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Lesson plan: Technology helping to define dictionary updates
Editor's note: If you are planning to use the news story that this lesson plan is based on for a homework assignment, please write the URL on the board and have your students copy it. CNNfyi.com updates the site in the early evening, so students may have difficulty finding it without the URL. You can find the lesson plan by going to the Subject Areas page and clicking PREVIOUS in the square for Today's Lesson Plan. Objectives Students will:
Standards National Council of Teachers of English Students draw on their previous experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies and their understanding of textual features. Students adjust their use of spoken, written and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
Communication Standard 1.3
Comparisons Standard 4.1 Materials
CNNfyi.com article, "Defining the times" Suggested time One class period Procedures 1. Ask students how often they use a dictionary and for what reasons. Ask if they know how old their dictionaries are. If they have one with them, ask them to check the copyright date. 2. Have students read the CNNfyi.com article "Defining the times." By way of review, ask the following:
3. Ask students to come up with a list of words not mentioned in the article that they believe would not be in dictionary editions published before 1996. List the words on the board. Assign various students to check dictionaries available in the classroom to see if the words are included. If yes, ask the class if the given definition is satisfactory for the way in which the word is currently used. 4. Ask the class to determine which of the words on the board should be included, and which are likely to disappear, according to the process discussed in the CNNfyi.com article. Opinions may vary. 5. Have students write their own definitions of those words that remain on the list. This can be done as homework or a brief in-class writing assignment. Allow some students to volunteer their definitions and discuss them. Post the rest of the papers around the room and allow students time to see how their classmates define the same words. Accommodation World languages: Ask students whose native language is not English to think of new words that have become common in their language. (Students who are taking courses in other languages can also brainstorm words that they believe are recent additions to the language they are learning.) Have them determine the origins of the words (i.e., are these anglicized words a result of an English technology term?) Have them write definitions in their language and, if possible, explain them in English to their classmates. Challenge Students can determine a process for defining words based on the exercise they did in brainstorming, selecting and defining new terms. How would they choose from among the individual definitions to arrive at a final definition? RELATED SITES: Oxford English Dictionary |
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