular worldwide. With certainty, anyone can vouch for one thing – the spelling bee has numerous positive outcomes in a child’s life.

It’s not just another talent hunt or national competition. It’s more than that, much more!

In the recent few years, the spelling bee has attracted more and more eyes to it.

What is in it for your kids?

Just a trophy and some other prizes? Not really!

The outcome is more than that, and most of them are long-term benefits. So, let’s take a look at the benefits of the competition.

A Strong Command over the English language

Spelling bee has a direct impact on the overall learning of the English language. The competition helps to bolster all the four pillars of learning a language – listening, reading, writing, and speaking.

A participant has to collect a certain amount of unknown and uncommon words. Most speakers find it hard to use these words in their daily life. 

Not only that these words make your English base stronger but also at the same time enhances the communication skills too.

Public Speaking Skills and Overcoming Stage Fright

On the final stage, a competitor has to speak out the spellings of the words to a mass crowd. This practice makes a child stronger in public speaking.

Stuttering is one of the most common things that a person feels when they try to speak to a mass crowd. A speller overcomes this fear while practicing for the spelling bee.

Almost every contestant that ever participated in spelling bee has said that spelling bee has helped them speaking to a crowd.

It gives an immense amount of courage and helps one’s public speaking skills.

Confidence Boost

Almost every speller has said that the competition has made him or her more confident than before. It’s a great practice for the students.

This boost of confidence will help them in many stages of life. People can also gather up the courage handling tougher situations and make decisions instantly.

It’s a great way to build one’s characteristics.

Linguistic Excellence

Spelling has a real close tie to reading and writing. The long practices make one stronger by creating a better and positive attitude.

Linguistic excellence grows in a subconscious state of mind.

The person will not have any idea how much they have learned, but they are learning. The process never stops actually.

The vocabulary gets really enriched, and the participants can know a lot of unknown words that make them way better than the mediocre students.

Character Build-Up

The spelling bee is a tough competition, tougher than it might seem. There is only one winner, and it’s a national competition. The whole nation gets hyped and national television cover the whole program live. The hype is a lot to kids as none of them are older than 15 years. Going through these scenarios, one becomes much, much stronger.

The friendly rivalry and competitive attitude make them ready for the harsh reality of the world.

Gateway to Other Skills

The spellers have been seen focusing on more character-building skills than their peer. The competition has made them join different other good practices too. It bolsters the overall characteristics.

Some of the spelling bee champions have written best-selling books.

Even some of them cultivated the good practices of debating, public speaking, anchoring and many more.

Better Results in School

Spellers become automatically more attentive to their studies. They take their studies more seriously and more often seen to get better grades on the exams.

This will apparently make them a stronger candidate in college or university admission. The students don’t just read; they love to read!

Prepared for Life

A contestant learns a number of lessons from the spelling bee that help them in real life. Team approach gets boosted up as the students practice with their parents or teacher. They learn about how to play a team game.

It also teaches them to be patient and calm. Handling the nerve is also another skill one must adapt.

Showing generosity and accepting failure are also two things that one learns. All these learning make one a better person as well as ready to face the world.

There is no denial of the fact that the spelling bee makes a participant better in numbers of things. It’s a raw and true way to build oneself better.

Although the pressure could be too much for the tender kids, it’s also a lesson – a great lesson that one learns one day or another.

The healthy practice can also make your child adapt to uncomfortable situations at a very early stage.

Without any doubt, the spelling bee is an adrenaline filled journey with excitement stored every corner of it. It’s a story inspiration and self-development.

 

Chapter 3: What Can My Child Take Away from a Spelling Bee?

You might be wondering how your child is going to be benefited from a spelling bee?

The spelling bee is a tough competition and being a parent; you know it will create immense pressure on your child.

So, it’s completely okay for you to be extra cautious about everything regarding spelling bee.

Besides winning the competition, spelling bee will allow your child to discover many of the opportunities in his or her life. This competition is a gateway for him or her to a greater knowledge-based world.

Actually, your child can take a lot from the spelling bee.

Grammatical Knowledge Improvement

The spelling bee is about how well you know the English language. And to know the English language properly, you have to learn the grammar. As a spelling bee contestant, grammar is a must for your child.

So, he or she will learn grammar in the process which will help him/her even after the competition is over. No wonder it will give your child an insight into the English language.

It allows your child a comprehensive knowledge of words, their definition, pronunciation, and their roots. So, because of the spelling bee, your child will become a master of the English language!

A Richer Vocabulary

The spelling bee is all about vocabulary. The more vocabulary your child knows, the more likely he/she is going to achieve success in the competition. But when the competition is over, it will still benefit him/her greatly.

Your child will get competency over vocabulary which will allow him or her to understand more and more words.  It will result in a great skill of reading of an extensive range of materials for your child.

Moreover, with the rich vocabulary, your child will find conversations are easy to carry on and express their feeling with the proper words.

Greater Learning

Learning words for a spelling bee will allow your child to become interested in the origin of a word. Your child may find it interesting which will lead him or her to trace down the etymology, origin and other information of words.

Thus, he or she enters into a greater knowledge-based world. This competition will motivate your child to seek new words and also it will increase your child’s interest in learning new words and their etymology as well as the roots.

Competitive Attitude

Because of spelling bee your child no wonder will be more competitive. It creates a supportive competition among the contestants. The spelling bee is like a physical competition. It will stimulate your child’s brain activity and excitement.

This eventually results in flowing more adrenalin of your child. A friendly like rivalry will allow your child to interact with co-workers and see them as resources, not competition.

A spelling bee will bring out your child’s competitive attitude and set him or her for any situation.

Cognitive Skills

Spelling bee competition is a lot of pressure to take. And in the process, your child will be able to develop a good range of cognitive skills like the ability to handle the pressure. It will give a good memory to your child, and he or she will be able to adopt a better learning skill.

It will help your child in higher studies. So, because of the spelling bee, your beloved child will develop his/her cognitive skills, and it will be super beneficial in the long run.

Confidence Boost

The spelling bee will boost up your child’s confidence. Throughout the competition, he/she will learn how to talk in front of people. It will teach him/her how to respond quickly and how to accept mistakes.

These activities will only make your child confident. He/she will be confident enough to take any challenge positively in practical life. As a result, we can say, your child is benefited greatly by the spelling bee.

Most of the spelling bee competition winners have done fantastic in their life. So, there’s a good chance that your child will be a winner and with that experience, he/she will do something amazing in his/her life.

However, even if your child does not win the competition, he/she will be greatly benefited from the experience gathered from participating in the spelling bee.

 

Chapter 4: Will Spelling Bee Help My Child in the Future?

Nowadays, it is a dream for every child to take participates in spelling bee competition. But as a parent, it is quite normal for you to look at the pros and cons of this tough competition.

You might be wondering if it will help your child in the future and how?

Change in Prospect

The spelling bee will change your child’s prospect and way of looking at things and thinking. In the competition, he/she will have to compete with another contestant in a friendly rivalry environment.

Nonetheless, he/she will learn that nobody is an enemy or competition for him/her. Rather everybody is a resource, and everybody has to offer something to learn from.

No wonder it will help your child in the future. He/she will learn how to keep patience and take challenges.  

Time Management

The spelling bee is a tough competition, and it will bring the best out of your child. He/she will learn time management during the competition. Spelling bee requires intense preparation.

It is a must to learn grammar, more and more words, and their roots to win the title.

So, it’s all about time management.

Your child will have to take preparation for the competition and carry out the regular studies at the same time. So, time management is the thing he/she will learn in the process for sure.

Cultivating Calmness and Focus

This is easy to say but hard to remember. But spelling bee will teach your child this hard lesson.

In a national spelling bee, there will be cameras, lights and it is a confusing time. Everybody is nervous, yet your child will manage to source his/her confidence.

He or she will learn to keep the pressure under control and stay focus in an adverse situation.

It is needless to say that it will benefit your child hugely in the future. He/ she will be able to confront any situation with the experience he/she gathered from the spelling bee.

Sometimes Luck Favors!

Hard work will pay off for sure. But sometimes luck can come down to you with success. In a spelling bee, you just can be lucky enough to get the words you know how to spell. It can be a huge favor for you.

It is a great lesson for your child, and he/she will remember it all his/her life.

He/she will take every opportunity luck gives them and utilize them properly for sure! Your child will keep in mind that luck sometimes favors!

Being Persistent

The spelling bee will teach your child to be persistent in life. He/she will learn that success may not come immediately. They take time. And you have to adhere to it. Your child will learn how to keep patience while participating in a spelling bee.

It will help him or her in the long run. He/she will be able to perform necessary everyday work with great apathy which will set him/her in a better position.

The competition will allow your child to explore all his/her opportunities. It will make him/her a better human being and a real talent.

It will make them hard-working, focused and optimistic. The spelling bee could be one of the best stepping stone in the future of your child!

 

Final Thoughts

The name spelling bee is around us for a long, long time. What started as a simple competition for witty kids is not just another competition anymore.

The glory and the recognition can give a winner an international exposure. He or she can witness themselves to become a phenomenon.

But the one should always respect the struggle and hardship of those who cannot wear the title. Because, most of them have practiced hard, day after day, night after night. Lastly, we wish you all the best if you are planning to start your practice for the competition or have started already. One last suggestion – Never lose hope!

At times things could seem impossible, you could feel miserable. Don’t feel frustrated. It only shows how much determined and how hard you are trying to make things possible.

You might not feel it, but you might already have surpassed the maximum of the contestants as you have the sheer will to win the competition.

Even if you have failed to win the competition once, get back up, stronger than ever. Tell yourself one thing again and again – I am the very best. If I cannot do it, no one in the world can do it; I am the champion!

We hope this guide has helped you to understand the nature of a spelling bee competition. What do you think about the guide?

Let us know your opinion and feel free to ask us anything about the competition in the comment section below. We would try our best to help you with everything you need. Now you can take part in online Spelling Bee too! Check out the SBO section on Spellquiz today! Also, try this vocabulary tester to understand your current skill level! Try these spelling tests to master English spelling! Also, don’t forget to check the complete list of sight words.  

You should see spelling training as mandatory basic training if you see yourself making silly spelling mistakes while writing or typing. 

So, when should you feel that you need spelling training? There are some clear indicators.

For example, the first and most prominent indicator is making the same mistake over and over again.

Do you misspell common words like weird, video, or friends?

These two are some of the most commonly misspelled words in the English language. The issue is some of us can’t even figure out the correct spelling in the first place.

First of all, I want to remind you that you are not the only one – everyone makes spelling mistakes, even an English literature scholar!

So, instead of getting upset and blaming yourself, you should take part in rigorous spelling training sessions.

But from where should you start? What kind of strategy should you follow?

Hold your horses; I might just have the perfect solutions!

 

Getting to the Root – Why Do We Make Spelling Mistakes So Often?

Do you often feel frustrated because of making so many and frequent spelling mistakes?

Maybe, the problem isn’t with; maybe, the problem lies within the English language!

English is NOT an ancient language. If you look at the age of the languages in our world, English is a middle-aged language.

So, this English language has many roots, and an abundance of words of this language comes from a number of other older languages.

About 60% of the English words come from old German and French language. Moreover, about 30% of the words have Latin roots.

Many other languages also played a big part in polishing the modern English language. 

That’s why you see so many English words having “patterns.”

For example, words like kindergarten, doppelganger, iceberg, uber are borrowed from the German language. 

Similarly, words like villa, picture, is, have, later, herb, island, etc. have Latin roots.

Having so many different word patterns coming from different other languages makes us very confused about the spelling of the words.

 

Don’t Blame Yourself – These Words Are Confusing!

Sometimes we feel very, very angry, seeing some words in the English language.

Let me make myself a bit clear.

Take a look at these words – bought, brought, fought, sought, drought.

Do you see any pattern?

Yes, they all look and sound very similar.

Now, look at these words – caught, taught, naught.

This is where things get confusing and interesting. These words also have Germanic roots. They even sound similar to the words in the first batch.

However, as you can see, there is a small yet significant difference.

The first batch has – ought as the suffix while the second batch has – aught as the suffix.

As you can imagine, these are some of the most commonly misspelled words in the English language.

Just like this example, there are a lot of confusing word patterns that just seem to contradict each other.

So, don’t blame yourself!

 

From Where Should You Start?

A lot of us can’t begin a robust spelling training session because we don’t know where to begin.

Should you get a good dictionary and start cramming the words from the beginning?

No, definitely no!

Not only it would be a hectic task, but also it will not be a sustainable solution. You need to follow a rule that will have a long-term impact on your spelling skills.

That’s why your spelling training has to be intuitive.

Before you start anything, you need to understand your capability and your current situation. The more data you can collect about yourself, the better.

Here’s a smart solution that you can follow!

 

Start with The Vocabulary Test

Your spelling training should begin with a vocabulary test. How many words do you know?

So, how can you know that?

Just head to the English vocabulary test from SpellQuiz.

 

The test will begin after you press the “Start” Button.

It starts from the beginning – the grade 1 test.

Once you click the “Play” button, you will hear a sentence that a first grader should be able to type flawlessly.

The tools will repeat each sentence twice, first at a normal pace, then, at a reduced pace.

Your task will be to type it down flawlessly.

Remember, you will have to correct the capitalization and the punctuation marks too.

After that, click the “Check” button.

Then, you can check your progress through a few parameters –

• Your progress percentage
• Time elapsed
• Smart Score
• Mastered words

You will have to follow this procedure until the tool figures out your current vocabulary level.

Each time, you will be given a slightly complicated sentence.

Finally, the tool will assign your vocabulary skills to a certain level. The tool tries to find two things –

• Equivalent grade level
• Approximate word collection

Upon getting the results, you will have a close idea about your current status.

Now, it’s time for you to take part in the spelling training sessions!

 

Start with the Sight Words List

Are you familiar with sight words?

Sight words are the most common words (around 1,000 words) in the English written language. Experts suggest that about 75% of the written words you see in the children’s books and magazines comprise of the sight words or you can try checking this sight words list.

That means these are the basic words that you should be practicing first.

Everybody misspells complicated words. But only a few misspell the sight words.

In our website, SpellQuiz, you will find three types of sight words –

• Dolch Sight Words
• Fry Sight Words
• Modern Sight words

Then, these categories are divided into smaller segments. Like this –

Dolch Sight Words

1. Pre-Kindergarten Dolch Sight Words
2. Kindergarten Dolch Sight Words
3. First Grade Dolch Sight Words
4. Second Grade Dolch Sight Words
5. Third Grade Dolch Sight Words
6. Noun Sight Dolch Words

Fry Sight Words

1. 1st 100 Fry Sight Words
2. 2nd 100 Fry Sight Words
3. 3rd 100 Fry Sight Words
4. 4th 100 Fry Sight Words
5. 5th 100 Fry Sight Words
6. 6th 100 Fry Sight Words
7. 7th 100 Fry Sight Words
8. 8th 100 Fry Sight Words
9. 9th 100 Fry Sight Words
10. 10th 100 Fry Sight Words

Modern Sight Words

1. First 50 Words of Top 150 Sight Words
2. Second 50 Words of Top 150 Sight Words
3. Third 50 Words of Top 150 Sight Words

 

You can check the sight words by clicking each button. You can go through all these sight words.

I know, memorizing all the spelling of sight words can be tough a challenge. That’s why I would suggest you download the printable copies of these lists.

The printed copies will bolster your offline practice sessions.

After all, you can’t do everything online.

Some Japanese educational practices suggest that practicing anything with pen and paper helps your brain to understand or memorize things better.  

 

Let’s Learn the Sight Words in the SpellQuiz Way

All the practice sessions and spelling training modules are designed with an expert team of linguistic experts.

They suggest that dictation is the best form of practicing spelling. And, SpellQuiz has a large collection of dictation examples. 

So, why don’t you practice the sight words with the help of dictation?

To do so, you need to head to the spelling tab.

Here, you can see a button called sight words. It will lead you to the list of the Fry Sight words.

Are you looking for other lists like the Dolch list or the modern sight words list? Don’t worry; the Fry Sight words list comprise of the other words too.

There are four sight words lessons –

• 100 Fry Sight Words Lesson
• 200 Fry Sight Words Lesson
• 300 Fry Sight Words Lesson
• 400 Fry Sight Words Lesson

So, you can learn all of the 1,000 words in the Fry sight words using a dictation-based learning system.

Just the vocabulary testing panel, you will have helpful tools like Smart Score, time counter, mastered words, etc. here in this section.

So, that’s how you can sharpen your skills of sight words.

Before you continue to other spelling training sessions, I urge you to master this level first.

 

Understanding the Spelling Section of SpellQuiz

Okay, now the ground is all set!

You are ready to participate in the main training segment.

Before we begin, let me give you an idea about the Spelling section of SpellQuiz. There are thirteen stages (excluding the sight words).

Each grade constitutes of three categories of sessions –

• Basic Spelling Exercise
• Basic Spelling Lesson
• Advanced Spelling Bee

Not all the grades have the same number of such practice sessions.

For example, grade 1 to 12 has five spelling exercises, five spelling lessons, and six spelling bee sessions. On the other hand, grade 11 has five spelling exercises, five spelling lessons, but five spelling bee sessions.

The adult section constitutes of only five spelling exercises.

The advanced tools of the SpellQuiz show you the percentage of completed or mastered words in each session.

Okay, enough about the platform. Let me get to the main point!

From where should you begin?

 

Let’s Begin the Actual Spelling Training!

Do you remember your current vocabulary level from the vocabulary test?

Good!

It will come in handy.

Suppose, the vocabulary test has suggested your current level is grade 3. You might be studying in grade 5 or grade 2 in real life, but your spelling skill suggests that your cognitive skill is equivalent to grade 3.

So, you should start from grade 3.

Similarly, if the test suggests your level to be grade 7, your practice should start from grade 7.

First, I would suggest you start with the Spelling Exercises. 

There is a term in Japanese culture – Kaizen. It means continuous improvement. What I ask of you is to follow the Kaizen mantra.

So, you should start slowly but practice regularly.

Don’t rush and complete all the spelling lessons in one day. It’ll not have a long-term impact on your brain.

Take at least a few hours of break between each session. Remember, slowly, but gradually, you will reach the pinnacle of success.

Once you finish the Spelling Exercises, move on to the Spelling Lesson section.

Similarly, you should complete the Spelling Lessons.

Now Comes The Big One – Spelling Bee!

The words in the Spelling Bee section are quite hard compared to the previous two sections.

Why?

These practice sessions aim to robust your practice for the Spelling Bee competition. So, obviously, there are advanced and complicated words.

What if you have completed all the sessions from a grade?

What should you do next?

Yes, you move on to the next grade!

For example, if you have completed the “1st grade spelling bee words,” you should start practicing the “2nd grade spelling bee words.”

Remember, it’s always better to learn new things.

You might find the words too complicated and often misspell.

Tell yourself, “It’s okay; I have already mastered the words from my grade; I am only exploring now.”

You can play a game with yourself – what is the highest level I can reach?

 

Let’s Introduce Some Fun!

Let’s take a break! I know all the “training talks” have already bored you.

SpellQuiz has recently introduced a fun way to practice spelling. Actually, players don’t even feel that they are practicing!

I am talking about the Spelling Bee Online (SBO).

It’s a game where you can participate in the online or the virtual version of the famous spelling competition Spelling Bee.

Let’s take a look at the game mechanics.

After you start the game, you will see a typing window.

Once you start, a timer will start, and you will hear a word.

Your job will be to type the correct spelling of that word. And, you will have 15 seconds to type it down.

After typing the word, you will have to press “Enter.”

The tool will speak out another word then.

Just repeat the same activities.

During each take on the game, you can make a maximum of 10 spelling mistakes. Your goal is to reach the maximum level and get the maximum SBO score you can.

After completing ten words, you will reach the next level.

As you can imagine, the first levels are quite easy, and you will find words like – At, To, Sit, etc.

As you level up, the words tend to get complicated. I mean, you will start to get words like Bourgeois, Mississippi, Schappe, etc.

The best thing about SBO is that you will be competing against other real players in real-time from all around the world!

There is also a leaderboard!

The leaderboard gets updated in real-time and shows the name and nationality of the best players. There are four sections in the leaderboard –

1. Daily Top List – The best players of the day with maximum mastered word count
2. Weekly Top List – The best players of the week with overall mastered word count
3. Top This Month – The best players of month day with overall mastered word count
4. Top All Time – The best players of all time with overall mastered word count

So, what do you think? Are you up for the challenge?

 

Hey, Quiz Time!

Sometimes you will have to take an odd route to have good spelling training.

I think a fine strategy is playing different quizzes rather than taking part in the active practice sessions.

SpellQuiz has a collection of witty quizzes.

So, let’s take a closer look at the quizzes –

 

You would never guess the origins of these words!

Yes, you have guessed it right – you will have to guess the origin of the few words.

For example, you will have to tell the origin of words like Vampire, and you will get four options like – Turkish, Romanian, Hungarian, or Serbo-Croatian.

You need to click the right answer.

You will get 30 questions just like this one.

Also, there is a progress tracker to monitor your progress.

This quiz will increase the curiosity about the English language among the students.

Are you getting hyped?

 

How Well Do You Know the Conditionals?

This quiz is more about English grammar than spelling training. So, rather than focusing on spelling, it will try to assess your grammatical skills – especially your knowledge regarding conditionals. 

Take a look at this example.

