'Be short, be simple, be human.' When Sir Ernest Gowers first wrote Plain Words, it was intended simply as a guide to the proper use of English for the Civil Service. Within a year, however, its humour, charm and authority had made it a bestseller. Since then it has never been out of print. Six decades on, writer Rebecca Gowers has created a new edition of this now-classic work that both revises and celebrates her great-grandfather's original. Plain Words has been updated to reflect numerous changes in English usage, yet Sir Ernest's distinctive, witty voice is undimmed. And his message remains vital: our writing should be as clear and comprehensible as possible, avoiding superfluous words and cliches - from the jargon of 'commercialese' to the murky euphemisms of politicians. In a new preface, this edition draws on an extensive private archive, previously hidden away in family cupboards and attics, to tell the story behind a book that has become an institution: the essential guide to making yourself understood.

Any educator will tell you the importance of literacy in today's knowledge-driven economy. Research has shown people with low levels of literacy have a harder time finding employment, earn less money than those with better language skills, and are more likely to find themselves in trouble with the law. Spelling skills form the foundation of literacy. Some educators might acknowledge the value of learning to spell, but believe that learning the rules and patterns is boring. However, when students practice spelling skills and experience success with individualized activities, it can be fun. When a student plays with letters and words, they build awareness of words and their correct spelling. The cognitive exercises in this book involve finding missing letters in words and building words from first and last letters of other words or a list of letters. Learning to Spell When we talk about learning how to spell, we are referring to learning the correct written representation of our language. Many skills are not only possible, but also desirable for students to learn on their own. However, accurate representation of our written language is not one of them. Most spelling follows expected patterns. Acquiring knowledge of spelling patterns helps a student develop a foundation for spelling success and strengthens spelling skills. The student needs to learn and practice the common spelling patterns used in English. Doing so will help them achieve spelling success. Not only knowing the patterns of letters, but also the expected frequency of occurrence helps children improve spelling accuracy. They also need to learn what spelling pattern is used for a specific word. Learning to spell is both conceptual and associative; children must learn concepts about language structure at several levels and remember specific letter sequences. Teachers need to help students recognize spelling patterns. In addition, when they teach spelling patterns, they need to use everyday words. The puzzles in this book teach and reinforce spelling patterns using everyday words. Middle Grade Spelling Although less is known about the nature and the sequence of stages in spelling development in the middle grades, students do continue to develop their concepts of orthography and their ability to associate spelling patterns with speech patterns. As they learn more words and store more examples of common spelling patterns in their memory, they rely increasingly on analogy strategies to spell. They learn new words, as they are associated in memory with words that share similar patterns. Rather than relegate spelling to a back burner during the middle school years, spelling can and should be an integral part of language instruction. Instruction in spelling helps students master the basics of language, especially students who may struggle with reading. Teaching spelling enables a struggling student to use different senses. Thus, it helps the student learn and master the relationship between the sounds and symbols of our language, the backbone of reading. It is not only the struggling student who benefits from learning spelling skills, but also the proficient students, who will be able to more deeply understand the patterns of our complex language and become master communicators.

Working as a tutor in college, I learned the concept of "drill and kill." When a student was having a problem with any concept we drilled it until they knew it like their own name. What I found to be the biggest problem among my students was they got stuck on one concept they didn't grasp, the class moved on and they fell further behind. Children who have language processing issues, speech and Language issues or English is not their first language suffer when they don't understand grammar. After all, no matter what subject you are taking, science, math, history, etc., the directions and reading is in English. Their writing skills fall behind because they aren't able to construct sentences properly. So, whenever I noticed students struggling I had a daily drill concept based on their needs. But extra practice usually isn't plentiful unless you search for book after book on the subject and extract the few pages each has on the one concept your student needs. So, I decided to try and create a way for the students to engage in the material with a story concept and that provided more than enough practice for any student needing some additional practice. This guide is the result. It worked very well for my children. I hope it helps your children or students.

Understanding how to recognize clauses is the key to becoming a better writer. If you can spot all the clauses in your writing, you can make your subjects and verbs agree, avoid run-on errors, punctuate your sentences correctly, write more concisely, and focus your message for optimum effect. In this book, you'll learn a new process for finding the subject/verb combinations that are the core of your clauses, and, with the help of the many illustrative examples provided, you'll discover how to use that knowledge to create the effects you want. If you are a teacher, homeschooler, student, or writer, you owe it to yourself to discover the connection between "clause and effect."