 An almanac is published every year.  It contains up-to-date facts about all kinds of topics.  Much of the information in an almanac is printed in the form of lists.  The information is updated once every year.

 Use an almanac to find facts from a particular year, such as…  names of people inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame  major export products of the United States  important events that took place during a certain year  number of votes each presidential candidate received in the last election  names of movies that won Academy Awards

 An atlas is a book of maps.  Some atlases show maps of one part of the world, such as the Rand McNally Road Atlas: United States, Canada, and Mexico.  Others include maps of the entire world.  In addition, many atlases have a specific focus.  For example, a road atlas shows all the roads in and area, and a historical atlas shows where important historical events took place.

 Use an atlas to find the location of…  Borders and boundaries (between countries, states, nations, etc.)  Bodies of water (ocean, glaciers, rivers, lakes, etc.)  Land formations (continents, mountain ranges, deserts, plains, etc.)  Population facts (cities, countries, etc.)

 Other that new volcanoes or huge earthquakes, few major changes occur in the world’s landscape from year to year.  But important political changes take place for time to time.  Nations gain or lose territory in wars.  Leaders rename cities – or even entire nations.  To keep up with the most recent changes, you’ll need a current atlas.

1. What do you think the World Ocean Atlas shows? ____________________________________________

 A dictionary is a book filled with definitions of the words that make up a language.  It doesn’t change much from year to year, although a few new words are added from time to time.  An American English dictionary contains the English words that are spoken in the United States.  A Spanish/English dictionary gives Spanish words their equivalents in English.

 Use a dictionary to find…  correct spellings  pronunciations  syllable divisions  definitions  parts of speech (such as whether a word is used as a verb, a noun, or an adjective)  word origins (what other language or languages the word came from)  Some dictionaries may also include synonyms or antonyms for the defined word.

 Key words, or guide words, appear at the top of pages in dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference books.  These words describe what information is included on each page.  In a dictionary, the guide words are the first and last words defined on that page, letting you know that words alphabetically in-between are listed there, as well.  In an encyclopedia, the guide words are the first and last subjects discussed on each page.

2. Which of these entries would be found on the page with guide words numerous/nuts? A. nucleus B. numerical C. nurturance D. nullification

 Glossaries give a list of specialized terms and their meanings.  Glossaries are often found in textbooks.  A glossary entry look similar to a dictionary entry.  Example: A glossary entry from a mathematics textbook:  equation: Any number sentence that contains an equal sign (=)

 A thesaurus is a book of words and their synonyms (words with similar meanings).  If you want to find a word that means about the same thing as reckless, reach for a thesaurus.  reckless, adj. careless, foolhardy, incautious, heedless, rash. See RASHNESS, NEGLECT.

 Answer the following questions by writing “D” for dictionary, “G” for glossary, or “T” for thesaurus in the blank after each question. 3. Imagine you are reading a science textbook when you come across the word microbe. Where would be the most convenient place to find a definition of microbe? ______ 4. Where would be the best place to look for a word that has the same meaning as cooperation? ____ 5. What resource would help you find out how to pronounce virtuoso? ______

 An encyclopedia contains facts and explanations about a wide variety of subjects.  It also has drawings, diagrams, maps, and photographs.  Topics are arranged in alphabetical order.

 Some encyclopedias, such as The World Book Encyclopedia or The New Encyclopedia Britannica, contain information about almost every subject you could imagine.  Others, such as The Encyclopedia of Dogs or Ships of the World, are more narrowly focused on very specific topics.  An encyclopedia can provide more information than a dictionary or atlas, but it may not contain the most current information on a topic.

 Most newspapers are printed once a day. Newspapers contain very current news updates.  News articles may be brief on in-depth, depending on their importance to the community and the amount of information available about the topic.  Newspapers also frequently contain “feature stories” telling about things of local or widespread interest, including events, people, hobbies, products, and so on.

 Journals are usually published a few times a year.  They contain articles or stories about a specific topic.  Literacy journals contain stories or poetry.  There are scientific journals, such as Annals of Science, which includes articles about different types of sciences.  There are also historical journals, such as the American Historical Review, which publishes historical articles.  Articles in journals are usually written by scholars and focus on current developments in their field.

 Magazines usually focus on a particular topic, such as news, famous people, hobbies, or sports.  Published less frequently than most newspapers.  Often contain summaries of the events leading up to important stories in the news.  Also, they frequently give much more information than even lengthy newspaper articles do.  For example if you read  Cooking Light magazine you would expect to find recipes designed for health-conscious people.  While Newsweek and Time contain information about important events in the news.

 Answer the following questions by writing “E” for encyclopedia, “N” for newspaper, or “M” for magazine in the blank after each questions. 6. Imagine that a big football game between tow rival high schools was played in your hometown last night. Where would you most likely be able to read about the game? ______ 7. Imagine that an exchange student is coming to your school from South Africa, and your teacher wants you to learn about the student’s country. What resource would give you a good general overview of South Africa? ____ 8. If you wanted to learn tips about cross-country bicycle touring and read articles by people who have gone biking in different places, what would be the best resource to use? _____

 In groups of 4:  Complete dictionary, thesaurus, and glossary worksheets.