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Winning Ways with Spelling
and Vocabulary
GAIL HERMAN
SULPHUR SPRINGS
HIGH SCHOOL
First, the spelling part of the contest . . .
Why is being able to spell correctly important? As so
many students say, why can’t we all just depend on our
computers’ spell checkers to make sure we spell
everything correctly?
Well, here’s one answer to this question:
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“Candidate for a Pullet Surprise”
I have a spelling checker.
It came with my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot sea.
Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your sure reel glad two no.
Its vary polished inn it's weigh.
My checker tolled me sew.
(first two stanzas of Dr. Jerrold Zar’s commonly cited “Spell
Checker Poem”/ “Ode to a Spell Checker”; see whole poem at
www.bios.niu.edu/zar/poem.shtml)
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The Importance of Correct Spelling
“When our spelling is perfect, it’s invisible. But when
it’s flawed, it prompts strong negative associations.”
-- Marilyn vos Savant
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Advice from Thomas Jefferson
“Take care that you never spell a word wrong. Always
before you write a word, consider how it is spelled,
and, if you do not remember, turn to a dictionary. It
produces great praise to a lady to spell well.”
(in a letter to his daughter Martha)
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Another observation about spelling
“Spelling counts. Spelling is not merely a tedious
exercise in a fourth-grade classroom. Spelling is one of
the outward and visible marks of a disciplined mind.”
-- James J. Kilpatrick,
journalist and
grammarian
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The Challenges of English Spelling
“If GH can stand for P as in Hiccough
If OUGH stands for O as in Dough
If PHTH stands for T as in Phthisis
IF EIGH stands for A as in Neighbor
If TTE stands for T as in Gazette
If EAU stands for O as in Plateau
The right way to spell POTATO should be
GHOUGHPHTHEIGHTTEEAU!”
(attributed to Oscar Wilde)
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The Challenges of English Spelling
Then, there is this suggested spelling for “fish”: ghoti.
The reasoning is as follows: “gh” can sound like “f” as
in “laugh,” “o” can sound like “i” as in “women,” and
“ti” provides the “sh” sound as in “action.” Popularly
attributed to George Bernard Shaw, this facetious
spelling suggestion, according to The New York Times,
actually predates Shaw, going back to an 1855 letter in
which the publisher Charles Ollier commented on his
son’s idea for a new spelling of “fish.” (Actually,
English orthography makes much more sense than this
example suggests, but there’s still enough illogic to
cause us problems!)
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Then there’s the vocabulary part of the contest . . .
Knowing how to spell words correctly is important, but
it is equally or more important to know what words
mean and how to use them accurately and effectively.
As Mark Twain famously remarked, “The difference
between the almost right word and the right word is
really a large matter—it’s the difference between the
lightning bug and the lightning.”
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The Importance of a Good Vocabulary
Knowledge of vocabulary “is an indication of [one’s]
general knowledge. Vocabulary level is the best
predictor of overall success in school and performance
on the SAT-verbal and other similar tests. A large and
exact vocabulary is also a characteristic of successful
people in many occupations.”
FROM THE JOHNSON O’CONNOR RESEARCH
FOUNDATION WEBSITE
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The Importance of a Good Vocabulary
“Vocabulary is the best single indicator of intellectual
ability and an accurate predictor of success at school.”
--W. B. Elley, education professor emeritus and
literacy researcher
“Because each new word has to be studied and learned
on its own, the larger your vocabulary becomes, the
easier it will be to connect a new word with words you
already know, and thus remember its meaning. So
your learning speed, or pace, should increase as your
vocabulary grows.” -- Johnson O’Connor, researcher
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Spelling and vocabulary are important!
Correctly spelled words, coupled with precise and
compelling diction, are two of the most important
aspects of effective communication.
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Some English Language History
—  In the 5th and 6th centuries, the Angles and Saxons,
who spoke a Germanic language, invaded presentday England.
—  Old English writings began to appear in the 7th, 8th,
and 9th centuries. This is the language that King
Alfred referred to as “English” in the 9th century.
—  Also in the 9th century, large numbers of Norse
invaders arrived, adding many Norse words to the
language.
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Some English Language History
—  In 1066, the Normans crossed the English Channel
and became the masters of England, bringing French
with them. Thousands of French words were added
to the English vocabulary between 1100 and 1500.
—  English also borrowed greatly from Latin, the
language of the church.
—  About 1500, the discovery of new lands brought
many thousands of other new words to English.
Words from India, China, Africa, and North America
enriched the language tremendously.
