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.
dl (10)
dale. deal. deli. dial. dole. dual. duel. ideal. idle. idol.
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 Candidate. Report. Site.
2 Hour. Risk. Support.
3 Produce. Soldier. Walk.
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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