'Confusing words' tutor notes

The aim of the 'Confusing words' topic area is to help learners to correctly recognise, spell and use words which can sound or look similar or are difficult to remember e.g loose and lose or effect and affect etc.

Another area on the site which ties in with this module is the following:
Homophones - This module deals with words that sound the same, but mean different things.

How does this tie in with the curriculums?

• England
  Ww/L1.1 - 'Spell correctly words used most often in work, studies and daily life'.
  
• Wales
  As England.
• Northern Ireland
  As England.
• Scotland
  See www.aloscotland.com for details of the Scottish curriculum.

In the Skillswise module you'll find:

Confusing words games
This section has interactive crossword games which contain clues to encourage learners to focus on using the correct spelling and meaning of words that can often be confused.

There is a timed or non timed option available, giving students the chance to play against the clock if they want more of a challenge. At present, timers are set to around 10 minutes per game.
If you think that the times should be made faster or slower or if you have any other comments about the games please email us with your suggestions.

Don't forget to use the F11 key to take the games up to a full size screen which will make the games easier to play and the text easier to read.

Confusing words quiz
A three level quiz for learners to test how well they can spell and use words which can often be confusing. Level A is the easiest and level C the hardest. All 3 levels deal with confusing words by looking at spelling comparisons, true or false questions or by having to fill in missing words in sentences.

There is a system in place that allows students to print out a certificate if they score 50% or over in the quiz. This appears as a link on the results page - click on the link and the certificate will appear in a new window. A learner can write their name in once the certificate is printed.

Confusing words factsheets
There are 7 factsheets in this module all dealing with types of confusing words. Each of the factsheets gives lists of word pairs and words that learners can find confusing and also offers definitions or advice on ways to help remember which word is which and how to use, spell and learn the words correctly.

If you feel that any important confusing words that have not been covered please let us know. We always want each module to be as helpful to learners as possible and appreciate your feedback.

Confusing words worksheet
There are 2 worksheets in this section. These are both designed for the student to learn to recognise the correct spelling of confusing words and involve crossing out the wrong word in a word pair or filling in a missing letter in a gap.
Worksheet 2 is a little bit harder than worksheet 1 because it uses more difficult words, so you may wish to start off students on worksheet 1 first and see how they get along.

If you have any great worksheets that practise working with confusing words, let us know . We are always interested in finding good worksheets to publish on the site.

Technical help:

To get the most out of this topic area you need the following 'plug-ins':

• Flash
  The game in this topic section uses Flash. This is free to download and should only take a few minutes. You can follow the BBC WebWise instructions to download it to your machine.
  Find out more.

If you don't have Flash the same learning points are covered in the quiz and in the worksheets and factsheets.
If you are new to the web, why not try the BBC WebWise online course, Becoming WebWise? It's free, you can do it in your own time from any computer and it will take you through everything you need to know to use the web successfully in your teaching.
Get WebWise.

You can find out more about the technical requirements for Skillswise in our Help - Technical Information section.

Taking it further:

With Skillswise
Don't forget to visit Lesson plans and Teaching inspirations for more ideas for teaching confusing words.

With the web
Here's a few suggestions of other places on the web that you might find useful resources that you can adapt for teaching confusing words.

• Webgrammar.
  A list and explanation of the types of words that learners can often find confusing and a good list of word pairs and word triplets with definitions.

Please note that the BBC is not responsible for the content of other websites.

Do you know of any other great online resources for helping to recognise and learn confusing words? Let us know if you do.