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Spelling Challenges
—  New words often appeared in English with the
spellings which they originally had and which did not
always conform to the customs of English.
Sometimes the spellings were modified to conform
more closely; many times they were not.
—  As a linguistic grab bag, the English language is rich,
but its very richness compounds our spelling
problems.
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Spelling Challenges
—  Present-day spelling often reflects pronunciations of
several centuries ago rather than the way the word is
pronounced today. Example: knight.
—  During the time between Chaucer and Shakespeare,
a major change in pronunciation occurred when
English lost a pronounced vowel in certain positions.
Chaucer pronounced “name” and “dance” as twosyllable words. By Shakespeare’s time, the “silent e”
was standard in such words.
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The Introduction of the Printing Press: A Need
for Standardization of Spelling
In 1476, William Caxton introduced the printing press
to England. Before this, there was little concern over
such matters as spelling because reading and writing
were activities carried on only by monks and other
learned men. The arrival of the printing press
indicated the need for some standards to be set.
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Publication of Important Dictionaries
—  The first English dictionary, consisting of about
2,500 words, was compiled in 1604 by school teacher
Robert Cawdrey. It was called Table Alphabeticall.
—  In 1755, Dr. Samuel Johnson published his famous
Dictionary of the English Language, which tended
to “fix” English spelling.
—  In 1828, across the pond, Noah Webster published
his American Dictionary of the English Language,
and, as we all know, the two varieties of English have
differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and
spelling.
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The Oxford English Dictionary
The quintessential dictionary is, of course, the famous
Oxford English Dictionary, containing over 600,000
words. In 1857, the Philological Society of London
proposed a new dictionary. In 1879, work actually
began on what was conceived of as a ten-year project.
Five years later, they were on “ant.” This dictionary
traces the development of English and includes 3
million quotations to demonstrate the history of
English usage. It is an amazing piece of scholarship.
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The American Heritage Dictionary of the
English Language
This dictionary, which first appeared in 1969, is the
authority for the UIL Spelling and Vocabulary Contest.
Containing over 200,000 entries, it is very userfriendly with clear, easy to understand diacritical
marks. Teachers—and students—will find the
commentary on usage interesting and enlightening. A
fifth edition was published in 2011. For purposes of
the Spelling and Vocabulary Contest, the third, fourth,
or fifth edition of the dictionary may be used. On
district, regional, and state tests, 20% of the words
come from “words in current usage” that are not found
in Word Power.
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The Make-Up of the Test—Part I
Part I of the test consists of 30 questions, the first 15
of which are proofreading questions. Each
proofreading question contains 5 words, one of which
is misspelled. Students must identify which word is
misspelled and write it correctly. Errors may be in
spelling, in the use of non-alphabetic components,
and/or in capitalization. A word that must be written
as two words may appear as one or vice-versa.
Learning alternate spellings of words is important for
success on this section of the test. Each question is
worth 1 point.
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Sample Proofreading Question
aftereffect
Hammite
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Paraguay
hyssop
influence peddling
Correct Answer
Hamite
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Sample Proofreading Question
idiopathic
mbira
misappropriate
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soufflé
mud dawber
Correct Answer
mud dauber
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Sample Proofreading Question
missilery
preferment
Rorschach test
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parasale
zazen
Correct Answer
parasail
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The Remainder of Part I
The remaining 15 questions of Part I deal with
vocabulary. These multiple-choice questions are
based on the words that are marked for vocabulary
study on the Word Power list (with a •). Each question
has 5 answer choices. Questions may be about the
word’s denotation(s) or etymology, or students may be
given a sentence with a blank into which they must fit
the best choice of the 5 words listed. Each question is
worth 1 point.
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Sample Vocabulary Question from the 2015-16
State Test
Often using good-natured teasing to diffuse tense political
situations, Abraham Lincoln was a master of _______.
A.  nonaggression
B.  raillery
C.  precognition
D.  rectitude
E.  phraseology
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Correct Answer
B. raillery
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An etymology question from State 2016
The term “______” originated from Latin, meaning
“little whip.”
A.  ankh
B.  Baalbek
C.  fer-de-lance
D.  flagelliform
E.  regatta
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Correct Answer
D. flagelliform
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Part I
Students are given 15 minutes to complete the 30
questions that comprise Part I. They must place their
answers on the answer sheet that is provided. Credit is
given ONLY for answers placed on the answer sheet.