You will be asked to fill gaps like this one – “If I ___________ that my heart rate has gone up on Fitbit, I _________ running more slowly.”

What should be in the gaps?

As it is a quiz, you will get four options.

What is your job?

Find the correct answer!

Can You Pass The Hard Spelling Words Test?

This quiz focuses directly on spelling training. The quiz tries to assess your spelling skills regarding the most misspelled words in the English language.

For example, tell me something, what word should be in the gap of the following sentence?

“Luckily, Teddy became __________ only a couple of hours after the surgery.”

• Concious
• Conscious
• Consious
• Conscous

You will find similar questions in the quiz. If you are harnessing yourself to better at spelling, the quiz will try to assess your progress.

 

Difficult Spelling Quiz – Only 1% of People Can Get 30/30 – Are You One of Them?

This is another great quiz for the students who are participating in the spelling quiz. Just like hard spelling quiz, it also deals with the commonly misspelled and complex words.

Can you tell me which of the following word has the correct spelling?

• Counseller
• Councellor
• Counselor

It seems tough, doesn’t it? Well, you should have guessed it. The name of the quiz suggests that the quiz will be difficult!

 

Geography Quiz – Are You One of the Few People Who Can Ace This World?

The final quiz in SpellQuiz doesn’t have much connection with spelling training. Rather, it’s a question regarding geography.

Well, it’s good to take a break from the hectic spelling training sessions, isn’t it?

So, what kind of question will you see here?

Simple geography-related questions.

For example, “What continent does the Nile River flow through?”

 

Final Thoughts

Yes, spelling training is a long and hard task to complete. It takes grit and patience. But with sheer will and mental strength, you can overcome anything.

I believe, if you follow the smart spelling training sessions, you will get better at English spelling in no time!

Best of luck!  

The Partnership Will Pave the Way for the Teachers and Educators to Deploy State-Of-The-Art Vocabulary and Spelling Lessons to Thousands of students

 

Calgary, Alberta, Canada – January 31, 2020 – SpellQuiz, the leading digital learning platform focusing on English spelling and vocabulary development for K–12, today announced a new partnership with Clever, the most widely used single sign-on (SSO) portal in K–12 schools nationwide. SpellQuiz will be available in the Clever’s Library, a catalog of high-quality digital resources that teachers can deploy to their classrooms instantly.

With Clever Library, educators easily browse learning applications by subject or grade level and read peer reviews. In just a few clicks, teachers safely install apps for students — and districts see what resources have been installed, who’s using them, and how frequently they’re used. SpellQuiz has agreed to comply with Clever’s Universal Data Sharing Agreement, a set of security, privacy, and compliance practices designed to protect student data.

With SpellQuiz, students can identify their current vocabulary level within ten minutes; then, they can participate in spelling exercises, lessons, and Spelling Bee quizzes according to their current level. SpellQuiz has more than 200 different spelling sessions designed by linguistic experts from the United States of America and Canada. Parents and teachers have separate accounts linked to the students’ accounts where they can keep track of the progress through a smart dashboard. Furthermore, students can participate in Spelling Bee Online, where students all over the world can join in the virtual Spelling Bee competition in real-time.

The partnership between SpellQuiz and Clever will result in the following benefits –

• Single Sign-On: Students and teachers can instantaneously access SpellQuiz through Clever Portal without the hassle of logging in each time. With such convenience, teachers and students can focus on learning only.
• Information Automaton: Individual student information gets synced with the SpellQuiz database through Clever, meaning students can use the same Clever ID even after changing schools or districts.
• Clever Badges: The Clever badge system allows users to log-in to Spellquiz without the hassle of typing in the credentials, so even the youngest minds can dive right into SpellQuiz without the assistance of parents or teachers.

“All I ever wanted is to clear out the fog of English phobia among the kids all over the world. I still remember the struggle my kids had to face learning English words and spelling. SpellQuiz is my first step towards achieving that goal,” says Jeyhun Najafli, the founder of SpellQuiz, “Through the partnership with Clever, we can spread the goodness of SpellQuiz to the 55% of the U.S. K–12 schools who are already learning with Clever. The news gives me immense joy!”

 

“With SpellQuiz now available in Clever Library, it will be even easier for teachers to help students improve their English and practice spelling, directly through their Clever Portal.” says Darrell Stewart, Partnerships Manager at Clever.

 

About SpellQuiz

SpellQuiz is an online learning environment that provides parents, teachers, and students with tools to enhance students’ education, particularly English language skills. The platform offers various self-paced exercises designed for harnessing phonetics as a learning aid to enhance spelling skills, vocabulary development, typing, and listening skills. For more information, visit https://spellquiz.com.

 

About Clever

Clever was founded by educators and technologists to speed the adoption and impact of learning applications in the classroom. Now, more than 50% of U.S. K-12 schools use Clever to deploy leading software applications and provide a secure, personalized learning experience for teachers and students. Backed by Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Partners, GSV Capital, and Y-Combinator, Clever is based in San Francisco, California. For more information, visit https://clever.com.

Feeling puzzled with all the tips, easy steps, and advice on the internet? Maybe you have already gone through several videos, articles and also have read a few books on improving English writing skills.

But still, you can’t make up your mind.

You have no clue about where to start, what to follow.

You are not alone. Trust me, a lot of learners facing the same problem.

Let’s see it from a different angle.

Have you ever realized from the very beginning of your journey to learning English that you were mostly involved in writing?

Did not get it?

Okay, let me make it clear.

Tell me, how many emails you have typed in your life? Or how many texts you have sent to your friends? Like that, you must have written an uncountable number of paragraphs, reports, assignments, essays, and letters.

What I am trying to say is that you have been practicing ‘’writing’’ in English mostly.

As you are reading this article, it means after all these practices, you are still not satisfied with the level of your English writing.

Here in this article, I am going to show you how you can improve your English writing skills.

I will try to share some plans with you.

So, are you ready?

It is a pretty long article, though. But I promise you will not regret it after completing reading the article.

 

And this article will be helpful to:

• Students taking IELTS
• Students taking any English writing exams
• People who are about to write essays and SOP
• People who write reports or make presentations in their corporate life

 

Let’s get into the business.

Table of Contents:

Chapter-1:  Knowing the purpose

Chapter-2:  Simplicity Is the Best

Chapter-3:  A collection of Set Phrases and Keywords

Chapter-4:  Just Stop Doing These!

Chapter-5:  Stiffen Your Writing

Chapter-6:  Read the Right Materials

Chapter-7:  Give Your Writing a Structure

Chapter-8:  Adopt the Conversational Style of Writing

Chapter-9:  The Skill of Showing Not Telling

Chapter-10:  Practice! Practice! Practice

Chapter-11:  Importance of Improving Writing Skills

Chapter 1: Knowing the Purpose

Writing: As we know it

As you already know it, today, I am going to discuss English Writing skills.

Like the other three foundations of any language (Reading, Listening, Speaking), writing is equally important.

And by writing, I am referring to formal writing. Like how you will be writing in English writing exams, emails, reports, essays, in CVs, and in every other field where you will be needing formal writing.

You do not necessarily need to write in this formal way when you are texting your friends or in other informal matters.

As I have already informed that you have been practicing these writing skills for quite a time now. So you know the basics.

All you need is just a little push, a proper guideline for upgrading the skill of writing. And I am going to tell you about the kinds of stuff and give you the push you need.

Chapter 2: Simplicity Is the Best

Keep It Simple!

Do you love reading complex and inaccurate writing?

If the answer is “no,” then why will you write in that way yourself?

In your English writing, you do not want to show off your English rather show accurate English, not at all the English you do not know or have not learned yet. Simple done accurately is better than complicated done inaccurately.

It is better to keep things simple and do it well rather than make it complex and do it badly.

Do Not Over Complicate the Writings

Picture this.

You are reading English writing. The piece if writing is full of words you do not know. The structures of sentences are complicated and hard to understand. It is full of unknown phrases and wrongly put words.

Would you love to read that piece of writing?

Definitely no!

Then when you are writing, you should keep that in mind.

You should use sight words more often as people are very familiar with them.

Chapter 3: Collection of Set Phrases and Keywords

You might be wondering why you will need these.

In order to avoid making mistakes in your writing, it is a fantastic idea to have a collection of set phrases and keywords that you can use in your writings. So here my suggestion for you is:

Prepare Key Phrases

Well, you have to be careful with this.

You do not need to rehearse what you are going to write.

But you better have a nice selection of things that you can possibly use if the time arises.

Are you taking the IELTS exam? Or taking any academic exam?

If so, then you will want to have linking words and key phrases prepared.

Now here is a list of key phrases with exampled I have prepared for you. This list does not cover everything. But I can assure you if you study everything on the list, then you will be adequately prepared for the English writing exam you are about to take.

You need to make sure that you have a variety of different ways too;

Compare

• In the same way
• At the same time

Contrast

• On the contrary
• However

Give Examples

• For instance
• To illustrate

Give Your Opinion

• From my perspective
• From my point of view

Generalized

• Overall
• All things considered

Express Certainty

• Undoubtedly
• Of course

Express Partial Agreement

• In a way
• To some extent

Show Cause

• Owing to
• Due to

Show Effect

• For this reason
• Consequently

Mark Time

• To begin with
• Following this

Add Information

• Furthermore
• Moreover

Express Condition

• Unless
• Provided that

Conclude

• In summary
• In short

This is a brief list. I am trying to show you what to know and how to do it. This way, you can fully prepare yourself.

 

Chapter 4: Just Stop Doing These!!!

You should avoid a few things while writing for academics or any formal Writings. These things just spoil the standard of writing.

Do Not Use Contractions in Formal Writing

Do you have any doubt?

You might be thinking that contractions make the words sound better. Yeah, definitely, sometimes it sounds better, but it never looks good on writing. I am giving you a few examples of contractions.

Do not > don’t

Is not > isn’t

Can not > can’t

Could not > couldn’t

Will not > won’t

Would not > wouldn’t

I am > I’m

Rather than using, don’t; you will use do not. Do not use any contractions.

But I know you guys are concerned about word count. And using contractions reduces word count. So you can put more information. So in the next chapter, I will show you how to reduce word count without using contractions.

 

On the other hand, if you writing a blog or any other informal writing, you can use contractions.

They feel more communicative. 

Chapter 5: Stiffen Your Writing Skills

Reduce the Dead Words

You have sweated blood to write your essays or other writings within the recommended numbers of words. As I told you not to use contractions, now you must be thinking of how you can put more information within the word limit.

Here the thing is, stop using all those unnecessary filler words.

Now you may ask, what are those words you should stop using?

The words like really, very, a lot, there are, there is, etc. are some of the words you should stop using.

These are pointless and empty calorie words in the English language. Let me give you some examples to make sure that you understand this clearly.

Suppose you wrote, “Problems of geometry really hard.”

Now it is better you eliminate that really hard word and replace it with a strong word with similar meaning.

For instance, you can write, “Problems of geometry is difficult.”

Does it change the meaning? No.

Then you should use it.

Let us look at another sentence.

“A lot of students are failing in the English exam.”

Here in this sentence, replace the words “a lot of” with the word many. Then it looks like “Many students are failing in English exam.”

The meaning is still the same. And it looks better and smarter.

Now you can ask me what is wrong if you use “there are,” “there is,” and words like these.

These words spoil the beauty of sentences and make the sentence petty. Try to avoid using these words. To illustrate here is a sentence;

There are a lot of problems in our society.

Replacing “there are” and “a lot of” you can rearrange the sentence like this;

Our society is facing many problems.

Thus you can reduce the filler words in your writing.

Simmer Down Prepositional Phrases

Let me tell you a story. It was when I was a novice writer.

My writing was not up to the mark. I was being criticized for my low level of writing skills.

Then on a fine day, a well-wisher of mine told me that what I was doing wrong.

Do you know what it was?

It was prepositional phrases that made my writings unnecessarily wordy and complex.

It is not like that prepositions are difficult to understand. But it is the concept of your writing that requires more explanation.

So smartly handle prepositions, and try to simplify them whenever it is possible. It will give you a piece of writing a clarity boost.

Get Rid of Weak Verbs And Adverbs

What are the weak verbs, you might be questioning? And how avoiding it can help you improve your writing skills?

Let’s dive in.

Weak verbs and adverbs are those that do not have commanding influences on the reader’s minds. Those just weaken the structure. Let me make it clear to you with some examples.

“His coach gave him the assistance to win the tournament.”

Here in this sentence, the verb is “gave.” It is a weak verb as it is in a supporting role for the noun “assistance.”

Now you can replace this weak verb “gave” with a strong verb. For instance;

“His coach assisted him to win the tournament.”

Here the strong verb “assisted” replaces the weak verb “gave.”

Chapter 6: Read the Right Materials

Yeah, you have heard that right.

Many of you love to read books or other documents during your spare time. And often you find yourself reading an English book. This is a fantastic way to improve your spelling and enrich your vocabulary. You can always try participating in a vocabulary quiz to understand your vocabulary count. 

 Now my question is, are you reading the right kind of materials?

All these books you are reading are written mostly in an informal way, in a way that makes it catchier. But will it help you big time?

No.

In your exams, you will be asked to write down an article, essay, or a report or maybe all these three. So you better go to the library or find materials related to these three. Get used to the style of this type of writing.

It would bolster your writings skills very much!

Chapter 7: Give Your Writing a Structure

You can resemble your thoughts rattling while you are writing informally. But when you are writing for an exam or writing a report, you need to assemble those shaky thoughts in a structured way. The reader will feel more comfortable then.

Here I am providing you some tips to do so.

Make the Concepts Clear

“If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, then you do not understand it at all.” This is a famous quote quoted by famous scientist Albert Einstein.

Your writing definitely contains a goal, a purpose, or a concept. Before you start writing, be sure about what that concept is. Once you find out the concept, you stick to it.

Do not give any vague idea to the readers about your writing. Make the concept clear. Write around the concept.

Sort out All the Stuff

When you are writing any texts or other informal kinds of stuff, you do not need to think much.

But, when your piece of writing is not that simple, then it is not that easy. When the writing is complex and has some layers and different angles in it, you have a bit more work to be done.

With a view to doing it comprehensively, you need to find the outlines and sort them together. This will save you some time and will give you a good piece of work.

Previse the Queries

You will have to deduce what readers can be questioning after reading your work.

Put yourself in the place of the reader and try to anticipate the questions that may arise in the readers’ minds. So try to provide enough information so the readers can understand the context.

Stop Explaining Extravagantly

Just put that much, which is needed. Do not put excess information.

Your aim is to give a clear idea about your writing, not giving the tiny little details.

You should read your writing. You ask yourself if the information is necessary. If not, then dump it.

Chapter 8: Adopt the Conversational Way of Writing for Better Writing Skills

This is basically applicable for article writing, fiction writing, or maybe even writing a blog.

Choose Simpler Words

Bestselling author John Grisham (he is the author of The Partner, The Last Juror, A time to kill and 32 other books) said, “There are three types of words: (1) words we know; (2) words we should know; (3) words nobody knows. Forget those in the third category and use restraint with those in the second.”

 You do not want to show off your English. Rather make it simple and convenient. So the reader can get it easily.

Attract the Readers

Do you want to know a secret?

Want to know a trick to attract the reader like a magnet?

It’s a pretty simple trick. It has a name. It is called a Grease-slide copy.

Now, what is a grease-slide copy?

Grease slide copy is a magnetic writing technique that keeps the reader glued to the writing.

You can use it in several parts of your writing. Like in the opening, you can start with a question. Then set the scene, get into the readers’ minds, call for their attention.

This will basically help you improve your non-academic writing skills.

Do not use this in formal writings!

Keep Your Sentences Simple

Do not use any complex sentences. Make sentences in a simple way. If you see the sentences are getting more complex, then break it down. Keep the flow of the writing. So the reader will be comfortable reading your work.

Chapter 9: The Skill of Showing Not Telling

Yeah.

You have heard that right.

Make your writing a skill of showing the story, not just telling it. And it will transform your writing if you keep practicing afterward.

Show not tell, what this guy is talking about you might be thinking. I am talking about that you create such a piece of writing; when someone reads it, he will be able to visualize every detail on his own.

Did not get it? Let’s dig a little deeper.

When you are writing, avoid simple statements which do not add any description or flavor.

For example: “The man was stressed.”

Boring?

Instead, I want you to paint a picture. I want you to describe that the man is stressed without telling the man he is.

So how is that possible? You will try to avoid this word and describe it instead.

The man who is stressed what is he doing? He is fidgeting. He can’t stay stable out of stress. Maybe, he is biting his nails. Just like this, pick up a couple of details that show how the person was.

So instead of the sentence, “The man was stressed,” you can write it. “The man was fidgeting and biting his nails.

What makes this so special? Moreover, it is taking some extra words. Why will you do this?

You will do this because readers will love it. They will just be glued to the page. This will put some weights on your writing and will make it glorious.

Chapter 10: Practice! Practice! Practice!

Didn’t you ever hear “practice makes a man perfect”?

It’s a long heard proverb, and it’s true. So keep practicing. Day by day, you will be aware of your mistakes and get rid of it.

The more you write, the more your writing gets better. It corrects your spelling, and you will know new vocabulary every day. You will know a new style of writing or who knows someday you may invent one.

Chapter 11: Importance of Improving English Writing Skills

You must know that English has become the common language all over the world among all nations.

And writing is one of the best ways of communication. In order to keep communicating in real life or in social media, the skill of English writing is a must.

From the very beginning of your school days, you have to attend English writing exams. During the whole academic life, you have to write thousands of essays, reports, documents, emails in English.

Again if you want to go for higher studies abroad, you have to take exams like IELTS, TOEFL, GMAT, GRE, etcetera.

In that process, you need to write essays, SOPs, mails again. And all of these writing must have to be in English.

Again if you are doing a job, you need to make reports and presentations.

So whatever you do, you will need a good command over English writing. It can be one of the most important weapons in your arsenal that you will need in this race of prosperity.

Final Thoughts on Improving Writing Skills

In the end, I am telling you that the ways of improving your English writing skills are complex, more or less, specifically the formal writings.

Do not get conceived by the so-called “easy techniques” or “shortcuts” you see on the internet because those do not exist. Do not let those fool you.

I would like to request you to have patience.

Nothing happens overnight. Keep practicing. Sooner or later, you will be able to get rid of your mistakes and will master the skill of English writing skills.

Rather than being too serious about things, you could release some stress participating our unique Spelling Bee Online SBO — a spelling bee game that you can play with other players in real-time.

Be confident. Because your personality will be floating on the words, you write.

If you have something on your mind that you think is missing, or you think it’s worth adding, please leave a comment below.

Tell me something, how long approximately you’ve been studying in English? Are you one of those who have been studying hard but can’t speak fluently? You know lots of grammar, vocabulary. Still, you find it difficult putting them together when making a sentence while speaking in English? You can think of the sentences in your head, but your mouth doesn’t co-operate?

You can find some help here to overcome all these situations and improve your English spoken skills.

Before I go any further, I would like to request you to have some patience while reading this mammoth article.

 

Entering the Realm of English

English is unofficially the official language of the planet we live in. It’s been a common language to communicate with any random person in any given country.

When you are connecting yourself into the global hub, you make sure you have enough weapons in your arsenal to survive. The most essential weapon in your survival kit is arguably the skill in communicating in English.

Communication IS the key to survival!

We are way past of the era of ancient sign language. Now, you have to express your needs, thoughts, and everything in words. Like every other language here, spoken is the most essential as well as listening to express your thoughts. 

Every sphere of the modern age (financial, social, political, etc.) needs communication. In this era of globalization, this communication often takes place between individuals from different nations. And English is universally granted as the common language to communicate.

Hence, it is understandable why to put so much emphasize on English Spoken skills.

 

Hey, I Am Speaking to You!

To be honest, it’s an informative read for every individual having trouble with their skill of English spoken.

Whatsoever, it will be helpful if you are –

1. A student,
2. Taking IELTS or any other English proficiency exam,
3. One who wants to excel in a career,
4. Willing to do higher studies abroad.

And, The Journey Begins!

From the very beginning of your academic life, your teachers have been teaching you the spellings and grammars, vocabulary, and some other basic rules of the language.

But hardly anyone ever tried to teach you how to put those grammars and vocabulary in a sentence while speaking.

Such a shame!

You need to figure out it on your own as you are not a native speaker in English.

The aim is to have not just the average level of knowledge about the language, rather the aim is to speak in English without any hesitation.

Aim at boosting your overall fluency while speaking in English.

 

Finding the Culprit Behind Your Misery

A number of surveys have tried to narrow down the probable causes behind people’s weakness in English spoken skills.

The results were astounding!

Almost 70% of the total interviewee are weak in spoken rather than reading, writing, or listening. 

Why is that?

The very main reason is that when young learners start learning the language, they basically put all their efforts into reading. They go through online articles, novels, newspapers.

As a result, they gradually become strong in reading.

It’s like focusing on only a single muscle while bodybuilding!

Another fundamental reason is the lack of confidence among the learners.

Learners are not just confident enough to try running a conversation in English, even with their friends. One of the major reasons is that people are scared of speaking in English. The fear the hesitation causes them big time.

Now let’s come to the point.

Let’s see how to improve your English spoken skills.

 

The Road to Glory: Improving English Spoken Skills

You are going to need patience, hard work, mental strength, and willingness to learn with a view to passing this road smoothly.

