Playing with words, by Deborah Jenkins

The latest educational research tells us that children learn both the spelling and meaning of new words in surprising ways: not by writing them out or by rote learning or by having weekly tests, but by playing with them. Play, as we know, is often overlooked in school in the twenty first century as a valuable learning tool - particularly in older children, but there we are. I've taken a snapshot below of the kinds of things I give KS2 children to do in their Word and Spelling Journals. Instead of weekly spelling tests (learn them for the test then forget them), I reward them for attempting to use the words and for spelling them correctly, in their writing. I do sometimes give them tests but only so I can chart progress. In my experience, they're more likely to spell them correctly in tests if they are writing them correctly on a regular basis.

It strikes me that, as a word lover, it might be quite good fun to develop my own way of playing with words. There have been so many unusual ones around lately - some I haven't seen for years and some new to me. So, I've put together a table below to attempt what-I'll-call some 'adult word play'. Please indulge me and maybe add some more of your own in the comments. Let's keep enjoying and playing with words. They are the most valuable tools of our trade.

Word	Would I use it in my writing?	Why/Why not?	Apparent meaning in context	My experimentation
prorogue	Yes	It’s quite a satisfying word to say, maybe something to do with the hard g. However, if I struggled to enunciate the r sound, I would boycott it	To defer or postpone as in a session of parliament	As I’m busy after school, I may prorogue supper until 11pm tonight. Feel free to help yourselves though…
statecraft	Yes	I have a soft spot for compound nouns. They’re so friendly.	The skillful management of state affairs	One of the measures of statecraft must be the extent to which the government manages the care of the most vulnerable in society.
stymied	No	The position of the y irritates me and the more you say this word, the more unpleasant it sounds (try it).	Prevent or hinder the progress of	My pre-Christmas diet has been stymied by visitors with chocolate. (Permission to keep stymying?? though)
brinkmanship	Yes	To use a tripartite compound noun makes me feel powerful. And brink is a satisfying word in itself. Also rhymes with ink, think and drink – three of my favourite things.	The art of pursuing a dangerous policy to the limits of safety	To clean one’s upstairs windows from the outside is, in my opinion, the height of brinkmanship. Which is why I don’t do I (and I’m too mean to pay a window cleaner).
truism	No	It’s somehow an untidy word. Also, it nearly rhymes with cubism which I’m not keen on	A statement that is obviously true and conveys nothing new or interesting	The truism of the day (from Alfie in Year 6): – I only come to school because I have to, but your group work isn’t that bad actually…
whataboutery	Not really	Awkward to say. Could it be a regional word? I would prefer it to end in 'ie'. Very interesting meaning.	Rebutting an attack only by accusing an opponent of hypocrisy	Sorry, too hard. Here's my version: - Julia can’t join us for the cinema as she’s busy but Paul’s available. Whataboutery?

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Deborah Jenkins is a primary school teacher and freelance writer who has written articles, text books, devotional notes and short stories. She writes regularly for the tes. She has also completed a novella, The Evenness of Things, available as an Amazon e-book and is currently working on a full length novel. Deborah loves hats, trees and small children. After years overseas with her family, who are now grown up, she lives in Sussex with her husband, a Baptist minister, and a cat called Oliver.