SPELLING FAIR FULL DOC`S ========================== TYPED BY SHARD 03-11-93 CONTENTS ======== Introduction Instructions Loading Spelling Fair Using the Main Menu The Quick Key Menu User Options Screen The Games Coconut Shy Test Your Strength Mechanical Grab Haunted House Circus Word Word Juggle Using the Word Dictionary and Spelling List Editor The Word Dictionary Creating a New Word Bank Editing an Existing Word Bank Using your own Word Banks The Spelling List Editor Reporting and Testing Childrens Progress Reporting Progress Testing Progress Data Structure The Special Word Set Spelling Fair and National Curriculum Spelling Rules and Lists Credits INTRODUCTION ============ Welcome to Fun School Spelling Fair, a brand new educational package from the makers of the highly successful Fun School series. Spelling Fair has been carefully designed to help children aged seven and over to perfect their spelling while, at the same time, having fun playing any of six games. Spelling Fair is crammed with a huge collection of over 4,000 words. Many of these have been isolated by educationalists as words which children (and even adults) commonly misspell It contains six colourful and stimulating games each of which will encourage children to spell words correctly. In addition to this, by using Spelling Fair`s unique Word and Dictionary Editors, the package can be tailored to the particular needs of each user. Children`s progress can also be monitored. Spelling Fair contains a report facility from which parents and teachers can examine how children are progressing. From this facility a permanent record of their progress can be printed. The package also contains what we believe to be a unique facility: the option to load in a special data bank which has been specifically designed for children who are dyslexics or who have similar mild learning difficulties. Whether children find the spelling of an occasional word difficult or whether they find spelling an arduous task, Spelling Fair will turn the chore of learning new or difficult words into a pleasure. The six games which are included in Spelling Fair will fascinate, entertain and most importantly, educate your children. Each of the programs has been designed to be as simple as possible to load and use. They can be loaded from the colourful Main Menu Screen using the mouse or from an Options Screen using the keyboard. The majority of the programs are controlled using simple mouse actions. Despite this simplicity, it is important that, when each game is first used, younger children receive assistance and supervision. This will greatly reduce the possibility of frustration later on. Each game, when first loaded, will begin at the lowest level of difficulty. By pressing F10 games can be moved to the next level of difficulty. To leave any program in this package, press Escape. These easy-to-use methods for changing levels and leaving each of the programs will allow children to switch between games without help playing each one for as long as they wish. Children of any age have widely differing abilities. Spelling Fair has been designed to appeal to as wide an ability and age range as possible. On the lowest levels, these programs should be able to be used quite comfortably by seven year old children. While on the highest levels, they may still prove taxing to some eleven year olds. INSTRUCTIONS ============ Loading Spelling Fair --------------------- Amiga Users If you have a single disc drive insert disc 1 into the drive and turn on your computer. After a few seconds you will see a part of Spelling Fair`s scrolling Main Menu. As you use the package you will, on occasion, be prompted to change discs. If you own two disc drives insert disc 1 into the internal drive and disc 2 into any external drive. Turn on the computer and after a few seconds you will see a part of Spelling Fairs scrolling Main Menu. PC Users Make sure that the computer is turned on and running from within DOS. Insert disc A into drive A and type A: then press Enter. At the A> prompt type spell and press Enter. After a few seconds you will see a part of Spelling Fair`s scrolling Main Menu. To install Spelling Fair on your hard drive simply type install from the A> prompt and press Enter. Follow the instructions given carefully. Commodore 64 Users Please note, The manual refers to moving the pointer with a mouse. On your machine you move the pointer with either a joystick in port 1, or using the following keys. O,P for left and right and Q,A for up and down. "To click" press the fire buttons or the return key as appropriate. Switch the machine on and insert cassette 1 into the cassette deck. Press the keys Shift and RunStop simultaneously. It will ask you to press play on the cassette deck. Once play has been pressed the program will load and run automatically. All of the programs are stored sequentially on the cassette. There are certain restrictions on the Commodore 64 version. The reason for this is the way the cassette system works. On a disc system any file can be accessed at any time, on a cassette system you must first find out where the file is on the tape. Because of this and to simplify its operation for younger computer users we have elected to have two cassettes. One for data files and one for the main programs. Again to simplify use we have removed