CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.4

ELA7th GradeCraft and Structure

The Standard

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 6—12

What This Standard Means

Students need to figure out what history and social studies words mean while reading, not just memorize definitions. They should use nearby sentences, word parts, examples, contrasts, maps, captions, and prior knowledge to explain the meaning of terms like tariff, migration, amendment, or primary source.

Mastery looks like a student saying, “In this paragraph, abolition means ending slavery because the next sentence talks about making slavery illegal.” Students often get stuck on words with everyday meanings used in a social studies way, such as state, party, revolution, or cabinet.

Ways to Teach It

  • Give pairs a short textbook paragraph and sticky notes to label context clues that help define five bolded social studies terms.
  • Ask students to write: “The word ___ means ___ here because the text says ___.”
  • Use an exit ticket with three sentences from the lesson and ask students to define the underlined term using context evidence.
  • Show a current news headline with a civics term, then have students explain how the term is used in that real situation.

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Related Standards

Standard text verified against corestandards.org on July 10, 2026.

Page updated July 10, 2026.

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