Let me remind you – things will not be like a cakewalk!

 

1. Double or Nothing!

There are basically two sides to speaking in English.

One is physical, where your mouth needs to produce and connect English sounds and words in a proper and smooth way.

And the other side is mental, where your brain needs to find the right words and by putting them together, build a fine sentence quickly. Then the brain will deliver it to your mouth so it can deliver it verbally.

Your skill of English spoken needs both of these two sides.

If one of the sides doesn’t work, you will not have the fluency to speak in English.

It will be like this; if you are a fast thinker, your brain works fast. Your brain puts up those words, vocabularies and delivers it to your mouth, but your mouth can’t connect quickly and smoothly. Then you will find yourself stammering in the middle of your conversation.

Therefore, you need a fine synchronization of both of the sides.

 

2. Talk to a Native Speaker

The best way to heat up the skill is to talk to a native English speaker on a daily basis. You can manage a coach if that is possible.

But it’s actually pretty hard for everyone to manage that.

That’s why I will be talking about how you can do it on your own with the resources within yourself.

 

3. The Louder, The Better

When you are reading an article or comprehension or novel or anything read out that loud.

Listen to what you read.

Then re-read and speed up your fluency. Now do it again and again. Keep doing it until you speak faster.

 

4. Slow Down, You Are Not in a Race!

While talking in English, try to slow down your speed.

Otherwise, there will be no clarity.

You will end up stammering by not finding appropriate words. You will be speaking wrong and meaningless words and sounds.

So, you need to slow down your speed and make your words clear to the listener. Any great speaker does so. You can listen to them sometimes if you want to.

 

5. Give Yourself Time to Think

While you are talking before saying a sentence at first, think what you are going to say, put the words into a sentence in your head and then deliver it.

If you think a sentence before saying it, there will be no torpidity in your voice anymore.

You will be able to say it smoothly and fluently.

 

6. Listen, Listen Carefully!

Learn to listen very carefully. When you hear any conversation in English of native speakers, listen carefully.

How do they pronounce?

Their flow of speaking is another thing to follow. Moreover, you will also be able to learn some new vocabulary.

 

7. Go Out There and Speak

When you are with your friends, try to speak in English. Keep talking to them for a long time in English. When you are with your family, run all conversations in English. 

Even when you are alone, stand before the mirror and talk to yourself in English.

Question yourself and answer to that too, all in English.

Stop texting, make phone calls! Keep practicing on your own all day.

Start using simple day-to-day words in the beginning.

 

8. Confidence is the Key

If you are about to improve your English spoken skills, you must grow some confidence first.

Don’t get nervous while talking – it’s the BIGGEST ENEMY!

Proper or improper keep talking in English.

Destroy the tower of fear.

Keep practicing, keep talking, and have some belief in yourself. Gradually you will be able to overcome the fear, and then you go.

Then, there is no stopping after that.

 

9. Bye-Bye Hesitation

You have to bid a farewell to the hesitation and grow your natural fluency.

All you need to do is – talk, talk, and talk. 

Don’t feel shy to talk even if you are not talking proper English. No one learns anything overnight.

If you keep talking gradually, you will get the confidence, and that will help your fluency.

 

10. The Imitation Game

Imitation is a highly effective way to improve English spoken skills. You watch or hear a conversation and then say those dialogues yourself.

You don’t have to say those exact words. Make a gist of the context in your own way. 

You can listen to some conversations with native speakers. If possible, you should record them and then listen to that again and again.

Recording helps big time.

It helps you with pronunciation as well.

Moreover, you will be able to find out your mistakes on your own.

And thus, you will also find a way how to get rid of those mistakes. And it also gives you an idea about how much improvement you need to get the level of skill you are aiming for.

 

11. Retell a Story in English

It’s another great way to boost up your English spoken skills. 

Read some good English story. Then you tell that story aloud. You don’t need to say those exact words in the book. 

Tell the story as you want to.

It will make you prepare for actual conversation. And it opens up your mind.

Improve fluency. It will be more effective if you record it and listen again to find out your lackings.

 

12. Movies, TV Shows, Songs – They Are More Than Mere Entertainment

You definitely love to watch movies and listen to songs.

Who doesn’t?

Watching movies, listening to songs can boost up your English spoken skills.

It’s a form of implicit learning.

You are not looking for any grammar or rules or the structures of sentences. You are learning how they speak; in what environment they use which expressions.

One simple word or sentence can mean different meanings under different circumstances.

Better watch the movies without any subtitles.

You will be able to concentrate on the pronunciation and expressions then. As a bonus, you will be able to learn some phrases.

Phrases like – as a matter of fact, let me make it clear and so on.

These phrases work as buffers that give you some extra time to think and say your next words and sentences.

It naturally increases your fluency, and you are not out of words so easily then. 

 

13. Talk to Yourself

Don’t keep your thoughts in your head.

If you say your thoughts and narrate your actions, it will help you in several ways.

Suppose you are about to drink water and then go to your work.

You can say, “I will drink water and then go back to my work.”

Do this, and trust me, you will thank me later!

It will also be able to translate your thoughts into words and then deliver them from your mouth.

 

14. It All Comes Back to the Vocabulary!

Whenever you get the opportunity, try to learn some new words.

The more words you know, the more fluent you are. You will never be out of words in your head.

While learning vocabulary, try to learn in groups or chunks of words.

Like – A cup of tea, a glass of wine, etc.

It is better than learning tea, wine separately.

 

15. Think in English

Yeah, you’ve seen it right.

Think in English!

It will make you more fluent during the conversation. It will take less time to respond while talking.

For this purpose, you can take note of your thoughts. Write those down your daily thoughts in a diary.

It might not be perfect, but it will make your thoughts in English into words with less effort.

 

16. Acquire the Natural Flow of the Language

You are often able to speak individual words perfectly. But sometimes it ruins the rhythm or the flow of the language.

While reading a piece of poetry or novel and while watching a movie or enjoying a song, if you notice closely, you can see a few things.

You need to look up for four facts –

• Linking,
• Contractions,
• Stress and
• Rhythm

Linking is as you know it. Listen closely to some native speakers. Notice how they link two different sounds into one.

It makes the sounds more euphonic.

Contractions merge two words into one.

For example – I am = I’m, he will = he’ll, they are = they’re, etc. 

There are some stressed and unstressed syllables in sentences that play a very important role in pronunciation.

And lastly, rhythm.

Rhythm is the outcome of linking, contractions, and stress.

 

17. Get Smart with Smartphones

We spend the most amount of time of our day using smartphones.

Use it to enrich your English spoken skills.

There are several apps that can help you with your English spoken skills. You will find them on AppStore or on Google Play Store.

You can even have some chat with Siri if you own an iPhone.

If you own an Android smartphone, you can use Google Now.

It will help you to make your pronunciation perfect as Siri or Google now won’t respond with the wrong pronunciation.

Plus, as they are machines, you will feel less hesitation chatting with them.

 

18. Reward Yourself and Punish Yourself

It sounds weird.

But it can be a pretty effective way. You can set a goal that for the next day or next week, you will talk only in English straight.

Then, see how long you can be able to do so.

If you can meet up your goal, you can reward yourself with like you can go out and eat.

And if you can’t, then you can punish yourself with like you won’t have your favorite food or drink in for the next couple of days!

Then, you will be more comfortable in speaking English day by day.

Taking part in fun online spelling bee, a spelling bee quiz game that you can play with others, can be a great way to reward yourself while learning.  

19. Getting Formal: Take English Speaking Classes

You can also take some English spoken classes if you need.

It will help you big time.

Your mentor can help you with your weaknesses.

They will be able to help you to overcome your weaknesses. You will also find some friends there. You will be able to run some conversation with them.

This will give you a safe environment for learning English.

 

20. Embrace the Pressure!

Speaking in a foreign language is always tough. It will never be as easy as your mother tongue.

You can explain something in your mother tongue easily, but when you try to do it in English, it won’t be the same.

There will always be pressure.

Unless you are living in a country where everyone speaks English, and without completely surrounded by that culture for a long time, it will never feel like your native language. 

So, there will always be the pressure – it’s the inevitable constant!

You better get used to it. It will be easy to deal with then.

 

21. Learn Phrases and Idioms

There are plenty of phrases and idioms. Phrases and idioms are a group of words that acts as a specific meaning.

These phrases and idioms make the sentences more audible.

For example, you can say, “how are you feeling today?”

But a native speaker will say, “how’re you doing” or “what’s up?”

One of the most important tools for improving English spoken skills can be learning English phrases and idioms. So, try to learn English phrases rather than learning individual words.

Also, you should take a look at the most common words in the English language. These words will help you speak English better. 

 

Is That All?

After going through this long article, you might be thinking, is it all? 

Will I be able to improve my English Spoken English if I follow these methods?

I hope so!

The capability of learning isn’t the same for everyone, though.

Our brains work in different ways.

So, it’s you who have to find out the most suitable method for you. No one knows you better than yourself. You should pick your way and do it accordingly.

 

It’s a Wonderful Life!

In today’s’ world, which is based on communication, one’s English spoken skill plays a huge role in their life, career, and everything.

Once you meet your desired goal of English spoken skills, you are ready to compete.

Before you feel sorry, give yourself some credit. When you were in grade 1 or grade 2, you weren’t as you are right now. So, give yourself time.

You are ready to take on anyone, ready to make your own place, can enjoy the gifts of the modern era without any problem, can go for studying anywhere you want to.

Life is wonderful, I hope you live it fully.

You must know that the development of English language learning stands on four pillars – listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Mostly, all of these skills start to develop at a very young age. The development of listening and speaking skills are more spontaneous than the other two. It’s something that you “pick up” instead of learning consciously. Reading and writing skill development requires a lot more attention and practice. And, when it comes to reading comprehension, it’s a whole another story!

However, there are a lot of activities and strategies that one can follow. Today, I will talk about developing the skill of reading comprehension in detail.

So, it would be a long, long read!

But it would be immensely helpful for –

1. Students struggling to decode meanings of different kinds of texts
2. ESL learners who are willing to have a strong command over the English language
3. Teachers who want to discover unique strategies for teaching the class
4. Parents who want nothing but flourishment their children

Let’s start then!

 

Table of Contents

Chapter-1: Understanding the Concept

Chapter-2: Importance

Chapter-3: All About Higher Order Thinking Skills

Chapter-4: Content Area Reading – How to Understand the Premise?

Chapter-5: Fluency is the Key!

Chapter-6: The 3-Step Strategy to Improve Reading Skills

Chapter-7: The Big Challenge: Teaching Kids to Read

Chapter-8: Strategies That Teachers Can Follow

Chapter-9: A Guide for ESL Learners

Chapter-10: Parents Are the Real Superheroes!

Chapter-1: Understanding the Concept

Dissecting the Definition: What is Reading Comprehension?

You might have noticed by now that I am constantly calling the topic in mind to be “reading comprehension,” not just “reading.”

So, is there any difference between them?

Of course!

Reading is a simpler task – it is to recognize written symbols to construct something meaningful. So, if you are looking at an English word (symbols), and understand the meaning of it, you are reading it.

Reading comprehension is a more vivid idea compared to simple reading.

It is the act of understanding the message that an author or writer has conveyed through a written text, both textual and sub-textual.

While reading comprehension, you will have to dig deeper and understand the hidden messages rather than the word-by-word textual meaning. In other words, you will have to feel the emotion behind the words.

Diving Deeper: Understanding the Concept

Does everything sound a bit confusing to you?

Let me explain with a simple example.

Jane Austen started her legendary novel Pride and Prejudice with the following sentence –

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

If you try to dissect the sentence word-by-word, it would seem like a simple sentence trying to convey the message that all the rich men in this world want a wife. However, there are some deeper meanings lying under the simple words.

For example, the writer is mocking the society and the traditional views of the common men by using phrases like “a truth universally acknowledged” or “in possession of a good fortune.”

A reader can understand the flaws of the society and the views quite easily reading the sentence. Jane Austen gave a hint about the theme of the novel by helping us to grasp the scenario of the society in just a single sentence.

This is the beauty of literature!

Understanding these cues while reading a text is the basic concept of reading comprehension. So, as a reader, you will have to look for these cues to understand what message the writer is actually trying to convey to you.

Chapter 2: Importance

Why Is Reading Comprehension Important?

I think you are now getting a grasp of the concept of reading comprehension. It’s more than understanding the meaning of the words and grammar. It’s all about getting the message the writer is trying to tell.

It not only sounds difficult, it IS difficult!

So, why should you even bother enhancing this skill? How is this skill going to help you in real life?

Well, the answer is quite simple, the skill of reading comprehension will not only come handy in your school, but it will also help you become a better human being.

One of the most important humane traits is to have empathy – understanding the emotion of others. Reading comprehension or literature will help you to cultivate empathy.

This social skill will help you in many real-life situations and boost up your people skills. If you are having a hard time socializing, you should befriend literature, it would be a lifesaver.

The Key Points

Let’s check out how reading comprehension plays a part in our daily lives –

1. Understanding and analyzing English literature. Your grades in school will definitely get a positive boost by mastering the skill.
2. It will help you dissect the texts in every single subject. Even a math or physics book is written in English!
3. It would help you in major exams in your life. For example, getting a decent score in SAT or other similar competitive exams is very much dependent on reading comprehension.
4. Reading and writing (symbols) are two of the oldest signs of civilization. How can you call yourself a civilized human being with poor reading skills?
5. You will have to deal with “reading things” till the last moment of your life. There is no escape from it. Even after you graduate, you will have to read texts in your professional life. Our lives are surrounded by writings.
6. If you want to take the pleasure of being a writer, you must have a higher knowledge of reading comprehension first.
7. If you want to become sharper, or just want to enjoy a good book, you will have to have the skill of reading comprehension. There is literally no escape from it!

Chapter 3: All About Higher Order Thinking Skills

The Door to Higher Order Thinking Skills

Do you remember the time when you were just starting to learn reading?

You were struggling with the letter identification, pronouncing each letter individually, then joining the letters together, and finally decoding one single word.

You were even stuttering, probably a little!

Don’t feel ashamed, we all have been through that. That’s how every single person in this world learns to read. However, you are definitely past that stage; otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this article!

So, what happened?

Yes, you grew and got better. That’s obvious.

But you developed another skill meanwhile – the thinking skill. As you develop the thinking skill, you start to read the text without pronouncing each letter to form a word.

With time, your thinking skill enhances. Eventually, you develop another skill called the higher-order thinking skill.

With this skill, you can “read between the lines” as you have a better knowledge of abstract concepts. This is what differs an average reader from an advanced reader. Once you master this unique skill, you can read comprehension with perfection.

Remember, mastering the skill of reading comprehension is about understanding the obvious and the inner meanings of a text. It’s an ability that makes you unique, better than the rest!

With a poor reading skill, one can barely process information to construct a meaningful message out of a text. 

As you know, the ultimate purpose of reading and writing is to communicate. If someone fails to understand the actual meaning of a comprehension, he or she is actually failing to communicate properly.

The Higher Order Thinking Skills: How Smart Are You?

As you grow older, your cognition power improves. You can understand a concept better, have a better analyzing, synthesizing, evaluation skill. The growth rates are different for each person.

Actually, you are developing your higher order thinking skills. The term got popular in the late 1950s as Benjamin Bloom, a renowned educational psychologist, started developing a system to identify the growth of cognitive power.

To define the cognitive strength of an individual, he proposed six levels of cognitive domains. The higher one reaches, the better thinking skill that a person has.

Here are the six levels of the cognitive domain (in chronological order) –

1. Knowledge
2. Comprehension
3. Application
4. Analysis
5. Synthesis
6. Evaluation

Some of you might think that the higher order thinking skills have a connection to the ability to memorize facts or accumulating as much knowledge as possible. It’s far from that.

Rather than focusing on knowledge accumulation, the concept prioritizes on “how well one can process the accumulated knowledge.

For example, suppose, you have memorized the theory of Newton’s second law of motion. Having the higher order thinking skills means the ability to understand the concept, connecting the theory with other theories of physics, and using the theory in real life to solve different problems.

So, in a sense, you can say that the higher order thinking skills enable you to have a complete grasp over a concept.

How Can You Develop Higher Order Thinking Skills with Reading Comprehension?

A student with high memorizing skill but poor thinking skill might be able to answer the obvious questions word by word but struggle when asked higher order creative questions. For example, they can describe “the attack on Pearl Harbor” perfectly, but if you ask them the impact of the attack in the second world war, they will struggle.

In school, the memorizing skill might come in handy, but in real life, higher order thinking skills matter the most.

The key to higher order thinking skill is critical thinking – questioning again and again until you can reach a conclusion. Parents can help their children nurture these skills from childhood.

Almost every kid reads storybooks soon after learning to read. A parent should provoke them to ask questions about the stories like – “Can you tell me what the story was about?” or “Is it like the story that you read last night?” or “Can you tell me the differences between this one to the last one you read?”

A teacher can ask similar questions to his or her students. They can ask the students about the characters in a story, their motivations, their perspectives, etc.

In this way, a parent or a teacher can plant the seeds of critical think in young minds.

There is another smart thing that you can do. Ask the kids to change the story for a different climax. Such clever tricks will flourish their creativity and problem-solving skills; at the same time, induce fun in the learning process.

If you think about it deeply, all of these tricks will eventually develop their skill of reading comprehension.

Chapter 4: Content Area Reading – How to Understand the Premise?

Content Area Reading: The Power Tool of a Skilled Reader

When you read different things, you read them differently. Think about it, is reading a physics textbook feels the same as reading an adventure novel?

Certainly not!

Our brains act differently while reading newspapers, textbooks, novels, website contents, tutorial articles, and poetries. Although all of them are written in English, we find these contents completely dissimilar from each other.

As you grow as a better reader with improved thinking capability, you start to adopt unique approaches to understand the contents.

This is called content area reading, and now we will discuss it.

What is Content Area Reading and Where Can You Apply It?

Typically, the term content area reading is related to the studies of science. To understand a particular topic, one must gather up the knowledge related to the topic so that he or she can fully understand the topic.

For example, if you want to understand the second law of motion by Newton, you will need to understand the concept of force, motion, and inertia first. Otherwise, you will fail to grasp the theory.

Similarly, when you are learning history, you will have to know the historical background that leads to any particular incident. For example, before you jump into learning about the second world war, you should know about the first world war, the great depression, the third Reich, and the socio-economic conditions of the countries directly involved in the war.

I think you are getting the gist now.

Although the content area reading is mostly related to scientific, social, or economic studies, we can incorporate it into other contents too.

We need to think outside of the boundaries here.

Suppose you are reading the news in a magazine, you should be aware of the situations and contexts to fully understand the importance of the news and its impact on your life.

The only exception that I can think of is fictional writings. While you are reading fiction, the writer will gradually introduce you to the situations and the characters that will play a vital role in the climax.

Apart from reading fictions, you will need to rely on content area reading every other scenario.

How Can You Use Content Area Reading Skill While Reading Texts?

It would be ridiculous for a writer to expect that a reader will read a few hundred books so that he or she could understand the message the writer is trying to convey.

It’s up to the reader to understand the context. You can adopt a few good strategies to get better at understanding the contents.

Your first step should be trying to figure out the genre of the text. Once you figure out the context, you should be able to connect the dots. If there are illustrations available, you check them out and try to connect the content with the illustrations. The illustrations are put there for a reason!

A simple yet effective strategy is to incorporate a three-level reading strategy. It’s something like this –

• Literal meaning – understanding the direct message the writer is trying to convey.
• Inferential meaning – reading between the lines to understand the inner meaning of the text.
• Evaluation – combining the literal and inferential meaning to construct a probable meaning and summarizing the text to find the ultimate message.

To master the three-level reading strategy, you must keep practising and broaden your circle of reading materials.

Do you love reading adventure novels?

Great, keep on reading, but make sure to read other genres too.

For example, try cleansing your pallet with some poetries, history books, or non-fictions from time-to-time. Such practices would make you a better reader, and you would be able to incorporate content area reading in a better way.

Developing Content Area Reading Comprehension: Strategies That Help

A child, in his or her early days, “learns to read.” Once they become fluent in reading texts, they start to “read to learn.”

It’s the basic idea, right?

Yes, it’s true, but you can see the opposite of this scenario as well.

Sounds confusing?

The kids, while learning to read, will also learn various things about the context of the text he or she is reading. So, from that perspective, they are actually “reading to learn!”

Also, even an older person can develop new ways to read comprehension to mine information out of a text. So, what they are doing? They are “learning to read!”

So, you see, it’s an interchangeable situation.

Textbooks often cause boredom among the students. Most of the students don’t like the way the textbooks are designed and written and often think of the act of reading the textbooks as a painful and boring task.

But why? Are the writers of the textbooks intentionally make the books more boring?

Certainly, that’s not the issue here.

What happens is that the textbooks become harder to read as we grow up. The writers intentionally make books a bit harder so that the students can develop their reading comprehension skill. Rather than depending on the plainly written texts, the writers often use different other learning tools to help a student grasp a concept. Images, tables, statistical reports, summary statements are some of the helpful additions that the writers introduce to the students.

Other than that, the writers of these textbooks use different cues in their language to make things easier for the students.

A Deeper Look!

For example, they use words like “however,” “although,” or “though” to give an idea that we, the readers, have to think of some kind of comparison.

