Surfing the Net with Kids: Dictionaries

August 29, 1999

Dear Readers,

Welcome back. Looking for a cool (free) tidbit to add to
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or for your school site, check out my free “Did You Know?”
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And for those of you with Internet questions, come visit
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Online
Dictionaries

Summer’s winding down. It’s time to
buy school supplies and organize our desks. I always place a dictionary
neatly between two bookends on the corner of my son’s desk — so he can
look up the meaning of new words, and check the spelling of old ones. For
my friends in cyberspace, these five dictionary sites are my back-to-school
present for any parent or teacher who has ever said "Look it
up."

All Words

All Words is an English dictionary with multilingual
search — which means you can search and display words in either
English, German, Dutch, French, Italian or Spanish. For example enter
"play" and select search language English and display language
Spanish/English. You will be rewarded with six English definitions and the
corresponding Spanish equivalents including: to spend time in recreation
(jugar), to perform a role in a play (actuar), and a dramatic
piece for the stage (obra de teatro.)

Dictionary.com

This dictionary includes biblical names, chemical elements, computer
terms, international statistics, and zip codes as well as the correct
spelling and definition of English words — all in one search function.
But wait, there’s more! Daily crossword puzzles and word searches, Word
of the Day, Ask Doctor Dictionary, and a link to sister site Thesaurus.com combine to make
Dictionary.com a cornucopia of words.

Little
Explorers

From "aardvark" to "zoologist," little Net surfers
can click their way through the alphabet. Each letter of Little Explorers’
dictionary has dozens of illustrated entries, most of them linked to
external sites. Explore Africa, acid rain, astronomy and more. As you roam
onto the Net, the Little Explorers’ alphabet frame remains at the top of
your screen, so you can return at any time. The dictionary is also
available in English/Spanish, English/French, English/German and
English/Portugese.

Semantic Rhyming
Dictionary

Quick! Name a word that rhymes with "poem." For writing
poetry, song lyrics, or just for fun, Doug Beeferman’s rhyming dictionary
can help you find perfect rhymes ("jeroboam") or those that
match just the last syllable ("geranium.") Not content to stop at
rhymes, Doug’s site also provides links to related quotes ("Rome was a
poem pressed into service as a city." Anatole Broyard , New York
Times, March 25, 1974.)

Word Central

"Check out all the stuff at Word Central. Look up words (fast) in
the student dictionary. Or better still, build your own dictionary. Stump
your friends with today’s Daily Buzzword! Try all the games on the second
floor." Word Central, from Merriam-Webster, is my pick of the day.
And my favorite click is Build Your Own Dictionary where you can submit
your own made-up words and their definitions (every family has a few, don’t
they?) Another fun click is the rhyming MadLibs-like game found in the
Music Room’s Verse Composer.

Surfing the Calendar ML King gives “I have a dream” speech Aug 28, 1963 Jerry Lewis MDA Marathon Sep 5, 1999 Labor Day Seo 6, 1999 Chats & Net Events	Related Book (in association with Amazon.com)