Kentucky Reading and Writing L.7.5.b

ELA7th GradeLanguage

The Standard

L.7.5: Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

Use the relationship between particular words to improve understanding.

Kentucky Academic Standards for Reading and Writing (2025) · Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students compare words to work out what each one means. They use clues such as opposites, similar meanings, and differences in strength.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can explain that “furious” is stronger than “annoyed” and use that difference to understand a character’s reaction. They can point to the words that support their explanation.
Common Misconceptions: Students may treat “annoyed” and “furious” as identical, missing the difference in strength. They may assume “scarce” and “abundant” mean the same thing because both describe supply.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: “The first complaint irritated Maya, but the tenth left her furious.” How are “irritated” and “furious” related, and what does “furious” tell you about Maya’s reaction?

Lesson moves

Give students cards labeled “calm,” “annoyed,” “angry,” and “furious”; have them arrange the cards from least to most upset.
Write two sentences explaining how “confident” differs from “arrogant” in “She sounded confident, not arrogant.”
Play a partner match game with “scarce/abundant,” “timid/bold,” and “jog/sprint”; name each pair’s relationship before keeping it.
Show a restaurant spice scale labeled mild, medium, and hot; ask students to explain “medium” using the other labels.

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