So, the students should look for these cues while reading. A good idea would be making a summarization of each paragraph so that you can construct a wholesome summarization of the whole passage or comprehension.

There are certain other tricks that I would discuss later in this article.

Chapter 5: Fluency is the Key!

Do you stutter while reading? Or maybe, you sound too robotic with occasional falters.

Don’t worry, you are not the only one!

What you lack is fluency.

Reading comprehension and fluency are tied together in more than one way. You can say that fluency is a must for proper reading comprehension.

If you don’t have fluency when it comes to reading, you would probably take a lot of time decoding the meaning of a text. Thus, fluency is directly connected to reading comprehension.

A slow reading pace would make you fall behind from your peers.

But that’s not the main problem. There is another more severe issue that would oppose the main threat.

If you don’t have fluency, you would be more conscious about reading the text properly and try as much as possible to read the text quicker. If you do that, your brain would have less scope to store the information in your brain.

You would even miss different fragments of information. Such actions would hinder you from grasping the gist of the text. So, the ultimate purpose of gathering information would get the hit. You can try developing your vocabulary to become a fluent reader. 

I think you can picture the importance of fluency in reading by now.

How to Improve Reading Fluency?

Okay, fluency is important. We all get it, but that’s not the issue here. We need to know how to improve it. That’s the issue that should bother us.

But what’s the solution? We need to find a solution to this problem, just like every other problem in our life.

But where should you begin?

Reading Comic Books

Comic book comes to my mind at first. When you are reading comic books, you have images linked to every single sentence and dialogue. So, you can summarize and find the meaning of the text from the linked image. It makes you understand the context and scenario.

How About Some Manga?

Just like reading comics, you can try reading Japanese manga. There is no shortage of manga in Japanese literature. You can even try the visual novels online. Both the manga and graphic novels would serve the same purpose of reading comics boosting your fluency and reading skill.

Time to Watch Some Movies

Then, you can try watching movies and your favorite TV series with subtitles. Reading the subtitles is a bit challenging compared to reading the comic books or manga. You will have a shorter time period to read the subtitles assigned to any particular frame.

It’s more dynamic!

However, it would help your fluency a lot.

Modeled Reading Strategy

Lastly, you can try a modeled reading strategy with the help of another partner who is already a fluent reader. You can learn from him or her how you should read and what is the proper fluency level.

You can learn the suitable reading speed, how he or she uses the punctuation marks to change the speed making the reading more soothing and the proper intonation. 

There are a lot of ideas that you can adopt to make your reading comprehension more fluent. However, you shouldn’t think of the fluency to be everything about better reading comprehension. A lot of other factors play a major role in developing the overall reading comprehension skill.

Chapter 6: The 3-Step Strategy to Improve Reading Skills

How Can You Improve Your Reading Comprehension Skills?

Improving any skill will require time and a perfect strategy. Over time, many people have tried to come up with great strategies that can help you take your reading comprehension skill at a level of finesse.

As there are a lot of smart strategies that you can follow, I would try to talk about all the great ones that I find helpful. Just a reminder, there are different other strategies that can serve you purpose and case better.

I would suggest you go through all the strategies and come up with a customized plan that can help you the best.

A 3-Step Strategy for Improving Reading Comprehension Skill

To understand the 3-Step reading strategy, you need to understand the basic concepts of guided and relaxed practice sessions.

What is Guided Reading?

A guided practice session would be more structured, where you will follow certain rules and have preset “study materials” to improve your skill.

For example, if you are setting yourself a time limit of twenty minutes to read a certain passage and then writing down the gist of that passage while adopting new words, you are partaking in a guided reading practice session.

It’s not mandatory to read passages from textbooks. You can even read articles from magazines as the passage and then write down the summary of it.

However, I should remind you that the guided practice can become a burden for you are consciously taking part in a practice session. As reading is an inseparable part of our lives, the sessions should be fun; never a struggle for you.

So, I would suggest you to take part in the guided sessions, not more than 2-3 times a week.

What is Relaxed Reading?

The relaxed guiding sessions, as the name suggests, are more relaxed. You will read only the materials that you love personally.

Think of reading a thriller or detective novel. It should be a genre that you love. Moreover, there is no time limit, so you shouldn’t feel any rush.

Take your time and enjoy it.

If you are already a casual reader, then increase the volume of reading. The main purpose is to have fun.

The Steps in Action!

The 3-step strategy that I am about to share with you would be a mix of both guided and relaxed reading sessions.

Here is the detailed concept –

Step 1: Assess Your Current Reading Skill

Before you begin anything, you should first be aware of the current level of reading comprehension skill. As there is no method or test to measure the skill level, you will have to try the self-judgment approach.

Clear your mind and take a piece of paper.

Ask yourself, “What am I lacking?” or “What do I want to improve regarding my current reading skill?”

Some answers will deliberately come to your mind.

You might want to improve your vocabulary so that you can understand the texts better. You might want to have a lag-free smooth reading capability. Or, might even want to understand the inner meaning of the texts more easily.

It all depends on your visions and goals.

Once you find the things that you want to develop about yourself, you can come up with ideas that target that particular section.

However, you should develop your spelling skills too. Spelling quiz can come in handy in this case.

Step 2: Plan a Reading Schedule and Stick to It

Depending on your demands and case, create a list of reading material. While planning, make sure your list of reading materials has suitable texts for both guided and relaxed reading.

You should take part in the guided reading session two to three times a week. None of the sessions should be more than an hour. Otherwise, it would become a burden for you.

Start keeping time while you read a 1,000-word text. Suppose you need 15 minutes to complete read the text. Write it down on a sheet. Your goal would be to complete similar-sized texts in 13 minutes the next.

Once you start to complete the reading within 13 minutes, try limiting the time to 11 minutes next.

Gradually, you would get better at it.

But I should warn you about something. Never rush the process. You should also be able to understand the text fully. If you rush, it’ll only make you more frustrated.

Everything takes time to master.

Apart from the guided reading plan, you should also spoil yourself a bit reading casually. Don’t set any target while having the relaxed sessions. Just enjoy the story.

Remember, whatever you plan to improve your reading skill, it should be a combination of both sessions.

Step 3: Take Part in Vocabulary Building Sessions

The larger vocabulary you have, the better you would get at reading comprehension. But before that you will have to identify your current vocabulary level.

It’s THE universal truth about reading comprehension!

As you are practicing with guided and relaxed reading sessions, you will get to see new words every now and then. You might guess the meaning of the words from the context but should always check up the words from the dictionary.

When you do so, you would be picking up not only the meaning of the word but also can see how to use it in a sentence.

You can even try to follow the flashcard method to increase your vocabulary. If you think that making custom flashcards would be a hassle, you can try getting a premade one.

I have written a whole article about vocabulary development and reading comprehension. Check it out!

Barron’s 1100 Words You Need to Know is an exceptionally good book that can help you.

You can also visit the vocabulary words section in SpellQuiz. Here, you will find the Dolch Sight Words, Fry Sight Words, and 150 Written Sight Words developed by the brightest linguistic experts in the English language.

Finally, I want to say that, rather than making yourself too much restrained with rules, try reading for fun. If you can take pleasure from reading, you will certainly improve your reading comprehension skills, in one way or another.

Start reading the obvious books at first, like Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, or The Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Marin.

Chapter 7: The Big Challenge: Teaching Kids to Read

Kids Learn in a Different Way!

The 3-Step reading skill enhancement strategy that I just talked about is mostly designed towards an adult. But if you ask a child to go through the same tough strategy, he or she will certainly struggle.

So, obviously, you will have to adopt a different approach to teach the kids. Neither the teachers nor the parents can help a child developing reading skill. They must work together to create a suitable learning environment for kids.

First of all, if you are thinking that reading is an easy task, you are wrong, very wrong. Human brain scans suggest that our brains become extremely active while we are reading as different areas light with activities.

It’s quite obvious.

When we read, first, we see the letters and words. Then, we read them aloud based on our knowledge of sounds and phonemes. After that, we combine the visual and auditory data and paint a mental picture that describes the words and letters we just read. Finally, glue the mental images together to form a meaning.

So, you see, reading is a complicated yet instantaneous process.

The big question is – how can you a child such a complicated process?

The beginners’ lessons should be explicit. That means a teacher, a parent, or an adult should show the children how to read properly. The children would learn by observing their model. That’s why some prefer to call it a modeled teaching method.

For example, young kids can start with 1st grade vocabulary words and then gradually start practicing the tougher sessions like the 12th grade vocabulary words. 

Gradually, teachers and parents should introduce children to different types of reading. They should also diversify the lessons by choosing a different genre every time. Such diversity will clear off the chance of monotony and make the lessons more interesting. 

Reading Comprehension Strategies for Kids

There are certain “tools” that a child can use to learn reading comprehension. The more and better tools you can help child harness, the sharper his or her reading skills will become.

So, how can you help the kids yield these tools? Well, you could try following some smart strategies.

Check them out –

The Constructive Q&A Sessions

Questions help us to realize the truth from different angles and perspectives. The more questions you can ask about something, the more diverse answers you can find about it.

The good news is that kids tend to ask more questions than adults. You can use this habit of questioning for reading comprehension development.

Here’s how you can do it.

Create some premade sets of questions about a short story or a simple text. After you have designed the questions, ask your student or child to read the short story or text. You can even help him or her about the text before so that they can understand the context better.

After they have completed reading, ask them the questions one by one. Remember to make the question simple. They are not giving a test. The questions should be fun that have insightful answers.

For example, if they have read Pinocchio, ask them, “Why did Pinocchio’s nose grow?” Such simple questions are easy to answer yet quite effective to judge if someone had paid attention while reading.

You can even try asking philosophical questions to make them acquire value from reading. Such practices are really helpful for the inner development of children.

Vocabulary Buildup

The best way to acquire a strong vocabulary base is to read. The more you read, the more word you can collect.

Reading comprehension is better than memorizing a dictionary for growing vocabulary. Because you can see the use of a word in sentences and understand the context the word fits perfectly.

A dictionary might give you the definition or the meaning of a word, a reading session teaches you proper application.

However, if someone is learning to read, it would be quite obvious that he or she doesn’t have a strong vocabulary base.

As a parent, you should read the text yourself first. While reading, find out the words unfamiliar to your children.

Either you can teach them words first, or you can clarify the meaning of the new words after the reading session. There is another approach that you can take. Rather than talking about certain unknown words, you can give them certain hints referring to the words.

In such a way, you can let them have the joy of discovering new words but at the same time, teaching the words beforehand.

Self-monitoring

As I have said a couple of times, the main goal of reading in communicating and understanding the true meaning of a text. A good reader always makes sure that they are understanding the actual meaning of a text while reading.

They even re-read some paragraphs so that they don’t miss any tiny detail. If they can understand any part of the text, they adopt a different approach.

A child, on the other hand, isn’t aware of such skill and typically skips the part he or she doesn’t understand. So, you should make them aware of the self-monitoring process.

Ask them to read individual lines and decode the meanings. After that, you can ask them to summarize the whole text. In this way, they can understand the true message the writer is trying to convey.

Summarizing the Whole Concept

You might not have realized it, but your brain always makes a summary of every single incident of your life!

Don’t you believe me?

Try thinking of the Harry Potter movies; what comes to your mind?

Magic, adventure, fantasy, or muggles?!

You see, we create a gist or summary of every book, movie, or TV show. These summaries help us to sort and store the memories and other details in our brains easily.

Yes, it is an instantaneous and involuntary process, but actively summarizing a text or book that helps us to understand the core meaning better.

So, for this trick to work perfectly, you should ask your children to make summaries, and you can discuss later. Discussing the summary will help your children to be a more logical and organized thinker.

Help Them Focus, More!

While someone is reading, they are actually gathering a lot of new information. Without focus and attention, it’s impossible to store the information properly. 

Even a good reader might lose the track of the information flow if they lose focus. Soon enough, they find themselves reading some gibberish that doesn’t make any sense.

Actually, they aren’t gibberish. They lost their attention and now roaming around in mazes of information. You wouldn’t want your kids to suffer like this, would you?

So, ask them to maintain focus until they finish reading a particular section. If they are feeling tired and bored, you should encourage them to take a break.

Never push them too hard.

Let them move at their own pace. Otherwise, they would lose interest in reading entirely.

Chapter 8: Strategies That Teachers Can Follow

Teaching Reading Comprehension in Schools: Teachers Are Superheroes!

Teachers build up the basic pillars of a student’s educational base. Just like other lessons, a student can learn so much about reading comprehension in the classroom.

The learning begins from the early days in kindergarten. When a child is in kindergarten, every lesson seems new to them. Moreover, they tend to be more sensitive and fragile. So, the teachers have to be extra delicate while teaching in kindergarten.

To bolster the base of reading comprehension skill, the teachers can focus on teaching three fundamental factors –

• Phonemic awareness
• Phonics
• Reading comprehension

Without having a strong command over these basic areas, it would be hard for a kindergartner to excel at reading.

A teacher must keep one thing in mind while teaching, each student will learn at a different speed and using different strategies. Some of these strategies might seem a bit odd, but they shouldn’t discourage any child as diversity is magnificent!

Also, the teachers should understand that reading is not an easy skill to master at all. We, adults, don’t ever think that reading can be a daunting challenge. However, it could be a nightmare for a child who is just trying to learn to read.

As a teacher, you should be innovative and open to experiments as it would flourish your students to learn anything.

And, finally, you have to be patient, very patient!

Step 1: Curating Phonemic Awareness

Think of the knowledge of phonemic awareness as the building blocks that would help you to construct everything. With the knowledge of phonemes, one can understand the proper way a word should sound.

Are you looking for a good source to understand the basics of phonemic awareness and phonemes? You can check my advanced guide from here!

Basically, you can think of the phonemes as the sound units that construct every word in a language.

For example, if you are trying to teach someone the pronunciation of the “apple,” you should divide the word into smaller chunks. Here, the possible chunks would be – “a,” “puh,” and “l.”

You can consider these chunks of sounds to be phonemes. Of course, this is an example, not the actual phonetic breakdown of the word “apple.”

So, whenever your students are struggling to pronounce or read a word loud, you can help them to break the words into smaller chunks.

To make them a more fluent reader, you should teach them the basic phonemic awareness from the beginning. If you teach them about phonemic awareness, they can even decode more complicated new words all by themselves.

You will not have to teach them each word separately but teach them to decode the words themselves. This strategy would be better and fruitful, even in the long run.

So, make sure you teach them 44 sounds of the phonemic alphabet along with the traditional alphabet of 26 letters.

Step 2: Teaching Phonics

Although I am making it a separate step, it is actually the extension of the curating phonemic awareness. By phonemic awareness, you are actually planting a seed, and phonics is the full-grown tree coming from that seed.

After your students are getting familiar with the concept of phonemes and the sounds, you should focus on teaching them phonics in a more formal and constructive way.

The teaching process of phonics should be systematic following a step-by-step guideline.

First, you should be focusing on teaching the phonetic alphabet. You can find the alphabet here.

Then, you should help your students connect each phoneme with different letters or groups of letters. In this way, the students would understand what a letter or a recognized chunk of letters sound like.  

Next, you should ask your students to find the correct sound of different words. You should start off with the simple mono-syllabled words and slowly increasing the difficulty by providing poly-syllabled words.

After that, you should ask them to read phrases and then move on to reading complete sentences. Remember to use simple and short sentences at the beginning.

Finally, you should ask them to read out paragraphs and passages.

As you can see, the knowledge of phonics acts as the base of the skill of reading. Once your students can successfully learn to read, you can start giving lessons of reading comprehension.

Step 3: Teaching Reading Comprehension

If you are following the step-by-step guide, your students are already capable of reading.

So, what’s more? They already know how to read. Is there anything else?

Yes, the biggest and hardest step yet to follow!

Now, you would help them to understand the meaning of the texts as they are reading. When the children start to read, they use so much energy and effort to read fluently that they often ignore to understand the meaning of the text.

You should start by teaching them the sight words. These are the most commonly found words in English.

Think of them as the vocabulary 101 words that one must know to understand English.

Among the different sight words list, the Dolch, Fry, and the Top-150 written words are the most popular among the learners and the teachers.

Okay, let’s assume that you have taught your students the sight words and some other commonly seen words.

Now, you will ask your students to connect the meanings of the words in a sentence. If they can connect the meanings together, they would eventually be able to construct the complete meaning of the sentences.

With enough time and practice, students will eventually learn to read and understand the meanings simultaneously.

Make sure that you are giving your students enough time to practice and always encourage them even if they failing to read properly. Typically, developing reading skills requires months, even years, to master.

Once they master this step, too, you should incorporate other advanced strategies to help them “read between the lines.”

I can think of reading poetries in this case. Poetries not only help one to dive deeper to enjoy the beauty of literature but also cleanse the heart.

Modeled Reading Sessions

I think I have talked about this strategy before. This is the most popular and the most successful teaching tactic when it comes to teaching someone to read.

In the modeled reading sessions, you will read before your class as your students read along with you. Even if one of your students fail to comprehend any specific word, they can learn from your reading.

Such sessions will bolster the listening skills of the students as well.

If you want to make the best of this strategy, you should ask the parents to implement this strategy too. Thus, a student can learn from his or her teacher and parents.

As the students see the elders, especially the teachers, as role-models, they will try to copy every move you make while reading. So, make sure to be at your best during the modeled reading sessions. Your students are counting on you.

Chapter 9: A Guide for ESL Learners

Special Strategies Suitable for ESL Learners

We must remember that not only kids but also adults often want to learn reading comprehension in English. Yes, adults are already aware of how to read, but reading comprehension in English can be tricky at times.

Don’t you believe me?

Think of this sentence – “Gas costs an arm and leg these days!”

What does it mean?

You and I could easily understand what it means “gas is very expensive these days.” Now, think of a foreigner who is trying to learn English only for a few days. What would he think of this sentence?

Wouldn’t he think of a weird trading policy that offers gasoline in exchange for limbs?

Yes, the English language is full of clever idioms and phrases. But there are a lot of other things to consider other than idioms while reading.

An ESL learner has to have knowledge of grammar while knowing hundreds of new words every day. Then, there is the knowledge of phonics that needs to be clarified. Can you imagine juggling all these things?

It’s certainly a daunting challenge.

I think we are on the same page that even adults would need help with learning reading comprehension.

So, without any further ado, let’s check out the learning strategies for ESL learners –

5 Ingenious Ideas for ESL learners to Master Reading Comprehension

Visual Cues

This is a tricky and a bit difficult idea to use in the classrooms. However, if you can introduce this idea successfully, it would change the whole scenario.

So, what do you need to do?

First, you will have to create a storyline that you want to share with your class. It can be anything that would attract the attention of your class.

For example, you can make your own story like – “Megan went to the beach to meet two of her childhood friends, and they spent all day playing beach volleyball and soccer.”

To tell the story visually, you will have to design a few picture cards like –

1. One girl going to the beach
2. The girl is meeting a few other people and happy to see them
3. All of them are playing beach volleyball
4. Later, they are playing soccer together in the afternoon

When you present these images to the classroom, your students can assume the story taking hints from the images.

Even you can use images to help them decode a story. To do that, you will tell the story scene by scene, and after describing a scene, you can show an image that matches the scenario.

Your students can understand the texts better with the help of the images.

You can even use the images for practicing filling in the blanks. To do that, you will say – Megan went to _____. Then, you will show the class the image where a girl is going to the beach.

Obviously, your students will give you the answer “beach” or try to do so.

In this way, you can enhance their reading capability.

The Sequence Method

This method will help your students understand the concept of sequence in storytelling. For this method, you will need a few black pages, and you will need to paint or print a few images that tell a story.

Remember, all the images should tell one single story. Now, you will tell your class the story in detail. After you have told the story to the class, you will hand out the images to the class and ask them to arrange the images in a proper sequence according to the flow of the story.

Try making separate worksheets to help your students this method.

You can even try reversing the methods. It would be a bit tricky, but your students will have a lot of fun.

How can you do that?

First, you will hand over the images in a random manner without telling them the story first. Now, ask your students to find out the proper image sequence to construct a meaningful story. Give them an ample amount of time as they would have to do a brainstorm a bit while showing a bit of creativity.

After they have arranged the images, ask them to describe the story in their own way. Oh, you should remember one thing, you shouldn’t restrict your students by sticking to “one correct sequence.”

The main purpose here is to make your students describe a story using their own words. Not only the method is a bit challenging but also an immensely fun experience.

You should definitely try this method in your class. I have seen young students having exhilarating fun in the class while applying this method.

Introduce Acting!

Who doesn’t love watching movies? Almost everyone has a secret desire to be a famous actor deep inside!

The idea is quite simple, you will first tell a scene from a drama or action film to your class. Choose the proper scene, depending on the taste of your students. You can even ask your students to vote for their favorite scene. They would feel more connected and active.

After the scene is final, describe the scene to your class. Now ask your students top pick a role. If someone is feeling shy, you can assign them minor roles so that they can take part in the act without feeling too awkward.

Now, you will hand over the proper dialogue sheets. You should design the scripts beforehand. You can take help from various sources online if it seems a bit tough for you.

Then, you will ask the students to act according to their roles. It’s not mandatory to “act,” they can just throw the dialogues.

The best part is that the students will not even notice that they are taking part in a reading session.

This is how you teach the students without making them aware of the issue!  

Solving Mysteries Like Sherlock Holmes!

Typically, students have a fondness for thriller and mystery genre when it comes to movies or books.

