South Dakota ELA 6.RL.4

6.RL.4 is a cluster heading. These are the individual standards under it.

• 6.RL.4.a

  Determine the meaning of words and phrases, including figurative and connotative language.

• 6.RL.4.b

  Analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.

01

What Students Need to Do

Students use nearby sentences to figure out what a word or phrase means in a story. They explain language that is not literal and what a word suggests beyond its basic meaning. They show how one word choice shapes meaning and tone.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

A student explains that in 'The wind clawed at the door,' 'clawed' makes the wind seem forceful, almost like an animal. They explain why 'blew' would make the scene sound less threatening.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may read 'clawed' as a literal action or use its dictionary meaning without checking the sentence. They may say 'clawed' and 'blew' mean the same thing and miss the difference in tone.

04

How to Assess It

Exit ticket: In 'The empty hallway swallowed Maya's footsteps,' explain what 'swallowed' means and how replacing it with 'muffled' changes the tone.

1. 01

   Give pairs cards reading 'swallowed,' 'muffled,' and 'echoed'; have them swap each into 'The hallway ___ Maya's footsteps' and rank the tones.

2. 02

   Write two sentences explaining how 'the lantern blinked in the dark' differs from 'the lantern shone in the dark.'

3. 03

   Project 'Her smile flickered,' let teams replace 'flickered,' and give a point for explaining the change in tone.

4. 04

   Show two mock weather app alerts, 'Rain is coming' and 'Rain is closing in'; ask which sounds more urgent and why.

• 7.RL.4

  Interpret words and phrases as intended by the author of a text.

• 4.RL.4

  Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language (e.g., metaphors and similes).

• 8.RL.4

  Interpret words and phrases as intended by the author of the text.