Version 1.0
iPad home screen app
To make English Word Explorer an iPad home screen app, open the Safari browser
app on your iPad and type the following into the address bar:
http://www.englishwordexplorer.com/
From the main website, click on ‘launch app’ and English Word Explorer will open in
Safari. When the login page loads press the icon below, from the toolbar, and follow
the instructions given:
When added to your home screen you will see the following app icon displayed.
Simply click the icon to launch English Word Explorer.
Mac or PC browser
English Word Explorer can be used on a PC or Mac using Google Chrome or Apple
Safari browsers. Links to the download pages for these browsers can be found on the
website. Mac users should use the default OS X Safari browser. Microsoft Internet
Explorer is not currently supported.
When viewing in a browser, press F11 to show English Word Explorer in full screen
mode.
Start page – click to see all word list categories: word classes,
curriculum lists, topics and themes.
Word lists – this shows all the categories that a selected word
belongs to. Click any category in the list to see all the words that
belong to that category.
Questions – click to view the questions that have been created for
the selected word. Questions are generated specifically for each
word selected.
Hide text mark words – press this icon to hide text marked words
and replace them with spaces. Words will be hidden but will have a
border in the same colour as the text mark highlighter pen.
Hidden text marked words – when using the text mark highlighter
pens, Click the gap to reveal the missing word.
Hide punctuation – all punctuation in a text will be replaced with
the punctuation icon marker. Click the icon in the text to reveal the
missing punctuation mark. When selected, all words are also shown
in lowercase.
Show punctuation – this icon shows that punctuation will be hidden
in a text. Click it to show punctuation marks in the text again.
Verb table selector – if the currently selected word is a verb (in any
grammatical conjugation), click this button and a verb table will
open showing all the possible conjugations of the verb. Touch any
part of the screen to close the table.
English Word Explorer
When displaying a verb table, this button returns you to the sentence
that you were previously viewing.
The currently selected word is always shown at the top of the screen
with a highlighter ring around it. In texts and sentences, the word
will be highlighted in yellow to show the word in use within a
sentence. When using text marking and punctuation marking
features, this highlighter is cancelled.
Print the current page – for best results print in landscape format and
select the ‘print backgrounds’ option.
UK curriculum – shows these word lists on the start page.
International curriculum – shows these word lists.
Remove all filters – resets all text mark highlighter pens.
Contact us – displays email and website information.
Version – shows the current app software version.
Subscription – shows your subscription expiry information.
Logged in as – shows the username currently logged in.
Log out – exit the app and allow another user to log in.
Word class highlighter – select a word class from the menu and any
words that belong to that word class in the text will be highlighted in
the same colour as the pen.
The highlighters remain active until you remove the filter using the
highlighter pen menus or the ‘remove all filters’ option in the
configuration options.
Three different word classes can be selected using the three coloured
highlighters. These can be changed at any time. Note: selecting
‘proper nouns’ overrides the ‘nouns’ setting.
An active highlighter is shown with an icon showing the pen lid
removed.
English Word Explorer
Word link – press this button to select the word next to it.
Information and sentences for that word will then be shown.
Touching any word in a text will also display information and
sentences for that word.
Word information – when shown in the side word panel, touch this
button to find out more information about a word or word class. An
information panel will then open in the centre of the screen. Touch
any part of the screen to close the panel.
Database – if a word you have searched for cannot be found,
pressing this button will automatically submit the word to us for
adding to the database.
When there is more than one text containing the selected word, the
different texts can be viewed by moving forward and backward
using the arrows. The text number and the total number of texts will
also be shown.
The Mac and PC cursor changes to this icon when the mouse hovers
over a word or button that can be selected. The iPad does not use a
mouse and users will therefore not see this icon.
English Word Explorer
ACTIVITIES
There are many ways English Word Explorer can be used at home and in the
classroom. Students can use the app to explore words related to a topic or theme, or to
find out more about specific word classes, for example. Students can also use the app
at home to learn the spelling of words from a category, such as the Year 6 National
Curriculum list or the Year 2 high frequency words.
Using a PC or Mac connected to an interactive whiteboard or projector allows the app
to be used for whole class teaching. The following are some suggested teaching
activities for use with English Word Explorer.

Word panel
Select ‘teacher mode’ from the configuration menu. Either select a word from the
start page category word lists or search for a specific word. When the word is
displayed, the side panels will be hidden. Taking each side panel heading in turn, ask
the students to write what they think the hidden information will be on an individual
whiteboard or paper then ask them to show you their answers. Encourage a 100%
response as this allows you to assess the understanding of all the students.
Reveal the panel for the students to compare the information shown to their answer. If
any student has a different answer to the word panel information, discuss with the
student or group whether their answer is appropriate, which it could be, and if it isn’t
appropriate ask the student how they decided on their answer. This will allow for you
to identify any misconceptions and address them if necessary.
Repeat the activity until all word panel headings have been revealed then select
another word.
Text edit
Highlight and hide
Choose and write

Verb conjugation
Make sure the hide words option is off then enter a verb, in any conjugation, into the
search bar. When the word has been found, read the sentences, or ask the students to
read the sentences, containing the verb and discuss the person, tense and conjugation
used. Then select the ‘hide text’ button and select the verb button to display the verb
table for the chosen verb, which will hide the conjugations of the verb. Ask the
English Word Explorer
students to work in pairs to establish what the hidden conjugations are, considering
person, tense and any grammar rules they already know. Copy and use the activity
worksheet at the end of this booklet for the students to write their responses. An
additional challenge can be introduced by setting a time limit for the students to
complete the task. When the students have finished, show the verb table again by
removing the ‘hide text’ option and selecting the verb table option once more, this
time all the verb conjugations will be visible. Compare the table shown with the
students’ answers and discuss any similarities and differences to establish
understanding or misconceptions. As questions such as:
“Are there any patterns?”
“How do you know the past perfect of _____ is _____ ?”
“Is this verb regular or irregular? How do you know?”
“Which conjugation do you find the easiest or most difficult? Why?”
If the student’s first language is not English, can any connections or similarities be
made with the structure of their first language?
It is very important for the students to apply their understanding by either writing or
orally providing examples of how to use each of the verb conjugations in a sentence.
This could be linked to the topic or theme being studied to place any new learning and
consolidate understanding within a specific context.

Questions
Ask the questions generated by the app to the whole class. Ask the students to write
their answers on individual whiteboards or paper and show you. Encourage a 100%
response as this allows you to assess the understanding of all the students and to be
able to identify and address any misconceptions.
Some questions ask students to think of alternatives to a word or to use the word in
sentences. Challenge students further by asking them to answer such questions with a
time limit, for example:
“How many alternative words for ‘happy’ can you think of and write on your
whiteboards in 30 seconds?”
“How many sentences can you write using ‘happy’ in two minutes?”
“How many sentences can you write using the word ‘happy’ in 60 seconds?”
Additional work using a dictionary and/or a thesaurus can extend learning even
further. New words can then be searched for in English Word Explorer.

Cross-curricular links with topics
Use the search feature or select a topic or theme from the start page to make crosscurricular links between literacy and topic work. Sentences and texts linked to the
English Word Explorer
selected topic will be shown for you to use in your teaching or with any of the
activities in this guide.
English Word Explorer
person
past
present
future
simple
progressive
perfect
progressive
perfect
English Word Explorer
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please get in touch.
info@englishwordexplorer.com
Please visit the website for further information and for subscriptions.
http://www.englishwordexplorer.com
© 2013 JMB Digital
English Word Explorer