Welcome to the Kids Open Dictionary Builder.
The purpose of this project is to create a free, open simple dictionary for students to use. This dictionary will ultimately be published in a variety of formats and for multiple platforms.
To add to this project, find a word you'd like to write a definition for or click "Instant Karma" for a random word. Please consult the style guidelines for editorial information.
Don't be shy! Whatever you do doesn't have to be perfect; we'll all build on it and make it better. Just jump in and add something.
If you'd like to become an editor on this project or you'd like to attend or host a workshop on Open Ed, contact us. Thank you!
News and Status Updates
Tip of the day - Irregular forms of nouns and verbs only need to be put in if they are different from the standard forms. Standard plurals of nouns end in -s or -es. (Standard plurals: cats, trees. Irregular plurals: curricula, mice.) Standard past and past participle verbs end in -ed. (Standard past: walked. Standard past participle : walked. Irregular past: broke. Irregular past participle : broken.) The past participle form shows actions that have already been completed, for example, I have eaten. I have gone.
4/17/09 - 20% of the words (5,000 words) now have a definition! Special recognition to contributors Algot Runeman and a new anonymous contributor from Orange County, CA.
2/6/09 - 15% of the words now have a definition! We are well on our way.
12/15/08 - Thanks to students at Hershey Middle School who contributed to the dictionary by adding their weekly vocabulary words!
9/26/08 - MAJOR MILESTONE: 10% of our total words now have a definition! Thank you to everyone who has contributed.
9/23/08 - We've added a new field called "other forms of the word." In the final dictionary, these will be used as search terms that will redirect to the main form of the word. (For example, "runs," "ran," etc. will all go to "run.") If you edit a word, you might want to add all the forms you can think of.
9/9/08 - NEW! We've added a PowerPoint output option to the glossary builder.
9/8/08 - Check out the glossary builder for an easy way to create glossaries for your own classroom units. If you have a word list for a unit, send it to us and we can prioritize defining those words.
