Activity
Scholastic

Scholastic: Writing With Writers: Descriptive Writing

For Teachers 2nd - 8th Standards
This page gives students specific guidelines & tips for a descriptive writing assignment. Students can publish descriptive writing here, as well. A thorough teacher's guide to descriptive writing is also provided.
Handout
Enchanted Learning

Enchanted Learning: Little Explorers Picture Dictionary

For Students K - 1st Standards
Delve into this wonderfully illustrated and comprehensive picture dictionary. Research up to 1,905 illustrated entries. Each word is used in a meaningful sentence.
Website
Other

Thinkmap Inc.: Visual Thesaurus

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
The most visual thesaurus you will ever see! Watch words become alive and move in front of your eyes. This resource offers a trial version free, which only allows you to look up a certain number of words before it makes you pay....
Handout
Other

Encyberpedia: The Living Encyclopedia

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
An exhaustive list of links to dictionaries, encyclopedias, glossaries, languages and thesaurus on the web. L.9-10.4c References, L.9-10.4d Verify meaning, L.11-12.4c References
Website
Information Fluency

Imsa 21st Century Information Fluency (21 Cif) Portal

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
The 21st Century Information Fluency (21CIF) Portal was developed by the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) to improve Internet search skills for the advancement of information literacy. The goal of this project is to help...
Website
Information Fluency

Imsa 21st Century Information Fluency (21 Cif) Portal

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
The 21st Century Information Fluency (21CIF) Portal was developed by the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) to improve Internet search skills for the advancement of information literacy. The goal of this project is to help...
Unit Plan
Texas Education Agency

Texas Gateway: Reference Materials Printed and Electronic

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Find out how to use dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauri in order to determine meanings of words and phrases, including their denotations, connotations, and etymologies.
Unit Plan
Texas Education Agency

Texas Gateway: Reference Materials Printed and Electronic

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Learn how to use dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauri in order to determine meanings of words and phrases, including their denotations, connotations, and etymologies.
Lesson Plan
Better Lesson

Better Lesson: Learning to Recognize and Use Strong Verbs

For Teachers K - 1st Standards
In this lesson plan, students will listen to stories and determine the meaning of the word by using sentence-level context clues. They will think about the verbs that are used and think about how that verb appeals to their senses, giving...
Handout
University of Chicago

The University of Chicago: Roget's Thesaurus Search Form

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Enter any word and get tons of words that mean the same thing (or close to it)
Lesson Plan
Writing Fix

Writing Fix: Noodle Alliteration

For Teachers 2nd - 6th Standards
This lesson allows students an opportunity to explore the dictionary and thesaurus to write creative alliterations about pasta after reading Jack Prelutsky's poem, "Spaghetti, Spaghetti."
Handout
The Write Place

Literacy Education Online: How to Use a Thesaurus

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A good overview of what a thesaurus is and how best to use one. Also includes the difference between the two forms of thesauri and explains how to choose the correct synonym to use. L.9-10.4c References
Handout
Other

Wordsmyth: The Educational Dictionary Thesaurus

For Students 1st - 9th Standards
This site not only is a dictionary and a thesaurus, but it also has brain teasers and games.
Handout
Other

Dictionary.com

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Look up any word by typing the entry at the top. Includes word of the day, links to foreign language dictionaries, and link to a thesaurus. L.9-10.4c References, L.9-10.4d Verify meaning, L.11-12.4c References, L.9-10.4d Verify meaning,...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Synonym/antonym Bingo

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Students will learn to identify synonyms and antonyms by playing a bingo game.
Interactive
Other

Visual Thesaurus: Shades of Meaning

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
In this lesson, small groups of students will compete in a "shades of meaning" contest to see which group can use the Visual Thesaurus to help them match words with similar definitions but different connotations in the shortest amount of...
Website
Education Development Center

Tv411: Finding New Ways to Say Something

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Use the activities on this site to review an understanding of synonyms and practice alphabetizing.
Unit Plan
Texas Education Agency

Texas Gateway: Reference Materials Printed and Electronic

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Learn how to use dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauri in order to determine meanings of words and phrases, including their denotations, connotations, and etymologies.
Unit Plan
Texas Education Agency

Texas Gateway: Reference Materials: Printed and Electronic

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
You will learn how to use dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauri in order to determine meanings of words and phrases, including their denotations, connotations, and etymologies.
Handout
Other

Thesaurus.com: Homepage

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
To use the thesaurus at Thesaurus.com, simply type a word in the gold search box at the top of the page and click the 'Search' button. A list of synonyms and antonyms will be returned.
Unknown Type
BBC

Bbc: Skillswise: English: Reading: Dictionaries and Indexes Quiz: Level One [Pdf]

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Quiz testing basic alphabetization and dictionary skills required for real-world application. Three levels of difficulty with answers provided.
Activity
Learning Farm

Learning Farm: Common Core Standards: Dictionaries, Glossaries, Thesaurus

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
Learn about different reference materials such as dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauri to help you learn meanings of words, pronunciation, or parts of speech. View a short lesson then practice using Game Mode or Test Mode.
Handout
Bartleby

Bartleby.com: Reference

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Site provides links to a wide variety of reference tools, including encyclopedias, dictionary, thesaurus, quotation books, and guides to English usage. L.11-12.1b Usage issues
Handout
Other

The Phrase Finder: Home Page

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
"A professional writers' resource from The Phrase Finder for generating ideas for headlines, advertising copy, song lyrics, etc." Just type your word and the phrase finder will find a phrase to match it. L.9-10.4c References, L.9-10.4d...