The Dictionary Project

Fargo Dictionary Project Video
Third graders ask if dictionaries are needed
Since 2009, the Rotarians in Fargo and Moorhead have been hand delivering over 2,000 dictionaries a year to third grade students throughout Cass (North Dakota) and Clay (Minnesota) Counties. The clubs work together to visit each classroom and share a love of literacy with kids, who get to keep their very own dictionary. Each club contributes financially to the project and provides volunteers to distribute the books in the classrooms.
 
These dictionaries are special reference books that help third graders learn critical dictionary skills, fostering a love of learning, resourcefulness, creativity, independent research skills and a sense of personal responsibility. The dictionaries provide reading support and a phonics foundation. Good learners become good readers and good writers. The dictionaries are a gift to each student to use at school and at home for years to come. Educators see third grade as the dividing line between learning to read and reading to learn. 
 

New in 2025 -  Sponsor a Classroom, School or Community

In 2025, Rotarians are welcoming others in the Fargo-Moorhead community to get involved in this project. Individuals, service clubs, companies or organizations can sponsor a classroom for $100, a school for $500, or a community for $2,500. Participating partners will be invited to help distribute the dictionaries in the classrooms they sponsor. For more details, contact us here or donate here, designating Dictionary Project as your project of choice.

Dictionary Project FAQs

  • rotarianinclassroomDo kids need dictionaries with so much information just a click away?  Yes! Teachers, students and school administrators continue to affirm that book dictionary skills are critical in the third grade year. Dictionaries teach kids word finding, alphabetizing, looking up definitions, and learning to spell. 
  • What makes this dictionary unique? The Rotary dictionary has over 350 pages of words and definitions; and over 150 pages of extra reference materials that kids love to explore. The extra sections include a list of the longest words in English, weights, periodic table of elements, roman numerals, multiplication tables, flags, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Presidents, maps of the world, the planets, sign language, the water cycle and much more. 
  • Do all third graders in Fargo-Moorhead receive a dictionary? Every third grader in public and private schools in Fargo and West Fargo receive dictionaries. Moorhead Rotary distributed dictionaries in Clay County for many years, but discontinued the Clay County program in 2023. 
  • Do third grade teachers think these dictionaries are important? The FM Rotary Foundation surveyed all teachers in the 99 classrooms where dictionaries were distributed in 2024, and 90% of the teachers said that the program should be continued.  The survey also revealed that 86% of teachers value Rotarians physically coming into the classrooms, as it provides kids a connection with community professionals who fortify teachers'  literacy efforts. 

A Humble Beginning

The Dictionary Project was originally the idea of Annie Plummer of Savannah, GA. In 1992, she gave away 50 dictionaries to local school children. Eventually, she raised funds to give 17,000 children in Savannah a dictionary. Bonnie Beeferman in Hilton Head, SC, read about Ms. Plummer’s project and started her own dictionary giveaway in her community. She was so overwhelmed by requests from teachers, that she reached out for help. Mary French and her husband Arno from Charleston answered her request by starting the Dictionary Project, a 501(c)3, in 1995. To date, over 37 million children have now received dictionaries! Civic clubs, businesses, individuals and parent groups have sponsored projects in all 50 states and a growing number of international locations. To see if a dictionaries are available in your community, visit the Dictionary Project school finder tool. 

 

Read more about the history here