Kentucky Reading and Writing RI.4.4
The Standard
Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a grade-level text, and describe and explain how those words and phrases shape meaning.
Kentucky Academic Standards for Reading and Writing (2025) · Craft and Structure
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students use clues in a grade-level article to work out words used across subjects and words tied to its topic. They explain how those words or phrases affect what readers understand.
What Mastery Looks Like
- In a paragraph about erosion, a student uses the clue of soil washing downstream to explain that 'eroded' means worn away. They explain that 'consequently' links heavy rain to the soil loss.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may read 'bank' in a river article as a place for money. They may define 'eroded' but not explain what it tells readers that 'changed' does not.
How to Assess It
- Give students this text: 'Heavy rain saturated the soil. Consequently, the hillside eroded, and dirt washed into the creek.' Ask what saturated, consequently, and eroded mean and what each word adds to the account.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Soak one sponge and leave another dry, then read a rainstorm paragraph and explain why 'saturated' fits the wet sponge.
Read a short erosion paragraph and ask: How would replacing 'eroded' with 'changed' alter what you picture?
Give pairs context cards with words like 'consequently' and 'erosion'; have them match each word to a meaning and point to a clue.
Post a mock weather alert saying 'hazardous roads,' then ask students how 'hazardous' changes their advice to a bus driver.
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Printable RI.4.4 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- L.4.4.d
Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal precise actions and that are ba...
- RI.3.4
Determine the meaning of general academic words and phrases in a grade-level text, and describe how those words and phrases shape meaning.
- RI.5.4
Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a grade-level text, and analyze how those words and phrases shape meaning.
- RI.2.4
Determine the meaning of general academic words and phrases and how those words and phrases shape meaning in a grade-level text.
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