
Dictionary Skills Lesson
One • Dictionary
Skills Lesson Two
| Using a Dictionary for Definitions
and to Clarify Meaning |
This is number 3 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.
Curriculum: Written Language, exploring language,
shaping text, editing text.
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 …
- climate and weather
- hotel and restaurant
- less and fewer
- big and huge
- fair and honest
- sport and recreation
- profession and occupation
- goals and aims
- overcast and cloudy
- flutter and flap
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.
| Same Word/ Different Meaning |
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:
- safe
- signal
- strike
- fast
- margin
- point
- sale
- tumble
- over
- high
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.
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