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Part II
This portion of the test consists of 70 words called out
at a rate of approximately 4 words a minute. A
definition is provided for each word. This call-out
portion of the test is worth 70% of the overall score. If
a word has different spellings for different denotations
and the pronouncer provides a specific denotation,
then the student must write down the corresponding
spelling. A simple example from the 2016-17 list is the
word arbutus. The lowercase spelling refers to the
plant, but Arbutus refers to the genus to which the
plant belongs. Encourage students to listen carefully
to all of the information that the pronouncer provides.
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Part III
Part III is the tiebreaker portion of the test. It consists
of 20 words called out at the conclusion of Part II. If
students tie on the 100-point test, then the tiebreaker
provides a potential means of breaking the tie. If
students tie on the tiebreaker, then the tie is not
broken. If, for example, two students tie for second
place, then no third place is awarded. The tiebreaker
scores can also be used to break a tie between teams as
well as individuals. Typically, words on the tiebreaker
are more challenging words.
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How can students best prepare for the contest?
Begin by assigning students a limited number of
words, such as two columns (100 words) in Word
Power. They can look up the words to determine the
correct pronunciations or use purchased study
materials that feature written and/or oral
pronunciations. Most students need some instruction
in how to interpret diacritical marks. Refer to the
chart in The American Heritage Dictionary. You may
want to give students a copy of this and discuss it with
them. Online dictionaries are valuable for the oral
pronunciations they provide.
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How to Prepare
After sufficient individual study time (perhaps several
days since most students seem to be involved in many
activities!), call out the words to see how well the
students have learned them. As you proceed through
the list, discuss meanings and etymologies for the
words marked for vocabulary study. It is useful to
provide definitions for all but the most commonly
known words because knowing a word’s meaning
helps students learn and remember a word’s spelling.
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How to Prepare
—  Sponsors and students may come up with
mnemonics to aid in vocabulary study. Students
may draw a picture, make up a rhyme, or act out the
meaning of a word.
—  For the first few practice sessions, the sponsor
should grade each student’s words. In this way, he
or she can determine the individual problems a
student may be having and thus provide the
appropriate individualized instruction. Later,
students can exchange papers and grade each other’s
words.
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How to Prepare
—  Make sure that students know that there may be
questions on the test that deal purely with the
etymologies of the words marked for vocabulary study.
Many etymologies closely parallel the denotation of a
word; however, some are more removed from the word’s
present meaning. Regardless, learning the origin of a
word is interesting and instructive. As Wilfred Funk
writes in Word Origins and Their Romantic Stories, “To
know the past of an individual helps us to understand
him the better. To know the life history of a word makes
its present meaning clearer and more nearly
unforgettable.”
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How to Prepare
—  Have fun with your students while you work. If you
are bored or uninterested, you can bet that they will
be, too. To be an effective Spelling sponsor, you
must be excited about words. If so, you will transmit
your enthusiasm to your students.
—  Emphasize the team aspect and encourage
teammates to support each other and to help each
other learn the words.
—  Expect to devote a good deal of time to preparation
for this contest. It takes work to create winners.
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How do I get my students to learn all of these
words?!
Strategies for Success: A
Look at Some of the
Words on the 2016-17
Word Power list
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Learning How to Spell Words: More Than
Memorization
—  Understand the meaning of roots.
—  Example: antebellum. “Belonging to the period
before a war, especially the American Civil War.” The
Latin roots ante and bellum mean, respectively,
“before” and “war.” If students learn the meaning of
roots, they will better understand the definitions of
words and will be better able to spell the words
containing the roots.
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Another Example
antediluvian—1. Extremely old and antiquated.
2. Occurring or belonging to the era before the Flood
written about in the Bible.
Here, again, ante means “before,” while diluvium
means “flood.”
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Learn the Different Ways That Plurals Are
Formed
—  Standard—add -s or –es, depending on what the
word ends in.
—  Latinate plurals—if a word ends in a (as in
amphora), then add e. Thus, the plural becomes
amphorae. An amphora is a two-handled jar with a
narrow neck used by the ancient Greeks and Romans
to carry wine or oil. (Note that amphoras is also an
acceptable plural.)
—  thesaurus—the plural can be either thesauri or
thesauruses.
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Watch Out for Homophones!
—  Examples:
—  complaisance—not to be confused with
complacence. The former can be pronounced
kəm plāʹ sǝns OR kǝm plāʹ zǝns, but the latter is only
kǝm plāʹ sǝns.
The definitions of these words are different, with
complaisance meaning “the inclination to comply
willingly with the wishes of others” and complacence
meaning “contented self-satisfaction.” Students could
write sentences to demonstrate the difference in meaning.
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More Homophones
Complimentary and
complementary pose a similar
problem. To distinguish between the
two, students might use mnemonics such
as “I like compliments” and “Something
that is complementary completes
something else.”
