Young scholars investigate new vocabulary words with a fun, collaborative activity. Given a deck of word cards, pairs of students flip over one at a time and independently look up the term in a dictionary. They then take turns rolling a...

Shiver me timbers, this here resource is a great way to teach young landlubbers to speak the language of the briny deep. Including over 30 different words and phrases, complete with definitions and guide words, this dictionary will...

Young scholars dig through dictionaries to uncover the wealth of information they provide. Using the included graphic organizer, children learn about target words by finding their parts of speech, pronunciation, definition, synonyms, and...

Bring dictionaries back into your classroom! Although it's often preferred to look up a word's definition on a computer or smart phone, we still need to practice this important skill. Middle and high schoolers investigate how to use the...

Scholars work together to define words and answer questions using a dictionary cube.

Why do we use a dictionary? Your scholars will tell you why while demonstrating their dictionary skills. In addition to stating the purpose of using dictionaries, they will also show what they know about guide words, alphabetizing,...

How can pronunciations and definitions vary in two different dictionaries? Middle schoolers look up words in abridged and unabridged dictionaries. They compare the pronunciation, spelling, and definitions in each version. Additionally,...

Examining idioms is a peace of cake when using this graphic organizer! Here, grammarians identify an idiom and use it in a sentence. Then they investigate its literal meaning versus its figurative meaning, and accompany each one with a...

Support young learners' acquisition of new vocabulary with this pair of graphic organizers. Using context clues and reference materials, children complete each section of the activity, including the definition, synonyms, examples and...

Lead young learners to understand new vocabulary with this series of word maps. The first of these organizers asks children to determine the definition and provide examples and descriptions of each word with the help of dictionaries,...

Analyze informational text with a set of three worksheets that focus on the main idea and supporting details, and reinforces note taking skills, and the use of context clues to define new words. 

Finding engaging ways to help your middle schoolers build their vocabulary is not easy to do. The lesson presented here offers a great way to motivate them to build vocabulary by making it into a game. Teams of pupils use a dictionary...

Students discover the benefits of kind acts by dissecting the word itself.  In this vocabulary lesson plan, students utilize the letters in the word "kindness" to create other words which they record.  Students figure out what...

Discovering different ways to use a dictionary to find the meaning of unknown words is the focus of this language arts lesson. Everyone reads a story and practices finding unknown words in the dictionary.

Here is a classic vocabulary activity presented in a very cute way. Children dive into new and unknown words specific to third grade reading and learning content. They choose a word from the list, look it up in the dictionary, then use...

A unit covering stories of Ancient Rome examines spelling rules, suffixes, verbs, quotation marks, writing, and dictionary skills. Lessons follow a similar routine; reading, skills practice, and extension activities, followed by...

Looking for a good instructional activity on dictionary and word definition skills? The instructional activity presented here is for you! In it, learners utilize a worksheet, embedded in the plan, to record a word's...

Middle schoolers engage in a lesson which reminds them that root words indicate the base meaning of a word, and that those roots are found in many different words that have similar meanings. Pairs of pupils use construction paper and...

After a review of what suffixes are and how they are used, middle schoolers utilize a worksheet that is embedded in the plan to work in pairs to strengthen their understanding and skills in using these very important parts of our...

"Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle?" Inspired by this quote from the award-winning novel written by Andrew Celements, this lesson allows children to invent their own...

Warm up your class at the start of the year by checking their ability to read and unpack dictionary entries. This worksheet asks pupils to pick apart a sentence that uses some pretty advanced vocabulary by using three dictionary...

Support children with finding meaning in unknown words using this graphic organizer. While reading a piece of writing, learners identify unfamiliar words, using context clues and reference materials to find and record definitions before...

Second graders explore the purpose of a dictionary. In this library media lesson, 2nd graders explore My First Dictionary and identify guidewords, entry words, and captions. Students list ways they can use the dictionary.

Students explore how to use the dictionary. They practice finding words in the dictionary. Students find the word that is between two listed words and they find the word that does not belong in between the two listed words.