The Parent Plan skills explicitly tell students to "Determine the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary words by using context clues or a dictionary," which directs use of a dictionary as a strategy. The Vocabulary activity gives page references so students can read words in context and match them to definitions, and the vocabulary list labels each word's part of speech (e.g., impulsive (adj), gimbal (n)). The Parent Plan and activity options also mention a picture dictionary or creating a picture dictionary, which references a reference-type resource for learning word meanings.

Students are directed to "Use a dictionary to check the spelling of words you may have spelled incorrectly" during the editing and revision stage. The parent/teacher notes also ask students to "discuss any words he may need to check the spelling of and any grammar rules that might need to be reviewed" and to "refer to the Handy Guide to Grammar and Writing."

Activity 1 directs students to use a dictionary to locate the definition of each vocabulary word and to record those definitions on a chart. Students are instructed to read words in context when multiple definitions exist and to select the definition that makes sense. Students are asked to review the definitions, use each word verbally with a parent, and record a sentence for each word.

The lesson directs students to "refer to the Handy Guide to Writing" for more information about pronouns, which instructs students to consult an external reference for clarification. The parent sections also provide an Answer Key and a chart key that students can use to check pronoun classification, indicating students have reference material available to determine part of speech.

Students are directed to use a thesaurus to find synonyms for vocabulary words in Activity 1 and to choose synonyms that fit the sentence context. The Skills section explicitly tells students to determine the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary by using context clues or a thesaurus and to use a thesaurus to identify alternative word choices and meanings. The instructions also state, "If you're not sure of the meaning of any of the words or synonyms, look them up in a dictionary," prompting students to consult a dictionary for clarification.

Students are asked to "research information about the Catskill Mountains in an encyclopedia" (Activity 1, Option 2), which requires consulting a print or digital reference source. Students are directed to locate the author's descriptions of the Catskill Mountains and to "find pictures and information about these beautiful mountains online," which involves using digital reference materials. The lesson provides web links to the story text on Wikisource and to a poem excerpt, giving students access to digital reference texts.

Students are asked to "refer to the Handy Guide to Writing as needed for reference" while studying verbs. Students locate and record helping verbs in the book and circle helping verbs in Civil War letters, practicing identification of verb forms. The activities require students to use a provided reference (the Handy Guide) to support their work on verbs.

In Activity 1 students are explicitly told, "If you are not sure about the meaning of a word, look it up in a dictionary," and they complete a matching exercise that requires linking words to definitions and placing words into sentences. The Things to Know and vocabulary lists provide definitions that students read and compare to word meanings. The Parent Plan also directs students to monitor unknown words using word, sentence, and paragraph clues to determine meaning.

Students are explicitly directed in Activity 3 (Vocabulary Crossword Puzzle) to "Use a dictionary if you need assistance" when filling vocabulary words from definitions. The lesson lists specific vocabulary under "Things to Know" and asks students to review definitions and use each word in a sentence, encouraging them to clarify meanings. The crossword activity provides definition clues and a word bank, prompting students to consult reference material as needed to determine precise meanings.

Students are instructed to "look through the Beyond Roots Set 2 cards" and play root games, which requires consulting the Set 2 cards to learn root meanings. The lesson directs students to an online "Beyond Roots" webpage and to take the Set 2 A and B quizzes after they have "learned the roots' meanings," indicating use of a digital reference and practice in verifying word meanings. The parent notes also prompt reviewing the Set 2 roots and retaking online quizzes if scores are below 80%.

Students are directed to "look up 'Albert Einstein' in an encyclopedia and read the entry," which requires consulting a reference work. Students answer guided questions comparing the encyclopedia entry to a biography and videos, and they are asked to explain situations when an encyclopedia would be useful. The lesson also instructs students to "review the different informational sources" and discuss when each source is most helpful.

The lesson includes a Parts of Speech Table and a Grammar Symbols Chart that students are directed to review and use to identify parts of speech. The text twice tells students to "refer to the Handy Guide to Writing" for more information about parts of speech. The vocabulary activity requires students to record each word's part of speech in parentheses and to use the provided definitions when creating a Vocabulary Picture Dictionary.

Students are told to refer to the "Grammar Symbols Chart" and the "Parts of Speech Table" from Lesson 1 and to identify parts of speech by placing the correct laminated symbol above each word. The activity asks students to label words in sentences (e.g., the Mae Tuck sentence) and to review the parts of speech and symbols. The materials also encourage the child to read through a "Vocabulary Picture Dictionary."

