Dictionary Skills

DICTIONARY
Get to know your
Dictionaries are books

that list all the words in a
language.
With a Dictionary, you can learn:

-How to spell a word
-What a word means
-How to say a word
-What part of speech a word is
-How many syllables are in a word
-Whether or not to capitalize a word
-How to abbreviate a word (ex= USA)
-Meanings of prefixes and suffixes for a word
How is a Dictionary
Organized?
To make
dictionaries
easier to
use, the
words are
organized in
alphabetical
order.
Since there
are so many
words in a
dictionary,
guide words
are used to
help you
locate a word
quickly.
Guide words are

found at the top of
each page. They
tell you the first
and last word that
is found on that
page.
How do guide words help

you find a word quickly?
Look at the guide
words
Use what you know
about
alphabetizing to
decide if your word
falls between the
two guide words
Lets see what that meansLets pretend we are

looking up the word,
science. First we would
turn to the S section.
Then we would use the

guide words and what we
know about alphabetizing
to decide the correct page
in the S section.
We would look at the

guide words at the top of
each page and decide
which ones our word
would come between in
alphabetical order.
Lets do that for the word

scienceWhich one of these
pages would contain the
word science?
science
The page with the guide words-
stamp - summer
Or the page with the guide words-
sandwich - seventy
Dictionary Definitions
What do they mean?
Have you ever looked up

the definition for a word in
the dictionary?
If so, then you
might have been
confused by some
of the parts of that
definition.
Today, were going to

learn what each part of a
definition means.
VOCABULARY
Headword- the word you are looking up. It

is always in bold type.
Entry- the information on the word you are
looking up.
Pronunciation- tells you how to say the
word. Found in (parentheses).
Part of speech- tells you how the word is
used in a sentence (n=noun, v=verb,
adj=adjective, adv=adverb).
VOCABULARY
Definition- all possible meanings for the
word. Many words have more than one
meaning.
Examples- Shows you how the word is used
in a sentence. Usually found in italics.
Etymology- this tells you the history of the
word, and what language it came from.
This is a definition for flag:
flag (flag)
1. noun A piece of cloth with a
pattern or symbol of a
country, an organization, etc.
2. verb To stop, or to signal.
We flagged down the police
officer.
flag (flag)
1. nounThe
A piece
clothdefined
with a
word of
being
pattern
or symbol
a
is followed
byof
the
country,
an organization,
etc.
pronunciation
in
parenthesis.
officer.
The first word tells the words

flag
(flag)
part of speech
officer.
The next section is the actual

definition of the word.
officer.
Finally, you might see a

sentence
1. noun A showing
piece of how
cloththe
with a
word
is used.
Especially
pattern
or symbol
of a if the
use
is not the
most common
for
country,
an organization,
etc.
the word.
officer.
How do I decide which Definition to

use?
1. Decide how the word is used.
2. Read all meanings of the word given to you.
3. Imagine a blank space in the sentence where the
word appears.
4. Substitute the meaning you feel is correct into
that sentece.
5. If the sentence still makes sense, then you have
the correct definition.
Now you know how to

use a dictionary!
Activity #1
Choose a word to look
up in the dictionary.
Write that word and
dictionary entry on a
piece of white paper.
Label the parts of the
entry.
Activity #2
1. Complete the Scream-Scrubber worksheet.
2. Complete the Dictionary Skills Review
worksheet.
Using a
THESAURUS
What is a Thesaurus?
A thesaurus is a book that can help
you find words with the same or
similar meanings.
(No, a thesaurus is NOT a
kind of dinosaur)
Why use a Thesaurus?

To avoid using the same word over and over
To find a word that has the same or similar
meaning
To find the opposite of a word
To learn new words
To make your writing more interesting or
exciting
How do I use a Thesaurus?

A thesaurus is arranged very much like a
dictionary.
Alphabetical order
Guide words
Entries
A
thesaurus entry usually has:

Headword in BOLD
Part of speech
Synonyms (words with same or similar
meaning)
Antonyms (words with opposite meanings)
ACTIVITY
#3
Choose an adjective (a word that describes)

such as big, tall, small, litte, fat, etc. and
write that word in the center of your paper.
Look up the word in a thesaurus.
Above the word, write the guide words on
the page you found the word.
Write all of the synonyms that you found
for that word all around the paper.
ACTIVITY
#4
Complete the Using a Thesaurus worksheet.

This is an INDIVIDUAL activity, not a
group activity.

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DICTIONARY

Get to know your

Dictionaries are books

With a Dictionary, you can learn:

Guide words are

How do guide words help

Lets see what that meansLets pretend we are

Then we would use the

We would look at the

Lets do that for the word

Have you ever looked up

Today, were going to

Headword- the word you are looking up. It

This is a definition for flag:

The first word tells the words

The next section is the actual

Finally, you might see a

How do I decide which Definition to

Now you know how to

Why use a Thesaurus?

How do I use a Thesaurus?

thesaurus entry usually has:

Choose an adjective (a word that describes)

Complete the Using a Thesaurus worksheet.

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