Pop quiz! Learners work in groups to answer questions on a quiz about dictionary skills.  They then work to create a dictionary skill quiz of their own. Groups exchange quizzes and race to find all of the answers.

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 do you rebuild a language that has been banned for years? A short video introduces high schoolers to Marie Wilcox, A Wukchumni Native American from Central California who, for over 20 years, worked on comprising a dictionary of the...

Students understand the way the dictionary is laid out as well as the purpose for why people use dictionaries. In this language arts lesson plan, students recognize the need for alphabetical order and are able to find words using a...

Students create dictionary of terms for citizens of a democracy, using events and biographies from both their state's history and U.S. history.

"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 instructional activity allows children to invent...

Students make an illustrated dictionary of words they've used and learned in class. In this vocabulary lesson, students find words from their notes, discuss the words in a group, select the best words as a class, and complete an...

Middle schoolers get hip to the jive with a lesson about slang. They closely examine examples of slang and use context clues to infer the meaning of the terms. Groups read and summarize an article about a teacher who created a Gen Z...

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...

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...

Smart Solutions is the theme of a unit created to meet the needs of English language earners. Through a series of lessons, scholars follow a routine—move, speak, and listen— to cover topics including stores, shops, celebrations, pets,...

Here is a unit designed to support English language development. Scholars speak, move, and write to learn more about topics that focus on community and local concepts. The series of lessons aids to reinforce concepts...

Give language skills a boost with a series of ESL lessons in an Off to Adventure! themed unit. Using a speak, listen, move, and look routine, scholars enhance proficiency through grand conversation and skills practice....

Use online dictionaries to define vocabulary words and create a visualization of word meanings through digital art. Middle schoolers go online to define assigned vocabulary words. They visualize the meanings of the words in photo...

Scholars demonstrate their knowledge of root words aqua and aud, and develop vocabulary skills by completing of a chart, handout, and worksheet using creative thinking skills, a dictionary, and a thesaurus.   

Middle schoolers consider languages as representations of cultures and the importance of preserving various languages, especially the rapidly disappearing languages of indigenous peoples, in a lesson that tells the story of Marie Wilcox...

Students explore where words come from. Every word had a beginning--- a birth. They use the internet and go to a web site given by the teacher to take a quiz on word origins, students are allowed to use dictionaries.

Students define the word colossal, then read a news article about an enormous squid caught off Antarctica. In this animal studies and current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with dictionary and vocabulary activities,...

Fourth graders work in small groups to become experts on different colonial trades in the eighth instructional activity of this unit. Working toward the long-term goal of writing a piece of historical fiction, young scholars read...

Middle schoolers develop strategies for what to do when they come upon words in a text that they don't know. After a class discussion, pupils are given a selection of text that contains some very difficult words. They are instructed to...

Students identify between appropriate and inappropriate behaviors at work. In this work behaviors lesson plan, students use a dictionary to define the related terms and visit various links to complete activities that define work place...

Middle schoolers engage in a instructional activity 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...

Besides the dictionary definition, words also carry the added weight of meanings that are inferred or implied, meanings conferred on words, or connotations. To gain an understanding the importance of connotation, class members...

Look it up. Scholars use a dictionary and thesaurus to verify the meaning of the research vocabulary words they defined in the previous activity. They then use sticky notes to write a synonym for each word. Finally, individuals choose a...