Steps you might go through in working with a dictionary

	Steps in Using a Dictionary

	Technique	How...
1	Find the reference section.	Explain 'reference' and show where this is in the center and that they can look for that word in a library to find dictionaries and encyclopedias.
2	Select a dictionary.	Look for one that is written in a way you can understand. Try looking up the same word you already know in a couple of different dictionaries to see how they explain it.
3	Explain how words are ordered.	Many kids don't have the alphabet ingrained enough yet to find words easily, so let them practice a bit. They also often don't know automatically to look at the second letter and so on in the alphabetization, so practice that, too!
4	Find the word. Given the first letter, look at the book and guess about where it will be...	Explain how the 'guide' words at the top of the page can help with the search.
5	Explain the concept of an 'entry' word.	It's usually in bold or dark print and sometimes all related words are listed there too instead of having their own entry. Talk about plurals and verb forms.
6	Show how to know how to pronounce the word.	Talk about how we don't always pronounce a word the way it's spelled and vice versa. So we have in dictionaries a separate way to explain what sounds are used, in what order, and which parts are 'stressed' or 'accented'.
7	Talk about parts of speech.	Start with nouns (names a person, place or thing), move to action words (verbs), then to modifiers like adverbs and adjectives...
8	Explain other information.	If there are usage notes, domains of use for the words or other annotations, explain them.
9	Oh yes, the definition!	Note that there is often more than one meaning, some related and some not.
10	Examples, examples, examples!	Go over the samples of uses of the word in a sentence if any. Otherwise make up a couple yourself, and then ask the child to make up a couple and discuss any refinement of the concept necessary. Make sure the sentence made up illustrate the child knows the meaning of the word ("I see the X" is not acceptable unless perhaps the child also points to an example of an X...)
11	Put the book back.	Get them in the habit of returning the book exactly where they found it so that others can find it, too.
12	Talk about what was just done.	Reinforce the learning experience by going over once more why and how to use a dictionary.

Steps in Using a Dictionary