Dictionary Entry Activity
Dictionaries have a particular format and organization. Understanding the organization of this
text is important in understanding how to read a dictionary and in understanding a dictionary
entry. (This is practicing the W5 skill: text organization.)
Com.pli.ment \kóm-pli-mənt\ n 1: polite expression of praise 2: act
implying praise
An entry:
1) Beings with the word in bold face, the dots show where the word would break on a line.
2) Follows with the pronunciation that is set off with slashes \ \. The hyphens show syllabic
division.
3) Then the part of speech is abbreviated in italics and followed with a bold face colon (:),
which introduces your definition (some words include more than one definition, therefore the
bold face number comes after the part of speech and is followed by the colon.)
Dictionary Entry Activity Assignment:
While reading Letters From Rifka, we discussed the quote on page 117, “I am Jewish yes, but
I am Russian too. I am both Jewish and Russian. And I am also more. I am so much
more.”
Create a dictionary entry for the word your name. The entry should define the “so much more”
that you are. The definitions should all be nouns, since you are a noun. Below is an example:
Rifka \rif-kə\ n 1: daughter, sister, cousin, aunt, granddaughter, niece, friend 2: care taker,
“little mother”, nurturer 3: Russian 4: Jew 5: Immigrant, traveler 6: teenager 7: fighter,
dreamer 8: reader, writer, teacher
Jamie.Lynn .Cianci \jã-mē-lin sē-an-sē\ n 1: teacher, tutor, advice giver 2: athlete,
swimmer, goal keeper, bicyclist 3: reader, writer, poet 4: academic achiever, award
winner 5: leader 6: former howell student, new jersey native, spring lake resident
Dictionary Entry Activity Rubric
Exemplary Effort
20 points
Average Effort
15 points
Minimal Effort
10 points
Spelling &
Capitalization
There are no spelling
or capitalization
errors in the entry.
Entry
Both first & last
name are included
and in bold faced
font/print. Dots are
placed within the
entry to show where
it would break on a
line.
Inside the correct
symbols (\ \) the
student uses the
correct
pronunciation
symbols, provided in
the back of a
dictionary, and
hyphens are
correctly placed.
There are 1-3
spelling or
capitalization errors
in the entry.
Either: your first or
last name is missing,
the entry is not bold
faced, or dots are not
placed within the
entry.
There are 4 or more
spelling or
capitalization errors
in the entry.
The entry is missing
(2 or 3 things): first
or last, bold faced
fonts, and/or dots to
show where the
word would break
on a line.
Information may or
may not be inside
the correct symbols
(\ \), or the student
does not use the
correct
pronunciation
symbols, or hyphens
missing/incorrectly
placed correctly
placed.
The entry is missing
(2 or 3 things):
Information may or
may not be inside
the correct symbols
(\ \), or the student
does not use the
correct
pronunciation
symbols, or hyphens
missing/incorrectly
placed correctly
placed.
Part of speech is
both incorrect and
incorrectly
displayed.
Definition does not
have: a bold face
colon symbol
introducing the
definition or bold
faced numbers,
followed by colons
before another
definition.
Pronunciation &
Syllabic Division
Part of Speech
Definition
Part of speech is
correct, correct
symbol is used, and
is in italics.
Bold face colon
symbol introduces
the definition; bold
faced numbers,
followed by colons
are included before
another definition.
Part of speech may
or may not be:
correct or correctly
displayed.
Definition may or
may not have: a bold
face colon symbol
introduces the
definition or bold
faced numbers,
followed by colons
before another
definition.
No Effort
0 points
Entry is missing.
Pronunciation &
Syllabic Division is
missing.
Part of Speech is
missing.
Definition is
missing.