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Updated August 2010

Noah Webster's Birthday!


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Word Feature Graphic On October 16, wordsmiths across the United States will celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Noah Webster, considered by many to be the father of the American dictionary. What a perfect time to celebrate words! If you'd like to recognize Webster's birthday, the lessons and other resources below will help you to do that in a special way.

Let's start with some lessons just for fun!

NEW!
Vocab-u-lous!
Challenge your middle-grades and high-school students to build a fabulous vocabulary. (Grades 5-12)

Multiple Meanings Game
Hunt for the classmate whose definition card leads to the same word as yours. (Grades 2-8)

Bing!
This game combines spelling words and chance. (Grades K-12)

Headline News
Create simple stories using words cut from newspaper headlines. (Grades 3-12)

Five-O
Use logic and deductive reasoning to guess a vocab word in this team game. (Grades 3-12)

Daily Language Practice Builds Skills, Test Scores
Turn daily language practice into a game, build test scores too. (Grades 3-12)

Dead Word Wall Kills Overused Words
Create a "Dead Word Wall" to "kill" words overused in student writing. (Grades K-12)

Bueno Brothers' Bean Dip
How many words can be formed from a scoop of lima bean letters. (Grades K-8)

Busted!
This game can be adapted to reinforce math skills, vocabulary, much more. (Grades K-12)

Word-zles
Word-zles puzzles make fun thinking activities. (Grades 3-12)

Be sure to see our Spark Interest in Spelling page for more ideas.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL...

You'll find lots more lesson ideas if you follow the links below!

All About Words: Dictionary Activities
Calling all wordsmiths! October 16 is Dictionary Day, named in honor of the birthday of that famous American wordsmith, Noah Webster. To recognize this special day, Education World offers eight lessons to involve students in using dictionaries. Included: Activities that teach guide words, involve young students in creating picture dictionaries and playing a dictionary game, and much more.

Happy Birthday, Noah Webster!
Learn more on the Web about the life of Noah Webster, father of the dictionary (born October 16, 1758). Included: dictionary games, cross-curriculum activities, skills pages for use across the grades, and more.

Oh, My Words! Great Word Sites on the Net
Looking for a way to pique your students' interest in the study of words? Noah Webster's birthday is the perfect day to engage students in some of the many excellent online activities based on words.

ABC Books Aren't for Babies!
Looking for an activity that will engage students ---from kindergarten to college--- while they learn? Why not challenge students to create their own ABC books? Included: More than 200 ABC book ideas spanning the grades and the curriculum!

Catch A Batch of ABC Books!
ABC books are a great way to engage student interest in any topic. This week, Education World takes a look at a handful of the most recent books of the genre, including books about boats, the rain forest, and children with asthma.