Dictionaries, Siri and Alexa

Many times, students can infer the meaning of a difficult word by using the text around it as a clue. For those times when it’s too difficult to ascertain the meaning, rather than skipping forward and hoping for the best, have your child try this simple solution: keep a dictionary nearby while reading. Or, if that feels burdensome to your child (which it may), try this even simpler solution: ask Siri or Alexa. They can define virtually any word in under 10 seconds. So no excuses! By quickly “looking up” difficult words, she’ll find that reading is infinitely more enjoyable (and easier!) when she can understand all the language.