CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.4

ELA6th GradeCraft and Structure

The Standard

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings.

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Informational Text

What This Standard Means

Students need to figure out word and phrase meanings from the actual passage, not just from a dictionary. They should use context clues, word parts, tone, examples, and nearby explanations. They also need to notice when a word has a feeling attached, a subject-specific meaning, or a figurative meaning.

Mastery looks like a student saying, “In this article, charge means accuse, not money,” and backing it up with evidence from the sentence. Students often get stuck by grabbing the first dictionary definition, skipping surrounding clues, or missing words with positive or negative connotations.

Ways to Teach It

Give pairs a short article and highlighters, then have them mark five tricky words and annotate the clue that helped define each one.
Ask students to explain how the word slim changes meaning in “a slim chance” versus “a slim phone” using text evidence.
Exit ticket: underline one technical, connotative, or figurative phrase from today’s reading and write its meaning in context.
Bring in a news headline, product label, or sports article and have students identify words with specialized or loaded meanings.