Methods and apparatus for educational spelling games

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for educational spelling games wherein players are required to spell words of various levels of spelling difficulty and a player's degree of advancement depends on the difficulty level of the word. One version is a game board with a plurality of playing pieces, a plurality of spelling cards, each spelling card comprising a plurality of spelling words wherein different words on each of those spelling cards comprise different levels of spelling difficulty within at least one educational grade level or age level, preferably within two consecutive educational grade levels, and a die for randomly determining the level of spelling difficulty of the word which a player will be asked to spell. Preferably, there are at least three words of different levels of spelling difficulty on each spelling card. Also disclosed are electronic versions comprising an annunciator to announce the words, game show versions, computer game versions and internet-based versions.

1 . A method of playing a spelling game wherein players are required to spell words correctly in order to advance in said game, comprising the steps of:
 establishing a game level for each player which corresponds to the player's age or educational grade level and which game level comprises no more than two consecutive age or educational grades for players in grades first through eighth;   randomly selecting a word and a level of spelling difficulty for a word to be spelled by a player,
 wherein said word selecting step comprises selecting a word from a plurality of words from known spelling lists within the player's established game level 
 and wherein said level of spelling difficulty selecting step comprises selecting a level of difficulty from a plurality of word collections established from said plurality of words wherein each such collection comprises words of a different level of spelling difficulty than another; 
   communicating the selected word and the level of difficulty to the player;   providing a player with an opportunity to spell the randomly selected word, and, if the player correctly spells the selected word, advancing the player in the game, wherein the degree of advancement corresponds to the level of spelling difficulty of the selected word.   
     
     
         2 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein said different levels of spelling difficulties are established by at least one of the following criteria: the word length, the number of syllables, the number of silent letters, the number of double letters, the possible spellings caused by sounds that can be spelled by at least two different letters or combinations of letters, how often an average player of a game level would typically read, write, hear, or speak the word in the course of the player's studies, recreational activities and/or normal daily interactions, the degree to which the same sounds and/or letter combinations in the word are contained in other words in the same game level or at lower game levels of the same game, and the number of homonyms. 
     
     
         3 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein said different levels of spelling difficulty are established by a plurality of the following criteria: the word length, the number of syllables, the number of silent letters, the number of double letters, the possible spellings caused by sounds that can be spelled by at least two different letters or combinations of letters, how often an average player of a game level would typically read, write, hear, or speak the word in the course of the player's studies, recreational activities and/or normal daily interactions, the degree to which the same sounds and/or letter combinations in the word are contained in other words in the same game level or at lower game levels of the same game, and the number of homonyms. 
     
     
         4 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein one of said game levels to be established comprises a separate adult level. 
     
     
         5 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein said game comprises:
 A game board, 
 A plurality of playing pieces, 
 A plurality of decks of spelling cards, with each spelling card comprising a plurality of spelling words having different levels of spelling difficulty and indicia indicating the level of said spelling difficulty for said words on each of said plurality of spelling cards, and 
 A means for randomly determining the level of spelling difficulty of a spelling word to be spelled by a player. 
 
     
     
         6 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein said game comprises an electronic version allowing the game level to be chosen by each player and using an annunciator to announce the randomly selected word, the randomly selected level of difficulty and the correct spelling of the word. 
     
     
         7 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein said method is implemented upon a computer to allow a player to play the game on said computer against a computerized opponent or against another player or players. 
     
     
         8 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein said method is implemented upon a computer to allow a player to play the game on a remote computer against a computerized opponent or against another player or players. 
     
     
         9 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein said different levels of spelling difficulty comprise a first level, a second level and a third level of spelling difficulty, and wherein a majority of the words categorized in the first level of spelling difficulty comprise words that can be spelled phonetically, or which can be spelled correctly by a player with knowledge of phonics and the non-phonetic rules of the language to be spelled. 
     
     
         10 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein said different levels of spelling difficulty comprise a first level, a second level and a third level of spelling difficulty, and wherein a majority of words categorized in said second level of spelling difficulty comprise words which suggest one alternate, incorrect spelling to a player who has knowledge of phonics and the non-phonetic rules of the language of the word to be spelled. 
     
     
         11 . A method according to  claim 1  wherein said different levels of spelling difficulty spelling words comprise a first level, a second level and a third level of spelling difficulty, and wherein a majority of words categorized in said third level of spelling difficulty comprise words which suggest a plurality of alternate, incorrect spellings to a player who has knowledge of phonics and the non-phonetic rules of the language of the word to be spelled. 
     
     
         12 . A method according to  claim 5  further comprising a plurality of bonus playing cards. 
     
     
         13 . A method according to  claim 12  wherein said bonus playing cards provide directions for movement of said playing pieces during play of said spelling game. 
     
     
         14 . A method according to  claim 5  wherein a player is able to take a shortcut across at least a portion of the game board by correctly spelling one or more of the highest level difficulty words. 
     
     
         15 . A method according to  claim 12  wherein a player is required to spell one or more of the highest level difficulty words to move past a certain designated space unless the player has acquired a BONUS card allowing the player to proceed. 
     
     
         16 . A method according to  claim 12  wherein said BONUS cards include cards which may be either beneficial or detrimental to a player's advancement. 
     
     
         17 . A method according to  claim 16  wherein said beneficial cards comprise cards which direct a player to move forward to a certain designated space on the game board or to move forward a set number of spaces, or to move another player back 
     
     
         18 . A method according to  claim 16  wherein said detrimental cards comprise cards which direct players to move back to a certain designated space on the game board, to move back a set number of spaces or to lose a turn. 
     
     
         19 . A method according to  claim 12  wherein said bonus cards include cards which may be either beneficial or detrimental to the player's advancement depending upon the player's position on the game board. 
     
     
         20 . A method according to  claim 19  wherein said cards that may be either beneficial or detrimental dependent upon the player's position on the game board comprise cards which direct a player to go to the nearest of certain designated spaces on the game board.