Ideas for using dictionaries in an English class
Matching / multiple choice: As an alternative to making students just look up new words in a dictionary, give them a matching or multiple choice exercise.
Use it in a sentence: Give your students a list of one part of speech and sentences that require those words in another part of speech. For example, give them a list of nouns and sentences that require the verb or the adjective form of those nouns. Ask the students to look up the words in a dictionary and choose the correct part of speech to fill in the blanks.
Collocations: Give your students a list of words and ask them to find the preposition or the verb that is used with them.
Phrasal verbs: Give your students a phrasal verb, for example 'bring', and sentences with the phrasal verbs missing. Students then look up 'bring' and decide whether 'bring back', 'bring about', 'bring down' etc are suitable.
There are many other ways to use a dictionary. Dictionary Activities, one of the titles in the Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers series, has many ideas you can choose from. Find out more about Dictionary Activities.