the Spelling List Editor, instead Commodore 64 users should use the Word Dictionary which has all of the features of the Spelling List Editor. There is no menu page on the Commodore 64 version. All options that the menu page gives you have been incorporated into individual programs, such as boy/girl selection and ability to load in word files. Word files are stored on a separate cassette. When prompted by individual programs you should insert the data cassette and follow instructions. You may wish to store word files on your own cassette. This can be done from the Word Dictionary. To use the files you have created in the games, you insert your own cassette when the data cassette is requested. Using the Main Menu A short while after loading you will see a part of Spelling Fair`s scrolling menu. On the left is Arnie. Arnie will help you play the games included in this package. (If you prefer, you can play these games with Arnie`s friend Zoe. Instructions on how to do this are given below). In the centre of the screen are two large arrows. By taking the mouse pointer to either of these arrows and holding down the left button you can move Arnie around Spelling Fairs Main Menu Screen and load the games. Alternatively, you can move Arnie by pressing the left and right arrow keys on the keyboard. To load a game, Arnie must be placed immediately in front of one of the fairground side- shows. Games can be loaded by clicking on the side show or by pressing Return or Enter on the keyboard. Once you have done this, you will be asked to confirm your choice. Click on Yes (or tap Y on the keyboard) to load a game. If you have changed your mind click on No (or tap N) and Arnie will remain within the Main Menu Screen. The side shows and their related games (from left to right across the screen) are as follows: Coconut Shy (the striped tent far left) Test Your Strength (machine with gong) Mechanical Grab (arcade type machine) Haunted House (derelict house) Circus Word (canon) Word Juggle (final striped tent) The Word Dictionary and Spelling List Editors are special utilities which allow you to tailor some programs to your own needs. They can be loaded from icons which appear above the Circus Word cannon The Quick Key Menu An alternative method of loading the games, Word Dictionary and Spelling List Editors is to use the Quick Key Menu. To enter this, press F2 (C64 users press F3). You can then load any of the programs by pressing the relevant letter on this menu on your keyboard. The Quick Key Menu can also be used to: show a report of children`s current progress (a facility also exists for printing out these progress reports), and, by pressing J you can set various user options User Options Screen The User Options Menu can be seen by pressing F2 to enter the Quick Key Menu followed by J. This menu offers a number of options which can be set by parents and teachers. To alter any of the settings take the mouse pointer to the relevant line and click on the left button. The options are as follows: Boy or girl When Spelling Fair first loads you can play the games with Arnie. You will see him on the main scrolling menu screen as well as within all of the programs which are loaded. If you click on this line from the User Option Screen, Arnie will be replaced by his female counterpart, Zoe. Now, instead of playing each of the games with Arnie, you will be able to play them with Zoe Password You can use this function to prevent children from accessing the User Option Screen. To enter a password click on this row. You will be asked to type in the name for the password. This will now appear on the second option row. Each time that you now attempt to enter the User Option Screen you must first enter this password. To remove the password facility, you should click again on this option and delete the password. Help allowed Each program in this package has a help facility which can be called up by pressing Help (Amiga), F3 (C64), or F1 (PC) while playing a game. To disable this function, click on the third row. Menu music Clicking on this row turns the menu music on or off. Use word bank Spelling Fair contains 20 main word banks. Each of these contains 150 words along with their definitions. These word banks are used in Coconut Shy, Circus Word and Word Juggle. When you first enter any game. The default word bank is loaded along with the game. When Spelling Fair first loads, Bank 1 is loaded as the default bank. If you click on this line with either mouse button you can alter the bank which is loaded by default. You should note that Banks 1 and 2 each contain simple words for use by beginners. Reset reporting information Clicking on this function resets all of the information contained within Spelling Fairs report section. This facility is particularly useful if two or more children use the package in a single session. Special needs bank A special data set has been produced for use with Mechanical Grab. This set has been designed for children with dyslexia or other similar learning difficulties and is described later in this manual. To make this set available, click on this row. Date If you would like reports to contain today`s date, this can be entered by clicking on the final row. Type in the date in which ever format you prefer. This will now appear on the report screen and any print-outs. This