Free dictionaries given to county third graders
The Harrison County Community Foundation (HCCF) has delivered free dictionaries to third-grade students in Harrison County since 2008 to increase their literacy skills. Every third grader in the county has once again received a dictionary this year.
In November, members of the HCCF Board of Directors delivered copies of “Webster’s Dictionary for Students: Special Encyclopedic Edition” to more than 500 students. Copies of the dictionary were also given to Harrison County third-grade classroom teachers and elementary school libraries. All Harrison County elementary schools participated.
The free dictionary program is the result of a partnership between HCCF and The Dictionary Project. The Dictionary Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the goal of helping students complete the school year as good writers, active readers and creative thinkers by providing them with their own dictionaries. Each dictionary is a gift to each student to use at school and at home for years to come.
Nissa Ellett, principal of Heth-Washington Elementary School, said the school’s third graders use their dictionaries throughout the year to edit written work, as well as to look up the spelling and meaning of words they can then incorporate in their speaking and writing.
“Throughout the year, students collect ‘interesting’ words that they find while reading,” Ellett said. “They use the dictionaries to look up the meaning of those words and may share the words and their meanings with classmates and/or incorporate them into their writing. The dictionary is a resource that each student has at his or her fingertips, which would not otherwise be available. We would like to thank the Harrison County Community Foundation for the support of our students in providing this valued academic resource.”
To learn more about Harrison County’s role in The Dictionary Project, contact HCCF at 812-738-6668 or visit www.hccfindiana.org. For more information about The Dictionary Project, visit www.dictionaryproject.org.