The lesson instructs students to use a thesaurus: "Be sure you have a thesaurus on hand as you are writing your poems in this unit" and directs students to "Pick out five words from the poems... and use a thesaurus to find a synonym for each word." The lesson also gives definitions of key terms in the "Things to Know" section (e.g., syllable, stanza, metaphor) that students are expected to reference and record on activity pages. The Parent Plan suggests students refer to a "Handy Guide to Writing" if they have questions about grammar or writing conventions.

The Vocabulary Cube activity directs students to "Using a dictionary, write the definitions of the words on the cube on note cards," and students are told to review the definitions and the sentences in the book where the words are used. The Parent Plan Skills explicitly state that students should "Locate the meanings, pronunciations, and derivations of unfamiliar words using dictionaries." The Student Activity Page lists six vocabulary words with page references and instructs students to roll the cube and use the landed word in a sentence, encouraging practice with the words after consulting a reference.

Students are instructed to "Research the life of John Chapman" and are given three web links (Wikipedia, Biography.com, Kids Britannica) to use as sources. Students are directed to use information from those digital reference materials to complete a John Chapman bio-poem and to create a Venn diagram comparing Johnny Appleseed with John Chapman.

The lesson instructs students in Part 5: Editing and Revision, "If you are unsure of the spelling of any words, look them up in the dictionary." It also directs students to "Refer to the Handy Guide to Writing for any grammar or punctuation rules you're not sure about," which indicates using a reference resource for mechanics.

The lesson explicitly gives the pronunciation of the word "Cay" ("key"). Several activities instruct students to look for information using books or Internet resources and provide specific reference links (e.g., Britannica Kids for Curaçao and World War II). Activity 6 and other tasks tell students to "use the Internet to help you as needed," which directs students to consult reference-type sources for factual information about places, history, and boats.

Activity 1 directs students to read vocabulary words in context, write a definition for each word in their journals, then look up each word in the dictionary and record its definition. Students are instructed to check how similar their context-based definitions were to those in the dictionary. Parent notes repeat that students should check their definitions against the dictionary meanings.

Students are directed to "Refer to the Handy Guide to Writing for more information about prepositions and prepositional phrases" and to "Refer to p. 23 of the Handy Guide to Writing for a list of common prepositions." The Parent Plan repeatedly instructs students to consult that guide when brainstorming prepositions and writing prepositional phrases.

Activity 2 tells students that "If you are not sure about an organism, refer to books or websites about coral reefs," and Option 2 tells students "You may have to research this information" to decide groups for a chart. The activities require students to research organisms and then classify them, and the directions mention both books (print) and websites (digital) as sources.

Activity 1 instructs students: "If you are not sure how to spell a word, check the spelling in a dictionary." The Parent Plan Skills include that students should "Proofread and correct most misspellings independently with reference to resources." The materials also direct students to "refer to the Handy Guide to Writing for any grammar or punctuation rules you're not sure about," indicating use of reference resources for conventions.

Activity 1 instructs students to create a picture map for vocabulary and explicitly tells them, "You will need to look up each definition in a dictionary." The Skills section lists "Identify key words and discover their meanings and relationships through a variety of strategies," and the Parent Plan repeats the vocabulary review and gives basic definitions to discuss. The student activity pages require students to work with specific vocabulary words (e.g., skiff) and to explain their picture maps when finished.

Students are explicitly told, "You will need a dictionary and a thesaurus for this activity," and the Parent Plan lists "Use multiple reference aids, including a thesaurus and a dictionary, to clarify meanings and usage." The vocabulary-cube tasks require students to write definitions, synonyms/antonyms, root/prefix/suffix, and use sentences and illustrations for each target word. The lesson provides an online resource link titled "Dictionaries and Thesauruses," which directs students to digital reference tools.

Students are asked to "Read about smallpox online or in a book or other resource" and to fill in information about symptoms, transmission, vaccine discovery, and dates on the Smallpox activity page, which requires using print or digital reference materials. The activities ask students to add factual information to a timeline and answer specific factual questions based on external sources.

Activity 3 explicitly tells students: "If you are not sure about the spelling of a word, look it up in the dictionary." The Skills section states students should "Proofread and correct most misspellings independently with reference to resources." The rubric also asks students to ensure "Are all words spelled correctly?", which directs students to use reference materials for spelling.

The Parent Plan lists as a skill: "Use various reference materials (e.g., dictionary, thesaurus, card catalog, encyclopedia, online information) as an aid to writing." Students are instructed to "locate information in books and online" and to "take notes on important information and words and phrases that describe the city." Rubrics and activities require research-based notes and inclusion of vivid words and phrases drawn from other books or online sources.

