CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.4

ELA6th GradeCraft and Structure

The Standard

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.

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

What This Standard Means

Students need to use context to figure out what words and phrases mean in a story, poem, or drama. They should notice when language is literal, figurative, or loaded with feeling. They also need to explain why an author picked one word instead of another.

Mastery looks like a student saying, “The word trudged shows the character is tired and unhappy,” then backing it up with nearby text. Students often get stuck by giving dictionary meanings only, missing tone, or naming figurative language without explaining its effect.

Ways to Teach It

  • Give pairs sentence strips from a class text and have them swap one key word, then compare how the tone changes.
  • Ask students to write: Which word in this paragraph carries the strongest feeling, and what does it make you think about the character?
  • Use a three-question exit ticket: define the phrase in context, label the tone, and explain one word choice.
  • Show two movie review excerpts with different word choices, then have students identify how the words shape the reader’s reaction.

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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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