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Language Arts Resources

There are probably more fillable gaps in anyone's language arts knowledge than any other area of study. Language is constantly evolving, changing its face and sometimes even its innards to accommodate the dictates of the Academy and society. Who can keep up with it all? who even has enough foundational knowledge to know what all those changes are?

Keeping up with all the trends isn't necessarily the point, though. The ultimate aim of all language arts instruction is communication: for the student to be capable of communicating, and able to be communicated to. As far as that is accomplished, language arts education has been successful; that doesn't mean there isn't always room for improvement.

It also doesn't mean that there aren't reference works you should keep around at all times. Everyone needs a good dictionary; when you encounter words you know, how else are you going to know what they mean? You could just head to the Internet, but there's so much misinformation there, having a hard copy of Webster's is a much safer (and more reliable) bet.

A compact but comprehensive thesaurus is also important. Here's a word of advice: don't overuse it. Roget's Thesaurus has lots of words you've never heard of, and while sometimes they turn out to be exactly the word you're looking for, it's not a good idea to throw million dollar words into your writing if you're unfamiliar with them.

The two best uses for a thesaurus: using it to remember a word you already know, or scanning it to build your vocabulary when you aren't writing. A good cook doesn't use spices she's never heard of just to make food interesting, and a good writer doesn't throw around strange verbiage just to make people think he's smart, or because he's already overused a simpler term.

Much of what you'll find here is designed to help with spelling, expand vocabulary, or assist writing. Everyone has particular strengths and weaknesses, and you'll have to ultimately decide what your students (or you) need. For specific elements of the language arts (grammar, rhetoric, phonics, etc.) take a look at our subject-specific resource sections; the books here are pretty broad and reference-oriented.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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American Heritage First Dictionary
Updated from Houghton Mifflin
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
American Heritage Picture Dictionary
by Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries
newly updated from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-1st grade
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
American Heritage Student Thesaurus
by Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries
Reprint from Houghton Mifflin
for 7th-12th grade
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$18.99
Children's First Encyclopedia
by Neil Morris
from Backpack Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Encyclopedias (Location: REF-ENC)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Dictionary of Latin and Greek Origins
by Bob Moore and Maxine Moore
from Barnes & Noble
for 8th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
DK Children's Illustrated Thesaurus
from DK Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
DK First Encyclopedia
by Anita Ganeri & Chris Oxlade
from DK Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
in Encyclopedias (Location: REF-ENC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
DK Merriam-Webster Children's Dictionary
from DK Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$32.99
Enough About Grammar
by Joe Floren
from Twain Productions
for 4th-10th grade
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
EyeLike Letters
from Play Bac
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Alphabet & Counting Books (Location: PIC-ALPH)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
First Dictionary and Thesaurus
by Anne Millard
1st edition from DK Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Golden Book Illustrated Dictionary - 6 volume Set
from Golden Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Grammar at Work
by Jessie L. Wheeler
from Allyn and Bacon
for Adult
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Harvey's Revised English Grammar
Harvey's Language Course
by Thos. W. Harvey
from Mott Media
for 4th-8th grade
in McGuffey's Readers & Other Primers (Location: REA-MCG)
$17.50 $10.00 (1 in stock)
How to Develop a Brilliant Memory Week by Week
by Dominic O'Brien
from Duncan Baird
for 9th-Adult
in Research & Study Skills (Location: REF-STUDY)
$12.95
Kingfisher First Encyclopedia
by Ruth Thomson and Anne Civardi
from Kingfisher
for Nursery-Kindergarten
in Encyclopedias (Location: REF-ENC)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Kingfisher Young World Encyclopedia
by Larousse
from Larousse
for 4th-6th grade
in Encyclopedias (Location: REF-ENC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Macmillan Visual Desk Reference
from Macmillan
for 10th-Adult
in Encyclopedias (Location: REF-ENC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Memory Mechanics
by Gary DeMar
from American Vision Press
for 9th grade-adult
in Research & Study Skills (Location: REF-STUDY)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Merriam-Webster Collegiate Thesaurus
2nd Ed from Merriam-Webster
for 9th-Adult
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$22.95
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
11th edition from Merriam-Webster
for 9th-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$24.95
Merriam-Webster's Elementary Dictionary
from Merriam-Webster
for 3rd-5th grade
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$19.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Merriam-Webster's First Dictionary
by Ruth Heller, illustrator
from Merriam-Webster
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
My 2 in 1 Picture Dictionary
from Make Believe Ideas
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
My Second Picture Dictionary
Ginn Elementary English Series
by Reid, Crane, & Jenkins, illustrated by Tom Cooke and Bea Holmes
from Ginn and Co.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
My Very First Word Book
by Angela Wilkes
from DK Publishing
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Official Scrabble Players Dictionary
from Merriam-Webster
for 6th-9th grade
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Old Hat New Hat
Bright & Early Books
by Jan Berenstain, Stan Berenstain
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Beginner Books (Location: EAR-BB)
$8.49
Punching the Clock
by Marvin Terban, illustrated by Tom Huffman
from Clarion Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Rainbow Dictionary
by Wendell W. Wright, assisted by Helene Laird, illustrated by Joseph Low
from World Publishing Company
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Random House Children's Encyclopedia
by Dorling Kindersley Ltd
from Random House
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Encyclopedias (Location: REF-ENC)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Rex Barks: Diagramming Sentences Made Easy
by Phyllis Davenport
from Paper Tiger
for 3rd-6th grade
in Miscellaneous Grammar Curriculum (Location: GRA-MISC)
$18.00 (2 in stock)
Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy Town
by Richard Scarry
from Golden Books
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$15.29
Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go
by Richard Scarry
from Golden Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$15.29 $8.00 (2 in stock)
Right Word
by Jen Bryant
from Eerdmans
for 1st-4th grade
2015 Caldecott Honor Book, 2015 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.14 $7.60 (1 in stock)
Roget's International Thesaurus
by Barbara Ann Kipfer
7th edition from Collins
for 7th-Adult
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$22.95
Roget's International Thesaurus
by Robert L. Chapman (revised by)
4th Edition from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 6th-Adult
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Roget's Student Thesaurus
by Andrew Schiller, William A. Jenkins
Rev Sub from HarperCollins
for 2nd-4th grade
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Scholastic Children's Dictionary
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-5th grade
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Scholastic Children's Dictionary
by Scholastic Inc.
Revised from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-4th grade
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
Scholastic Children's Encyclopedia
by Scholastic
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Encyclopedias (Location: REF-ENC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Scholastic Children's Thesaurus
by John Bollard
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Scholastic First Dictionary
from Scholastic Reference
for 1st-4th grade
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Talk to the Hand
by Lynne Truss
1st edition from Gotham Books
for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: English & Language Arts (Location: ZCLE-LAN)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Usborne First Dictionary
by Jane Bingham, Rachel Wardley
from Usborne
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Use the Right Word
by S. I. Hayakawa
1st edition from Reader's Digest
for 9th-Adult
in Thesauruses (Location: REF-THES)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
What Do People Do All Day?
by Richard Scarry
from Random House
Richard Scarry Picture Book for K-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$15.29
Young Students Learning Library - 23 Volume Set
from Newfield Publications
for 3rd-6th grade
in Encyclopedias (Location: REF-ENC)
$60.00 (1 in stock)
Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible - 5 Volumes
by Merrill C. Tenney, General Editor
from Zondervan
for Adult
in Bible Reference (Location: XBI-REF)
$85.00 (1 in stock)
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