South Dakota ELA 11-12.L.5

11-12.L.5 is a cluster heading. These are the individual standards under it.

• 11-12.L.5.a

  Analyze figurative language in context and its role in the text.

• 11-12.L.5.b

  Analyze word relationships (morphology, etymology, linguistics) and their role in creating nuanced meaning.

• 11-12.L.5.c

  Analyze connotative meanings of words with similar denotations.

01

What Students Need to Do

Students explain what figurative language means in a passage and why the writer uses it. They use word parts and origins to explain shades of meaning, then compare the feelings carried by words with similar definitions.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

A student can explain why calling a room a furnace says more than calling it hot. They can explain how 'childlike' and 'childish' judge the same trait differently and use word parts or history to support a reading.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may take a metaphor literally or name it without explaining its effect. They may assume near-synonyms carry the same attitude or guess a word's history from its spelling without checking.

04

How to Assess It

Exit ticket: 'The coach called the rematch a battle, not a contest.' Ask what 'battle' suggests, how 'contest' changes the tone, and what re- adds to 'rematch'.

1. 01

   Give pairs cards labeled child, -ish, and -like; have them build both words and write the different judgments each suggests.

2. 02

   Read 'The classroom was a furnace' and ask students to explain what furnace suggests about the speaker's experience beyond 'hot'.

3. 03

   Play a two-minute dictionary race: find the Latin roots of 'benevolent' and 'malevolent,' then explain how those roots change meaning.

4. 04

   Show two mock apartment ads, one calling a room 'cozy' and one calling it 'cramped'; ask which word attracts renters and why.

• 9-10.L.5

  The Grades 9–10 version of this standard.

• 3.L.5

  Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and subtle differences in word meanings.