facility may be especially useful if you want to store printed reports and monitor your children`s progress over a period of time. THE GAMES ========= If you need assistance within any of these games, press the Help key (Amiga), F3 (C64), or F1 (PC) on your keyboard. You will then be given a useful hint. Each game can be played at three levels of difficulty. To change between these levels, press F10 (Amiga/PC) or F1 C64. Coconut Shy Arnie has decided to try his luck on the Coconut Shy. As he approaches the stall, he sees that all of the coconuts have letters on them. Hidden amongst these letters is a correctly spelt word. In order to find the word Arnie must knock out the letters which he doesn`t need. At the bottom of the screen is a definition of the hidden word. To remove an unwanted letter take the mouse pointer to the coconut on which that letter is printed and click on the left button. Arnie will pick up a ball and throw it at the coconut. If you are right it will fall down If you are wrong the ball will bounce back towards Arnie. On Level One, you have to remove two unwanted letters. These might both be on the left of the correct word, on the right of the word or one may appear either side of the word. On Level Two there are also two unwanted letters. One letter on one of the ends and one in the middle of the word. Each word on Level Three contains up to three unwanted letters. As in Level two these may appear anywhere amongst the row of coconuts. Test Your Strength Test Your Strength is a game which deals with plurals. Arnie and his pals have found a side- show where a strongman is showing the audience just how strong he is. There is, however a problem. Our strongman can make the bell ring on only one of the machines. Can you help him find out which one that is? On the bottom of the screen is a question. This question asks you to find the plural of a particular word. Each of the machines carries one alternative spelling of the plural of that particular word. Decide which one you think is correct. Take the mouse pointer to this word and click on the left button. The strongman will try that machine if you`re right, you will ring the bell. Mechanical Grab Arnie loves Mechanical Grab machines (so does Zoe). This time, he`s found a mechanical grab machine with a difference. In this machine you have to grab hold of a group of letters to complete the word on the platform. To control the "grabber" take the mouse pointer to the arrows at the bottom left of the screen. By clicking on either of these you can move the grabber to the right and left. When it is above the part of the word which you think is correct, click on the word GRAB. If you`re right, Arnie will be rewarded with a chocolate clown. If you`re wrong, the section of the word will be returned to where it came from. On Level One you should look for the endings of words (suffixes). On Level Two you should look for the beginnings of words (prefixes) On Level Three you should find the letters which go into the middle of words There is a special data set which can be used in this program that has been designed for children with dyslexia and similar learning difficulties. This is designed to help them locate spelling errors which some children in these categories commonly make. This set can be loaded into the program from the Option Screen. Details on how to do this are given earlier in the manual Haunted House Haunted House is a program which deals with similar sounding words (homophones) Arnie is queuing up to enter the Haunted House. In front of him are a few of his friends. They can only get into this spooky mansion if you are able to help them to complete some sentences with the correct words. You will see a sentence on the screen. This contains a gap (there are two gaps on Level Three). As you move the mouse pointer over a gap some alternative spellings of the missing word will appear on the screen. One of these words is correct and must be entered into the sentence. To do this click on the left mouse button while the pointer is over this gap. Now type in the correct word using the keyboard and the press Enter or Return. If you should make a mistake you must click on the gap again before typing in the correct word. Circus Word Circus Word is a crossword game. In the centre of the screen is a crossword grid. As you move the mouse pointer to the initial letter of a word within the grid, the word becomes highlighted and a clue (definition) to the word appears at the bottom of the screen. To enter a word, press the left hand mouse button while the word`s position in the grid is highlighted. Now type the missing word in from the keyboard and press Enter or Return (You must type in the whole word and not just the missing letters). When you have completed a crossword sit back and enjoy the human cannonball show! Word Juggle Roll up! Roll up! Enter the circus tent to watch those clowns and their amazing juggling act But what`s wrong? Why are they so sad? The clowns are sad because they have to spell a word correctly before they can start their act and the letters of that word are in the wrong order and must be swapped around Look at the definition on the bottom of the screen. Now look at the letters. Can you decide which word is made up of those letters as described by the clue. Once you have decided which