Language Arts: Dictionary and Thesaurus Skills
Finding meanings, spellings, guide words, synonyms, and antonyms
Language Arts: Dictionary and Thesaurus Skills
Finding meanings, spellings, guide words, synonyms, and antonyms
Language Arts - Grade 2-3
- 1
A dictionary tells you many things about a word. Name two things you can learn from a dictionary entry.
Think about what you look for when you do not know a word.
A dictionary entry can tell the meaning of a word and how to spell it. It may also show how to say the word and how to use it in a sentence. - 2
Put these words in ABC order: turtle, apple, monkey, zebra.
The words in ABC order are apple, monkey, turtle, zebra. - 3
Look at these guide words from a dictionary page: garden and gold. Which word would be on this page: gift, grape, or house? Explain your choice.
Compare the first letter, then the second letter if needed.
Gift would be on this page because it comes after garden and before gold in ABC order. - 4
Read this dictionary entry: brave adjective: showing courage; not afraid to do something hard. Write a sentence using the word brave.
One correct sentence is: The brave firefighter rescued the kitten from the tree. - 5
Which word would you look up in the dictionary to find the meaning of running: run, runs, or runner?
Take off the ending to find the main word.
You would look up run because dictionaries usually list the base word. - 6
A thesaurus helps you find synonyms. Choose the best synonym for happy: glad, loud, or tiny.
Glad is the best synonym for happy because both words mean feeling good or pleased. - 7
A thesaurus can also help you find antonyms. Choose the best antonym for hot: warm, cold, or sunny.
An antonym is a word with an opposite meaning.
Cold is the best antonym for hot because it means the opposite. - 8
Use a thesaurus idea to replace the word big in this sentence with a stronger synonym: The elephant is big.
A stronger sentence is: The elephant is huge. Huge is a synonym for big. - 9
Look at these guide words: lake and lemon. Which two words would belong on this dictionary page: ladder, leaf, lion, kite?
Only choose words that come after lake and before lemon.
Lake and leaf would belong on this page because they come between lake and lemon in ABC order. Ladder comes before lake, lion comes after lemon, and kite comes before lake. - 10
The word bark can mean the sound a dog makes or the outside covering of a tree. Write one sentence using bark to mean the sound a dog makes.
One correct sentence is: I heard the dog bark when the doorbell rang. - 11
Choose the best thesaurus word to make the sentence more exact: The rabbit moved across the grass. Options: hopped, slept, cooked.
Choose the word that tells exactly how the rabbit moved.
Hopped is the best choice because rabbits often move by hopping across the grass. - 12
You want to find the word pencil in a dictionary. Which guide word pair should you choose: paper to puppy, rain to river, or tree to truck? Explain your answer.
Look at the first letter first, then keep comparing letters.
You should choose paper to puppy because pencil comes after paper and before puppy in ABC order.