Synopses & Reviews
Titles in Barron's extensive
Painless Series cover a wide range of subjects as they are taught on middle school and high school levels. These books are written for students who find the subjects unusually difficult and confusing--or in many cases, just plain boring. Barron's
Painless Series authors' main goal is to clear up students' confusion and perk up their interest by emphasizing the intriguing and often exciting ways in which they can put each subject to practical use. Most of these books take a light-hearted approach to their subjects, often employing humor, and always presenting fun-learning exercises that include puzzles, games, and challenging "Brain Tickler" problems to solve. American English sound and letter patterns, homophones, prefixes and suffixes, and more are all presented with fun-to-solve "Brain Ticklers" to self-test students' learning progress.
ATTENTION STUDENTS:
You get a special FREE bonus when you purchase
your copy of Barron's Painless Spelling
Barron's is taking Painless to the next level: FUN! Sealed inside your copy of Painless Spelling, you'll find a code that gives you access to a FREE app. Simply key in that code on your iPhone, iTouch, iPad or Android device, and you download a fun-to-play improve-your-spelling arcade game challenge that will reinforce your skill in mastering correct spelling!
Synopsis
(back cover)
Really. This won't hurt at all . . .
The thought of having to spell every word correctly once turned brave students into cowards . . . but no more!
THE PAIN VANISHES WHEN YOU TRANSFORM SPELLING INTO FUN--
Understand American English sound and letter patterns Spell correctly in the era of text messages and tweets Learn homophones, prefixes, and suffixes as aids to correct spelling Test your learning progress with "Brain Ticklers"
And take advantage of Barron's FREE Painless Spelling app
FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
Table of Contents
Introduction
Why Learning to Spell Is Important
How English Spelling Was Shaped by History
PART ONE: HOW TO SPELL PROPERLY IN
ALL TIMES AND SEASONS
- Chapter One: Spelling in the 21st Century
Dictionary Differences
Spelling for Different Purposes
Dialects: Different Versions of a Language
Registers: Formal and Informal Language
Genres: Different Types of Writing
PART TWO: AMERICAN ENGLISH SPELLING
- Chapter Two: Overview of English Spelling
English Spelling: The Basics
English Spelling Patterns Overview
- Chapter Three: "Let's Start at the Very Beginning" 69
Three-Letter Words: "A Very Good Place to Start"
More About Consonant Letter Blends and Digraphs
- Chapter Four: Vowel Sounds
Short Vowel Sounds
Long Vowel Sounds
- Chapter Five: More Challenging Spelling Patterns
Miscellaneous Vowel Sounds
"Silent" Letters
PART THREE: SYLLABLE JUNCTURES
- Chapter Six: Compound Words and
Shortened Words
Compound Words
Abbreviations
Contractions
- Chapter Seven: Affixes: Prefixes and Suffixes
Syllable Junctures with Prefixes and Suffixes
Plurals
Simple Prefixes
Simple Suffixes
PART FOUR: DERIVATIONAL CONSISTENCY
- Chapter Eight: More About Suffixes
Changes in Sound
Same Sound, Different Look
- Chapter Nine: Confusing Words
Homographs, Homophones, and Homonyms
- Chapter Ten: Greek and Latin Base Words
Base Word Families
- Chapter Eleven: Predictable Spelling Changes
Accommodation: Now You See It, Now You Don't
Assimilation Investigation--Meet the Chameleons
- Index