You can use it to develop a sense of literature.

It’s a bit of an unorthodox teaching method but very effective. I have seen this trick working like a gem in the classroom.

First, you will describe a scene, typically, a crime scene. You will even describe them a few suspects who can commit the crime.

For example, it could be something like this –

“Mr. X was walking in a dark alley in the middle of the night, returning from his work. It was quite a typical day for him. On his way back home, he saw Mr. Y following him, one of his regular customers but an odd fellow whom he found stealing goods from his shop. But he didn’t mind him following him as he was feeling disturbed. He was having a hard time with his wife as they were having fights regularly. Not only that but also his stepbrother, Mr. K, was threatening as both of them were having an argument over who would inherit their parents’ assets.

That night, Mr. X didn’t come home! Police found his dead body in that alley in the morning. But the police couldn’t solve that mystery, and they have contacted you, the famous detective in the town!”

Now, ask them to finish the story by telling who could be the probable killer.

You will see your students rushing with ideas and coming up with different solutions. Obviously, everyone’s answer would be different, and all of them would have different logical analysis.

This way, you can help your students develop five things – logical reasoning skills, creativity, writing skill, literature skill, and depth analysis. All of these skills help one to develop reading comprehension skill.

It’s Treasure Hunt Time!

You must be aware of the game called – Treasure Hunt.  In this game, players work in teams to find clues leading to other clues, and finally, towards the ultimate prize or treasure.

You must be thinking about how can Treasure Hunt help students to develop reading comprehension skill.

Well, let me explain.

As you know, the game designer creates riddles leading to the clues. This is where you would emphasize. Create the riddles in a way so that the participants have to spend time and brainstorm. A huge part of the reading comprehension is understanding the context and deciphering the meaning hidden between the lines. 

So, while the students decipher the riddles, they would be partaking in the process that helps them develop their skill of “reading between the line.”

You will have to be creative so that you can make the game challenging yet solvable by all the students.

Let me explain the plan again.

1. You will design the game by hiding clues in different places in the classroom or in the yard.
2. Next, create different riddles leading to different clues. Don’t make the process too lengthy or difficult; all of your students should be able to solve the puzzles.
3. Divide your students into groups
4. Start the game, and open the gates of fun!

As usual, the first team to find the treasure would win, but you should award every group to encourage sportsmanship.

The Key Is to Have Fun, No Matter What!

Just like the five ideas shared above, you can come up with similar or even better ideas. You have to think about how you can incorporate the basic elements of enhancing reading comprehension in different activities. Some of the key elements are as follows –

1. Critical thinking
2. Logical analysis
3. Imagination
4. Fundamental cause and effect analysis

As long as your students are having fun and learning something different each day, you are a successful teacher. Also, you can introduce fun to your class by making them compete in an online spelling bee. They will feel excitement as it would seem like a competitive game but they will learn so much t the same time. 

Chapter 10: Parents Are the Real Superheroes

What Can Parents Do to Improve Reading Comprehension Skill of Their Children?

Yes, children go to schools to learn, but their lessons always start at home. A parent can do so much more than a teacher as they certainly are a better role model.

So, all the parents out there, you are your children’s teachers, the best and the most important teacher!

That means you will have to take charge of laying the foundation of your child’s reading comprehension skills.

You can’t just dump that responsibility to the schools.

Without your support and care, your child will suffer, and you would never want that!

I think it is always better to team up with your child’s teachers to create an overall learning environment. Both you and the teachers should complement each other when it comes to educating your child.

However, there are some fine techniques and strategies that you can follow at home to help your child become a better reader. It doesn’t matter what your child’s current level of reading skill is, you can always help them to become better. It’s a never-ending process.

There is a lot you can do so that your child becomes naturally curious to read.

But let me tell you a secret, you are probably doing a lot of activities that are passively helping them to get better at it.

Tell me, do you tell your kids bedtime stories or any stories at all?

If the answer is yes, congratulations, you are already in the process of teaching your kids to read comprehension!

Also, you might be asking your child about his or her day after you come home from work. When your kids are telling you about the day, they are practicing passively.

There are so many little things that matter.

Check out some of the ideas I think you can adopt –

Build Up a Foundation First

Tell me something, if you are planning to build a wooden chair, how do you do it? Do you buy some planks and nails, and start hammering immediately?

No, right?

You would probably draw a rough sketch and design a blueprint first. After that, you will buy the tool and materials according to your plan. And finally, you would follow a step-by-step process.

Everything should have a solid foundation and proper planning.

It is also true for teaching your kids to read comprehension properly.

For example, if you are planning to read a book about animals together with your kid, you should let them know about the animals first. You can show them some pictures or videos about the animals. Even better, plan a visit to your local zoo and get them familiar with all the different animals.

If you do so and later ask them to read the book about animals, they will be able to connect to the story better. They can create a mental picture of the animals.

After all, reading books is connected to visualizing and imagination to a great extent.

Just like that, you should give them a contextual idea about every genre of books, so that they understand the message from the books better.

A Balance Between Reading and Watching TV

With the rigorous uprising of the screens, today’s kids spend a lot more time in front of the screen than the previous generation.

Don’t blame them.

Even I wanted to have a pocket-sized TV so that I could watch cartoons all the time!

However, if your child is sticking to TV screens all the time, it might hamper their vocabulary development. Studies suggest that TV shows and cartoons have a small vocabulary boundary so that people from different countries can enjoy the show.

Moreover, conversational vocabulary will be smaller than the written vocabulary. If you want to make your child have a strong base of vocabulary, there is no other way but reading.

So, you will have to become a “bad parent” here!

Remember, it’s for their own good and they would thank you later.

However, I am not asking you to prohibit them from watching TV or playing video games altogether. It would be very, very unhealthy.

Your job will be to maintain a balance between reading and TV time. But please, don’t act too harsh or scold them for watching TV.

It would make your relationship toxic!

Reading Aloud to Paint the Mental Picture

When we grow older, our cognitive power increases, and we can process various information better without giving it too much effort.

For example, you aren’t reading this article aloud. You are not even spending time to decode each word. Things are instantaneous for you.

But you haven’t become this much fluent overnight. This is the result of years and years of practice.

Now, to the more important point. When you read, do you see mental images that describe the texts?

I know the answer is yes!

This is how every single human read. But think about a child who is just beginning to read. They are far from mastering such advanced skill.

But you can help them!

When you are reading aloud, you are also listening to the words. Our auditory sensations help us to imagine the mental pictures better. You will use this trick to help your child master the advanced reading skill.

Suppose, you are telling them the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. When you are reading a story to them, be elaborate. Paint the mental picture as detailed as possible.

Both of you will read a sentence, and you will describe the sentence as elaborately as possible. Your child will learn from you to paint the mental picture.

This is why the children’s books have short texts and illustrations on every page. It helps them to see the story they are reading.  

Switch Roles: Put Your Child in the Teacher’s Position

Children love when they are in a superior position. It gives them a sense of achievement and joy.

We are going to use this fact for bolstering the reading skills this time.

What do the teachers do? They teach a lesson and then ask the students a different question about the lesson to test their grasp over it.

Now reverse the process. You will “discuss” a lesson with your child. After the discussion, you will let your child ask you different questions. To add a bit more twist, let them give you marks based on your answer.

As they would be choosing the questions, they would automatically analyze the reading material better. It would allow them to polish up the comprehension understanding skills.

Can you imagine your child asking you, “Mom/Dad, what lesson Pinocchio teaches us about life?”

Selecting the Reading Materials Wisely

Not every reading material is suitable for children trying to get better at reading. You can’t just ask a child of four to read The Lord of The Rings!

The reading list shouldn’t include only fictions and fables. It should mix up the list with a bit of science, history, non-fiction, etc.

However, you shouldn’t make the reading content boring either.

Try going for age-appropriate materials. You can take suggestions from his or her teachers. The reading materials should be a perfect amalgamation of textbooks and non-textbooks.

Final Thoughts

Lastly, I would request all of you to be patient. Reading and understanding different contexts is a highly complex activity. Especially if you are trying to understand literature. You will see metaphorical statements and scenarios everywhere.

So, have patience and keep practicing. This is the only way one can truly be better at it. There is no shortcut.

If you have something that you can add on regarding reading comprehension, please leave a comment below.

Ciao!

You must have heard this a lot of times that discipline is the key to success. We don’t realize it very clearly, but we have been given the secret to achieving everything in life with that saying. The statement is particularly true when you are thinking about the impact of discipline in education.

Okay, I know, I know, I am being boring!

But there is something that people often get wrong. People think that discipline means to make things boring with soulless repetition.

The proper application of discipline is exactly the opposite.

Having discipline in life means training your subconscious mind to act according to your plan. You can think of it as a technique to master your body and soul to work according to your plan, every single time.

Now, that is a cool “super-power,” isn’t it?

Today, I would discuss how you can utilize the power of discipline to flourish in your academic life.

Having Discipline and Being Robotic Are Not the Same Thing!

Whenever we hear the word discipline, we think of doing the same thing over and over again, until we become another “brick in the wall!”

Well, I can’t blame you guys if you are also living in that delusion. I will have to call society to be the actual culprit behind this falsification.

Okay, I think I am making you confused right now. Let me explain.

To achieve anything in this world, you will need to do only two things and nothing else. Yes, if you can follow a two-step strategy, you will gain anything in this world. The first thing that you will need is to have robust planning and then the second one is sticking to the plan, no matter what.

If you want to stick to your plans to the end, you will have to have discipline in your life.

However, it doesn’t mean that you will have to run in the hamster’s wheel for the rest of your life. It merely means that you will have to follow a step-by-step action plan until you reach your goal.

You can think of it as a tool to reach every single goal of your life!

The Power of Discipline in Education: Sharing My Experience

Rather than blabbering about the same story on discipline that everyone has been telling you, I will just share my stories with you.

You might not know, but I am an electronics engineer graduating from one of the top universities in my country. During the first two years of studying engineering, I struggled severely as I  haven’t used discipline in education.

However, things improved, and I saw remarkable changes in grades in the later years.

By this time, I knew what to do, when to do, and how to do them.

I don’t want you to struggle as I did, I want you to get to the success-train right away!

Here are some of the positive impacts of discipline in education that I experienced first-hand –

Say Goodbye to Stress and Anxiety

Exam stress skyrockets when your brain realizes that you are not prepared enough. You will most likely feel terrified thinking about the adverse outcomes. It’s a mechanism for our brains to signal us that we should be more prepared.

If you have a disciplined life, you will not feel such kind of stress before exams. Your brain would know that you are well-prepared and will help you to maximize the final outcome. Psst, you can always reduce stress for a spelling test with ample amount of practice. 

Not Everyone Can Master the Last-Minute Heroic Pull-off

I had a friend who never studied the whole year, but before the final exam, he would turn into an alien and finish off the entire syllabus in just a few days. I think you have such friends too. We all have him or her in our lives!

So, I followed his strategies and skipped regular studies and thought I can also get an A with a “five-day power preparation.”

Guess what? I ended up with a D, and he got A again.

So, if you need more time with your studies, give yourself more time. It’s okay that you are not an alien like your friend!

With the power of discipline, you can also get an A, maybe an A+ too.

Discipline Helped Me to Grow as a Better Human Being

I might sound too generic, but it’s true. As I got more disciplined, I adopted a lot of positive attitudes to polish up my character.

I became more punctual, plan-oriented, strategic as I started practicing discipline in every aspect of my life, especially in my professional life now.

Learning English and Discipline: How Are They Connected?

As you are reading this blog, I think you want to improve your English. Learning English is not something that you can do overnight. It needs a lot of time and practice.

Simply speaking, you will fail to grasp the complete knowledge of the English language if you don’t have discipline in you.

For example, the base of the knowledge of English stands on a sound vocabulary. And, to have a good vocabulary will have to collect as many English words as possible. If things become too complicated, you can try planning the online spelling bee SBO and blow some steam off!

In this case, SpellQuiz can be handy. 

Let me help you with a plan.

Before you start, you should test vocabulary level. Then, come up with a plan and a goal. Let’s say you will try to learn 1,000 words in 3 months.

What you will have to do is to practice about 30 minutes or an hour learning new words. In SpellQuiz, you will find short spelling practice sessions. So, if you follow the lessons for about three months, you will be able to collect more than 1,000 words by the three-month period.

So, how does that sound?

Pretty intimidating, right?

Go on, start your plans today, I am sure you will reap the benefits of discipline in education very soon with this plan.    

“To receive the boons of education, you must go to the schools!” – This saying is actually a relic in modern days. Even a few decades ago, we had to rely on the educational institutes as information wasn’t so available for the mass people. So, public schools were obviously the best option for education. But with the advancement in information technology, one can learn everything from home these days. Thus, homeschooling became a great option for the kids these days. So, the situation ultimately makes us wonder about the obvious question – which is the better option between homeschool vs public school?

The face of education is constantly changing.

Unfortunately, education is not.

Yes, the two statements contradict with each other, but give me a minute or two to explain.

Look around you, see all the new gadgets and software out there. Look at what your child interacts with on a daily basis.

You will see smartphones, game consoles, and a host of other electronic gadgets.

Today, we read most of the books on Kindle, and maybe make it to the library once or twice a month. We only do that to check out books that I cannot find at Amazon or other online booksellers.

Your child may read, and read a lot, but it is most likely going to be through some gadget.

Back when I was in school, there was memorization of tables and charts over the learning of concepts. With search engines, education should have changed with it.

But it hasn’t.

Public Schools are still governed by textbooks and worksheets. Memorization and standardized testing. 

So, should you consider homeschooling for your kids?

The answer is tricky as there cannot be a solid winner in this case – you will have to act as the judge and make the decision.

However, I can help you with the decision-making process as I would talk about homeschool vs public school today. 

Are Traditional Learning Methods Becoming Obsolete?

You want more for your child. Which parent doesn’t?

Let’s face it, public education is not currently up to the challenge of preparing a student for the 20th century, let alone the 21st.

The jobs that are hot today, and the jobs that will be hot tomorrow, do not rest on how well your child knows multiplication tables from memory, the periodic table, or any formula in physics. 

As I said, we have search engines for that.

Today, we need to educate our youth to understand the concept behind what they are learning, so they know what to look for and what values to plug in.

Think about it.

Back when we were in school, we memorized all sorts of formulas, did we need half of them? Or were they just something to take up space with all the other useless trivia.

If I asked you right now, how do you figure velocity, if you had a traditional science teacher, in your head, you probably think this:

“Velocity is Distance divided by Time.”

You would be correct. 

But let me take it a step further, what if I asked you to do a problem using Newton’s Second Law?

Then it would occur to you to Google the formula –

“Force is equal to mass time acceleration.”

Today students should be learning not so much as the formulas to use, but where to look for them and how to apply them.

This opens up a whole new world.

Critical thinking and the application of the Scientific Method should be their basis in education.

Unfortunately, it is not.

And since you are reading this article, you must be convinced that your child’s education is a little lacking for your tastes.

But you are still on the fence.

After all, you are reading this!

The Methods of Homeschooling Have Got Major Upgrades!

If the image of some nomadic people teaching their kids some fundamental ideologies upon hearing the word homeschool, you are a backdated person!

Please pardon me if you think I am being harsh! But it’s a fact.

Today, we have access to all the information in the world (at least on the educational topics). So, a homeschooled child can learn whatever he or she desires.

No one has to be dependent on the curriculum set by the government. You will finally have control over the things you want to learn.

A century ago, mostly underprivileged children used to receive homeschooling. It was nothing but the lessons on social mannerism and fundamental arithmetic.

After a while, the practice of homeschooling almost disappeared as public schools were the only way of getting a quality education.

Since the beginning of this century, with the rigorous involvement of internet in our daily lives, homeschooling is yet again getting the attention.   

Right now, about 2 million children receive homeschooling on in the USA! The rate of the children leaning towards homeschooling is only growing.

The rate is only growing by 20% per year!

So, no matter the reason, homeschooling is fast becoming a viable alternative to both failing public schools and cost-prohibitive private schools. It looks like homeschooling is winning the fight of homeschool vs public school right now!

The internet has put a high-quality education at anyone’s fingertips. Here you can find the richest collection of homeschooling resources. 

The Flaws of the Traditional Educational System

Our educational system has become a cookie-cutter factory!

The current education system is designed for average students only! It not only destroys the charisma of the brighter students but also makes the poor students to self-doubt.

Sadly, we have created a system that is making the future generation only more depressed and frustrated.  

Don’t you believe me?

Let me tell you some of the basic flaws of the current education system –

Designed After Factories!

Have you ever visited any mass production factory? If you haven’t, let me tell you the basic principal of these factories.

In a factory, a production designer creates one single method that consists of some step-by-step procedures. These procedures convert the raw materials to finished goods.

Now, think of our educational system, we have the same syllabus and study materials from decades ago. We teach the materials gradually until every single student has acquired the same knowledge at the end of the process.

Yes, we can pass down all the common and fundamental knowledge in this process.

However, we are destroying the uniqueness of the kids and forcing them to perform like robots having the same configuration!

Can Receive Only a Limited Amount of Knowledge

We are the result of the 66 million years of evolution! We have gone through a lot!

Can you imagine the vastness of the knowledge we have already acquired in this massive time frame?

Let me answer that question for you – it’s infinite!

Our school system only teaches us the knowledge that some lawmakers feel worth knowing. 

If you think about it deeply, you should realize how unfair it is for the mass people.

Slow and Boring!

How many of you felt the studies to be boring in your school days?

I am sure every single of you have felt studying to be boring and hated it at least once in your life.

Let’s try to find the root cause for all of us to feel like that.

The answer is simple, we had to read about something that felt uninteresting to us. But we were forced to learn those things as it was “in the syllabus.”   

It’s a scientific fact that we can learn the study material of a whole year in just eight weeks if we felt eager to learn those things.

So, rather than spending years after years learning the uninterested things, why don’t we study the things that we feel interested in?

Again, we can blame the school system for this.

Scarcity of Qualified Teachers

What if a child wanted to learn about nuclear medicine in eighth grade? Can every child find a qualified teacher who can quench his or her thirst of learning nuclear medicine?

The answer is simply a big fat no!

I am not trying to tell you that all the teachers are bad. It’s only common sense that not every single school in this world has qualified teachers for educating nuclear medicine.

But that child can learn about it from various sources on the internet quite easily. There are hundreds of study materials and tutorials available online.

The traditional schooling system can never have an adequate number of teachers capable of providing knowledge on every single topic.

It’s not practically feasible.

The Batch System

In a typical classroom scenario, you will find one teacher teaching about twenty to thirty students at a time.

Can you guarantee that every single of those twenty or thirty students will learn the lessons at the same speed?

No, you can’t.

This one of the major flaws of the public schools.

The more personalized the teaching process would be, the more fruitful the learning would be. The one-on-one teaching method is again another thing that is not feasible in the public schools. 

 

I can go on for hours talking about the flaws our traditional public schools have. The interesting thing is that every single of these issues can be solved with personalized homeschooling.

So, I would let you be the judge of homeschool vs public school face-off!

Homeschool vs Public School: Why Do People Neglect Homeschooling?

We have all heard the stories about kids that went through Homeschool. We often think of different reasons that make us feel that the kid somehow falls behind from his or her peer!

Yes, we are that much biased!

Some of the ridiculous stories are like these –

• Homeschooled children lack social skills compared to a public-schooled child!
• A biased education based more on the parent’s beliefs than actual educational fact;
• Certain STEM subject being neglected because of parents not understanding the subject matter. 
• Difficulty applying for and being accepted into college.

So, let’s look at each one of the items and see if we can bust the myths and offer advice on how to create a working path around it.

Myth 1: They Don’t Have Adequate Social Skills

This is perhaps the biggest myth regarding homeschooling. People generally assume that a homeschooled child just because they didn’t go to the schools cannot talk to others in a normal way!

According to a survey in 1995, about 92% of people think that a homeschooled child lacks adequate socialization skills!

To all those people – have you ever met a homeschooled child personally?

Being socially awkward has nothing to do with homeschooling. These are two different issues.

It’s not just my opinion, a research conducted in 1989 states that the idea of a child to be socially awkward just because of being homeschooled doesn’t support data in the research.

Again, let me take your attention to three more individual pieces of research conducted by Dr Stough in 1992, Dr Smedley in 1992, and Dr Lee in 1994.

Here are the results from their researches –

• Dr Stough found no significant difference between the children from homeschool vs public school.
• Dr Smedley actually found that homeschooled children have better communication skills.
• The parents of homeschooled children rated their children higher compared to the parents of public schools regarding adaptive behavior, according to Dr Lee.

There might, and put the emphasis of might, have been a problem with the socialization of homeschool vs public school children twenty or thirty years ago. But that is no longer the case. 

Myth 2: A Homeschooled Child Doesn’t Interact with Others

Today it is not uncommon for kids to interact with people all over the world in terms of social media. I myself have hundreds of friends from around the world and around the corner that I only interact with on social media.

Even if a child was not allowed access to social media, there would still be ample access to other people and to learn social skills and behavior.

Little League, Girl Scouts, Youth Soccer, Boy Scouts, Church, are just a few instances in which a homeschooled child has the opportunity to interact with peers.

It is homeschooling, not solitary confinement!

Unless the parent decides to lock little Johnny in the basement until he was 18 and then only let out if he were very, very good, the homeschool student will be given ample education in social skills needed to function in society.

