Web-based Dictionary & Thesaurus

Overview

Web-based dictionaries and thesauruses can serve as visual and audio resources for students to expand their Vocabulary knowledge. Along with easy access to definitions, a web dictionary and/or thesaurus provides audio pronunciations to help students sound out, understand, and remember words more readily.

Use It in the Classroom

Incorporating web dictionaries and thesaurus into a Vocabulary lesson allows learners to quickly search and understand unfamiliar words. When learners look up challenging words while they read, they monitor their comprehension and activate cognitive processes that support increased recall and consolidation to Long-term Memory.

Design It into Your Product

Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.

Starting at 2:50, learn how the Merriam-Webster Dictionary app allows learners to conveniently search for and define unfamiliar words. By offering voice search and audio pronunciation functions, this product supports learners who prefer audio over text. The embedded quizzes also allow for continued vocabulary building and practice.

Word Central is a kid-friendly Merriam-Webster web dictionary that also includes a thesaurus, rhyming dictionary, and word games. When learners misspell a word, the dictionary offers suggestions to help students search for the correct word.

View References

Resources

Below are additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.

Examples

7 Dictionary Apps

Suggested dictionary apps for kids

Examples

Dictionary.com

Free web-based dictionary with audio recordings for every word

Examples

Digital Word Detectives

ReadWriteThink lesson plan to build vocabulary by using digital dictionaries

Examples

Online Dictionaries

Free web-based dictionaries for kids