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Words with Diacritical Marks
Diacritical marks must be placed accurately or the
word will be considered misspelled.
Examples involving accents:
—  canapé (to confuse things further, this word can be
pronounced both kănʹ ǝ pāʹ or kănʹ ǝ pē). She ate a
canapé while seated under a canopy.
—  crème de la crème, pronounced krĕm dǝ lä krĕmʹ. The
etymology is informative here, since crème is French for
cream, and the word means “something superlative or
people of the highest social level.” We know that cream
rises to the top (just as you want your Spellers to!).
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Thus . . .
Take care with acute (ʹ) and grave (ˋ)
accents.
Accents have to point the correct
way!
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Distinguish between accents and apostrophes.
Consider the word objet d’art (ôb zhĕ
därʹ), referring to an object of artistic merit.
Students should carefully distinguish
between the apostrophe, as required in this
word, and the acute accent, found in other
words on the list. In this case, the apostrophe
makes perfect sense because it indicates a
contraction—object of art.
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Take Care with the Circumflex.
Another word on the list is entrepôt
(ŏnʹ trǝ pōʹ), a place where goods are
stored or deposited or a trading and
market center. It literally means “to store
in or among.” Students should note
carefully the circumflex over the o.
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To learn definitions, use rhyme to create
mnemonics
Osculation means a kiss.
Pucker up; try not to miss!
Sometimes the sillier or more fun the
mnemonic, the better it works!
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Another Example
Conversation vapid?
Make your escape rapid.
(vapid—lacking liveliness, animation, or
interest; dull)
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Spelling rules also help.
Learning basic spelling rules is helpful. Consider the
following famous rule:
I before E except after C or when sounded as A as in
neighbor and weigh.
This rule holds up well for many words, but there are
a number of exceptions, e.g. seize, either, neither,
weird, height, foreign, leisure, conscience,
counterfeit, forfeit, science, species, sufficient,
efficient, ancient, caffeine.
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Spelling Rules
Another helpful rule is that for –ible, -able.
If the root is not a complete word, add –ible. For
example, visible, horrible, terrible, possible, edible.
If the root is a complete word, add –able. For
example, fashionable, laughable, suitable, comfortable.
If the root is a complete word ending in –e, drop the
final –e and add –able. For example, advisable,
desirable, valuable, debatable.
Once again, however, exceptions exist: contemptible,
digestible, flexible, responsible, irritable, inevitable.
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Go to the Internet to find more
spelling rules.
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To remember tricky spellings . . .
—  When a word’s spelling doesn’t “match” its
pronunciation, students should know the
correct pronunciation but may make up a
pronunciation that parallels its spelling. In
this way, students can recognize the word
that’s being called out, know the correct
pronunciation, but spell it correctly by
mentally pronouncing the word syllable by
syllable (reflecting the spelling) as they write
it down.
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Examples
— aggiornamento
— ctenoid
— Delacroix
— entremets
— recherché
— yttrium
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What about those pesky “outside words”?
“Outside words”: the bane of sponsors and Spellers.
Here’s what Section 960 of the CCR has to say about
the sources of “outside words”:
—  Words of common usage (e.g., gosling, hemorrhage);
—  Words and proper names currently in the news;
—  Words which by their formation or origins build
vocabulary and promote the study of English. These
include words with affixes, roots and suffixes which
appear in words on the printed list by being different
parts of speech, and other words of interest for the
general lessons which they teach about language.
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Suggestions for Coping with “Outside Words”
—  Study roots and affixes.
—  Encourage students to read widely and pay attention
to words that are new to them or that they feel they
could not spell if asked to do so.
—  Go to the Internet (or actual books!) and find lists of
SAT vocabulary or college vocabulary.
—  Majortests.com features a list of 1,500 words.
—  A great list of 5,000 words can be found at
freevocabulary.com.
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The Importance of Good Penmanship
Not only must students know
how to spell words correctly,
but they must also write them
legibly or risk having them
counted wrong.
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The Importance of Good Penmanship
In regard to legibility, the CCR states:
“The correct spelling of a word consists of writing legibly
the letters which compose it in their proper order. Printing
the word is acceptable. Legibility and not handwriting
style is to be emphasized. To determine whether a given
letter is legible, place a blank piece of paper on either side
of it, thus separating it from its context, and then see
whether the character can be identified. Any letter, even
though it may not be perfectly written, is considered
correct if it can still be identified when separated from the
remainder of the word. If two of three judges rule that a
letter is legible, it should be considered correct.”