letters need to be juggled around you can move them around You can swap the positions of any two letters. To do this, click on one of the letters (it will change colour) and then the other letter. Their positions will be swapped around. You may need to do this more than once to spell the word correctly. Once the correct word is on the screen take the mouse pointer down to the box which holds the definition at the bottom of the screen. This definition will be replaced by the word Finished. Click on the bar to confirm that you think the word is correct. If you are, the clowns can start their juggling act. USING THE WORD DICTIONARY AND SPELLING LIST EDITOR ================================================== Both the Word Dictionary and the Spelling List Editor have been designed to allow parents and teachers to customise Spelling Fair for their children`s use. The Word Dictionary The Word Dictionary allows you to load and edit one of the 20 word banks or create your own new word banks. (These banks are used in Coconut Shy, Circus Word and Word Juggle). To load the Word Dictionary, place Arnie below the dictionary (which is represented by a large blue book) and click on the book or press Enter or Return. (Alternatively, press F2 followed by G.) After a few seconds. you will see the Word Dictionary`s menu screen. This menu gives the option to load or save a word bank (file) or edit a word bank. Before you can edit a word bank you must first load it. Once you have selected Load File, you will be prompted to select which one of the 20 files to load. You can also look a any data banks which you have created and saved. To load and edit an existing file click on its name ("Word file 1" and so on). To load a bank which you have either previously edited or created, click on View User Banks. You will then be presented with a list of the files created or edited by you (these are numbered in the order of editing). This menu also allows you to return to the main list of data banks. To do this, click on View Default Banks. Creating a new word bank After selecting the Word Dictionary from the Main Menu, click on Edit File (do not select Load File). You will be presented with a screen in which you can enter words and their definitions as you wish them to appear in the games. This screen is divided into four main sections. Into each of these can be entered any word along with its definition. (Words are entered on the top line of each window, definitions on the second line. Each line in which a definition can appear is initially labelled "No Clue".) To enter a word and its definition into the first window, click anywhere within the top half of this window. Using the keyboard, you can now enter the word. Press Enter or return (or mouse click on the second line) and enter the word`s definition. To place the cursor in the second word, press Enter or Return again or click on this window. You can now repeat this process until you have typed in all of the words and definitions which you wish to use in Spelling Fair. After you have entered four words and their definitions you can write into the next four windows by either pressing Enter or Return or by clicking on the down arrow in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. You can view any part of your new word bank at any time by clicking on the on-screen arrows which will allow you to scroll backwards and forwards through your list. To change any of the entries simply click on the window containing the word or definition which you would like to amend. You can use the backspace or delete keys to remove letters or words. To save your new file, you should first press Escape to return to the Word Dictionary Menu Screen (you cannot do this while a Cursor is active in one of the windows, if you find that pressing Escape does not return the program to the Menu Screen, click on either of the arrows and then press Escape again). From the Menu Screen click on Save File and then select New File. Editing an existing word bank The Word Dictionary Editor will allow you to not only edit files which you have created but, also to alter any of the 20 files which were specifically created for this package. To do this, first load a file. You can now edit it as described above. When you save the file it will be given the next available User File number unless you opt to over-write an existing User File. You cannot over write any of the word banks created for this package. Using your own word banks After you have saved a new word bank, it will become the file which is used inside the three programs which use word banks. If you leave and later re-load the package, the Word Bank 1 is always loaded as the default bank. To load your own bank (or any other created for use in Spelling Fair) you must change the Word Bank Setting from Spelling Fair`s Options Screen. To do this first ensure that the program is showing the main scrolling menu (of the fairground side-shows), press F2 and then press J. You can now change the Word Bank by clicking on the fifth line of the Option Screen until you see the name of the bank which you wish to use. You should then press Escape to return to the main scrolling menu. The Spelling List Editor The Spelling List Editor allows you to rapidly enter a list of words which will be used in three of the programs. These will be