What Are Palindromes?
A palindrome is a word or phrase that reads the same forwards and backwards
Learning Objective
Students will learn what palindromes are and how to identify words and phrases that read the same forwards and backwards.
What You'll Learn
- A palindrome is a word or phrase that reads the same forwards and backwards
- Palindromes are about letters, not meaning
- Single-word palindromes include mom, dad, wow, and racecar
- Phrase palindromes ignore spaces and punctuation
- Palindromes are a fun word puzzle in English and many other languages
Words to Know
- Palindrome
- A word that reads the same both ways
- "'Racecar' is a palindrome."
- Backwards
- From the end to the beginning
- "Read 'mom' backwards — it's still 'mom'."
- Letter
- A single alphabet symbol
- "Each letter matches its partner."
- Phrase
- A group of words together
- "Some phrases are palindromes too."
Check What You Learned
Quick Quiz
1 / 5Which of these is TRUE?
Fun Facts
A palindrome is a word, phrase, number, or sequence that reads the same forwards and backwards
Source: Merriam-Webster
Single-word palindromes include: mom, dad, wow, racecar, kayak, level, noon, eye, radar, and civic
Source: Oxford English Dictionary
Phrase palindromes ignore spaces and punctuation: e.g., 'was it a car or a cat I saw'
Source: OED
The word 'palindrome' comes from Greek 'palin' (again) and 'dromos' (running) — 'running back again'
Source: Etymology dictionaries
Palindromes exist in many languages, not just English
Source: linguistic references
Number palindromes include 121, 1331, and dates like 02/20/2022
Source: mathematical references
Lesson Info
Standards Alignment
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.2.3
Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.2
Demonstrate command of conventions of standard English
Play the whole series
Episode 7 of word play lab
Keywords
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