The lesson includes a Dialect Guide listing regional words (e.g., "ain't," "ya'll") alongside plain-language meanings, and it instructs students to "use the sheet, 'Dialect Guide,' as you read to help you understand" challenging words. The Student Activity Pages and Answer Key require students to interpret dialect entries and use those meanings while reading. The lesson also provides web links as digital resources for the Mississippi research activity.

The Expanding Sentences activity explicitly tells students to "Use a dictionary or thesaurus help you find more lively, descriptive verbs to use." The student directions require students to change existing verbs to more descriptive ones and to add adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, or descriptive verbs to each sentence.

Students are instructed in Activity 1 to select eight unfamiliar words from chapters 7–12 and "locate their definitions in a dictionary." The Skills section explicitly lists "Determine the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary words by using context clues and/or a dictionary." The Parent Plan reiterates that students should read each word in context to identify the correct definition before entering it as a clue in the crossword.

The Vocabulary Cards activity instructs students to "Use a dictionary to complete the card" for any unfamiliar word and to write a sentence using that word. The vocabulary cards include spaces for definition and part of speech, and the Vocabulary Cube game has prompts such as "Give the definition" and "Part of speech" that require students to identify those elements. Students are also asked to review definitions, parts of speech, and synonyms/antonyms as part of vocabulary practice.

The Parent Plan skills explicitly instruct students to "use a dictionary, a glossary, or a thesaurus (printed or electronic) to determine the meanings, syllabication, pronunciations, alternate word choices, and parts of speech of words." Activity 1 directs students to "use a dictionary to locate each word" and to identify each word's part of speech, number of syllables, roots/prefixes/suffixes, definition, and to write a sentence. The vocabulary web student pages provide fields for Definition, Syllables, and Part of Speech for each target word, and the answer-key pages show expected parts of speech and syllable counts.

The lesson instructs students to "try to guess what [acronyms] stand for and then look up their meaning to see if you were right," directing them to verify meanings. The Rules for Capitalization activity explicitly tells students to "pick four of the acronyms listed and, using a dictionary or the Internet, write out what each acronym stands for." The capitalization section also asks students to look out for abbreviations and acronyms over several days and to record and research them in a journal.

Students are given a Vocabulary page that lists Spanish words with their English meanings and pictures, and are instructed to create note cards with the Spanish word on one side and the English word and picture on the other. The lesson tells students to study these words over the next few days and to review the Spanish vocabulary. The lesson also explicitly lists target Spanish words to 'know,' indicating students will read provided definitions.

Students are directed to "Read the page called 'Poetry Terminology.' You can use this page as a reference and as a study aid," which gives definitions of stanza, end rhyme, poetic license, personification, metaphor, simile, etc. The Student Activity Page lists poetry term definitions for students to read and fill in, which students can use to clarify word meanings. Activity 3 instructs students to "Find an encyclopedia and read about Charles Darwin," explicitly asking students to consult a print reference source.

Students are directed to "research your animal so that you know details about its habitat and how it lived," which requires consulting sources. Students are told to "read examples of obituaries in your local newspaper or online," which asks them to use print or digital exemplars. The lesson provides web links to videos and resources that students can use during their research.

Students are instructed in Part II (Options 1 and 2) to look up listed words in a dictionary and record the correct spelling and whether they are hyphenated. The hyphens explanatory text tells students to "Always check a dictionary to make sure" and the activity asks students to "look the words up in a dictionary if you're not sure." The Option 2 tasks and answer key direct students to compare pairs like re-creation/recreation and note differences in meaning and pronunciation after consulting the dictionary.

The Student Activity Page includes a "Guess and Dictionary Section" that prompts students to write their guesses and their dictionary findings. The activity explicitly asks students to look up the plural form of "ellipsis" in a dictionary and provides spaces for recording the dictionary result. The Answer Key also discusses the correct plural form, reinforcing that students are expected to consult a dictionary for this item.

Activity 3 explicitly directs students to "look up each word in the dictionary; if there is more than one definition for the word, use context clues to identify the correct definition." The vocabulary crossword activity requires students to write the dictionary definition as the clue and to create crossword entries from those looked-up definitions. The Parent Plan reiterates that students should use context clues along with dictionary lookup to choose the correct definition.

Students practice identifying verbs and verbals on a dedicated worksheet (underlining verbs and circling verbals) and use guided examples to distinguish verb phrases from verbals. The materials explicitly tell students to "Refer to the Handy Guide to Writing for more information about verbs and verbals," directing them to consult a reference resource for clarification of verb/verbal usage.