Spelling
it Right

puzzles 12
Playing
word games
helps create
an interest
in words
and their
spellings


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    Word Chain - a pencil and paper word game

    The idea is to create a word chain in which the last two
    letters of a word form the first two letters of the next.
    Like this:
    metal>>almost>>stone>>nest>>stare>>reverse>>seat>>
    ...and so on.

    Word chains help students with their spelling because they
    encourage them to recognize possible letter combinations.

    You score 2 points for each letter used
    If you have to find a word from a dictionary
    you only score 1 point for each letter.
    You can challenge the previous player if you think he can't
    follow his own word. If you make a successful challenge,
    your opponent loses the score for that word and loses his turn.

    A typical chain will make the scoring clearer:
    Word Comments
    Picture nominated by Ann. (No score for the first word)
    replace Bill didn't use a dictionary so scores double: 14 points
    celebration Ann referred to the dictionary to find this word so only scores single points: 11
    onion Bill scores 10
    once Ann scores 8
    cemetery Bill scores 16. But Ann challenges the word "cemetery" - she believes he doesn't know a word starting ry-. She's right, so Bill loses his 16 points and his turn. She can replace cemetery with another ce- word.
    certain Ann scores 14
    ....and so on.