the word and turn it over. The first one to turn over all
the words and read them out to the teacher wins. There
are also all sorts of pattern games in which single words
are strung together (with the last letter of one making
the first letter of the next) into a pattern. There are ver-
sions of the time-honoured game of ‘hangman’ or there
is pelmanism with pairs of word cards. There are also, of
course, all sorts of ways of playing with people’s initials.
All these word games help to develop children’s confi-
dence in language because they begin to feel that they
have power over words.
Pupils who find spelling a bit of a mystery will be helped
by having words on a particular subject grouped in this
way. They may also find the arrangement into three dif-
ferent levels of difficulty sets them a useful target – or at
least stimulates a bit of competitive endeavour! They
can enjoy making up spelling tricks by which to remem-
ber the more difficult words and then swapping them
with each other. It is important that they can return to the
words that they have learnt to spell and know where to
find them. The fact that they are here, offered in clear
and manageable lists, is reassuring to those children, for
whom words seem to move around in a sort of impene-
trable jungle, setting unexpected traps for the unwary
traveller. It is hoped that these lists will provide paths
through that jungle, offering those who use them the
confidence to enjoy further exploration.
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