Dictionary
The Skills You Need to answer the Question:
What Does That Mean?
A Dictionary is a Reference Book
What is a reference book?A reference book is used to find information.
What information will we find in a dictionary?
Spelling – how to correctly spell wordsSyllables – how many syllables a word
has and where to divide the syllablesPronunciation – how to correctly say the
word using phoneticsPart of Speech – noun, verb, adjective,
etcDefinition – word meaning
To use a dictionary:
You need to know how to put words in alphabetical order
ANDYou need to be able to find words using the alphabet
After the following exercise you’ll see the difference between the two.
Put these words in order
Lock Loaf Logic Load Locate Local
Load Loaf Local Locate Lock Logic
Find words using the alphabet: Which words would go between :
Loyal and lung?
A. Lure and lusterB. Stuck and bucketC. Mad and madeD. Luck and lullaby D. Luck and lullaby
Do you see the difference now? The words in the dictionary are listed in
alphabetical order.
In order to find the word you want in the dictionary – you need to be able to determine where words should go in a list organized alphabetically.
If you want to find banana, you need to know that:
Banana is after Apple but before Carrot
Example Dictionary PageGuidewords
Look: words are listed in ABC Order
What do you notice About the guidewordsAnd the other words listed on the page?
The guidewords are the same wordsas the first and lastwords on the page
Guidewords Guidewords are listed at the top of
each page. The 1st guide word is the FIRST word on
the page The 2nd guideword is the LAST word on
the page Sometimes the 1st guideword is on the
left page and the 2nd guideword is on the right page (look in your dictionary)
Guidewords speed things up
Guidewords help us find the word we are looking for faster.
Think back to the previous slide:
If you want to find banana, you need to know that:
Banana is after Apple but before Carrot
Apple Carrot
If apple and carrot are the guidewords,we know banana would be on this page.
What other words would be on this page?
A. CarB. AntC. BabyD. Dog
A. Car
C. Baby
What should be the guidewords for this page?
Fuse Futile Gadget Galaxy Gamble Gander Garage
Garbage Garlic Garment Gas Gasp Gear Gelatin
FUSE GELATIN
Spell the third wordOn this page.
C-o-u-g-a-rHow many syllables In council?2 syllables incoun-cilWhat is the proper Pronunciation of cough?(kawf)What part of speech is country?noun
What is the meaningof countless?“So many that you can not count them.”
Practice – Use your dictionary and work with your partner to answer the questions below.
Write the guidewords Spell the 9th word How many syllables in the 9th word? Write the pronunciation for the 10th
word What is the part of speech for 12th
word? What is the meaning of the 13th word?