Florida B.E.S.T. ELA.7.V.1.3
The Standard
Apply knowledge of context clues, figurative language, word relationships, reference materials, and/or background knowledge to determine the connotative and denotative meaning of words and phrases, appropriate to grade level.
Florida B.E.S.T. Standards for English Language Arts
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students use clues in and beyond a text to determine what unfamiliar words and phrases mean. They distinguish literal definitions from feelings or associations carried by the words.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students determine a word or phrase’s literal and implied meaning in a grade-level text. They cite context, figurative language, word relationships, references, or background knowledge to explain their reasoning.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat a dictionary definition as the only possible meaning. They may also confuse a word’s emotional association with its literal meaning or ignore how context changes meaning.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short paragraph containing the word “slim” and ask them to state its denotation, connotation, and two clues supporting their answer.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Place word cards such as slim, skinny, and slender on a positive-to-negative continuum, then have students defend each placement.
Ask students to explain how replacing “confident” with “arrogant” changes the tone of a sentence.
Play Context Clue Detective, where teams identify an unknown word’s meaning and name the clue type that helped.
Compare wording in two product advertisements, then identify words chosen for positive connotations and rewrite them with neutral terms.
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