Virginia SOL 12.RV.1.E
The Standard
Explain and analyze idiomatic language in context.
Virginia Standards of Learning for English · Vocabulary Development and Word Analysis
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students use nearby details to infer what a nonliteral phrase means. They explain how the phrase contributes to tone, characterization, emphasis, or cultural meaning.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students accurately paraphrase an idiom using clues from the surrounding text. They explain why the author chose it and how it affects tone, characterization, or meaning.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may interpret an idiom literally or assume each word contributes directly to its meaning. They may identify the meaning correctly but miss how the phrase shapes tone, character, or cultural context.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short paragraph containing an unfamiliar idiom. Ask them to state its meaning, cite two context clues, and explain its effect on tone.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs sentence cards and idiom cards, then have them match each idiom to a context and justify the match.
Ask students to explain how replacing an idiom with literal wording changes the tone of a selected passage.
Play Idiom Detective, where teams infer meanings from short passages and earn points for citing precise context clues.
Collect idioms from advertisements, sports commentary, or workplace emails, then analyze what each phrase assumes the audience understands.
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