The Power of the Dictionary

Third graders across the district are a bit smarter about the longest word in the English language and the dangers of drugs, thanks to visitors from the local Elks Club.

The Elks Club partners with the National Dictionary Project to provide age appropriate dictionaries for third grade students across the nation.

The kids learned about the many resources a dictionary can provide, including parts of speech and proper spelling.

These particular dictionaries also feature sign language symbols and the braille alphabet.

The students were challenged to guess how many letters make up the longest word.  They came up with answers of 50, 100 and even 150 letters.

They learned that the longest word in the English language is made up of more than one thousand letters.  It’s a medical term that describes a protein in the human body.

The Elks Club volunteers shared personal stories of family members who overcame substance abuse problems.  

The students were also given a coloring book with the centralized theme, “Don’t Do Drugs!”