Actually, homeschooled children are less anti-social as well as less self-destructive compared to the kids going to public schools! This is the result of the research done by Dr Ray in 2003.

Other than to recommend that the homeschool student is encouraged to join and participate in local activities like scouts, any parent can easily see that there is not a credible claim on a lack of socialization by the homeschooled child.

Myth 3: Homeschooled Children Receive Biased Information from Their Parents 

Another common myth about homeschooling is that people think, a homeschooled kid only interacts with his or her family members.

This topic invariably comes up when the conversation turns to homeschool.

It is easy to point out that yes, many parents that are more devout in certain religious or cultural beliefs have been known to withdraw their children in favor of a more religious homeschooling.

However, there is no evidence that a homeschooled adult has any more or less radical beliefs than a public-school child.

Depending on who you ask, either the school or the homeschool environment is guilty of indoctrination on some level.  The critics are quite vocal in their opposition to homeschooling over it.

The loudest critical view is that homeschool indoctrinates students with a fundamentalist worldview. 

Stanford University political scientist Professor Rob Reich wrote in The Civic Perils of Homeschooling (2002) that homeschooling can probably result in biased students. He points out that many homeschooling parents view the education of their children as a matter properly under their control and no one else’s.

Just do a quick internet search for indoctrination and homeschooling and be amazed.

If you have a progressive slant, there are articles about how public school might want to mistreat your child and his or her progressive views. There are articles left and right about school bullying by more conservative peers and teachers.

Not to be outdone, there are just as many articles by the right talking about the dangers of an indoctrinated secular agenda that attacks Christianity and forces homosexuality and promiscuity on the child.

I am not going to delve into the arguments one way or the other. I do believe in a high-quality education; that said, I also believe that the parents should be involved in that education.

Myth 4: Only Public Schooled Children Receive True Information

There will always be a level of indoctrination in any form of education, that cannot be avoided.  Every lesson, every truth that is handed out to students in many cases, carries the taint of indoctrination.

Think about any historical event you were taught in school. 

Let’s pick an easy one – the American Revolution.

In the United States, it is heralded as an important event, when a small group of 13 Colonies stood up for freedom and liberty.

When recounted in America, you read about Lexington, Concord, Saratoga, Valley Forge, Yorktown.

You read about John Paul Jones and, “I have not yet begun to fight!”

Or Nathan Hale as he was about to be executed, “I regret that I have but one life to give to my country!”

Every American has seen the painting of a gallant George Washington as his troops crossed the Delaware River in the bitter cold to attack the Hessians at Trenton.

Have you ever thought about how history books in the United Kingdom look at it?

From their perspective, it is a tale of the “Ungrateful Colonists” who did not want to be forced to pay for a war that largely was for their defense.

They are the 13 Colonies that the Crown preferred losing to Jamaica and the Sugar colonies of the West Indies.

A war that the Rebels only won with the help of other European states.

Who is right? Who is wrong?

Both are right. The indoctrination happens in the presentation of information.

So, I would take any talk of saving kids or subjecting kids to indoctrination is nothing more than arguing over degrees of influencing factors.

If a child is taught critical thinking skills and uses them, after time, he or she will glean the truth.

Myth 5: Homeschooled Children Suffer with STEM Education

Upfront, no one is really an expert at science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The fields are always expanding, evolving and becoming more intense.

In all honesty, a student without a well-rounded knowledge of these STEM subjects will find it hard to compete. So, the next question is,

Can Homeschooled students receive adequate STEM education?

Although I have been praising the homeschooling from the beginning of this article, this is a scenario where homeschooled students actually suffer.

According to a report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the homeschooled students are falling behind in the STEM studies.

Here is the gist of the report –

• 34% of the students are learning about physics and chemistry,
• 69% of the students are learning about biology, and
• 47% of the students take part in different scientific experiments.

It seems that there is a huge gap between homeschool vs public school in this case.

So how do homeschool students compete?

Very few parents have the educational background to teach in-depth science courses. It is not saying anything disparaging about parents in modern America, just that the average American’s knowledge of such fields as chemistry, physics, biology, calculus, or any other advanced STEM course is lacking.

But there are options.

There are several websites that can offer more in-depth classroom instruction on STEM subjects. I will not offer any links on the subject for the simple reason is that I do not want to be seen as endorsing one product over another.

But I will caution the following, you get what you pay for and do your due diligence.  Not all STEM courses are created equal.

While designing a homeschool curriculum, make it fun and educational. For example, students can learn popular idioms with stories and images so that they can remember the meaning for a longer time. 

So, it is an obstacle, but not an impossible one to overcome.

Myth 6: Homeschooled Children Have a Hard Time with College Admission

So, you have your homeschool education and diploma.

Now what?

You are probably wondering what your child can do with a homeschool diploma. After all, it is not a traditional school with transcripts and the prestige of a school. 

So, what doors does that open?

As you look around, you see so many job requirements for a diploma GED or its equivalent.  At first glance, you see many fields seemingly closed to the homeschooled child.

Even the military has decided to up their requirements. You now need some version a degree to be considered for military service.

So, at this point, you might be worried that homeschooling your child will be more detrimental to your child than leaving them in school.

Well, you would be WRONG!

There are many avenues that a homeschool student could take to put them on the path to a bright and prosperous future.

So, let’s discuss a couple options that parents have in the realm of opening the door for children that are homeschooled.

Option 1: Certification Through a Homeschool Group

There are many homeschool organizations and online schools that issue diplomas. If your student has “enrolled” in their program and completed their curriculum, they can issue a diploma.

The positive aspect of enrolling your child into an online program for the purposes of being in an accredited program is that their high school transcript will allow them access into any job or college field that might otherwise be closed to them.

Even better, if after a school year or two, if homeschooling is not for them, then they have transcripts that they can use not to lose ground in public school. Those course transcripts will help them keep pace with their peers.

On the bad side, the school has control of the curriculum. If you pulled your child out of public school because you were unhappy with that the school was teaching, you might find yourself in the same spot with the online school.

That can be largely headed off by looking at the course curriculum ahead of time.

There is also the problem of access. Some schools might require access to high-speed internet in order to watch videos or even participate in live-stream lectures. For those who live in more rural areas, or have internet connections that cap data, this can be a great hurdle to many online schools.

That needs to be something to take into account.

Let’s go onto a couple more options.

Option 2: CLEP

CLEP is a series of tests that the College Board offers. These tests can help a student earn equivalency of college credit for subjects that he or she already has a degree of mastery in.

A student can learn about different topics and subject and have a certain level of knowledge on those topics. If they can pass the CLEP tests, they can enter the college.

The best part is that a student can even enter the college as a sophomore, not a freshman if he or she can excel in the tests!

Typically, each CLEP test is equivalent to 3 credit hours. If one can earn the required credit hours asked by the universities, he or she can enter college. If you can make your child pass the CLEP, he or she can enter college and there will be not a single thing stopping homeschooling to win the homeschool vs public school contest!  

Option 3: GED

I also highly recommend GED preparations.

Let’s face it, not every kid is meant for college. Either they will not benefit from a college education, or their career goals do not require it.

So instead of putting more stress on the student, let’s mold the learning experience to fit the student. Here the curriculum is more geared towards the basics of a high school degree.

Math will focus on areas like fractions and word problems, English will be the center of main ideas and reading. Students can use their GED to enter college, but they will most likely be required to take some remedial courses before starting the core classes.

Now, for some of you, your child might be only 6 to 7 years old. They are equivalent to a first grader now. You will have years before we need to start thinking about such things. It never hurts to be prepared for that day. And in seeing what will be required of your child beforehand can guide you to set the foundation of a bright educational future for the student.

They should learn all the common sight words in English as these words will boost their confidence in the English language tremendously. Soon, they can practice harder spelling quizzes — like the 11th grade vocabulary words. 

How Can You Get Started with Homeschooling for Your Kids?

So, I think, we know the winner of homeschool vs public school contest by this point!

Now, you might be saying, that is fine and all, but where do I find the material to teach my child. 

That all depends.

If you are dealing with a younger child, the preparation may not be as time-consuming or challenging as an older teen student.  

Do not despair, there are resources out there that I have used, or have looked into that can make homeschooling your student. 

I won’t guarantee that this advice will remove ALL of the stress, just that it will make some of the stress disappear.

I cannot stress how important planning is to homeschool your child. If you think that it is just going to be you using flashcards and having them write things, then you are going to be in for a rude awakening. A smart idea would be teaching them trough fun – the Online Spelling Bee SBO should help them a lot. This is a spelling bee competition that anyone can play against other players from all over the world. 

You cannot and should never be in a position where you wake up and decide that today you are going to teach multiplication or reading. There needs to be a structured lesson plan with a set goal in mind.

For instance, you are preparing the student for say, Texas History.  You need to take into account what will be taught.

Say you are going to start with the Alamo.  You cannot just pop in the movie and ask the kid to take notes. Then display mastery of the topic.

Strategize, Go for the Long-Term Plans!

I could go step by step in helping you build a lesson plan for this lesson, or I could tell you that teacher face the same challenges every year to help them design the curriculum they need to teach students.

Some teachers have gotten to the point that they just buy curriculum, lesson plans, worksheets and other materials from websites and teachers’ groups that they are part of.

You should do the same when you are stumped.

There are different forums and websites that help the parents to come up with a curriculum or different teaching strategies.

There is, of course, this website, SpellQuiz, that I think should be integrated into any curriculum. Remember, all the science, history, math, or whatever content to teach your children is useless if your student cannot comprehend the material.

To help you guys out, I have written a detailed and advanced guide on homeschooling and personalized learning, you can check them out as it is full of ideas and strategies that you can follow.

Spelling, reasoning, and understanding of the written word is an absolute must. So, any curriculum you use should include a heavy emphasis on that. The Spelling Tests in SpellQuiz will help your kids prepare for the tests in school or be have competitive edge over them. Plus, their vocabulary skill will get an immense boost. 

Above all, my best and biggest advice is to borrow and steal teaching theories and curriculum. Take what works with your student, expand on it and go with it. Teachers are doing the same things. 

Take what works for teaching your child. In the end, it will not be any one single action or act that you will do that will convey the lesson and the homeschool curriculum. You will find out that taking a little bit from multiple areas will work best.

Wrapping It All Together

I think the article gives a clear idea about homeschool vs public school considering the current perspectives of the world.

The choice to teach your child at home is totally up to you as it is not an easy choice to make. It should never be done without having thought about it fully.

Are you doing it for the right reasons?

Are you willing to dedicate the time and effort that goes with the training, planning, and execution that homeschooling requires? This is not a fly by wire, seat of your pants project. It requires discipline, dedication, and responsibility on your part and the part of your child.

Take all of that into account. Teaching your child in a homeschool environment will be the most rewarding, difficult choices of your life as a parent. There will be times that you love, and times that you not only question how good of an idea homeschooling was but whether even having children was a good idea.

Trust me, you will have both of those days.

A lot.

The best homeschool environment should be one that takes a little from every aspect of education. An environment where the student is challenged to think, to grow, to be creative. You are not just instilling the ability of a student to master subjects like science, mathematics, reading, or history. 

You are teaching them to wonder, creative thinking, a sense of the beauty of the world. On the contrary, you are not so much as teaching them what to know, or what to think, you are teaching them “how come.” 

A homeschooled child in the right circumstances can be a productive member of society. In many cases, the student can be a person that has not lost sight of their dreams, a citizen that has not lost their wonder of the world around them; a citizen that is well educated.

You are not just homeschooling your child; you are preparing a doer of the next generation the skills and critical thinking tools to change the world.

If you take a closer look at the pronunciations of the words in the English language, you will notice that words sound different even though they have the same letters. For example, consider the words go, and dog, both of the words have the letter o in it. But the words sound very different. This is because the sound of the words has a lot to do with the phoneme of the letters and that is what we would be discussing today in details, the phonemic awareness and how you can improve it.

Let’s take a look at some of the rhymes, and you would get a clearer idea about the topic on hand –

“How now Brown Cow?”

Or,

“Moses Supposes His Toeses Are Roses”

Look at the words from both of the examples again. The words sound very similar, don’t they? This because they are from the same phonemic group.

Today, you would learn everything about phonemes and phonemic awareness. After you have gone through the whole guide, you will have a detailed idea about the following topics –

So, let’s get started, shall we?

What Are the Phonemes and Why Should You Learn About Them?

Phonemes have a very close connection to the pronunciations. While the pronunciation tells us about how a particular word should sound like, a phoneme determines the sound of a letter or a cluster of letters.

However, a letter can have different phonemes as it depends on how the letter is used in any word.

Do I sound confusing?

Let me help you with an example!

Think of the letters C and K. Although they are two different words, they can both represent the same /k/ sound depending on the word they are being used. For example, consider the word Cross and Kill. Here, both C and K letter sounds the same, like a /k/.

So, why does it happen?

To find the answer to that question, you will have to go to the basic of the origin of the languages. There are some languages what you can call a phonemic language.

It means that a language has individual letters to express all the sounds that the language has. Languages like Spanish, German, or Polish fall into this category. You will find individual letters that connect to all the sounds that these languages encompass.

On the other hand, there are languages that don’t have distinctive letters associated with different sounds. English will fall into this category.

There are 44 different sounds or phonemes in the English language, but there are only 26 letters to express these sounds.

That’s why a certain letter can have multiple sounds. Sometimes multiple letters are used to express a particular sound.

For example, the letter P typically express the sound /p/ and H expresses /h/ but often they can team together to express the /f/ sound.

Even the word phoneme sounds like fonim!

Read More: Inventive Spelling and Its Connection to Phonological Awareness

Phonemic Spelling: The Other Kind of Spelling!

So, I have already about how the word phoneme sounds like fonim. You must be wondering about why don’t we use that spelling instead. It would make things much simpler.

There are a lot of reasons for us to use the actual “phoneme” spelling. I will not go in details about that.

However, there is a different kind of spelling in English too. This spelling is used to identify the correct pronunciation of different words.

That different kind of spelling is called as the phonemic spelling.

By definition, phonemic spelling is the kind of spelling to identify the sound of a word.

Now let’s take you back to the example in hand again. The phonemic spelling of the word phoneme is /ˈfəʊniːm/.

I know what you are thinking – since when the English language has those weird-looking letters?!

If you remember, I have told you already that the English language has 44 sounds. There are actually 44 different symbols to express those sounds. These letters are called the phonemic letters or phonemic symbols. 

I will get to that part later on this guide and will introduce you to all the different phonemic symbols.

Right now, all you need to know that the phonemic spelling is mandatory if you want to master the English language and have a sharp phonemic awareness.

If you want to have the perfect pronunciation and have a strong command over the speaking skill in English, you must possess the phonemic awareness. There is no way around.

Buckle up!

We would dig deep, very deep about the topic today!

Learning or Teaching Phonemic Awareness: It’s Not an Easy Task

Now that you have a brief idea about what phoneme and phonemic spelling is, let’s start talking about the elephant in the room – how can you teach or learn phonemic awareness.

There are three angles here to talk about the topic. You can be a –

1. Parent trying to teach your children
2. Teacher trying to teach your students or
3. Student trying to learn the phonemic awareness
4. Adults trying to learn English as a second language

I am some suggestions that help all of you who are suffering from the issue.

What Should a Parent Do While Teaching the Children?

Every child has a hard time in the beginning while learning about sounds and pronunciation as things seem too confusing.

You can identify some issues that would tell you that your children are having problems with the phonemes. Try looking for these issues in your children –

• Your child cannot think of the rhyming words that sound similar, like rat, bat, and cat.
• He or she seems uninterested in word games or rhyming games.
• Your children often pronounce the same words wrong, like, despite correcting multiple times, he or she misspeaks the word “right,” or “crayon.”

These are some common symptoms that signify that your children need help with the phonemes.

So, what can you do help them overcome the issues?

There are a lot of great ways that you can follow in this case.

Strategies that a Parent Can Follow

As a parent, the saying “Learning begins at home” should be your bible. There are so much you can do to help your child with their education. If you help them out with their studies, they would get a head start and will be more curious about learning a new thing. It also cultivates self-discovery for them.

So, without wasting any more words, lets help with those teaching strategies!

• Get yourself accustomed to the study materials your children will be learning in the school first. Try consulting with the school teachers about whether they would teach phonemic awareness at school or not.
• If they don’t teach these topics at school, you should make time at home teaching the basics. You can even suggest the teachers to include the topics to teach these basic things at school.
• If your children have passed the age when teachers teach these fundamental things, ask them whether they can make one-on-one sessions for your children.
• You should try reading books together. It would be even better if you try reading the rhyming books or poetries.
• You can try different apps or websites that focus on building vocabulary skill. While practicing the vocabulary enhancement skills, you should ask them to spell the words. If he or she makes any mistake, you can correct them. SpellQuiz can help you in this case, with a massive collection of spelling and vocabulary practice sessions.

Helpful Activities That Parents Can Follow 

Here are some effective activities that would help them with the phonemic skill-building –

• Try designing quiz games on “think of as many words starting with the /ch/, /sh/ or /ph/.” It would help them brainstorm and make them discover more words with unique phonemes.
• Try working on creating new tongue twisters, it doesn’t have to have any meaning, just combine words that have similar sounds. For example, “Nobody was nice to Nancy’s neighbor Nick.”
• You can try working on the rhyming words. Just like creating tongue twisters, you can make rhymes. You can ask your child to find rhyming words. Ask him/her to find as many words rhyming with bot. He or she will be trying finding words like cot, dot, hot, rot, etc.

What Should a Teacher Do While Teaching the Students?

A teacher would face more problems while teaching the phonemes.

Why?

A parent will have to teach a maximum of two children at a time, but the teacher has to teach the whole class. As every child learns at a different speed, the teacher should make his or her lessons more personalized.

Still, the teacher can try giving tasks to a batch and see how the progress of each individual. While teaching a teacher might notice the following issues among the student. So, he or she should be prepared to face the following issues –

• The students might not be able to combine the sounds together to construct a complete word. For example, it is only normal for a student to combine phonemes like /p/, /i/, and /ck/ together to make a complete word like pick.
• If you assign the task of filling the blanks with proper phoneme to make new words, some students will fail to do so. For example, if you ask your students to substitute the /f/ in fate to /m/ to build mate, some students will fail.
• The most common problem among the kids is to figure out the number of syllables in a word. For example, it’s not very easy for the young child to identify the number of syllables in complicated words like particular.

There could be a number of different other issues that a student might face while learning the phonemes. The ones that I have discussed are just some of the common issues.

I think you now have an idea about the problems you could be facing in the classroom. So, you have to be prepared and be creative to solve the issues.

Still, I have found out some creative solutions that you can apply in different situations. Check them out.

Strategies That Teachers Can Follow in the Classroom

The concept of phonemes is quite hard for a lot of children to grasp. Sadly, there is no particular training that can help the teachers in these situations.

However, I really hope that the following solutions might help you. Just make sure you are creative if you get stuck in a unique problem with any student.

• Provide a list of all the phoneme to the class on the first day. It would be helpful for the students if they see the chart over and over again.
• Try to follow the same idea you follow while teaching the regular alphabet to your students. Think of the phonemic alphabet to be a different alphabet.
• Always teach your students with examples. Examples help the student to understand the use cases. It would make the learning process more practical.
• Start your lessons with extremely easy examples first so that things become easy. It would be better if you can show all the phonemic letters in use in the mono-syllable words.
• You should give one-on-one lessons to the students who lag behind among the peer.
• Identify the exact phonemes that students find the hardest and try giving as many examples as possible for those phonemes.
• Try including more books on the topic in the syllabus. The more the students would read, the faster they can learn about them.
• Rather than giving the same lesson to the whole batch, you can try dividing them into smaller groups with similar learning speed. It would make things easier for you.
• Rhymes are the best study material for young children for learning the phonemes. Let them enjoy the rhymes, and they wouldn’t even notice that they are practicing the phonemes.
• Lastly, be patient and don’t rush, it would make them afraid of the lessons.

Try to Understand a Kid’s Perspective: They Might Not Like Learning Phonemes!

I know how learning phonemes feels like. No, I wasn’t fan of it either, I always hated it! I always nagged to my mom and often hid inside the closet so that I don’t have to read the book on phonemes.

So, if your child hates it too, it’s only normal for them!

A kid might say these things often if they are having problems with phonemes –

• “I don’t know how pit and lit sound the same, they are not the same!”
• “I hate rhyming games!”
• “There is no word that sounds like flush!”
• “I don’t know how many syllables are in tomato!”
• “I have a tummy ache! (obviously, a lie) I don’t want to read now.”

Do your kids say almost the same kind of things whenever you are trying to teach them the phonemic awareness?

You shouldn’t feel frustrated as almost all the kids at some point show these symptoms. You will have to be patient and try to figure out some ideas that don’t feel like you were teaching them phonemes.

The key is to teach them phonemes in a way so that they don’t feel like being pressured or “being taught.”

Strategies That the New Learners Can Adopt

I have figured out some simple solutions that can help a child while learning the phonemes. These strategies can also be applied to the new learners, I am talking about the ESL learners in particular in this case.

The first thing that a leaner should try is to admit that they are learning a new thing, and it would take some time to master it. This fact is true for anything, not just the phonemes.

The second suggestion would be making a personal list of all the issues a learner is facing. No matter how many strategies I give you, it won’t help you much. I have said this countless times, everyone learns at a different speed, and everyone faces different and unique issue while learning.

