Dictionaries
Have you ever tried to spell a word, and you couldn't figure out how to spell it? The students in third grade come across this all the time in their writing. Usually they ask the teacher to spell the word for them. We try to tell them to sound it out or to ask a friend first. If they still can't figure it out, we tell them to look it up in the dictionary. Sometimes they are successful and sometimes the dictionary can be overwhelming to them. Thanks to the generosity of some friends at The Dictionary Project each student in the third grade received their very own dictionary. After taking them home, one of the students reported that he was using it to teach his little brother to read. Another said they used it to look up words with their family each night. One said it helped them with their writing homework. The students wrote thank you notes to the Dictionary Project. They also included pictures with their thank you notes. The students appreciated their gift very much.
