DICTIONARY SKILLS

The Dictionary is often regarded as the most important book that your students have in the classroom. Just imagine living in a country that doesn't have a dictionary (and there are still many of these)! Just how well do your students know the dictionary? Can they use it adequately? Is it just for spelling or does it contain a wealth of other information?This is number 1 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.

FIRST STEPS

Find out what your students know about the purpose of a dictionary, eg

• It is for finding the meaning or words
• It can be used for checking spelling
• It tells us how to say (pronounce) words correctly.

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.

PLACEMENT OF LETTERS

Have students discover that when they open the dictionary in the middle they will find words which start with l and m.What do the words start with if we open it in the first quarter? (d and e)
What do the words start with if we open it in the third quarter? (r and s.
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.

SIMPLE ALPHABETISING

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:

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).