Reference

Materials

Four Types of Reference Materials

EncyclopediasAtlases

DictionariesThesaurus

Encyclopedias

Why do we use encyclopedias?

An encyclopedia is used when someone wants to find information

about a person, place, or thing.You may want to find out information

about George Washington. You can learn about him from reading

information in an encyclopedia.

Encyclopedias

Atlas

An atlas is a book of maps.

Atlas

Use an atlas if you want to find a specific place, street, road,

city, or state.Many people use an atlas when

they are going on vacation or traveling to another place.

Dictionary

We use a dictionary to

look up words.

Dictionary

You will find word meanings as well as pronunciation and other

information in a dictionary. For example, when you do not know the meaning of a word in a story, you may use a dictionary to look up the meaning of the

word.

Thesaurus

In a thesaurus, you will find synonyms (words that mean the same) and antonyms (opposites) for words.

Thesaurus

First, you look up the word in the thesaurus. Next to the word you will find a list of words that mean the same things as the word you

looked up. Like wonderful –great, magnificent,

excellent, terrific, cool, and fantastic.

Thesaurus

Also, in a thesaurus you will find antonyms for the

word. Like horrible or awful is an antonym for

wonderful.

Do you know what reference material to use?

Carefully read the following questions.

You must decide what type of reference material would be used in this

situation.

See if you can figure it out before the answer pops up!

Challenge Question One

My teacher has assigned a report on the country of Mexico. I need to find information on when the

country began and who lived there in ancient times.

Where would I find this type of information?

Answer

Encyclopedia

Great Job!!!

Challenge Question Two

My family is planning a vacation to Florida. We are going to Universal

Studios. I am so excited! My father is trying to decide what interstate he

needs to take, or how to get there from Tennessee.

What reference material should he use to find this information?

Answer

Atlas

Great Work!!!!

Challenge Question Three

Jimmy is working on writing a sentence with each of his spelling words. He comes to a word he does not know. How can he find the definition of the

word?

What reference material should he use to find this information?

Answer

Dictionary

Fantastic!!!!!

Challenge Question Four

I am writing a story about my experience at the Spelling Bee. I want to find another word to use

instead of saying great. Where can I find a word that means the same as

great?

What reference material would I use to find this information?

Answer

Thesaurus

Wonderful Job!!!!

Challenge Question Five

Jane is working on a research paper for her third grade class. She is trying to find information

about how people in France celebrate Christmas. First, she must find out where her

country is located and some of the major cities. Where will she find this information?

What reference material will she use for this

report?

Answer

Atlas

Fantastic Job!!!!

Challenge Question Six

Tracy is learning new vocabulary that goes along with her reading story for this week. Her teacher has explained the word to the

class. Tracy would like to find another word that means the same as the

vocabulary word she is working on. Where can she find this information?

What reference material should Tracy use to find a synonym for this word?

Answer

Thesaurus

Excellent Job!!!!!

Reference Materials

Reference materials like encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and thesaurus

help us find information.

It would be hard to find the information we need without these materials.

Reference Materials

The internet has all of these reference materials. So, if

you don’t have these things at your home you will be able to find them on-line.

Reference Materials

The following are URLs of websites from which you can link to on-line reference materials.

http://www.janetsinfo.com/ymslib.html#ref

http://jhmsteton.sharpschool.com/cms/One.aspx?portalId=308306&pageId=506913

http://www.readingpl.org/onlineresources.html

•Adapted from a PowerPoint presentation downloaded from the Jefferson County Schools Website, author unknown.