CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.4

ELA3rd GradeCraft and Structure

The Standard

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literature

What This Standard Means

Students need to use the story around a word or phrase to figure out what it means. They should explain both regular meanings and figurative meanings, like when a character says, “I’m on cloud nine.” They need to notice that authors choose words to show feelings, setting, and character traits.

Mastery looks like a student pointing to clues in the sentence or nearby lines and saying why the phrase is not meant literally. Students often get stuck by grabbing the first dictionary meaning, missing idioms, or reading figurative language as if it really happened.

Ways to Teach It

Give pairs sentence strips with idioms from a read-aloud, then have them draw the literal meaning and the real meaning side by side.
Ask students to write: What does this phrase really mean, and what clues in the story helped you?
Show one short passage with an underlined phrase, then have students choose literal or nonliteral and explain in one sentence.
Bring in sports headlines or song lyrics with phrases like “on fire,” then connect them to figurative language in stories.

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The Standard

What This Standard Means

Ways to Teach It

Plan a Lesson for CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.4

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