presented without definitions. This function is especially useful if you should wish to revise a particular group of words which some find difficult to spell or to use the programs to study a particular spelling list. You can use the Speeling List Editor to enter between one and 150 words. To enter the Spelling List Editor, position Arnie under the poster headed "Spelling List" in the Main Menu (this is to the right of Haunted House and the Word Dictionary Editor) and click on the Spelling List poster. From the Spelling List screen, enter each of the words as you wish them to appear in the programs pressing Enter Or Return between each word. When you have finished entering your list, you can look at it and check it by clicking on the on screen arrows. If you wish to alter any entry, click on the word. You can delete characters using either the backspace or delete keys and enter other letters from the keyboard. When you have finished, press Escape. After you have confirmed your choice, the program will return to the Main Menu. If you now select Coconut Shy or Word Juggle the words entered in your list will be used in the games but will be presented without definitions. (Note: if you want your own words to be presented with definitions then you must enter them from the Word Dictionary Editor. Alternatively they can be read into the Word Dictionary Editor and definitions can be added). To turn off the word list and use either a default or user bank within the games, press F2 followed by J and click on the fifth line of the Options Menu until you see the bank that you wish to use. REPORTING AND TESTING CHILDRENS PROGRESS ======================================== Reporting Progress Spelling Fair has a comprehensive reporting facility. Using this, parents and teachers will be able to monitor children's progress as they use this package. From within any of the programs a simplified report screen showing a child's current progress can be seen by pressing F2. A more detailed report screen can be seen by pressing F2 from the Main Menu (to enter the Quick Key Menu) followed by I. This table shows the number of questions attempted, the number correctly answered, the number of times that the help facility was called up and the number of questions which were correctly answered after calling up this facility. A percentage score is given for each game along with an overall total for the whole package. Because of the space available on the screen, the names of the individual games have been abbreviated: Nts: Coconut Shy Grb: Mechanical Grab Jgl: Word Juggle Xwd: Circus Word Hnt: Haunted House Tst: Test Your Strength If you have an Epson compatible printer you can print out a permanent record of your children`s progress. To do this ensure that your printer is on line and loaded with paper, then press F3 on the keyboard. Testing Progress By monitoring children`s progress as they use Spelling Fair, you will be able to see how their spelling abilities are improving. With a package as diverse as this, it is often difficult to discover how children are progressing compared to their chronological age. At the end of this manual are five tables of words. These each show 100 representative words which children of ages 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 should be able to spell. In order to assess whether your children`s spelling abilities are in step with their chronohogical ages, you may wish to use these words as either the basis of simple spelling tests or incorporate them into the programs using the Word Dictionary or Spelling List Editor. DATA STRUCTURE ============== At the core of Spelling Fair`s data is a group of 20 data banks which are used in Coconut Shy, Circus Word and Word juggle. These each contain 150 words along with their definitions. The words were carefully selected from lists of commonly mis-spelt words and many were chosen as representative of common spelling rules (see below) When Spelling Fair is loaded, the program will access the first of these banks. The words in this bank, along with those in Bank 2 represent a selection of simple, short, words which may be appropriare to use with younger children. The remaining banks contain a random mixture of words. These banks can be altered and saved as User created files using the Word Dictionary Editor. In this way, each of the Main Data Banks can be tailored for children's individual needs. Special sets of data are used in Test Your Strength, Mechanical Grab and Haunted House which are specific to each of these programs. These include a special data set for dyslexics and children with similar learning difficulties which can be used in Mechanical Grab. The Special Word Set To use this data set, press F2 followed by J and then click on the words "Special Needs Bank". This will activate the data set which will now become active when you select Mechanical Grab The words (and the mistakes covered) in this data set include some of those which children with dyslexia and those who experience above average problems with their spelling often find difficult to spell. In producing this set, eight main "problem" spelling patterns were isolated: 1. ck The spelling ck is often confused with similar sounds including c, k and ke. Some children transpose these letters to ke. 2 ch and tch These combinations of letter may often be confused. We might see match being mis-spelt as mach, some children over compensate for an apparent "lack" of letters spelling a word such as chat as tchat. 