CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.L.4
The Standard
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Language
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students work out what unfamiliar words and phrases mean within a text. They use nearby clues, known word parts, and reference sources to choose or confirm the best meaning.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students choose a meaning that fits the sentence and point to evidence for it. They use roots and affixes when helpful, then select an appropriate dictionary, glossary, or subject reference to confirm the meaning.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may grab the first dictionary definition without checking whether it fits the sentence. They may also treat any nearby word as a clue or guess a word's meaning from appearance alone.
How to Assess It
- Give students this prompt: “The canoeists pulled onto the bank after paddling all morning. What does bank mean here? Name the clue, then verify your answer in a dictionary.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs root, prefix, and suffix cards to combine, define, and check against a classroom dictionary.
Ask students to explain which words in a sentence reveal the meaning of an unfamiliar or multiple-meaning word.
Play Context Clue Match, with teams pairing mystery words to definitions and citing the clue that proves each match.
Have students decode an unfamiliar word from a menu, manual, news article, or job posting, then verify it with a reference source.
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Printable CCRA.L.4 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.L.4, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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