STAAR-Alt Helper
I looked everywhere for a picture dictionary that my students could use. I ordered 6 different ones and none of them helped them understand what the words were or how they were defined. Why not?
One had one picture for every 5-6 words.
One had one picture for every 5-6 words.
One had baby pictures of things with faces.
Two had pictures and words with no definitions.
Finally, I started asking the people at Symbolstix (N2Y) to make me a dictionary. I loved their products and talked with them often about new ideas. After 3 years of asking, I was given a contract and told to make my own if I thought it would sell. So I did. That was in 2012! The first edition had the 500 dolche words and some other words my kids in class wanted in it.
Now, the second edition has come out with 600+ words. I added the synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms of the words that were already there. It is a much more useful version of the dictionary. All the words are shown with a symbol, the part of speech and a short definition that your students can understand.
To our surprise it has been used more in ESL classes than in Special Education. Teachers say that they learn English much faster because they can "see" what the word means. Hey, that's what I found with my students too.
Locate a word challenge: Make flashcards out of the words the students have learned. The teacher shows a word card to students and reads the word. Students race to see who can find the word the fastest. From experience, this works if the students are evenly matched. If you have one or two students that win every time, put them in charge of drawing the card and reading the word. Students need to raised their hand or hit the desk or something when they find the word. Make talley marks for who finds the words the fastest.
For lower level students, put a sheet of words on their desk, they simply have to locate the word on their sheet. Higher level students can read the word and definition.
Make a word- definition match sheet: To begin using this game. Copy the pages of the dictionary. Now cut them in half and enlarge them on the copy machine to print on card stock. Now, cut them out to have the word, symbol and definition separted. You should keep one word together with a paper clip. This way you can get out the words used during the week, mix them up and have students match them.
For lower level students, put a sheet of the words and have them match the word card to the sheet. You also could read a word card and have the student locate the picture for the word.
Fill in the Blank: You can make sentences out of the word and have students pick the word for the sentence. Another way is to copy a simple book and locate the words in the dictionary. White those out and have the student locate the word that goes in the sentence.
Spelling Words: Give the word definition or picture and have the student choose the word card. If the student can write, have them try to write the words as you call them out or beside the picture on a worksheet.
Lower level students can match plastic numbers to the spelling word cards.