Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Delightful Dictionaries

What is the purpose of a dictionary? 

 

Both writers and readers use dictionaries as a wonderful resource. 

When readers come across a word they don't understand they can use a dictionary to: 

*find the definition or meaning of a word

*find examples of how to use the word

Writers can use the dictionary to help them:

*spell a word correctly

*use the correct part of speech or word form

*Find useful examples that can help them use the word in their own sentences! 

Dictionaries also have plenty of other interesting information! Look at the picture below. Some dictionaries include an interesting fact about each letter on the first page of its entries. 



Dictionaries also include diagrams, or labeled illustrations !

Illustrations are always labeled and sometimes even give history on where the word came from! 

For example, did you know that the word "aardvark" 

comes from Africa and means "earth - pig"? 


Aren't dictionaries intriguing! 

(ooh that's a high vocab word! Look it up in a dictionary to find out what it means!)


Now that we all agree on how fabulous dictionaries are, we need to learn how to use them! 

There are many parts to finding a word in the dictionary. Use ABC order and the guide words. 

Guide words tell you what the first and last word on the page is. So you need to use your brain to figure out if your word falls in between the guide words. 

 The guide words here are foghorn and food chain. Is the word fork on this page? 


Here are some Educreations made by some students on our didactic dictionaries. 

 


What are some new and intriguing words you can find in the dictionary? In your comment, tell us what word is, its most common part of speech (noun, verb, adjective) and its definition!

24 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Dear Room 9,
    I have never used a dictionary before so your lesson was very helpful. I over heard my mom, Mrs. B, telling Tank that he needed to abstain from eating her dirty socks. Tank has a very sophisticated palate (you should look that one up) and enjoys eating things like dirty socks, soggy newspapers and sometimes even rocks. I decided to look up the word abstain in the dictionary and found that it is a verb. It means to stop yourself from doing something. I guess Mrs. B doesn't like her socks being eaten. I sometimes have a hard time abstaining from sleeping on my parent's bed. Do you have a hard time abstaining from something?
    I can't wait to learn more words!

    Love,
    Brutus

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    Replies
    1. Dear Brutus,
      My name is Samantha. I have a hard time abstaining from fighting with my brother and sister. What do you have a hard time abstaining from?
      I love you and Miss B.

      Love,
      Samantha

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    2. Dear Brutus,
      I never knew abstain was a word. Thank you teaching me it. I have a hard time abstaining from American Girl Dolls and my dog Ruffy has a hard time abstaining from her treats. Brutus,do you have any special treats you’re allowed to eat?

      Your friends,
      Kate and Ruffy

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    3. Dear Brutus,

      I like the word sophisticated too. It is a very interesting word and I like to use it when I describe complicated and fancy things at dinner with my family. This makes me sound very sophisticated. I hope you, Tank, Mrs.and Mr B have good weekend.

      From,

      Devyn

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  3. Dear Room 9,
    Today I learned the word famished. That means you’re really hungry. For example today when I got home I told my mom I was hungry and then I asked my mom what is another word for hungry and she said famished. Then I decided to do famished.
    Does anyone else have another word for hungry?

    From,
    Kaden!

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    Replies
    1. Dear Kaden,
      Famished is a truly fantastic word. I am often ravenous when I wake up in the morning. Ravenous is an adjective and also means extremely hungry. I can hear my tummy growl as loud as a lion! I have to sit patiently and watch as my mom puts my savory breakfast together. Sometimes if I am lucky, she breaks an egg over my food. It tastes delectable! What is your favorite thing to eat when you are famished?

      Hungrily,
      Brutus

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  4. Dear Room 9,
    After I watched the video on the dictionaries, I went into my own dictionary and saw a few new words. The words I found were ghastly, invert and plod. Ghastly means terrifying and dreadful. It is an adjective. Next, I found invert. Invert is a verb that means turning something upside down or inside out. The last word I found was plod. It is a verb. It means to move or walk slowly with heavy steps. These are the words that I found.
    Lucas

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    Replies
    1. Dear Lucas,
      You found such interesting words in the dictionary! I hadn't heard the word plod in a long time. Your comment reminded me of it. It is an excellent word to describe how I walk to bed at night. After I brush my teeth with my eyes practically closed, I plod over to my bed and plunge into a deep sleep. Sometimes I wake up to the ghastly sound of my dogs snoring!
      I have a riddle for you. What word can be written forward, backward and inverted and is still the same word?

      Sincerely,
      Mrs. B

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  5. Dear Room 9,
    An intriguing new word is immune. It is an adjective. It means protected against something disagreeable or harmful.

    I am immune from the chicken pox because I got a shot from the doctor.

    Another new word is obsolete. It is an adjective. It means it is no longer in use. Typewrites are obsolete, instead people now use computers. Do you have anything obsolete in your house? I don’t.

