When a child learns to use a dictionary, it expands their ability to understand and communicate both orally and with the written word. Dictionary skills are taught in the 3rd and 4th grades just as students make the leap from learning to read to reading to learn. The dictionary is an indispensable tool for students at this critical moment in their education and a key to their future academic success. For a child to have their own personal dictionary creates a pride of ownership and makes learning easier.

The Dictionary Project

Federal Street Press partners with The Dictionary Project, www.thedictionaryproject.org, a non-profit 501(c)3, to put a dictionary in the hands of every 3rd and 4th grade student. The Dictionary Project works with community-based organizations and individuals to sponsor “dictionary projects” around the country. This can be donating a single dictionary, classroom set, or enough dictionaries for every 3rd and 4th grader in a school or district. The dictionaries are gifts to the students to use at school and home, that they will have for years to come.

C-SPAN recently chatted with Mary French, director of the Dictionary Project, about the organization’s work to promote literacy. Check out the video and learn more about The Dictionary Project.

Federal Street Press publishes affordable dictionaries, thesauruses, and bilingual dictionaries that have been created by the editors of Merriam-Webster. The dictionaries and other reference titles listed below are ideally suited for 3rd grade students and are available for purchase from Federal Street Press or The Dictionary Project.