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Lesson Writing Guidelines

We will sell lessons for anyone who writes them, provided they adhere to our quality control review and the guidelines outlined below. You do not need to be a registered S2C practitioner. 

These are the steps to follow:

I.  Submit a sample lesson for review.

  • All lessons submitted for use on Spellers Learn must be written in the format of Spelling to Communicate (S2C) methodology and meet the following criteria. (For the purposes of the initial sample only, you may submit an incomplete lesson or one you don't plan to sell; as long as it accurately represents your writing style.):
  • All lessons must be originally written in your own words. It is against copyright laws to sell material written by someone else without permission (sales are not protected by educational free use exceptions). You may draw from any appropriate source in order to write your lesson, but you should use your own original phrasing of the content.
  • Be written about a specific topic. Example: “Astronauts” is not a specific topic. Instead, write about Chris Hadfield, Christa McAuliffe, or Neil Armstrong (just to name a few).
  • Include keywords that are capitalized or italicized, with definitions or synonyms included, either with an explicit sentence in the lesson or in parentheses following the word. Examples of keywords are names or locations unique to the lesson, main ideas, words that are difficult to spell, or that represent challenging vocabulary. Example: Hurricane Katrina was a CATASTROPHIC (disastrous, devastating) storm that affected a large portion of the southeastern United States.
  • Cite sources which were used at the end of the lesson. This does not have to be in a formal bibliographic style. Websites can be credited with a link, or books with a title and author. If citing with a link, please use the actual link and not a hyperlink that only shows the title of the page it links to.
  • Be factually accurate. We do not fact-check lesson content, but it’s expected that lesson writers will ensure the content is true and correct. We may occasionally choose to fact-check material at our discretion. Factual errors found, or that are brought to our attention, will result in removal of the lesson from the site and potential removal as a writer.
  • Include a variety of question types, which must be displayed using the following color code. You should also include the answers to your questions alongside each question (not as an answer key at the end).

Green: Known. These are questions that have only one possible correct answer to the question posed, and therefore can be answered using the three stencil set. Example: “What was Christa McAuliffe’s profession before she became an astronaut?” 

Orange: Semi-Open. These are questions that have a small group of possible answers, or has a few words from a known response in which the speller may or may not use all of them but still offer a correct answer. Example: “Name one astronaut on the Apollo 13 mission" The speller could say Lovell, Jim Lovell, or James Lovell. 

Blue: Prior Knowledge. Questions that were not specifically addressed in the text of the lesson, but are likely to be common knowledge for the potential student doing the lesson. Example: “Name a state in the southeastern United States.”
Purple: Math. Any question that uses numbers, requires calculation, or for which you would offer the numbered stencil or laminate.

Pink: Open or Creative Writing. A question that requires summary and synthesis, opinion, or is creative.

Red: VAKTivity. An extension activity to support visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or tactile learning off the boards.

 II.  Complete a licensing agreement.

Following our approval of your sample lesson, we will send you a licensing agreement via DocuSign which allows us to sell your copyrighted material on your behalf. In it, you will agree to the following terms:

  • Your lessons remain your property, and you will still own the copyright. You are only licensing them to us for sale, in exchange for a royalty fee we collect on all sales. That rate is currently 30%, so you will receive 70% along with an itemized statement of which lessons sold, each month. We can pay you by check, PayPal, or Venmo.
  • Spellers Learn will pay for all marketing and overhead costs.
  • Writers outside the United States might incur additional fees for PayPal transfers. This will be discussed with potential writers on an individualized basis.
  • Spellers Learn determines whether we will accept a lesson you submit, and the price that is set for it. Our prices are set based on lesson length and complexity, and we reserve the right to apply occasional discounts or give lessons away. 
  • Submit lessons in an editable file format of your choice or by a shared drive such as Google Drive or Dropbox.
  • Remove any headers, footers, and page numbering before submitting. All documents will be formatted into our standardized presentation and converted to .pdf by us before being uploaded to the site for sale. Headers, footers, numbering, and other added-on styles can cause problems when we are preparing and reformatting for upload.
  • Although Spellers Learn will do some light proofreading, please know that it is not the responsibility of the site to correct lessons that have been submitted with typos, spelling errors, or other mistakes in the text. If they are significant, your lessons will be returned for correction. 

III.  Provide your payment information.

You can receive your payments by Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, or mailed check (writers receiving their funds outside the United States may be limited to using PayPal).

Payments are made no later than the 15th of the month, for the sales made in the month prior. If you elect to receive payment by check, it will be issued no later than the 15th but may not be received by that date.

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After providing your payment info, you can begin submitting lessons for sale.

SOME NOTES TO REMEMBER: Lessons have to read in such a way that anyone can use it. Do not write in the first person or with your own commentary. Ex.: "This summer when I was doing X, I noticed..." This doesn't carry over well when another person is reading the lesson to their own speller. 

If you include links anywhere in the lesson (even in the sources), ensure that you show the actual link and not a clickable hyperlink. Hyperlinks do not remain clickable after the lesson is uploaded for sale and the user will not be able to access your link in that format.

Always use ONE space after a period, not two. Using two can negatively affect line spacing in digital formats.

Most of the site's buyers are home users, not clinical practitioners. Academically-oriented subject matter is preferred by home users. Since the lesson is only used one time by these buyers, a reasonable number of question options in each color category is preferred over adding many questions for each informational section. 

If you have any additional questions or would like to begin adding your lessons to our catalog, contact us at contact@spellerslearn.com.