3 a/e. Transposing these two letters is a very common error, especially when they occur next to one another. For example, hear may become haer and appear may be written as appaer. 4. i/e Transpositions of these letters are probably more common than the a/e errors. Again, mistakes occur most frequently when the letters appear next to each other. 5. Silent Letters There are many words which fall into this category which are often mis- spelt. Most frequently, the silent letter is ignored. Colour is often spelt color, scenery may appear as senery. Sometimes children realise that a letter is missing and compensate for this with some rather odd spellings such as cowler and seanery. 6. ee/ea These combinations of letters are frequently confused. Peace is often seen as peece, sleet could be presented as sleat or even slete. 7. le A common error occurs in mis-using the ending le. This ending may be replaced by el, al, lle as well as other endings. For example, the word angle might appear as angel, angal, anglle and in other forms. 8. er sounds The sounds made by the letters er, or, our, ar and ur are very similar and often confused. SPELLING FAIR AND THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM ========================================= The importance of good spelling is inherent throughout the National Curriculum as well as current educational philosophies in general. From 1992 for example, spelling was taken into account in the marking of the majority of GCSE examination papers, not just English Language. The ability to spell is not only an important educational skill but it is a vital skill for life. The National Curriculum in English is divided into five attainment targets. One of these (attainment target 4) deals with spelling. The data presented in Spelling Fair will help to equip children to achieve a high standard within this attainment target at key Stages 2 (ages 7-11) and 3 (ages 11-14) SPELLING RULES AND LISTS ======================== The English language contains many words. Some of these can be grouped together into sets and because of this apparent "spelling rules" seem to evolve. There are far too many such "rules" to cover in a brief computer software manual. Below, are some of the most commonly quoted rules which between them cover a large number of words in the language. If you wish to examine more specific rules, it is suggested that you read one of the many spelling guides which are available from most book shops. Rules 1 to 6: General Rules (These can be practised by using any of the programs which use the Main Data Banks. These are Circus Word and Word juggle). 1. Long and short vowels Some words (such as tap, hit, hop and shut) contain short vowels. In each of these words, the vowel is followed by a consonant and there is no e at the end of the word. When ing or ed are added to these words, the final letter is doubled (tapped. hitting, hopped and shutting). Some words (such as tape, glide, hope and salute) contain long vowels. In such words, the vowel sound is made long by the e at the end of the word. When ing or ed are added to these words, the e is lost and extra letters are not added (taping, gliding, hoped and saluted). When you are forming words which end in ed or ing think about the vowel sounds. This will tell you whether or not to double the last letter. 2. ie and ei Many words contain the letters i and e next to each other. Numerous spelling errors arise because people are not sure which way around these letters should be placed. The order usually depends upon the sounds that these letters make. A well known rule states: i before e except after c. This rule is true when the vowel sound is a long "ee" such as in thief, piece, grief, field, receive, conceit, and deceived. There are some exceptions to this such as in seize and wierd. In some words, the letters ie make a long i sound. The rule i before e also applies to such words. For example: defied. replies. unties and relied. When the letters make an ay sound (as in hay), the e goes before the i as in: weigh, neighbour and eight. The e also comes before the i when the letters make some other sounds such as forfeit, leisure, and foreign. Sometimes, the combination of ie and c make a sh sound. When this happens the i comes before e even though it is after c. For example: deficient, ancient, and proficient. 3. Words ending in y. Problems sometimes arise with words which end in y when they are turned into new words by adding letters such as ed, s or ing to them. Here are some rules regarding forming such words: a. When you add s to a word that ends in y, the y is usually replaced by ie: fly, flies: apply, applies: diary, diaries. b. When you add ed to a word that ends in y, the y is often changed to an i: fry, fried: apply, applied: vary, varied. c. There are exceptions to (a) and (b). If the letter before the y is a vowel you should not change the y: valley, valleys: monkey, monkeys: guy, guys: destroy, destroyed: sway, swayed. (Three words do not obey this rule: lay, laid: pay, paid: say, said) d. When you add ing to a word ending in o, the y does not change: apply, applying: fry, frying: say, saying 4. The spelling of adjectives Generally, to turn a noun (naming word) into an adjective (describing word), we simply add ful. The most common mistake in spelling these words is to use full instead of ful For example: careful, dreadful, faithful, hopeful and tearful are all correctly spelt adjectives When you add ful to a word ending in y, you must change the y to an i: beauty, beautiful: duty, dutiful; mercy, merciful. 