A picture dictionary or pictorial dictionary is a dictionary where the definition of a word is displayed in the form of a drawing or photograph. Picture dictionaries are useful in a variety of teaching environments, such as teaching a young child about their native language, or instructing older students in a foreign language, such as in the Culturally Authentic Pictorial Lexicon. Picture dictionaries are often organized by topic instead of being an alphabetic list of words, and almost always include only a small corpus of words.
A similar but distinct concept is the visual dictionary, which is composed of a series of large, labelled images, allowing the user to find the name of a specific component of a larger object.
Students create a picture dictionary that includes images of people and things that are important in their lives.
Objectives
Students identify pictures of people and things that are important in their lives.
Materials Needed[shopmaterials]
- construction paper
- glue sticks or glue
- student-provided photographs (with parents” permission) or student-drawn pictures of people and things that are important to them
- teacher-selected picture dictionary
- markers
- alphabet wall chart
- brads or other type of paper fastener
Lesson Plan
- Review the letters of the alphabet with students, using a classroom wall chart if needed. Discuss the order of the letters.
- Discuss the meaning of the word dictionary with students. Show students an example of a picture dictionary. If you have Internet access, view the Little Explorers picture dictionary with students. (Click a letter tile to access the dictionary entries for that letter.)
- Ask students to name some of the people, places, and things, such as parents, siblings, grandparents, friends, teachers, police officers, pets, school, toys, books, etc., that are important in their lives. Ask students to name the first letter of each noun they say.
- Tell students that they will create picture dictionaries showing pictures of the words they named. With parents” permission, ask students to bring in pictures of those people, places, and things.
- Have students glue pictures onto construction paper. Write the word under each picture, or assist students in writing each name. Have students use a marker to write the letter of the alphabet that the name begins with at the top of the page.
- Have students arrange their pictures in ABC order. Let students design covers for their dictionaries.
- Fasten the pages together with brads or another type of paper fastener.
Variation: Instead of using photographs, have students draw pictures of their favorite people and things for their picture dictionaries.
Variation for cover: With parents” permission, have students bring pictures of themselves for the covers of their dictionaries.
Assessment
Evaluate students” participation and knowledge of the alphabet.
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