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The Importance of Good Penmanship
—  Stress to students the importance of good penmanship.
Look critically at students’ writing. If they do not form
certain letters in a standard way, show them the correct
format and insist that they follow it. Caution students to
avoid printing in all capital letters. Similarly, remind
them that they should capitalize words only if a capital
letter is called for.
—  Explain to students the standards for determining
legibility and demonstrate the process described in the
CCR. Doing so will help make them more aware of the
importance of legible writing.
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Good Penmanship/Attention to Detail
Other important reminders for students:
—  If a word is to be written as two words, leave enough space to
make it clear that two words are intended.
—  If a word has non-alphabetic components (e.g. circumflex—as
in moyen âge, tilde—as in mañana, cedilla—as in soupçon,
dieresis—as in naïve, umlaut—as in Schrödinger), such marks
must be placed “clearly and unambiguously.” Accents must
point in the correct direction, and apostrophes must be placed
appropriately.
—  Uppercase and lowercase letters that are formed in the same
way or very nearly the same way must be written so that it is
apparent whether they are intended to be uppercase or
lowercase. The most troublesome letters tend to be c, k, m, n,
o, s, u, v, w, x, z, and sometimes a if cursive or a blend of
cursive and printing is used.
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Examples from the
2016 State Meet of
what NOT to do . . .
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Be careful!
— The tails of letters such as g, j, p, q,
and y go BELOW the line.
— Students should write on the line,
not above it.
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Make a distinction between f and F.
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This is an apostrophe? This is a cedilla?
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Another interesting version of the cedilla
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Is this “c” looking at its reflection in the water?
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Another poorly formed cedilla
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A cedilla that’s been visiting the gym a lot . . .
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Pay attention.
Form all diacritical marks
carefully and precisely. Place
them accurately in relation to
the letters they affect.
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Penmanship is important.
—  You don’t want your Spellers to miss words because of poor
penmanship.
—  Students should take care to leave ample space between two
words.
—  Students should be consistent in the amount of space they
leave between two words.
—  Letters should be formed carefully, not carelessly.
—  Graders do not enjoy having to “make the call,” nor do they
appreciate having to stop to ponder a student’s handwriting
or confer with other graders, asking, “What do you think
about this letter?”
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The Challenges of Grading
—  Grading lists of handwritten words is challenging and
tiring. We all make mistakes. For this reason, each
student’s paper is to be graded three times. Accuracy and
fairness are extremely important.
—  As mentioned previously, the basic test for legibility
involves isolating the questionable letter from its context.
—  Graders should use common sense when grading. For
example, when trying to determine whether a letter is
capitalized or what a letter is, try looking for other
examples of the particular letter on the student’s paper
and compare.
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Types of Graders
—  The Strict Constructionist (a.k.a. Legibility Nazi).
This grader hunts for penmanship problems and seems
to delight in marking words wrong because of less than
perfect handwriting, often justifying her grading criteria
by saying, “Well, I would count it wrong if it were my
student.” The implication is that anyone who doesn’t
agree just doesn’t have the proper standards.
—  The Laissez-Faire Grader. This grader gives the
benefit of the doubt too often, sometimes out of a
misguided sense of charity toward the student, or if the
student doesn’t seem to be a particularly good speller
anyway, the justification of “Well, it’s not really going to
matter anyhow.”
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Types of Graders
—  The Common Sense Grader. This grader
understands and respects the rules for determining
legibility but is able to view those rules through the
lens of common sense, recognizing that this is, after
all, a spelling contest, not a handwriting
competition. This grader has high standards for
students but is not needlessly punitive in grading.
Please be a common sense grader!
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More Suggestions for Learning
—  Write proofreading and vocabulary questions for
your students.
—  Create mnemonics for your students.
—  Have your students write questions and create
mnemonics.
—  Brainstorm together for mnemonics.
—  Have fun!
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Section 960 of the CCR
Sponsors should make sure they read carefully the
description of the Spelling and Vocabulary Contest and
know the rules. Your principal or UIL academic
coordinator should have a copy. A new edition is
published each year, reflecting rule changes, new
dates, etc. The CCR is also available on the UIL’s
website.
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Vendors for Study Materials
—  ASW Enterprises (www.asw.com)
—  Hexco Academics (www. hexco.com)
—  Tune In (for UIL A+ Academics)
(www.tuneinnet.com)
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Best Practices
What are strategies that you have used successfully to
prepare students for the Spelling and Vocabulary
Contest?
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Spelling rules!
Good luck as you prepare for UIL competition in
2016-17! May you and your Spellers find your own
“winning ways”!
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