Teaching Your Child How to Use a Dictionary Successfully

Beyond ‘Look It Up’

Helping children – especially those who are dyslexic or struggling readers – understand and learn new words is crucial. Often, parents and teachers suggest that students “go look it up” in a dictionary when they encounter unfamiliar words. While this advice might seem helpful, it’s often ineffective for struggling readers. In this post, we’ll explore why this strategy falls short and offer practical alternatives to support your child’s vocabulary development.

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The Limitations of Using a Dictionary

Dictionaries are fantastic resources, but they have their limitations, especially for students who find reading challenging. Here are a few reasons why telling a child to “look it up” may not be the best approach:

1. Reading Difficulty: Struggling readers may find it hard to read and understand the definitions they find in a dictionary. Dictionaries use concise and often complex language, which can be overwhelming.
2. Multiple Meanings: Many words have multiple definitions. A student might find it difficult to determine which definition applies to the context in which they found the word.
3. Lack of Context: Even if a student finds the right definition, understanding how to use the word correctly in different contexts can be challenging without additional examples and explanations.

Effective Strategies for Understanding New Words

Rather than relying solely on a dictionary, here are several strategies that can be more effective in helping your child learn new words:

1. Use Visuals and Examples

When introducing a new word, provide pictures or visual aids along with examples of how the word is used in different sentences. Visuals can help make abstract concepts more concrete.

I use Google Image Search almost every day to introduce new vocabulary. A quick image can be much more powerful than a long written definition. When it comes to word meanings, a picture can be worth 1000 words!

2. Teach Word Parts

Breaking down words into their root, prefix, and suffix can help students decipher meanings. For instance, understanding that “bio” means life and “logy” means the study of can help students figure out that biology is the study of life. This can start with young children (‘What’s the difference between dog and dogs?’ – the –s means more than one) and can extend to older students reading challenging text.

3. Context Clues

Teach your child to use context clues from the sentence or paragraph to infer the meaning of the word. This skill can be developed through guided practice with a parent or tutor. Students need to think about what kind of word it is (Is it a thing? A describer? An action?) and the situation (is the sentence describing a good thing or a bad thing?) as well as the larger context of the story. Context clues can be a powerful tool, but there’s a lot to take in! And not all clues are created equal.

The tricky thing about context clues is that not all sentences have them! In their book Bringing Words to Life, Isabel Beck, Margaret McKeown and Linda Kucan describe context as either:

• Directive: The sentence seems to lead readers to a specific meaning for a challenging word in context.
• General: The sentence gives enough information for the reader to figure out the word’s category. (Georgia had a splendid time at the amusement park.)
• Nondirective: The sentence doesn’t give a hint about the word meaning. (She felt nonplussed about the situation.)
• Misdirective: These sentences can actually give a student the wrong idea about the word. (Emmett dreaded the trip to the amusement park.) Unless they know Emmett is afraid of heights, this might confuse a reader about the word dreaded.

4. Interactive Activities

Engage your child in activities that make learning new words fun. Word games, flashcards, and educational apps can provide interactive ways to reinforce vocabulary.

5. Regular Practice

Incorporate new words into daily conversations and writing exercises. The more a child uses a new word, the more familiar and comfortable they will become with it. Help your child notice words they have studied before in new contexts. Point them out when you read with your child, or if you see them used in grown-up reading. These additional examples and contexts help your child to completely learn the word.

Implementing These Strategies at Home

Here’s how you can apply these strategies in your daily routines to help your child:

Use a Child-Friendly Dictionary

Make sure the dictionary has the right number of words for your child. A first grader needs a very different dictionary from a high school student. Using the wrong kind will be unproductive and frustrating.

I like the Collins COBUILD dictionary online. It presents definitions in sentences, which makes it easier for students to understand the usage of an unknown word. It looks like this:

Reading Together

Choose books that are slightly above your child’s reading level and read together. Pause to discuss new words, their meanings, and how they are used in the story. Reading out loud, or taking turns, can help children get exposure to and practice with more new words than they could learn reading on their own. Don’t limit your child to a certain reading level or type of book. Encourage them to read “widely and deeply,” with many different types of stories, and lots and lots of reading about what interests them most.

Word Journals

Encourage your child to keep a word journal. They can write down new words, their definitions, example sentences, and even draw pictures related to the words. You might add a word because you love the way it sounds (crepuscular), because the meaning is important (strategize) or because they are useful options (alternatives to walk are wander, meander, march, and trudge).

Use Technology

There are many educational apps designed to help children learn vocabulary. Apps like Quizlet or Vocabulary.com can make learning new words interactive and fun. Freerice.com is a vocabulary website that donates (very small) amounts of rice for every correct answer you get to the practice questions on the website. Why not practice vocab for a good cause?

Play with Language

Challenge your kids by including new vocabulary in your conversations and playing word games.

• Instead of “I Spy something blue,” try aquamarine or cerulean.
• Introduce new vocab in Mad Libs or other word games.
• Check out these games from Edutopia.

The Role of Tutors and Educators

If your child is still struggling despite your best efforts, consider seeking help from a tutor who specializes in reading and dyslexia. An Orton-Gillingham tutor, for example, uses a structured, multisensory approach to teaching reading and can provide personalized strategies to help your child succeed.

Many children learn to read well in school, or at home with the help of their parents. Others need specialized instruction from a tutor or teacher who understands how to break down the reading process step-by-step, including teaching them where to look to understand unfamiliar words. When it comes to vocabulary, a knowledgeable tutor or teacher can help a child focus on the most important words. These are often words that are common in English, or important to the text they are reading.

Conclusion

While dictionaries are useful tools, they aren’t always the best resource for struggling readers. By incorporating visual aids, teaching word parts, using context clues, and engaging in interactive activities, you can help your child develop a stronger vocabulary. Remember, the goal is to make learning new words an engaging and supportive experience.

If you find that your child needs additional support, don’t hesitate to reach out to a professional tutor who can offer specialized assistance. With the right strategies and support, your child can overcome reading challenges and become a confident, capable reader.