Maryland ELA L.8.4.b
The Standard
- L.8.4
- Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words or phrases based on grade 8 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies. Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase. Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., precede, recede, secede). Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning or its part of speech. Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).
Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., precede, recede, secede).
Maryland College and Career Ready Standards for English Language Arts (2025)
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students break unfamiliar words into prefixes, roots, and suffixes. They use those parts and the sentence around the word to work out its meaning.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain that re- means back and cede means go in recede. They can use the sentence to tell what moved back.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may read re- as 'again' in recede and guess 'go again.' They may treat a word-part clue as a full definition and ignore how the word is used in the sentence.
How to Assess It
- Give students this exit ticket: 'A company exports oranges. What does exports mean? Explain how ex- and port help you decide.'
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs paper tiles marked pre-, re-, cede, and port; have them build real words and write a meaning for each.
Write 'The floodwater receded overnight' on the board; ask what re- means here and which words support that answer.
Play a matching race: teams pair ex-, im-, and trans- with port, then match the finished words to definitions.
Show a grocery label reading 'Imported from Mexico' and ask students what imported means and how im- and port help.
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