South Dakota ELA 8.RL.4

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

• 8.RL.4.a

  Determine technical, figurative and connotative meanings of words and phrases.

• 8.RL.4.b

  Analyze how specific word choices, shape meaning, mood, and tone.

01

What Students Need to Do

Students use context to figure out what words and phrases mean in stories and poems. They notice subject-specific terms, comparisons, and feelings a word carries. They explain how word choices affect meaning, mood, and the narrator's attitude.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

A student can explain that “current” means moving water, not electricity, in a boat scene. They can show how “hissed like snakes” makes the scene feel threatening and point to the words that create that feeling.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may picture real snakes when they read “hissed like snakes.” They may read “current” as electricity despite the boat setting. They may call the mood scary without naming a word that supports their answer.

04

How to Assess It

Exit ticket: Read “The current tugged at the skiff while the ropes hissed like snakes”; explain what “current” means and how “hissed like snakes” sets the mood.

1. 01

   Give pairs the skiff sentence and sticky notes labeled technical, figurative, and connotative; have them label “current,” “hissed like snakes,” and “tugged.”

2. 02

   Ask students to write two sentences comparing how “hissed like snakes” and “rustled softly” would change the skiff scene’s mood.

3. 03

   Play a word-swap game: teams replace “tugged” with “guided,” then defend which verb makes the water seem more dangerous.

4. 04

   Compare two weather app alerts, “rain expected” and “downpour expected”; ask which wording would make someone more likely to carry an umbrella.

• 7.RL.4

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

• 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.