5. The spelling of adverbs You can turn an adjective (a word which describes something or someone) into an adverb (a word which describes an action) by adding ly. For most words, doing this is enough, for example: badly, sadly, slowly, nicely, carefully, hopefully, tearfully There are some words which have to be treated differently: For words ending: le remove the e and then add y: double, doubly: idle, idly: single, singly. For words ending in y, change the y to i and then add ly: happy, happily: angry, angrily; funny, funnily. 6. Words ending in er, ar, or and our Many words end in er. The endings of some words may sound the same as er, but the spelling of the ending may be ar, or or our. There are no hard and fast rules about the spelings of these words, they simply have to be remembered. Here are some of the most commonly used words with each ending. As many er and or words refer to people or the jobs that they do, these are listed separately. Some common er words: after alter altogether another bitter chapter clever conquer corner cover deliver discover drawer Easter either enter ever father gather however ladder laughter letter linger mother neither other over quarter rather register remainder rubber ruler September shower suffer summer surrender upper utter weather winter wither People and jobs; er words: adviser builder commuter customer driver employer explorer farmer gardener grocer lawyer master member messenger miner minister officer partner passenger plumber prisoner ruler soldier stranger teacher waiter worker writer People and jobs: or words: actor ancestor author bachelor conductor creator doctor emperor governor impostor instructor inventor mayor operator sailor senator solicitor surveyor tailor traitor tutor vendor visitor warrior Other common or words: anchor corridor error exterior indicator inferior interior junior mirror motor radiator razor reactor senior superior terror Common ar words: altar beggar burglar calendar cellar cigar circular familiar grammar liar particular peculiar regular similar singular vinegar Common our words: armour behaviour colour endeavour favour flavour harbour honour humour neighbour rumour vapour Rule 7: forming Plurals These rules can be practised in Test Your Strength. Here are some of the rules for forming plurals of words: a. Most plurals are formed by simply adding an s to a word: chairs, cats, dogs, houses, rivers. b. When a word ends with s, sh, x, o or ch: add es, for example: boss, bosses: dish, dishes; box, boxes: potato, potatoes. There are some exceptions to this rule: When a word ends in a vowel plus o just add s, for example: videos, ratios. Some other words which end in an o are turned into plurals by just adding s: photos, pianos, solos c. For most words which end in f change the f to ves: half, halves; loaf, loaves. There are some exceptions to this rule: To some words ending in f just add s; gulfs, roofs, chiefs, beliefs d. For most words ending in y, this letter is replaced by ies: fly, flies: sky, skies. Again, there are exceptions to the rule. When a word ends in a vowel plus y just add s: guys, runways, monkeys. Some words do not conform to any of these rules. These include: Words which are taken from other languages, for example: terminus, termini: bureau, bureaux; basis, bases. Words which change their form when they become plural, for example: woman, women: ox, oxen; mouse, mice. Words which are the same as a singular or plural word: sheep, deer, salmon Some words have no singular and can only exist in the plural, for example: trousers, shorts, scissors. Some nouns are made up of several words. Only the main word changes when forming the plural: brothers in law (not brother in-laws), passers-by, bye laws, men of war (warships). Rule 8: Homophones (Similar-sounding words) (These rules can be practised in Haunted House) Similar sounding words are called homophones. Many spelling errors arise due to using the wrong homophone. The spellings of different homophones have to be learnt. To help you do this, there are three lists below. Lists (a) and (b) contain the most commonly confused homophones. Those in list (a) you will encounter on numerous occasions in Level One of Haunted House. You will also frequently come across the words in list (b) within the program. The words in list (c) are often confused. You`ll find many of these words as you play Haunted House. List (a) here (this place) here (sounds) its (belonging to) it`s (it is) right (direction) write (pen) there (that place) their (belonging to) they`re (they are) too (also, excessive) two (number) to (until, etc.) through (moved) threw (slung) where (location) wear (clothing) witch (Halloween) which (question) whose (possession) who`s (who is) List (b) ate (eaten) eight (number) buy (purchase) by (passed) bye (so long!) four (number) for (places, people) he`ll (he will) heal (improve) heel (foot) passed (travelled) past (times gone by) three (number) free (not caged) waist (above the hips) waste (rubbish) weather (snow etc ) whether (alternative) wheel (cars, bikes) we`ll (we will) List (c) allowed (permitted) aloud (noisy) alms (charity) arms (limbs) bald (hairless) bawled (shouted) border (edge) boarder (guest) blue (colour) blew (wind) boy (a lad) buoy (guide at sea) bridle (of a horse) bridal (of a bride) ceiling (roof) sealing (closing) cellar (place) seller (person) cheque (money) check (look over) clause (section) claws (of animals) compliment (praise) complement (amount) conquer (defeat) conker (nut) foul (horrid) fowl (a bird) hair (of the head) hare (animal) hanger (clothes) hangar (aircraft) hole (a gap) whole (complete) humorous (funny) humerus (a bone) liable (likely) libel (lies) lightning (storm) lightening (bright) night (after day) knight (a warrior) medal (award) meddle (interfere) miner (one who mines) minor (lesser, younger) muscle (movement) mussel (shellfish) naval (of the Navy) navel (stomach) pale (light colour) pail (a bucket) personal (private) personnel (people) plain (simple) plane (aircraft) principal (chief) principle (origin) rain (weather) rein (lead) scene (views: plays) seen (looked) sent (despatched) scent (perfume) serial (of a series) cereal (grain) so (that) sow (seeds) son (offspring) Sun (a star) stationary (static) stationery (paper) story (a tale) storey (of buildings) told (informed) tolled (rang) wait (delay) weight (heaviness) Sample spelling lists Table 1: 100 representative words which 7 year-olds should be able to spell man get run can bud pin pet top ill fill rag shut rub tub dust sit bit pen open fog pig look men mill cook trap still all ball fall small egg when sing good send king mend thing foot boot lend them call tall gold bold calling him his see tree been box try name dish fish game about ink drink read sea rich put pull clean part soft hand song long jam stand jar nest best say day ship help play rest saw snow blow grow happy sunny making summer mother brother father fast sold house mouse year Table 2: 100 representative words which 8 year-olds should be able to spell lamp rent camp spin swing skip plan clock stick blunt block seed hang brick band pond fond crush thank cave wave smell shell drive driver hood hunt baker spoon meet sheet awake named date free pine chase creep asleep painting waiting cost fog life grand push herself place itself body fold mind strap children another swim storm window broom garden bedroom barn bless beat farmer fear glass flower bunch pink feast nail blame shame ready third died pair right bright forget upstairs inside sharp walked talked asked opening key even tomorrow dropping skipping place biggest nothing sound bound puppy playground Table 3: 100 representative words which 9 year olds should be able to spell team stream scream shave Monday playing saying upper sudden globe obtain moment rainbow noise soil light fright pocket money robber ladder bottom rabbit wear princess crowd wheat drawing grape remain monkey monkeys donkey donkeys prison polite arrow narrow shallow snake drank hungry March April May something sometime anybody Thursday Monday Sunday thumb crumb shelter frosty stormy cottage shower tower towel brain pudding September December everyone tender cradle infant hammer cheese geese brighter brightest smiling darkness illness writing Christmas yesterday glasses afterwards price pepper dwell dishes pretend hundred twelve twenty knife snail building fasten history glory swimming slipped axe arch touch Table 4: 100 representative words which 10 year-olds should be able to spell manage package postage police forty property conduct silence advantage remarkable purple furnish Saturday orchard coward kitchen enjoyed perfect tease often hasten listen hotel camel favourite castle women stare whisper contain captain Britian fountain certain extra paddle meddle fortnight midnight county country Scotland England Wales lately safely linger laughter likeness adventure important ashamed evening equator village cabbage brought bought across among dangerous stumble protect monster tremble discover distinct razor dislike question potatoes tomato thread measure treasure groan prettier drowned season reason petrol guest relate restore herd remember memory exchange carrying picnic division giant seldom aunt saucer clumsy arithmetic losing pony navy Table 5: 100 representative words which 11 year-olds should be able to spell address regret lawyer gardener passenger approach allowed clown refer confuse consider convict describe pastime inhabit splendid insist dismiss invent gradual wonderful equally really Atlantic America squeeze yawn pickle knuckle climate entitle measles Auslralia fraction direction reduction protection addition lantern terrible horrible possible puzzle northern southern shepherd district singular vinegar calendar handsome mistress election electricity musical refrain bargain waist secure exactly exercise buried progress promote process grammar burglar chimney represent evident frequent attempt invitation labour accept according population construct explore confirm consume height neighbour department government observation meanness cupboard naturally weariness annual cough abundant laundry sentence moisture anxious successful material abrupt HAVE FUN GUYS AND REMEMBER ITS ALL FOR FUN aLL DoNE By SHaRD/N&B