1. Reference Materials

2. Five Common types of Reference Materials

3. Dictionary A dictionary is used to look up words.
Can be used for a variety of reasons:
Definition
Spelling
Pronunciation
Word origin
Part-of speech
How it is used in a sentence

4. Thesaurus A thesaurus is used to find words
that mean the same or opposite
as another word.
These words are called synonyms
and antonyms.
A thesaurus is simple to use. Just
look up your word and a thesaurus
will give you the list of synonyms
and antonyms for that word.

5. Encyclopedia – Print and Internet
An Encyclopedia is used to find information about a person, place, or thing.
Articles found in a Encyclopedia are usually longer and contain more information than a dictionary.
Encyclopedias are a great place to start to find information about a topic.

6. Atlas An atlas is a book of maps.
Atlases are used to find specific location such as: a country, state, city, or other geographic formation.
Many people use an atlas when they are going on vacation or traveling to another place.

7. Almanac
An Almanac is a book of facts that provide brief, useful, and interesting information relating to countries of the world, sports, entertainment, etc.
Almanacs are updated every year so that they always contain the most current information.

8. Do You Know?
For the next few slides, I will describe a situation. You must decide what type of reference material would be the best and fastest way to find the information.

9. Question One
Your family is going on vacataion to see the Mayan ruins in Mexico.
You want to find more information about this ancient civilization.
Where would you find this type of information?

10. Answer: Encyclopedia
Great job!

11. Question Two
Your family is planning a vacation to Florida. You are going to Universal Studios!
Your father is trying to decide what interstate exit he needs to take.
What reference material should he use to find this information?

12. Answer:
Atlas
Great Work!!!

13. Challenge Question Three
You want to find out which NFL player
had the most touchdowns in 2011.
Which reference material would
you use?

14. Answer:
Almanac.
Fantastic!!!

15. Challenge Question Four
You are writing an essay on the book called To Kill a Mockingbird. You want to find another word to use instead of saying “great”.
What reference material would you use to find another word for “great”?

16. Answer: Thesaurus
Wonderful job!!!

17. Reference Materials
Referenced materials such as dictionaries, thesauruses, atlases, encyclopedias and almanacs help us locate information quickly and efficiently.
Remember, the Internet is a great resource… but many times information can be found more easily by using a reference book!