Use guide words

Key Notes :

What Are Guide Words?

Guide words are like helpful road signs at the top of each page in a dictionary! They tell you the first and last word on that page. This helps you quickly find the word you’re looking for. The guide words are usually printed in bold at the top of the page.

First Guide Word:	Second Guide Word:
The first word listed on the page. All the words on that page come after this word in alphabetical order.	The last word listed on the page. All the words on that page come before this word in alphabetical order

How to Use Guide Words

Follow these steps to use guide words to find words faster:

1. Think about the word you want to find.
2. Look at the guide words on the page.
3. Ask yourself: Does my word come alphabetically between the two guide words?
4. If the answer is yes, the word is on that page! If the answer is no, turn to a different page.
5. Keep flipping pages until you find a page where your word would fit alphabetically between the guide words.

Example Time!

Let’s say you’re looking for the word “grape.” You open a page in the dictionary and see the guide words are:

Guide Words: giant – grass

Does “grape” come alphabetically between giant and grass?

No, it doesn’t! “Grape” comes before “giant.” So, you need to turn back a few pages.

You flip back and find this page:

Guide Words: grab – grin

Does “grape” come alphabetically between grab and grin?

Yes, it does! “Grape” starts with ‘gr’, so it fits right in that section.

Practice Time!

For each word, decide if it would be found on a dictionary page with the given guide words.

1. Word: balloon
   Guide Words: bake – bat
   Yes or No?
2. Word: zebra
   Guide Words: youth – zone
   Yes or No?
3. Word: jump
   Guide Words: jog – juice
   Yes or No?
4. Word: quack
   Guide Words: pride – quiz
   Yes or No?

Summary

Guide words are a super helpful tool to find words in a dictionary quickly. They tell you the first and last word on the page. By using guide words, you can save time and find the word you’re looking for much faster than reading every single word in the dictionary!

let’s practice!