Consult Dictionaries to Check Spellings
Help Questions
2nd Grade ELA › Consult Dictionaries to Check Spellings
Sofia wrote “frend” in her story; how can she find correct spelling?
Leave it and keep writing without checking
Open the dictionary to F and look up friend in ABC order
Flip to any page and copy a word that looks close
Explanation
We use dictionaries to check spelling. To find 'friend,' open to the F section first. Then look for the word in ABC order.
Maya wants to spell “elephant”; what is the first step to look it up?
Open the dictionary to the middle and start searching
Think of the first letter E and open to the E section
Skip the word and use a different one
Explanation
To find words in a dictionary, start with the first letter. 'Elephant' starts with E, so open to E. This saves time when looking.
Carlos wrote “butiful”; where should he look to check if it’s correct?
Look in the picture dictionary under B for beautiful
Erase the whole sentence so no one sees it
Look under T because it has a t sound
Explanation
We look up words by their first letter. 'Beautiful' starts with B, not T. Find it in the B section.
Marcus needs to spell "caught"; which word should Marcus look up in the dictionary?
caught
cot
cat
Explanation
This tests choosing what to look up. Marcus should look up the whole word "caught" to check its spelling. Looking up shorter words won't help with this tricky spelling.
Emma wrote "becuz" in a letter; what should she do to check the spelling?
Look up because in the dictionary under B and copy the spelling.
Leave it as "becuz" because it sounds right.
Look under C because the word has a c in it.
Explanation
This tests finding words in a dictionary. Emma should look under B for "because" since that's the first letter. The dictionary will show her the correct spelling to copy.
Sofia wrote "frend" in her story; how can she find the correct spelling?
Ask a classmate how to spell it and keep writing.
Flip to any page and copy the first word you see.
Look up friend in the beginning dictionary under F in ABC order.
Explanation
This tests using a dictionary to check spelling. Sofia should look up "friend" under F because words are in ABC order. The dictionary will show her the right spelling with an "i" not just an "e".
Yuki wrote "agen" on her checklist; why should Yuki use a dictionary?
To see how many pages the dictionary has.
To find a harder word to replace again.
To check the correct spelling of again before she turns it in.
Explanation
This tests why we use dictionaries. Yuki should check because "again" starts with A not just "agen". The dictionary helps us spell words correctly.
Keisha wrote "sed" in her journal; what is the first step to look up said?
Think of the first letter S, then open the dictionary to the S section.
Open to the very last page and start reading backward.
Look for the word by scanning only the pictures.
Explanation
This tests finding words by first letter. Keisha should think "said" starts with S and open to the S section. This is faster than looking through the whole book.
Jamal rereads his report and circles "peple"; what should he do to check the spelling?
Erase the word and use "kids" so he doesn’t have to check.
Sound it out again and write it a different way without checking.
Look up people in the dictionary under P and fix his spelling.
Explanation
This tests checking spelling with a dictionary. Jamal should look up "people" under P to find the right spelling. He'll see it needs an "o" in the middle.
Carlos is writing "elefant"; where should he look to check if it’s spelled correctly?
Look under L because elephant is a long word.
Skip the word and come back later without checking.
Use the picture dictionary and find elephant under E in ABC order.
Explanation
This tests using ABC order in dictionaries. Carlos should look under E because "elephant" starts with E. Picture dictionaries help by showing the word with a picture too.