Letters Soup

A few weeks ago I was doing some workshops in Dillingen, Germany about - how did you guess? - spelling. There was time for a quick lunch before the first workshop - just some soup for me please. And you won't believe it - it was Alphabet Soup. What a great omen!

I hadn't seen alphabet-shaped pasta for years, since I was a child. There used to be something called Heinz Alphabetti Spahetti, which was alphabet pasta, horribly over-cooked in a red sauce. But I'm sure my mother used to make soup with the letters too. Perhaps it's where I got my interest in spelling!

Anyway I spent the rest of my free time in Germany trying to buy these edible letters, and finally succeeded.

So I've made you some soup!

While you're enjoying each mouthful,

see how many words you can make from the letters

Oh, look! This one's got a special message!!!

Write any words you find in the first and second spoonfuls in the comments. And what is the message in the third one?

Enjoy your soup!

Do texting and online chatting affect spelling? Survey.

In the last post we looked at research into the extent that online chatting and texting affect spelling. Now I want to do my own research for my book. If you can spare a few minutes (less than five, honestly) please do this survey (link below).

It would be wonderful if you could also pass it on to others - especially any teenagers or children. If you are a teachers you may like to get your class to do it.

The results will be published in 'Teaching Spelling to English Language Learners', but you never know there may be a sneak preview here on the Spelling Blog - keep your eyes peeled!

And thank you very much in advance.

Click here to take survey