Reference Materials

Third Grade Language Arts Lesson

0301.4.3 Use Reference Materials (e.g. Atlas, Encyclopedia, Dictionary, and

Thesaurus)

Four Types of Reference Materials

EncyclopediaAtlasDictionaryThesaurus

Encyclopedia

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.

Atlas

An atlas is a map. 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.

You will find the meaning of words 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 for words.

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

Also in a thesaurus you will find an antonym for the word. Like horrible or awful would be an antonym for wonderful.

Do you know?

For the next couple of slides I will describe a situation. You must decide what type of reference material would be used in this situation.

Do you know what reference material to use?

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 QuestionNumber 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 their from Tennessee?

What reference material should he use to find this information?

Answer

Atlas

Great Work!!!!

Challenge QuestionNumber 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 Number 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 Number 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 would she find this information?

What reference material would she use for this report?

Answer

Atlas

Fantastic Job!!!!

Challenge Question Number 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.

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 the computer.