Share information with teachers from PNHS & PSHS.

1. What is the Visual Thesaurus?
“The Visual Thesaurus is an interactive dictionary and
thesaurus with an innovative display that encourages
exploration and learning.”
Trial available until December 15th
– use the following link
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/promo/6AEEH24G
Content from http://www.visualthesaurus.com/

3. Educational Features With the Visual
Thesaurus, you can integrate technology into a standards-
based curriculum and help your students:
• Find the right word and explore. The Visual Thesaurus has over 145,000
words and 115,000 meanings. Your students can search for the word they're
looking for and then follow a trail of related concepts.
• Improve their grasp of the English language. The Visual Thesaurus's
intuitive interface helps your students find words through their semantic
relationship with other words and meanings. Its focus on connecting words
through their meanings results in a more precise understanding of the
English language.
• Hear words pronounced correctly. The Visual Thesaurus offers a choice
between a British and an American English accent.
• Understand the relationships between English words and meanings. In
addition to synonyms, the Visual Thesaurus shows 16 kinds of semantic
relationships. Your students will see that a nose is part of a face, that a
horned poppy is a type of flower, and that epinephrine is a type of
vasoconstrictor.
• Expand their search to the Internet. From any word, your students can
initiate an Internet search for either web pages or images.
• Check spelling. The Visual Thesaurus suggests alternatives so your
students can find the right word even when they're not sure of the spelling.

4. Benefits for Students of all Ages
• Ages 12-14: For this age group, seeing the richness of the English
language can spark explorations in vocabulary and word usage. It's
not unusual to see students from this age group spending hours
clicking through the Visual Thesaurus, finding words that they hadn't
seen before, and listening to pronunciations. As they explore, they
are learning new words and concepts, and discovering subtleties of
the English language.
• Ages 15-18: Older high school students can use the Visual
Thesaurus as a vocabulary builder and will benefit from using more
descriptive words in their creative writing, poetry writing and essay
writing. The Visual Thesaurus also helps students prepare for the
SAT. Science and medical terms from the Visual Thesaurus
dictionary can be integrated into upper level science courses.

5. Type in a word to
look up…
A visual,
interactive map
appears with
words
associated,
parts of speech
& proper
pronunciation

6. Click on a node..
• The associated definition
appears.
• The part of speech is
evident with color coding
• The particular use of the
word & its definition are
on the side bar – as well
as other definitions.

7. Select a definition
from the sidebar…
• The visual map
transforms to
represent that
definition.
• The dashes lines
indicate a “type of”
relationship of
word meanings.
(shown here with Help on to
display pop-up)

8. Word suggestions available when
spelling isn’t correct…

9. Useful settings for expanded
possibilities.
• Easily turn these
features on & off:
– Antonyms
– Participles
– Derived from
– Verb Groups etc/
Antonym
shown
with red
dashed
line.

10. Application for Foreign Language Students
…Search by selected language dictionary &
translation displayed…
Displayed meanings displayed
from foreign language dictionary
Software doesn’t offer audio of foreign
language pronunciation at this time.

11. For students with I.E.P.’s…
• Audio reinforcement
• Visual relationships
between words
displayed
• Associations easily
made.
• Color coded to
reinforce parts of
speech.
• Display Settings can
be customized for
students

12. Change font size, circle size, add 3D
contrast, line color, scale
to adjust to students’ needs.

13. Visual Thesaurus website offers daily
support surrounding related issues…
• A daily article on pertinent issues on:
Grammar, Language, Online, Usage
• Featured Word of the Day
• Vocabgrabber – creates vocabulary
from any text.
• Spelling Bee – take the challenge

14. • Keep up with BLOG
issues in education
• Featured Word Lists
created by other
educators on
pertinent topics
Visual Thesaurus website offers daily
support surrounding related issues…

15. Explore with this link.
Trial ends December 15th
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/promo/6AEEH24G
• Share link with students/other faculty members
to complete a lesson, writing assignment etc.
• Get student/faculty feedback…they can e-mail
me directly.
• Give me your feedback…
– Charlene E. Conway, Instructional Technology
Specialist, PNHS & PSHS
– ceconway@plymouth.k12.ma.us
– A webinar is possible if there is interest – let
me know.