Welcome to the Clay Lane blog
This page keeps you up-to-date with recent additions, alerts you to posts you may have missed, and invites you to tackle exercises similar to those NL Clay gave to pupils aged 12-13 in the 1930s.
Add Vowels Every Day • Think and Speak
Make as many words as you can by adding vowels (AEIOU) to these consonants.
ggs (6)
eggs. gages. gags. gauges. gigs. gouges.
Spinners Every Day • Think and Speak
Pick any group of three words, and see if you can still remember them in an hour, and still remember them tomorrow. For a further challenge, try using all of your three words together in a single sentence.
The words in this puzzle are taken randomly from a list of 927 common words. You can change e.g. cat → cats, go → went, quick → quickly.
1 College. Owner. Rise.
2 Follow. Let. Light.
3 Drop. Role. Should.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
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2
Make as many words as you can using the letters of one nine-letter word. Can you beat our score?
3
Izaak Walton recalls how George Herbert summarised the major feasts of the Church year.
Join each group of ideas together to make a single sentence, in as many ways as you can.
The Church year has several feasts. George Herbert selected the most important. He explained what they mean. [Interpret. Significance. Some.]
Christ was born in Bethlehem. Three Persian Magi came looking for him. The Church remembers it on January 6th. [Every. Town. Where.]
Herbert explained the Church year. Walton was impressed. He recorded Herbert’s explanation. [So. Strike. Write.]
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4
In a sermon for Christmas Day, St Bede confronts his brethren with the truth about Mary’s wonderful child.
Join this group of ideas together to make a single sentence, in as many ways as you can.
Jesus was a man. Jesus was God. Mary gave birth to him. [Baby. Both. Only.]
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5
Use these similar-sounding words in sentences and show the difference between them.
Use correctly in sentences:
IIt’s. IIIts. IIIWho’s. IVWhose. VWere. VIWe’re. VIIThere’s. VIIITheirs. IXLets. XLet’s.
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6
‘Alpha of the Plough’ thought the Victorians understood Christmas and New Year better than we do.
Join each group of ideas together to make a single sentence, in as many ways as you can.
People disparage the previous generation. Every generation does it. The next one will disparage ours. [Compare. Past. Parent.]
We send each other cards at Christmas. We write greetings in them. They reflect society’s values. [Exchange. Reveal. Wish.]
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