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?