Dictionaries & Definitions

Building academic language

Word

• Hand out the vocabulary cards to students.
• Explain that a DictionaryIs a book that tells the meaning of words. Have students look at the picture of a dictionary on the vocabulary card and compare it to the real-life dictionary.
• Tell students that the meanings of words are their Definitions. Open up the dictionary and show students where different words and their definitions are listed. Have students compare this to the picture on the vocabulary card.
• Point out that the vocabulary cards have Drawings, or pictures, to help define the words. The dictionary may or may not have drawings.

Sentence

• Have students look at the vocabulary cards. Show them how to share the meaning of each word using the sentence frame:
  • "____Means ____."
• Repeat the meanings of each word together using the sentence frame.
• Show students a classroom object, such as a book or a chair.
• On the board, model how to make a vocabulary card, complete with a definition and drawing, for the word.
• Have students turn to a partner and share the meaning of the word using the sentence frame.

Discourse

• Have students work in pairs to create their own vocabulary cards for classroom objects.
• Hand out four cards to each pair. Have them work together to create definitions and drawings for each word.
• After finishing their cards, have each pair share their cards with another pair, using the sentence frame to share the definitions.