    From,
    Matthew M.

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    Replies
    1. Dear Matthew M.,
      Technology is making many things obsolete. I still have a cassette player in my house. Have you ever seen a cassette player? What is it? What do you use instead of a cassette player?

      Sincerely,
      Mrs. B

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    2. Dear Mrs. Broussard,
      No, I have never seen one. On a cassette player you could play music. Now you use CD players and ipods.

      From Matthew M.

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  6. Dear Room 9,

    After reading some of the blogs I thought of the word starvation. Starvation is a noun and it means when someone is suffering because they have not had enough to eat. Can you think of time when you were starving? I bet it did not feel good.

    From,
    Claude

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  7. Dear Room 9,
    I was looking for another word for sad and I came across the word solemn.
    It is a adjective. It means very serious and sad. It also means formal in manner and behavior. For example, he spoke in a very solemn voice at the funeral.

    From,
    Mateen

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  8. Dear Room 9,

    An interesting word I found is correspondent. The example sentence is: The correspondent reported on the radio. It’s definition is someone who reports for television, radio or newspaper. Its most common part of speech is a noun. I sometimes watch the news and I see correspondents talking about recent stuff that has happened. Can anyone find a synonym for correspondent?


    From,
    Sophia :)

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  9. Dear Room 9,
    The word I looked up in the dictionary is creative. My mom always says I am creative. The definition of creative is having good imagination, artistic, or original ideas. Creative is an adjective. Do you do anything creative?


    From,

    Danielle

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  10. Dear Room 9,
    The word I looked up was lilac. A lilac is a shrub with large sprays of purple or white fragrant flowers. My example sentence is: Lilacs are really pretty flowers. Its most common part of speech is a noun.
    Do you like lilacs?
    From,
    Kate

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  11. Dear Room 9,

    You can learn a lot from a dictionary. You just have to find the right letter. For example, I went to Italy and I was in a boat. I was wondering how I can call the captain with other word. When I came back home, I watched a show which had the word skipper and I looked up in the dictionary and I figured out that, is synonym of captain. It is easy you just have to go to the letter S and you will find the word skipper, which is a noun and means the captain of a ship or boat .
    I love dictionaries!

    Regards

    Tyler

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  12. Dear Room 9,
    Today when I got home my dad said "Do you want to see an old dictionary?" I said sure. My dad went upstairs and got a dictionary out. It was printed in 1964. It had 1,724 pages. I opened the dictionary to page 584 and saw a picture of a frustum. Frustum is a noun. A frustum is what is left of a cone or a pyramid when you cut off the pointy section. If you can’t imagine what a frustum looks like, then imagine the shape of a fez. That is what a cone frustum looks like. But if you don’t know what fez means then look it up in a dictionary.

    Sincerely,
    Isabella

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    Replies
    1. Dear Isabella,
      That’s really interesting. I never heard that word before. I love when you said it’s like pyramid with the top cut off. When do you think you’re dad got that dictionary?

      From,
      Kate

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  13. Dear Room 9,
    While I was reading I came across two words that I did not understand. Here they are: 1.Frequently and 2.Discouraged. I looked them up in the dictionary, and it turns out that frequently is an adverb. Its definition is...drumroll please…occurring often! After that I looked up discouraged, I learned that it is a verb. Its definition is…wait for it...wait for it...to deprive of courage or confidence! Deprive means to not share. I am frequently discouraged about looking up words in the dictionary. For example, sometimes I deprive my mom from my ice cream even though she only wants a few bites. Do you feel frequently discouraged about anything? I hope I learn more words this year.

    Your class member,
    Angelisse

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  14. found the word rigmarole in the dictionary. It was the word of the day. Rigmarole is a noun. It means doing a long list of things to get something done. My dad gives me the rigmarole whenever I ask to go swimming by making me put on sunscreen, get my towel, my shoes, my bathing suite, and get his keyes. Don’t you think it’s and interesting word to say?

    From,

    Devyn

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  15. Dear Room 9

    An interesting word that I found is extraordinary. The meaning of it is unusual and amazing. It is an adjective. I practice basketball everyday so I can be an extraordinary basketball player. Do you do anything extraordinary?

    Matthew Volpe

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    Replies
    1. Hi Matthew,
      Extraordinary is an extraordinarily fantastic word! I find that the all of the third graders are truly extraordinary in everything they put their minds to. Take times tables for instance. By the end of the third grade, if you study, you will know your 1-12 times tables and maybe even beyond! Now that's extraordinary!
      Sometimes the littlest things can be extraordinary like walking to school or eating a new food. Have you ever done a normal thing that turned into something extraordinary? I'd really like to hear about it!

      Warmly,

      Kelly (Kaden's Mom)

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