WORD BANK LISTS -TEACHER’S NOTES
Words are fun. Both those that are familiar, and those
which are completely new, can lead one on a trail forward
to new ideas or backwards to the half remembered past.
In order to help pupils clarify and express their thoughts in
writing, the National Literacy Association, in partnership
with Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc., has put together
over one hundred lists of words grouped together into
subjects. These subjects range from simple things such
as About me or Food to topics such as Energy or The
Romans, which are prescribed in the National Literacy
Strategy. When choosing the words, we looked first at the
National Curriculum subject areas and the sorts of words
and topics children would require for each. We also
looked at the requirements of the National Literacy
Strategy and the vocabulary that children are required to
know to meet the Strategy’s aims. Most importantly, we
tried to think of the sorts of subjects and words which chil-
dren themselves would choose – and indeed consulted
children wherever possible.
Each subject is divided into three lists grouped accord-
ing to level: Basic, Super, Challenge. Basic contains
common words which, for the most part, present no par-
ticular spelling difficulties and which are conceptually
simple; Super consists of more difficult words, the sorts
of words which children often spell incorrectly, or which
embrace a more complex concept; and finally Challenge
a ‘higher’ level list offering words which are more compli-
cated both in structure and meaning. The level of difficul-
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