My students found it very confusing. So I started a list of these problem words. What surprised me was how many of them there were!
At the same time, I kept looking for a comprehensive workbook that dealt with all these English homonyms. But I couldn't find one.
Maybe I should write one... The idea seemed like an interesting challenge, so I started, spending weekends and summer vacations on this project. Eventually... two years later... it was done! A 148-page spelling workbook of words that sound the same as other words... together with exercises, explanations and an answer key. And my list of problem words had grown... from a hundred to two hundred... and eventually to five hundred homonyms!
I took the plunge and self-published it...
The hardest part of self-publishing, after writing the book, is getting it out there, letting people know it exists... I attended literacy and ESL conferences and talked to teachers about my book. Eventually two online bookstores, Grass Roots Press and New Readers Bookstore began to sell it.
Eventually I ran out of copies, so I printed a second edition. To date I have sold about 3000 books.
I am now wondering if I should take the second half of my accumulated material and create a a second spelling resource... of words that my students used to confuse... (like impossible and impassable, except and expect).
The real question is: How much energy do I have?!
Well done!
ReplyDeleteChances are that you have covered less than 10% of these confused words.
For example: there is pulpit and pull pit. A pull pit is like a manhole, below grade, often much smaller and used for pulling electrical cable etc.
Once your mind is attuned to these sound-alike words, it's amazing how many you hear around you!
ReplyDelete