Kentucky Reading and Writing RI.6.4

ELA6th GradeReading Informational Text

The Standard

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

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 nearby sentences to work out what words and phrases mean. They recognize figurative language, subject-specific terms, and words that carry a feeling. They explain how a word choice changes meaning or tone.

What Mastery Looks Like

Students explain that erosion means land wearing away and that a blanket of mud means mud covering the ground. They explain why battered sounds more forceful than hit in a storm report.

Common Misconceptions

Students may read blanket of mud literally or use a word's everyday meaning when a subject gives it a different meaning. They may treat battered and hit as interchangeable and miss the more alarming tone.

How to Assess It

Write on the board: 'The storm battered the coast; erosion left a blanket of mud.' On an exit ticket, ask students to explain erosion and blanket of mud, then describe how replacing battered with hit changes the tone.

Lesson moves

Ways to Teach It

  1. Print 'The storm battered the coast; erosion left a blanket of mud' and have students color-code battered, erosion, and blanket of mud.

  2. Ask: How does 'The storm battered the coast' sound different from 'The storm hit the coast'?

  3. Have teams match sentence cards 'Erosion removed soil' and 'A blanket of fog covered town' to meaning cards 'soil loss' and 'thick cover.'

  4. Print two mock traffic alerts, 'Water covers the road' and 'Floodwater swallows the road'; students explain which sounds more urgent and why.

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Printable RI.6.4 Worksheet

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to RI.6.4, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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