Cryptic words!

Down in the dark crypt, there was an encrypted, cryptic message . This sentence shows an example of polyptoton. Polyptoton, is a rhetorical repetition within the same sentence of a word in a different case, inflection, or voice or of etymologically related words in different parts of speech. It can be fun to think of sentences that use polyptoton, and a great way of understanding how words change as we use them in different ways.

The words crypt, cryptic and encrypt, all contain the morpheme crypt which means hidden or secret.

We are going to look at two commonly confused spellings – crypt and script.

As children develop an awareness of words and the units of meaning within words, it is good to give them then chance to explore related words and their literal or metaphorical meanings.

If you wish to try this out with your class, you can use this information sheet. 

You can use this in conjunction with the independent group work programme, Pick and Mix, or you may wish to work through the accompanying sheet with your whole class.

Working this way, not only links meaning to spelling patterns, but it also helps readers to understand words that are new to them.