CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.5a

ELA3rd GradeVocabulary Acquisition and Use

The Standard

Distinguish the literal and nonliteral meanings of words and phrases in context (e.g., take steps).

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students decide whether a word or phrase means exactly what it says or communicates a different idea. They use nearby words and events to explain the intended meaning.
What Mastery Looks Like: Given “The test was a piece of cake,” a student identifies the phrase as nonliteral and explains that the test was easy. The student uses context to support the explanation.
Common Misconceptions: Students may assume every unusual phrase is nonliteral. They may use the most familiar meaning of a word instead of checking the surrounding sentence.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: “After Ben spilled the beans about the surprise, Ana frowned.” Students label the phrase, explain its intended meaning, and underline a context clue.

Lesson moves

Give pairs phrase cards and picture cards, then have them match literal and intended meanings and justify each match with sentence clues.
Read “My backpack weighs a ton,” then ask students to write what the speaker means and what the words say exactly.
Play Literal or Not: teams hold up L or N cards for context sentences and earn a point by explaining each phrase.
Examine a rainy weather report and the phrase “raining cats and dogs,” then compare the phrase with the actual weather shown.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.5a, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

Learning progression

If students are struggling here, check these first.

Mastery here sets students up for these next.

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