Students are instructed to create a vocabulary picture dictionary by writing each word and its definition on a page and to add unfamiliar words as they encounter them. The guidance explicitly tells students to use a dictionary when a word has more than one definition: "If there is more than one definition in the dictionary for a word, use the first definition." Students are asked to review and study the words and definitions daily and to use each vocabulary word in a sentence.

In Activity 3 (Vocabulary), students are directed: "If you do not know a definition, look the word up in the dictionary." Part B likewise tells students they can "look up the prefixes and suffixes in a dictionary." The Student Activity Page requires students to match vocabulary words with meanings and to record other words that contain the same prefixes/suffixes, prompting use of a reference to clarify word meanings.

Students are directed on the Part 2 Vocabulary activity to "look it up in the dictionary to verify" their guessed meanings and to "Record the actual definition" for each target word. The Student Activity Pages require students to write the sentence containing each vocabulary word, guess its meaning using context clues and prefixes/suffixes, and then consult a dictionary to check their guess. Activity 2 also asks students to "read about [Georges Méliès] online or using other reference material," which directs students to use reference sources for research.

The Parent Plan skills list explicitly tells students to use various reference materials (e.g., dictionary, thesaurus, card catalog, encyclopedia, online information) as an aid to writing. The Research section asks students to locate books and websites for research and to record source information on note cards, which requires consulting print and digital resources. The Prefixes & Suffixes activities require students to list prefix/suffix meanings and examples, which would involve looking up word meanings.

The activity page for the Picture Vocabulary Game tells students, "If you are not sure about a word, look it up in the dictionary." The Skills list explicitly includes "Use reference aids to clarify meanings and usage of vocabulary words." The What's the Rush activity directs students to conduct research using encyclopedias or online resources, providing web links to History.com and PBS.

The lesson defines a thesaurus and tells students that a thesaurus is a reference book that lists synonyms. Activity 1 asks students to underline eight words in a paragraph and look up synonyms using a thesaurus, and the "Things to Review" section directs students to use a thesaurus to find synonyms. A web link labeled "Online Resources -- Dictionaries and Thesauruses" is provided as a resource list.

The lesson explicitly tells students: "If you are not sure how to classify a word, look it up in the dictionary." The Student Activity Page and Parent Plan refer students to the "Handy Guide to Writing" for more information about parts of speech. The activity asks students to identify and underline parts of speech and provides an answer key, implying use of reference support if needed.

The lesson tells students to "Use a dictionary to check the spelling of any words you are unsure of" (Activity 7) and to "Use the spellcheck feature of your word processor" (Activity 8). It also refers students to the "Handy Guide to Writing" for grammar or punctuation rules. These instructions explicitly direct students to consult reference resources for checking words.

Activity 3 directs students to 'look up the actual meaning in the dictionary, record it, and see how closely it lines up with the meaning you provided,' and it tells students they 'can look up the root before you guess the meaning.' The vocabulary pages include columns for 'Guess the Meaning' and 'Actual Meaning,' prompting students to consult a reference to fill the actual meaning. The parent prompts ask the child to explain definitions and to review the definitions of vocabulary words.

Students are instructed to "read about the parts of the brain online or in another reference source" and then to label the brain diagrams using the provided word list and include words that describe what each part does. The Student Activity Page lists specific anatomical terms and the Parent Plan includes an answer key, indicating students use external references to determine meanings and functions of those terms.

The Parent Plan skills explicitly instruct students to "use multiple reference aids - including a thesaurus, a synonym finder, a dictionary, and software - to clarify meanings and usage." The Parent Plan also states students should "locate the meanings, pronunciations, and derivations of unfamiliar words using dictionaries." Activity 3 directs students to find each vocabulary word in the text, copy the sentence, "look up the definition of each word," and "identify the correct definition based on the context."

Students are given a list of reference sources that explicitly includes dictionaries and thesauruses and are asked to select sources relevant to their topic. Students are directed to locate glossaries in reference books and to read glossary definitions of important words to use in their reports. Students are instructed to find index entries and use book parts (table of contents, glossary, index) to locate and clarify terms related to their research.

Activity 3 tells students to "circle any words that could be misspelled and check them in a dictionary," giving explicit instruction to consult a reference for words. The lesson also tells students to refer to the Handy Guide to Writing for grammar or punctuation rules they aren't sure about, which directs students to use a written resource while drafting and revising. The rubric and other parent prompts encourage students to check wording and mechanics during revision.