So, you should make a list of the issues and start working on those particular issues. 

The third tip only for ESL learners. As you are new to learning English, you can compare the rules of your mother tongue to the rules of the English language. Every language is unique and different from the other one, but there can be a lot of rules that are common.

Helpful Tips for New Learners

Also, you can try the following tips, they could be helpful for you –

• Try to be willing to work with your teacher. The moment you and your teacher co-operate, things change dramatically, in a positive way.
• Be patient, don’t give yourself a hard time.
• Be open to reading a lot, the more you read, the better you would become.
• Watch movies or TV series, try to learn pronunciation from the dialogues.
• Sing your favorite English songs out loud. If you are shy, you can always try singing in the bathroom while taking a shower. Surely, you will make a lot of mistakes, but you will learn also.
• While you are listening to someone, pay attention to individual words. Concentrate on how the words sound.

It’s a good idea to go through the sight words list before jumping into tougher learning activities. 

The Psychology of Learning

Learning a new thing can be stressful and time-consuming. However, you should never stop trying.

If you are having a hard time, tell yourself this, “I can do it, I will do it, and no one can stop it!”

This is a powerful auto-suggestion, and it would help you stay motivated. Moreover, your subconscious mind would try even harder to help you achieve your goals.

This psychological technique has helped me a lot achieving different issues, especially in those stressful engineering exam nights!

There is no doubt that phonemic awareness plays a great role in mastering the English language, especially speaking skills.

Different researchers have found out that phonemic awareness plays a strong role in the overall language learning process. With better phonemic awareness, a learner can master other aspects of English very quickly and easily. Consider the phonemes to be the base that you would build the whole English language learning skills on.

Tips for the Teachers to be a Rockstar Among the Kids

Teaching Phonemes Is Like Gardening!

When you are planning to do gardening, there are some steps that you will have to follow for a better harvest and healthier plants. Let’s call them the pre-requisites of gardening.

Why am talking about gardening all on a sudden?

Believe it or not, teaching Phonemes Is Like Gardening!

There are some steps that you should follow before you start teaching phonemes too. If your students go through those steps before starting the actual phoneme learning process, they will have a stronger base and will certainly master the skill quickly.

Let’s call them the “helpful considerations!”

The Lessons Should be Short!

Students, especially children, have a shorter attention span. The span becomes even shorter when they are aware of the fact that they are studying.

Your lessons shouldn’t be longer than 15 minutes.

A young student can’t have a solid attention span longer than that period. This time can be variable but should be longer that it.

Plan the Lessons Early Share It with Your Students

If the students know what they would be learning on a particular lesson beforehand, they can connect to the lessons better. You can even share the study materials prior to the lesson too.

It would make them prepared for the lessons. The preparedness makes the lessons easier to grasp.

Moreover, the students will feel connected, and it also gives a feeling of “being in a team.”

Use Stories or Themes

If you can manage to incorporate a theme to your lessons, students would enjoy your lessons a lot.

For example, if you can teach using stories of Cinderella or Peter Pan and somehow teach about phonemes, students would pay more attention.

This technique would make the teaching process more spontaneous and light-hearted.

Read Together, Learn Together!

Now, I will talk about a common yet often overlooked teaching technique – shared reading. Shared reading is a method where the teacher and the student read a text together.

What will have to do?

You and all your students will have the text (a book) in hand. Then you will read a sentence from the text. Then, your students will read the same text after you.

It might not seem like a lot, but it helps in a unique way.

If a student doesn’t know the pronunciation of a particular word, he or she will learn it instantly from you. Then, he or she would read it aloud along with the peer.

They will learn a lot of new words in this way too.

Revise Again and Again!

It is nothing but normal for a student to forget a previous lesson. So, you will have to make them go through the previous lessons.

As I have said earlier, your lessons will not be longer than 15 minutes. You can teach new lessons first within the 15 minutes, then, spend about 10 minutes discussing a previous lesson.

But you should mix things up. Rather than discussing the immediate previous lesson, talk about a random lesson that you have already taught them.

It would make the base stronger.

Teach Two-Part Words Before Teaching Syllables

When you are trying to teach the phonemes to the students, you have to teach them about syllables sooner or later. It’s a mandatory section of the phoneme teaching.

However, young children often go through a hard time identifying syllables in a word.

So, how can you make the process easier?

The trick is to teach them two-part words first. When two individual words combine together to make a new word, the new word is called a two-part word.

For example, cowboy or seashore are some great and simple examples of two-part words.

Ask your students, what comes to their mind when they hear the word cowboy or seashore?

Children can easily segment these words in two sections, like, breaking cowboy to cow and boy. They will not even know, but they would be getting lessons on syllables.

Once, they master segmenting the two-part words, you can go move to the three-part words.

Finding the Odd Word Out?

To help the students with rhyming skills, you can play another game. The game will help them improve their identification skill.

First, give them a primary word. Then, give them two to three options and ask them which of the words sound similar to the primary word.

For example, draw a cat on the blackboard. The image would raise attention among the students. Here, the primary word is cat.

Now, give them three options – hat, sun, and run. Then, ask them which of three words sound similar to cat.

This technique will help them with word rhyming skill.

Guidelines Shared by Linguistic Experts 

The Tips and suggestions that I have shared in the previous section are some of the ideas that I have found useful over time. However, linguistic experts have worked hard to make the phoneme teaching methods more fruitful.

It’s a step-by-step guideline that is designed to help you teach a particular phoneme learning task.

Suppose you are planning to teach a particular lesson to your class. To make the lesson more effective, you can follow these suggested techniques –

1. Teach them phonemic spelling instead of the regular spelling. Each of the sounds in a word can be represented by more than one regular letters. For example, if you are teaching them the sound of cheese, you should teach them by writing /ch/-/ee/-/z/. In this way, your students will know the number of sounds there is in a particular word.
2. Use force while teaching words with continuant sounds (Mmmm, Ssss, Rrrrr, etc.). These sounds are easy to pick up and identify. So, if you put extra force, your students can pick the correct sound of the word easily. For example, while teaching words like ring, use extra force and pronounce it like Rrrring.
3. Teach your students a simple trick – the initial and the finishing sounds are easy to identify while the middle part is quite tricky to find.
4. Teach them some common combinations that are used to construct a word. The Consonant-Vowel (CV) pattern comes first, then comes the Vowel-Consonant (VC) pattern, the Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC) pattern comes in the last place.

Onset and Rimes: The Best Tool for Teaching Phonemic Awareness

Over the years, teachers have used a few effective tools that help a learner to learn the basic of phonemic awareness.

As you know, there are a lot of patterns among the English words. If you can teach them the common patterns, your students will learn about all the other words having the same pattern automatically.

It would be much faster and methodological to teach the patterns than teaching all the words individually.

As we are on the topic, I should tell you about the most effective tool for identifying patterns and teaching phonemes.

The tool is often called the Onset and Rimes method. Some even call it Onset and Rhymes.

So, what is the fundamental idea behind this tool?

Onset refers to the initial or the first part of the phonological structure of a word. On the other hand, Rime refers to the common string of letters. Often, the Rime section gives the word a pattern.

Sounds confusing?

Take a look at this example. Let’s consider the word band. In this word, the onset part is /b/ and the rime part is -and.

Now, let’s talk about the pattern. As you can see, the rime part can be found in a lot of words. For example, hand, land, rand, sand, etc. have the same rime part in them.

Teaching this technique would be very effective as students have the idea of onset and rimes or syllables way before having a concrete knowledge of phonemic awareness.

Now, I am going to tell you how you teach the onset and rime to your students.

Start with Wordplay

Before you begin your lessons on onset and rimes, you should intrigue your students with some wordplay. Rather than teaching them different rules, your lessons can be much more playful if you start with rhymes.

Why should you do it?

Rhymes are always catchy and get much more exposure. Moreover, the children will be happier if you can make the lessons more playful.

Don’t you believe me?

Okay, just start your next lesson with this phrase – there is a wocket in my pocket! If your students are children, you will see them giggling and laughing just hearing the word wocket!

This is a nifty trick as you can instantly capture their attention as they are hearing something is funny in a general sense.

However, you would be planting a seed for something bigger, you just have taught them an example of onset and rimes. Wocket and pocket have the same phonetic pattern.

The Books That Can Help

The example that I just used in the last section is actually the name of a children’s book. The famous book There is a Wocket in My Pocket is the creation of the famous writer Dr. Seuss.

As you have already made them curious with the catchy name, you can easily make them read the book. This book is the perfect study material for the children to develop the skill of onset and rimes.

Why is that?

The book is about imaginary creatures that sound almost like a real-life object. Some of the names of the imaginary creatures are – Zamp in the lamp, Zuk in my book.

I don’t think I have to explain more on this topic.

I can think of another great book that you can give your students to read. It’s called Faint Frogs Feeling Feverish. As you can guess, the book is full of fascinating tongue twisters.

Tongue twisters are extremely helpful for the kids who are trying to learn to master phonemic awareness.

There is another great book full of smart tongue twisters called Terrifically Tantalizing Tongue Twisters.  

Here is a small list of the books that you try in your class –

1. Sheep on a Ship
2. Moses Supposes His Toeses Are Roses
3. Down by the Bay

Using the Books in the Classroom

Okay, so you now know some of the names of the books that you can bring in your classroom for your students.

The question is, how can you make the best of these book for teaching phonemes?

I have an idea that can help you in this case. Here are some tips that you might find helpful –

• Rather than reading once, re-read the stories a few times.
• After each reading session, discuss on how the authors have played with the words and language.
• Ask your students to predict the sound of the words.
• Ask them if they can identify any pattern among different words.
• Finally, ask them if they can think other words that have the same pattern.

Introducing Word Families

If you have followed the previous tips, this step would be quite easy.

Which tips am I talking about?

– Creating the list of similar sounding words that have the same patterns in it.

By creating the list, you are actually helping them building a word family chart.

Colin Hawkins and Jacqui Hawkins are the masterminds behind this strategy. Their children Tog the Bog is a great book that can help a child with onset and rimes. This book teaches the children to create a word family chart.

The creation of different word family chart can be perfect homework or assignments for the students.

Direct Intervention: Your Last Bullet in the Pistol!

Till now, the strategies that I have shared on onset and rimes should make the student intrigued enough to practice all by themselves.

However, not every child will have the same capability or creativity. You cannot push them too hard ever, it would kill the curiosity and make them doubt themselves and their capability.

That’s the last thing a teacher should do!

To help out the students who are lagging behind, you should go for the direct intervention method.

This method as simple as the name of the method – you will tell the answer directly rather than making finding the answer all by themselves.

If you help them a few times by giving out the answer directly, they might catch up with you shortly and find out the pattern eventually.

Games Are Always Helpful!

As a teacher, you already know that games are the perfect tool to teach anything to the children. To make the lessons more joyous, you should introduce some games too.

However, you should choose the games that would help the children develop phonemic awareness.

There is one game that comes to my mind, particularly now – “The Happy Face, Sad Face” game. The rule is quite simple, you will speak out two words. If they rhyme, you will ask your student to make a happy face. If not, the response would be a sad face.

This game works like magic for teaching the students.  

There is another version of the same game that is also interesting. Here, the teacher would show three pictures of different objects. The students will pick the pictures with object names that rhyme together.

There are a lot of other games that you can introduce to your class. I would discuss them later in this article.

6 Mind Blowing Phonemic Awareness Development Methods Developed by Scholars

Over the years, many scholars and experts have come up with simple methods that can help children with phonemic awareness.

I have already shared a few techniques by linguistic experts. But the methods that I would discuss right now are mostly from the scholarly articles. So, you can call these methods effective and dependable.

Both the teachers and the parents can follow these methods to educate children.

Take your time the understand the methods and think how you can implement these methods in the strategies that you have been following already.

It’s NOT mandatory to use all of the methods but use the ones that you can match with your strategies.

Method 1: Recognizing the Isolated Sounds

The first thing that you would teach the children is that most of the words are made up of multiple sounds. So, each word is just a collection of sounds.

This is pretty basic, right?

So, teach this fundamental fact first to the children. Lewkowicz, the author of the scholarly article, emphasizes this information very much in his article.

According to him, “Children should be familiarized with speech sounds in isolation before they attempt to detect sounds within words.”

The next idea is to help the children connecting an object, an activity, or an animal to a particular sound. So, whenever they hear a sound, they can imagine the object associated with that sound.

For example, you can make a connection between the sound /s/ with the hissing sound of a snake-like Ssssss.

Once, you help the children connecting the sound to anything, you are actually creating a sound personality. In this case, snake’s hiss is the sound personality of the sound /s/.

Similarly, a crowing rooster goes with /r/, a buzzing bee goes with /z/, or silence goes with /sh/.

As a teacher, your job will be to create individual sound identities for all the 44 sounds in the phonemic alphabet. However, the sound identity can be different for each student.

You should let the students choose his or her preferred sound identities.

After the students have a complete grasp over the sounds, you should teach them to identify and individual sounds that make a word.

Now, that’s a nifty method, isn’t it?

Method 2: Counting

To find out the actual pronunciation of a particular word, you will have to identify the individual phonemes the word has. However, finding out the individual phonemes is not that much of an easy job.

The process would be even harder for a young child.

So, what’s the solution here?

Well, the trick is to identify the words and the syllables first as they are more prominent and easily identifiable. So, in that way, the first step of the phoneme synthesis is to count and individualize the letters in a word.

However, the letter counting process should be auditory dependent, that means the child will not see the actual spelling, and he or she will try to guess the spelling just by hearing the sound of the word.

After hearing the pronunciation of the word, he or she would break the sound into syllables based on guessing. Only after that, the child can say how many phonemes a particular word might have.

Let me clear it with an example.

Let’s say the word that the child would try to analyze is window. In the first step, someone will speak out the word. Secondly, the child will try to break the word into two syllables win and dow. Finally, he or she would try to find the count the phonemic letters (/ˈwɪn/ and /dəʊ/) and actual pronunciation of window.

That’s how a child can count and identify the phonemes in a word.

Method 3: Sound Synthesis

Sound synthesis can be considered as one of the fundamental reading skills that a person has to have to read properly.

It is often considered as one of the easiest steps, too when it comes to mastering phonemic awareness. The basic idea behind this trick is to blend two or more sounds together to come up with the actual sound of the word.

How can a teacher help a student with it?

Let’s say the word to be pronounced is night. So, the teacher would say the word starts with the /n/ sound and finishes with the /ʌɪt/ (ight) sound.

The task of the student would be to blend the sounds together and come up with the complete sound /nʌɪt/ (night).

So, you can summarize the task as following –

• Find the initial sound
• Identify the final sound
• Blend the two sounds together

But there is more to the task actually. As you can see, the task is rather boring and often complex. Hallie Kay Yopp, the developer of this method, came up with another idea to make the activity fun for the kids.

She suggested that the activity can be performed with jingles and even with puppet shows! These two methods certainly light up the mood in the classrooms.

Yopp even suggested using the famous children song, “If You’re Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands.”

However, in this case, the lyrics are a bit different as the student are trying to find out the sound of a word. So, the changed lyrics is something like this –

If you think you know this word, shout it out!

If you think you know this word, shout it out!

Then tell me what you’ve heard,

If you think you know this word, shout it out!

Method 4: The Matching or Sound to Word Matching

This method is also a simple yet effective one for the beginners and the kids. Like a lot of other methods, it tries to help a person with sound segmentation.

The fundamental idea of this method is to match the correct sound to the word as the name suggests.

For example, if a teacher is trying to teach the sound of the dog, he or she would show a picture of a dog.

Then, she would ask a couple of questions, like –

“Is this a Cccc-og, a Dddd-og, or a Llll-og?”

Then, the students would reply with the correct answer.

The teacher can even try mixing things up. For example, the teacher would simply ask the students, ”Is there a /d/ in dog?” or “Which of the sound /c/, /d/, or /l/ matches with dog?” 

As I have said, the key idea is to match a sound with a word – that’s it!

Yopp is also the inventor of this method, and she insisted using tunes of popular children’s song like – Old McDonald had a farm in this case. 

You must say the idea of using popular tunes will certainly have a positive impact on the children.

Method 5: Sound Identification and Positioning

This method suggests that a word or the sound of a word should have three parts – initial, medial, and final.

A student will hear a word, divide the sounds into the thee parts, and then position the parts into the three slots.

You could even tell your students to think of the sound positions to be parts of a train. Like this –

1. Initial part – The engine
2. Medial part – The passenger cars
3. Final part – The carriage

Again, let me clarify with an example.

Consider the word pig. The first or the initial sound is /p/, the medial part is /ɪ/, and the final part is /g/. When you combine all the three parts together, you will get /pɪg/.

However, there can be different kinds of combinations other than this formation –

• Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC) formation
• Consonant-Vowel (CV) formation
• Vowel-Consonant (VC) formation

But no matter the formation is, the basic idea is simple – identifying the sounds, assigning correct sound positions, and combining the sounds to construct the overall sound.

Method 6: Sound Segmentation

The last method, sound segmentation, is often considered as toughest of all the simple methods for the children. This method is almost like the sound identification and sound positioning.

However, there is a slight difference. The methodology is like this –

1. Listen to the sound of the word,
2. Isolate the phonemes in the word
3. Pronounce the separate phonemes according to the order
4. Combine or blend individual phonemes together to come up with the sound of the word.

Some linguistic experts have said this method to be an advanced method and should to taught to the students who have already mastered the basic methods. But this strategy works great for students practicing spelling bee words. 

Observations

Phonetic spelling looks tricky when you first look at it.

Don’t get discouraged!

There is a lot to absorb, and take in, but the end result is well worth it. Your child will have a foundation to build vocabulary on that will open the doors to learning.

Spell like a champ!

Games That Can Help You or Your Child with Phonemes

Who doesn’t like to play games?

All the better when that game encourages learning and mastery of a concept.

A few years back, I was talking to a friend that dealt with computer programming and development.  We were talking about the fact that younger people seem to learn how to use new devices faster than older people.

After all, you would think with more world experience and maturity, an older person would grasp concepts faster.

His answer? 

Games.

He argued that a younger person grasps how to use newer technologies simply because they are learning it in a fun and entertaining way. Older people are using technology for more boring things.

In other words, there is no excitement in learning how to master the technology.

The theory can be applied to almost any learning setting.

It is why educational games are so popular. It is why a person can learn the rules to baseball and football, but cringe at learning the motor vehicle rules.

So the best way to learn phonetics and sight words is to play games. SpellQuiz has brought a brand new idea of bringing Spelling Bee games online with SBO.  

Here is a list of some games that I have found online that will be helpful –

Scoop & Spell 

Website/ Developer: This Reading Mama 

It’s a hands-on word building and spelling activity. I would suggest possibly modifying it to where the student has to give the phonetic spelling or sound of the letter.

Sidewalk Chalk Spelling Hop 

Website/ Developer: Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational

Hopscotch, except with letters. All you need is sidewalk chalk !and you are off to the races!

Stamp Your Words 

Website/ Developer: Lessons Learnt Journal

The most important skill in early reading is the ability to read single words completely, accurately, and fluently. Phonics helps kids read single words out of context by giving them the tools to sound words out, which helps them read and comprehend text. Phonics is not the only skill they need to master in order to read, but it is one of the skills.

This game is easy to learn but has as many options as there are words.

Go on a Word Treasure Hunt 

Website/ Developer: Hands On: As We Grow

A treasure hunt to search for the letters of a few of his current list of sight words. 

Make a Spelling Word Search Puzzle 

Website/ Developer: This Reading Mama

Just recently, I made a blank spelling word search puzzles for my son. Why was it blank? Because HE made the puzzles. My favorite thing about these spelling word search puzzles is that he (not I) was doing all the work. And when kids do the work in fun ways, THEY benefit from all the learning.

Use a Spelling Dictionary 

Website/ Developer: The Measured Mom

Have you ever thought that the best way to teach a child phonetic spelling and reading is to let them create their own dictionary?

Dot Sticker Spelling 

Website/ Developer: School Time Snippets

Imagine scrabble, except with colored dots!

Post-a-Word 

Website/ Developer: This Reading Mama

I never thought about using post-it notes as a sort of scavenger hunt for words! You could use phonetic spelling words and do the same!

Make a Giant Crossword Puzzle 

Website/ Developer: A Mom with a Lesson Plan

I am really starting to see the uses of sidewalk chalk! Make the phonetic spelling as larger as life with this game!

Phonics Jumping Game 

Website/ Developer: Learners in Bloom

Hopscotch with a twist! Jump on the proper phonetic square to sound out the word!

Play Word Rocket 

Website/ Developer: Playdough to Plato

Countdown to success in phonetics and spelling!

Spell with Beads 

Website/ Developer: Frugal Fun 4 Boys

Kids just love doing things with their hands. They also like creating things. Why not make beaded words?

Spell with LEGO Letters 

Website/ Developer: This Reading Mama

I grew up with tubs of Legos. I think most families have a bucket or two around. So why not try this original take on building words, learning sight words, or phonetic spelling?

Spell the Most Words Game 

Website/ Developer: No Time for Flashcards

Have a Connect Four game laying around somewhere? Turn it into a connect phonetic spelling words game!

Spinning Straw Spellers 

Website/ Developer: Still Playing School

It’s never too early to teach phonetics or motor skills!

