Florida B.E.S.T. ELA.9.R.3.1
The Standard
Explain how figurative language creates mood in text(s).
Florida B.E.S.T. Standards for English Language Arts
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students find similes, metaphors, personification, and other nonliteral language in a text. They explain how specific words shape the feeling a reader experiences.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students identify the figurative phrase, name a precise mood, and cite relevant words. They explain how the comparison or description makes the reader feel that mood.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may name a device without explaining its effect. They may confuse mood, the reader’s feeling, with tone, the writer’s attitude. They may also label a mood without citing specific words.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short paragraph containing a metaphor or personification. Ask: “What mood does the figurative language create, and which words create that mood?”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs figurative-language sentence strips to sort under mood cards, then have them underline the words that guided each choice.
Ask students to write: “How would the mood change if this metaphor were replaced with a literal description?”
Play Mood Match by having teams pair short passages with mood labels and earn points only when they explain the language connection.
Compare figurative language in two movie trailers, then discuss how each script creates suspense, hope, humor, or fear.
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Printable ELA.9.R.3.1 Worksheet

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Related Standards
- ELA.5.R.3.1
Analyze how figurative language contributes to meaning in text(s).
- ELA.6.R.3.1
Explain how figurative language contributes to tone and meaning in text(s).
- ELA.10.R.3.1
Analyze how figurative language creates mood in text(s).
- ELA.4.R.3.1
Explain how figurative language contributes to meaning in text(s).
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