3rd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 9 of 13
ABC Order & Dictionary
Find words fast
What your child practices
Putting words in alphabetical order to the first, second and third letter, and using dictionary guide words to find the right page.
Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 3.1.8.2 · alphabetical order and using a dictionary to find word meanings
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Put words in ABC order by the first letter. If the first letters match, look at the second, then the third.
- Guide words at the top of a dictionary page show the first and last words on it.
- A word is on that page if it comes between the two guide words.
Example: A page has the guide words “camp” and “cat.” Is “car” on that page? c-a-m, c-a-r, c-a-t: compare the third letters. m comes before r, and r comes before t. Answer: Yes
ABC Order & Dictionary in Minnesota
In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 9 of 13 in 3rd grade English Language Arts, after Sentence Smarts and before Grammar Gears.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Which word comes first in ABC order?
- lemon
- lion
- whale
lemon
Hint: When two words start with the same letter, look at the second letter to break the tie. The answer is “lemon.”
Question 2
A dictionary page has the guide words “green” and “group.” Which word is on that page?
- grin
- grape
- grub
grin
Hint: Words on the page come between the guide words in ABC order: green … grin … group.
Question 3
Which word comes first in ABC order?
- owl
- yarn
- octopus
octopus
Hint: When two words start with the same letter, look at the second letter to break the tie. The answer is “octopus.”
Question 4
Put these words in ABC order.
- group
- jelly
- jam
- truck
group → jam → jelly → truck
Hint: Start with the first letters. If two words start the same, look at the second letter.
Question 5
Which of these can a dictionary tell you about a word?
- Who said it first
- What color it is
- What it means and how to spell it
What it means and how to spell it
Hint: Dictionaries give each word's spelling and meaning, and often how to say it.
Question 6
Put these words in ABC order.
- dog
- whale
- nest
- duck
dog → duck → nest → whale
Hint: Start with the first letters. If two words start the same, look at the second letter.