Build Words with Rocks 

Website/ Developer: Sugar Ants

Kids love rocks. Why not combine phonetic spelling and a rock garden!

Glitter Spelling 

Website/ Developer: Here Come the Girls

Glitter is here to stay! I still have glitter on the floor at my parents’ home from my childhood. So why not find a sparling way to teach phonetic words!

Play Word Bump! 

Website/ Developer: This Reading Mama

This is a game that couple math, phonetics, and sight words. may the odds be forever in your favor!

Roll a Sight Word 

Website/ Developer: I Can Teach My Child

This one is more geared for sight words, but can be adapted to phonetic spelling. The child rolls a dice, and whatever it lands on, they have to spell a word with that many letters. You could do it with phonetic spellings as well!

Making Words 

Website/ Developer: Buggy and Buddy

When I was a kid, we would play a game where we would pull a word from the dictionary and then have so many seconds to write as many words as we could from the letters of that word.  I could see this one adapted to a phonetic spelling game easily! 

Paint your Words 

Website/ Developer: Childhood 101

Paint and words! Why not let your child paint the word /k/-/a/-/t/?

Oversized Letter Cards for Spelling 

Website/ Developer: This Reading Mama

Go big or go home! What better way to capture the interest of your child than by giving them big words to form big skills?

Seek and Find Spelling Game 

Website/ Developer: What Do We Do All Day?

Digging for buried letters is much like digging for buried treasure! 

Rainbow Write Your Words 

Website/ Developer: Nurture Store

What better pot of gold at the end of a rainbow than the gift of phonetic mastery?

Words 3 Ways 

Website/ Developer: Teach Mama

Trace. Copy. Recall. It works on learning sight words; it can surely help on phonetic spelling.

Use Crayon Resist 

Website/ Developer: This Reading Mama

Crayons, watercolors, and words! What better way to learn!

Spell with Pipe Cleaners 

Website/ Developer: Make and Takes

What more fun than making the letters and sounding them out? Making the letters with pipe cleaners, that’s what!

Spell with Your Fingers 

Website/ Developer: Home School Innovation

Trace out the word, now tell me how it is spelled phonetically.

Use Word Sorts 

Website/ Developer: This Reading Mama

One of the biggest problems to going from phonetic spelling to regular spelling is all the silent letters that appear. Well, this game can help with phonetical spelling and the silent problem.

Spell with Cereal 

Website/ Developer: A Mom with a Lesson Plan

Does your kid have a favorite cereal? Then why not let the Honey Nut Cheerios be a spelling tool and a snack?

Finger Tap Spelling 

Website/ Developer: This Reading Mama

I think that this game is uniquely perfect for phonetical spelling. The child taps the sounds and syllables out, then spells the word.

Car Track Delivery Spelling Game 

Website/ Developer: Stay at Home Educator

Boys like cars. And more than cars, they love driving their cars through an imaginary city. Why not let them pick up and deliver the right letters that sound out a word?

Editable Spring Word Games

Website/ Developer: This Reading Mama

Try this fun game that will allow you to edit the board to play five different word games. It would introduce diversity and creativity to your teaching methods. 

Visual Spelling Practice 

Website/ Developer: Home Literacy Blueprint

There are so many children that are visual learners, and sometimes trying to sound it out is a struggle. These are simple games for them.

Roll & Cover Spelling Words 

Website/ Developer: This Reading Mama

Let the child take control of which words they concentrate on by letting them roll dice and spell words that have that many words. Ad a twist and make them spell it phonetically

Make a Spelling Garage 

Website/ Developer: 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Hot-wheels and words, what could be a better way to learn?

Roll and Cover

Website/ Developer: This Reading Mama

Roll and Cover is no prep fraction game that means you can teach mathematical fundamental idea of fraction and dividation using this fun board game. If your students need a bit more fun in the math class, you should try this one out. 

Letter Lacing 

Website/ Developer: Mama Miss

Beads and pipe cleaners, words and phonetics…a fun time for all!

Roll & Write Words 

Website/ Developer: This Reading Mama

Roll the dice and spell the word. This one is very similar to the Roll and Spell that I have mentioned earlier.

Spelling Hangman 

Website/ Developer: Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

Of course, the Hangman is one of the most popular spelling games that I can think about. This is not a digital game rather a physical one that comes with a dry erasing board and a marker. This is the type of games that will let you and your kids jump straight to the fun!

Use a Board Game 

Website/ Developer: Teach Beside Me

This is like a lot of other board games, but the main purpose is to learn to spell. You will need the board, a spelling list, a few game markers, and a dice. There are different challenges in each tile, the participant will have to complete the task assigned in the tiles. One can move to a particular tile by rolling the dice.

Spell with a Word Family Dictionary 

Website/ Developer: Guest post on The Measured Mom

Do you remember the word families that I have mentioned in the previous section? You can practice and learn about the word families with is game. You should definitely try out this one as it focuses on the fundamental phoneme development practices.

Play a Word Stretching Game 

Website/ Developer: Simple Play Ideas

You are probably aware of the stretching games where you will have to put a body part in a specific place. Well, in this game you will have to do the same thing, but you will have to do them based on the word games.

Spelling Word Search Puzzles

Website/ Developer: This Reading Mama

This another puzzle-based word game where you will have to find a particular word based on different clues.

Invented Spelling 

Website/ Developer: 1+1+1=1

This is a smart brain developmental game where a child will try to invent new words based on acronyms. For example, one can make the word “IFAM” from the clue, “I found a Mom!”

The game seems quite intriguing as it challenges a child to become more creative with the thinking style.

Spelling Puzzles 

Website/ Developer: No Time for Flash Cards

This is yet another puzzle game that the kids always love to play. The great thing about this puzzle is that kids can learn a lot just by taking part in it.

Missing Letter Spelling Game 

Website/ Developer: Imagination Soup

The purpose of this game is to fill in the blanks and figure out the complete word. Well, you should know the target of the game as the name of the game already gives away the answer.

Sidewalk Chalk Sight Words Game

Website/ Developer: This Reading Mama

The sight words are a great trick for the kids and the new learners to get the necessary skills to read and speak the English language. If you are interested in teaching sight words to your kids, you should obviously let your kids play this wonderful game. 

Spelling Battleship 

Website/ Developer: Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational

There is one thing for sure kids love ships, and when it comes to the battleships, they become super hyped. So, this game is a wonderful combination of spelling and battleships. Does it sound interesting? Why don’t you take a look in the game and see if your kids love it too?

Beginner Sight Words Letter Match

Website/ Developer: The Tool Box

The last game in my list today is another game based on the sight words. This game does not only focus on sight words but also helps the kids enjoy the matching games. The matching and the learning sight words will develop the cognitive function of the kids by a great margin.

The Written Symbols: The Advanced Lessons on Phonemes

Till now, I have focused on talking about the basic things that you can incorporate to your teaching methods for teaching the young kids about the phonemes and spellings.

But what should you do when the kids have mastered the basic lessons and now ready for the advanced activities?

Well, that’s why I have decided to talk about the advanced lessons.

So, you would be trying to teach the written script of the phonological spelling and the phonemic alphabet.

After a student master learning the written symbols associated with phonemic awareness, your job will be done!

So, let’s start.

The first thing that you should do is to let them know that there is another kind of alphabet in English and we barely use it. This alphabet helps a reader to identify the correct sound of the words.

You might have seen them already. These are the weird little symbol in the dictionaries. Yes, they are extremely helpful as they tell you about the correct sound of a particular word.

If you want your students never to mispronounce a single word in their lives, you should teach them about these symbols.

So, how can you start teaching them?

As you have given them the list of all phonemic symbols, ask them to keep this list with them always, at least during the phonemic lessons.

Let’s just call this list the cheat sheet for perfect pronunciation!

For a clear idea, I would break down the teaching strategies in different sections. Such as –

• Vowels
• Diphthongs
• Digraphs
• Consonant blends and
• Syllables

Vowels

What is the true definition of the vowels?

Well, I am sure you have memorized this definition – “Vowels are the letters in the alphabet that are not consonants!”

Or, some even say that “A, E, I, O, and U are vowels!”

Yes, they are not wrong definitions, but they are not exactly accurate as they can’t give a proper characteristic to the letters.

So, what is the correct definition?

Vowels or vowel sounds are the sounds that we can produce without making the parts of our mouths touching together. You can just produce the sound keeping your mouth completely open.

How many vowels are there?

I know a lot of you are thinking the question to be too easy as there are only 5 vowels, right?

Wrong!

Yes, there are 5 letters to symbolize the vowels in the typical alphabet, but there are a total of 15 pure vowel sounds in English.

But why is that?

Well, some vowel sounds are short (pet) while some of them are long (feet). So, each of the vowel letters has two different vowel sounds based on the duration of the sound.

Here is the simple classification –

1. Long vowels – 5
2. Short vowels – 5
3. Complex or other vowels – 5

The following chart will help you with the vowel sounds –

Long and Short Vowel Sounds
Sl. No.	Vowel-Letters	Vowel Sound Patterns	Vowel Symbols	Examples
1	a	Short	/æ/	cat
2		Long	/eɪ/	cake
3	e	Short	/ɛ/	bed
4		Long	/i/	keep
5	i	Short	/ɪ/	sit
6		Long	/yu/	bike
7	o	Short	/ɑ/	top
8		Long	/oʊ/	home
9	u	Short	/ʌ/	sun
10		Long	/yu/	cute

So, those were the first ten sounds. There are five more, and sometimes they are called complex vowel sounds as they are combinations of two vowel sounds.

Check out the list –

Complex Vowel Sounds
Sl. No.	Sound Names	Sound Symbols	Examples
1	Other u	/ʊ/	Put
2	Oo sound	/u/	Soon
3	Aw sound	/ɔ/	Dog
4	Oi sound	/ɔɪ/	Join
5	Ow sound	/aʊ/	Down

So, there are a total of 15 vowel sounds in the English language, but some linguistic specialists say that there are a12 vowel sounds.

Well, there are different classification systems available, and you can follow any one of them.

Diphthongs

Just clear thing out, the diphthongs are also vowels. Actually, the vowel sounds can be classified into two groups –

• Monophthongs – /ɛ/, /i/, /ɪ/, etc.
• Diphthongs – /aʊ/, /ɔɪ/, /oʊ/, etc.

Can you find out any difference between the monophthongs and diphthongs just by looking at the examples mentioned above?

Well, let me make things easy for you.

The diphthongs have two vowels combining together to make a new vowel sound. You can call them compound vowel sounds too.

The exact definition of the diphthongs would be something like this – when two vowels combine together to make one phoneme in a single syllable, they create a diphthong or a gliding vowel.

Here, look at the following table on the examples of some diphthongs, and you will start to notice them more clearly.

Diphthong Sounds
Sl. No.	Sound Names	Sound Symbols	Examples
1	Ow sound	/aʊ/	Down
2	Oi sound	/ɔɪ/	Join
3	Ou sound or long o	/oʊ/	Home

 

Digraphs

Digraphs are almost like diphthongs. But there is a fundamental difference between them. Diphthongs are always vowel sounds, but the digraphs can be both vowels and consonants.

So, the definition of the digraphs is – when two letters combine together to make a single phoneme, it is called a digraph.  

As per the definition, there can be two kinds of digraphs –

• Vowel digraphs and
• Consonant digraphs

Vowel digraphs are two vowel sounds combined together making a single phoneme. For example, the “ay” sound in the word away is a vowel digraph.

Then, comes the consonant digraphs.

Consonant digraphs are two consonant sounds combined together making a single phoneme. For example, the “sh” sound in the word shark is a consonant digraph.

 Here, take a look at the chart of the digraphs –

Digraph Sounds
Sl. No.	Digraph	Digraph Type	Examples
1	Ch	Consonant	Chair, Choose, Much
2	Th	Consonant	Thing, Think, Thank, Math
3	Ea	Vowel	Wheat, Seat, Beat, Neat
4	Oa	Vowel	Goat, Boat, Float, Oat

 

Consonant Blends

Consonant blend is another neat trick that you should know about. Have you ever noticed a cluster of consonants that always get placed in a particular order producing a similar type of sound?

Didn’t get my question?

Here, can you find any similarity among these words?

“fact, tact, duct, inject, act, project, etc.”

All of the words have the same -ct sound in their finishing part! This is a classic example of the consonant blend.

When two or more consonant sounds combine or blend together to make a unique sound, it is called a consonant blend.

Sometimes the consonant blend is known as a consonant cluster.

 There can be two kinds of consonant blends –

• Initial consonant blend – used in the starting of a word
• Finishing consonant blend – used in the finishing part of a word

Here, check out the following table for a clearer idea –

Consonant Blends
Sl. No.	Consonant Blends	Consonant Blend Type	Examples
1	Bl-	Initial	Blue, bloom, black, bless
2	Cl-	Initial	Clear, clean, class, clue, clam
3	-ct	Finishing	Act, fact, duct, erect, dissect
4	-nd	Finishing	And, rand, brand, hand, sand, land

 

All About Syllables: The Most Important Lesson on Phonemes

If you have read the whole article thoroughly till now, you would have noticed that I have mentioned about the syllable multiple times.

The lessons or the development of phonemic awareness would be incomplete without the knowledge of syllables.

So, what are the syllables?

Syllables are the parts of the complete sound of a word. Basically, two or more syllable join together to make a word. But, any cluster of letters or sounds cannot be called a syllable unless it has a vowel in it.

For example, if you break the word paper into sound groups, you will get pa–per. Both pa and per are syllables.

So, there are two syllables in the word paper, and they are pa and per.

As you can see, all the syllables must have at least one vowel.

One can classify the syllables in many ways. The first type of classification divides the syllables into two groups –

1. Open syllables
2. Closed syllables

If a syllable ends with a vowel, it is called an open syllable. If the syllable ends with a consonant, it would be a closed syllable.

That is the basic difference between the two groups. Check out the following table to understand them better –

Open and Closed Syllables
Sl. No.	Sample word	Syllable breakdown	Type of syllable
1	Apron	Ap-ron	Open
2	Pilot	Pi-lot	Open
3	Seven	Sev-en	Closed
4	Doctor	Doc-tor	Closed

How Many Syllables Are There?

There can be multiple numbers of syllables in a word.

So, the language specialists have classified the words based on the number of syllables.

Basically, the words can be divided into four categories depending on the number of syllables. They are as follows –

1. Mono-syllabic words – Have only one syllable
2. Di-syllabic words – Have two syllables
3. Tri-syllabic words – Have three syllables
4. Poly-syllabic words – Have more than three syllables

As I have giving charts for you to grasp the concepts, I will do it to explain this concept too!

Check it out!

Classification of Words Based on the Number of Syllables
Sl. No.	Sample word	Syllable breakdown	Number of Syllables	Type of word
1	Cat	Cat	1	Monosyllabic
2	Pilot	Pi-lot	2	Disyllabic
3	Magical	Ma-gi-cal	3	Trisyllabic
4	Librarian	Li-bra-ri-an	4	Polysyllabic

 

To master the phonemic awareness, you should practice the concept of syllables as it would help you the most to produce the correct pronunciation every time.

The Final Lesson: Understanding the IPA Chart for Better Phonemic Awareness

 Now comes the fun part and the last thing that I would discuss in this guide – the IPA chart.

Do you remember, I have told you that there are 44 sounds in the English language? The IPA chart has all the sounds in it with respective symbols connected to all the sounds.

And what, you ask, is the IPA chart?

That’s a great question. First, let’s find out what IPA means.

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system with 44 symbols connected to respective sounds. The alphabet system is based on Latin, and it was developed and standardized in the late 19^th century.

The IPA chart is merely the symbols that stand for each sound.

Now, if you were to google IPA Chart, your mind will explode. 

Literally.

You will see breakdowns of what each squiggly is called, what happens when you put this said squiggly with that said squiggly. What you get with the different tongue positions, whether two sounds can be used together. 

Secrets of the universe, and what happens if you cross the streams. (A little Ghostbusters humor there.)

But we don’t have time to learn that, and we would scar a child for life if we introduced the child to that.

So, we will be concentrating on what the symbols sound like.  You can always go back and torture yourself later.

IPA Chart (Consonants)
Phoneme Serial No.	Phonemic Symbol	Graphemes or correspondent letters	Examples
1	/b/	b, bb	Bag, chubby
2	/d/	d, dd, ed	Lad, daddy, drilled
3	/f/	f, ff, ph, gh, lf, ft	Fill, puff, graph, enough, calf, soften
4	/g/	g, gg, gh, gu, gue	Guy, begging, ghoul, guest, dialogue
5	/h/	h, wh	Hole, whom
6	/dʒ/	j, ge, g, dge, di, gg	Joy, sage, giraffe, badge, soldier, exaggerate
7	/k/	k, c, ch, cc, lk, qu, q, ck, x	Kill, cart, chemistry, accent, folklore, bouquet, quiet, sack, tax
8	/l/	l, ll	Lie, small
9	/m/	m, mm, mb, mn, lm	Mine, summer, tomb, column, calm
10	/n/	n, nn,kn, gn, pn	Sun, sunny, know, gnat, pneumonia
11	/p/	p, pp	Sap, sipping
12	/r/	r, rr, wr, rh	Roar, parrot, wreck, rhyme
13	/s/	s, ss, c, sc, ps, st, ce, se	Soil, fuss, circle, science, psych, listen, race, force
14	/t/	t, tt, th, ed	Tin, better, Thomas, flipped
15	/v/	v, f, ph, ve	Vent, of, Stephen, live
16	/w/	w, wh, u, o	Wet, why, quick, noir
17	/z/	z, zz, s, ss, x, ze, se	zed, buzz, his, scissors, xylophone, craze
18	/ʒ/	s, si, z	treasure, division, azure
19	/tʃ/	ch, tch, tu, ti, te	chip, watch, future, action, righteous
20	/ʃ/	sh, ce, s, ci, si, ch, sci, ti	sham, ocean, sure, special, pension, machine, conscience, station
21	/θ/	th	thongs
22	/ð/	th	leather
23	/ŋ/	ng, n, ngue	ring, pink, tongue
24	/j/	y, i, j	you, onion, hallelujah

 

IPA Chart (Vowels)
Phoneme Serial No.	Phonemic Symbol	Graphemes or correspondent letters	Examples
1	/æ/	a, ai, au	cat, plaid, laugh
2	/eɪ/	a, ai, eigh, aigh, ay, er, et, ei, au, a_e, ea, ey	end, bread, bury, friend, said, many, leopard, heifer, aesthetic
3	/e/	e, ea, u, ie, ai, a, eo, ei, ae	end, bread, bury, friend, said, many, leopard, heifer, aesthetic
4	/i:/	e, ee, ea, y, ey, oe, ie, i, ei, eo, ay	be, bee, meat, lady, key, phoenix, grief, ski, deceive, people, quay
5	/ɪ/	i, e, o, u, ui, y, ie	it, england, women, busy, guild, gym, sieve
6	/aɪ/	i, y, igh, ie, uy, ye, ai, is, eigh, i_e	spider, sky, night, pie, guy, stye, aisle, island, height, kite
7	/ɒ/	a, ho, au, aw, ough	swan, honest, maul, slaw, fought
8	/oʊ/	o, oa, o_e, oe, ow, ough, eau, oo, ew	open, moat, bone, toe, sow, dough, beau, brooch, sew
9	/ʊ/	o, oo, u,ou	wolf, look, bush, would
10	/ʌ/	u, o, oo, ou	lug, monkey, blood, double
11	/u:/	o, oo, ew, ue, u_e, oe, ough, ui, oew, ou	who, loon, dew, blue, flute, shoe, through, fruit, manoeuvre, group
12	/ɔɪ/	oi, oy, uoy	join, boy, buoy
13	/aʊ/	ow, ou, ough	now, shout, bough
14	/ə/	a, er, i, ar, our, ur	about, ladder, pencil, dollar, honour, augur
15	/eəʳ/	air, are, ear, ere, eir, ayer	chair, dare, pear, where, their, prayer
16	/ɑ:/	a	arm
17	/ɜ:ʳ/	ir, er, ur, ear, or, our, yr	bird, term, burn, pearl, word, journey, myrtle
18	/ɔ:/	aw, a, or, oor, ore, oar, our, augh, ar, ough, au	paw, ball, fork, poor, fore, board, four, taught, war, bought, sauce
19	/ɪəʳ/	ear, eer, ere, ier	ear, steer, here, tier
20	/ʊəʳ/	ure, our	cure, tourist

Are There More Phonemes?

So, that is the detailed chart with all the 44 phonemes and examples of the phonemes in words. As I have said, the chart was designed in the late 19^th century.

The experts have added even more phonemes in the IPA charts in later days. For example, you go to the official website of IPA, you will see that there are a lot more phonemes than 44.

Currently, there are a total of 107 phonemic letters, 52 diacritics, and 4 prosodics. If you want really learn the advanced materials, you can check out the website.

Final Words

So, this was my guide on phonemic awareness. Please let me know your thoughts and if you have any question in your mind, just post it down in the comment section. I will get back to you and try my best to answer your questions.

If you can master the phonemic awareness, you will be able to pronounce every single word in the English language flawlessly. Believe it or not, it would be an exceptional skill to master. So, what are you waiting for? Start your practice sessions right away.

Don’t forget to check out the vocabulary quiz online in SpellQuiz. You can develop your phonemic awareness a lot faster with the spelling practice materials that we have here.