Dictionary+Skills

=Dictionary Skills=

This lesson originated here: [|Dictionary Skills] http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listdictionamr.html Find out what your students know about the purpose of a dictionary. Ask how they think a dictionary is organised, eg alphabetical order. Why do they think this is a good way to arrange a dictionary? What problems can they see if it just contained words in any order? Find out if your students are confident with the alphabetical sequence (often this can be taken for granted). Simply writing all letters across the top of the blackboard is sufficient but don't make students who do not know it well feel guilty or embarrassed Some will have slipped through the cracks. Tell the class that this is their quick reminder. On a daily basis, play regular simple alphabetical team or group games such as … what letter comes after the letter **L** what letter comes two before the letter **N** etc. Have students discover that when they open the dictionary in the middle they will find words which start with l and m. Develop the idea that if we remember this it is a lot quicker to find words rather than scrolling from the first pages until you find the correct letter. Start off by having students place lists in alphabetical order in which no two words begin with the same letter, eg Next have students place words of the same initial letter into alphabetical order. Talk about how it is necessary to go to the second letter as the first letters are all the same, eg What would they have to do with words that have both first and second letters the same? (We have to go to the third letter), Try the following:
 * 1) It is for finding the meaning or words
 * 2) It can be used for checking spelling
 * 3) It tells us how to say (pronounce) words correctly.
 * **Placement of Letters** ||
 * 1) What do the words start with if we open it in the first quarter? (d and e)
 * 2) What do the words start with if we open it in the third quarter? (r and s.
 * **Simple Alphabetising** ||
 * **bill** || **mean** || **car** ||
 * **soil** || **under** || **mask** ||
 * **tent** || **lump** || **world** ||
 * **escape** || **enemy** || **equator** ||
 * **egg** || **enclose** || **extra** ||
 * **extend** || **early** || **eat** ||
 * **glib** || **glib** || **glaze** ||
 * **gloss** || **gloom** || **glad** ||
 * **glass** || **glance** || **glacier** ||

To consolidate these learnings, have students arrange books on a shelf by title into alphabetical order. (Change them around regularly) Arrange a shelf of books by author surname then by author christian name, then by publisher. Challenge groups to make an alphabetical card catalogue for a collection of pictures on a topic (animals or places) cut from magazines. On a daily basis challenge each student in turn to find the name of students absent from the class in a telephone book and post them on a bulletin board in alphabetical order (along with phone number to prove they used the directory).

When the students can alphabetise confidently up to 3 initial letters, introduce the idea of guide words. Talk about what they have learnt so far to help them find words quickly. Open dictionaries and point out that there are two words - the one at the left is the same as the first word on that page and the one on the right is the same as the last word on that page. Tell them that these are called guide words. Have students open their dictionaries at random and read out the guide words they have found. What do these guide words tell us and how can they help? Look at several pages and help students to see how the words after the first guide word and before the last guide word are arranged in alphabetical order up to (x) number of letters. Give the students two guide words and challenge them in groups to try and think of any words which would be found on these two pages. Use dictionaries to check. Write a word on the board. Challenge students to find this word in the dictionary without opening them up more than four times Remind them of the clues they will use, eg which quarter of the dictionary - now in the neighbourhood of the word, using guide words, now the actual word. Try this many many times and you will find students become more and more competent and confident with their dictionary.
 * Lesson 2**
 * **Using Guide Words** ||
 * **Consolidating Learnings** ||

This is number 2 in a series of lessons designed to teach students the sometimes forgotten art of using a dictionary and is designed for students aged 9+ although many teachers will adapt it for younger students. The use of guide words needs regular practice to be an effective method of helping students quickly locate words they need to find. Try the following drills with your class. Write the following two guide words on the board … (the first guide word is on the top left page and the second on the top right page). Now write the following four words on the board. Tell the students that two or these words can be found on the pages between the guide words and that two can not. Have students check to find the words which are between the guide words. Can they say why two of these words were between the guide words and why two were not? eg library will not be there as the third letter is before g in the alphabet. Line will not be found there as the third letter n is after the m of limit in the alphabet. Guide words are flat/flippant Guide words are cast/caterer Have groups select their own sets and challenge the class to find the words within the guide words. Write a pair of guide words on the board, eg sour/spare Next write the definition of the meaning of one or more words which can be found between the guide words of the two pages. The challenge for the students is to scan the meanings of the words to find the words which fit the definition given, eg When the students have cottoned on to this process, assign groups and/or individuals the task of finding their definitions between pairs of guide words. Many teachers use this as a daily drill and rotate the task of finding the definitions around groups. Remember to remind students that they only should include the definitions - not the actual words. Guide words are probably/ program Find the words between these guide words which mean …
 * **Using Guide Words** ||
 * Curriculum:** Written Language, exploring language, shaping text, editing text.
 * **Guide Word Drills 1 … what belongs and what doesn't?** ||
 * 1) ligament
 * 2) limitation
 * 1) like
 * 2) library
 * 3) line
 * 4) limit
 * More examples…**
 * 1) flavour
 * 2) flap (go to letter 4 for reason in is not there)
 * 3) flex
 * 4) flock
 * 1) carry
 * 2) cat
 * 3) catch
 * 4) cause
 * **Guide Word Drills 2 … finding the meanings between guide words** ||
 * 1) the Royal ruler of a country (sovereign- don't include this)
 * 2) a tool for gripping and turning a bolt (spanner)
 * More examples…**
 * 1) a way of doing something
 * 2) an outline - especially of the human face

Lesson 3

Introduce the idea that there are many words we come across often but we are not really sure what their exact meaning is. Sometimes this means we use the wrong word, eg Can students tell you the difference between … Using the dictionary have students clarify and explain the meanings of the above words. Point out that a dictionary is very useful for helping us get the correct meaning of words. Have students write sentences using the correct word in each case. Although students subconsiously understand that the same word can mean different things depending on the context, they will be totally surprised to find the number of different meanings that some words can have. To illustrate this, have them use the dictionary to find the different meanings for the following common words: Each group or student chooses one word from the list and writes a series of sentences that shows the differences in meaning of that words depending on the context used. Have groups challenge the class on a regular basis by finding words in the dictionary which have multiple meanings and being able to use them in the correct context.
 * **From Vague to More Exact** ||
 * 1) climate and weather
 * 2) hotel and restaurant
 * 3) less and fewer
 * 4) big and huge
 * 5) fair and honest
 * 6) sport and recreation
 * 7) profession and occupation
 * 8) goals and aims
 * 9) overcast and cloudy
 * 10) flutter and flap
 * **Same Word/ Different meaning** ||
 * 1) safe
 * 2) signal
 * 3) strike
 * 4) fast
 * 5) margin
 * 6) point
 * 7) sale
 * 8) tumble
 * 9) over
 * 10) high