South Dakota ELA 7.RL.4

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

• 7.RL.4.a

  Determine the meaning of words and phrases including how figurative and connotative meanings affect tone and mood.

• 7.RL.4.b

  Analyze the impact of sound devices and allusions on a specific part of a poem, story, or drama.

01

What Students Need to Do

Students work out what an author means by a word or phrase, beyond its dictionary definition. They explain how figurative language, word choice, repeated sounds, and allusions affect the tone or mood of a scene or stanza.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

A student can explain that “the hallway swallowed her footsteps” makes the setting feel threatening, not literally hungry. They can show how repeated hissing sounds make a line tense and how “Achilles’ heel” points to a weakness.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may read “swallowed her footsteps” literally or think “Achilles’ heel” means a foot injury. They may confuse the speaker’s attitude with the reader’s feeling, or spot repeated sounds without explaining their effect.

04

How to Assess It

Exit ticket: Read “The clock clicked, clicked. On my desk waited my Achilles’ heel: the math test.” Explain the allusion, then name the speaker’s tone and show how “waited” and the clicking sounds build the mood.

1. 01

   Hand out “The wind hissed. The window shivered.” Have pairs circle the figurative language, highlight repeated sounds, and label the mood.

2. 02

   Ask, “How does calling a character a fox rather than clever change how you feel about them?” Have students explain their answers.

3. 03

   Play an allusion match game with cards for “Achilles’ heel,” “Pandora’s box,” and “Romeo,” paired with meanings and effects.

4. 04

   Show two weather headlines, “Storm slams shore” and “Storm reaches shore.” Ask how “slams” and the repeated sounds change the urgency.

• 5.RL.4

  Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language (e.g., personification, hyperbole) and connotative meanings...

• 6.RL.4

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

• 8.RL.4

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