Dictionaries & Thesauruses [online]

This tutorial aids a teacher in the following Reading/Language Arts Grade Level Expectations:

0501.3.20 Use resources (e.g., dictionary, thesaurus, computer) to aid in the writing process.

0601.1.13 Use printed and electronic dictionaries, thesauruses, and glossaries to determine word pronunciation, spelling, and part of speech; to clarify meaning and improve understanding of words (including connotation and denotation); and to distinguish among contextually appropriate synonyms and definitions.

0601.1.17 Use dictionaries, thesauruses, electronic sources, and glossaries as aids in determining the meaning of unfamiliar words.

0701.1.13 Use printed and electronic dictionaries, thesauruses, and glossaries to determine the pronunciation, spelling, and part of speech of words; to clarify meaning and improve understanding of words (including connotation and denotation); and to distinguish among contextually appropriate synonyms and definitions.

0801.1.10 Use printed and electronic dictionaries, thesauruses, and glossaries to determine word pronunciation, spelling, and part of speech; to clarify meaning and improve understanding of words (including connotation and denotation); and to distinguish among contextually appropriate synonyms and definitions.

Here is a short list of reference sites that you might like to use in your classroom to meet the electronic dictionary/thesaurus requirements of those standards:

• dictionary.reference.com offers a dictionary, an online thesaurus, online encyclopedia and Google translation services. The Word FAQs offers a limited section on word and phrase etymologies. A daily question is asked to inspire student curiosity. Definitions include IPA, part of speech, word origin, related forms, as well as as well as a clickable pronunciation (computer spoken). a sample search for onomatopoeia
• thefreedictionary.com provides definitions, usage, part of speech, synonyms [occasionally], etymology [almost always], as well as a clickable pronunciation (computer spoken). a sample search for onomatopoeia
• Microsoft Encarta offers an online Dictionary and Thesaurus and translations. Nice features include a browsable dictionary allowing you to pick a letter and then peruse to a word. Words have dictionary style etymologies and a clickable pronunciation (uses Adobe Flash Player 10 and did not play properly on Mac OS 10.5.8)
• encyclopedia.com is actually a search engine that searches more than 100 online dictionaries and encyclopediae. Here is a sample search for onomatopoeia
• Batleby.com offers an online Roget's International Thesaurus. Additional online references include: American Essays; Anthologies; Bartlett's Quotations; Brewer's Phrase & Fable; Bulfinch's Mythology; Cambridge History; Dickinson, E.; Einstein's Relativity; Eliot, T.S.; Farmer's Cookbook; Fowler's King's English; Frazer's Golden Bough; Frost, R.; Ghost Stories; Grant, U.S.; Gray's Anatomy; Harvard Classics; Hopkins, G.M.; Keats, J.; Lawrence, D.H.; Masters, E.L.; Mencken's Language; Modern Essays; Oxford Shakespeare; Post's Etiquette; Presidential Inaugurals; Respectfully Quoted; Roosevelt, T.; Sandburg, C.; Sassoon, S.; Shaw, G.B.; Shelf of Fiction; Short Stories; Stein, G.; Stevenson, R.L.; Strunk's Style; The King James Bible; Wells, H.G.; Wells's History; Whitman, W.; Wordsworth, W.; World Factbook; and Yeats, W.B.
• merriam-webster.com offers dictionary, thesaurus, Spanish/English, Medical terms, search engine plugins (for Firefox, etc.), Word of the Day (a new word everyday), the Spelling Bee section includes a daily spelling quiz, and much more. Definitions include IPA and clickable pronunciation (appears to be human spoken), word function/usage, etymology, date the word entered the language, definiton and alternate forms of the word. a sample search for onomatopoeia