Virginia SOL 8.RV.1.F

ELA8th GradeReading and Vocabulary

The Standard

Discriminate between the meanings of connotative words and their denotative meanings.

Virginia Standards of Learning for English · Vocabulary Development and Word Analysis

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students identify a word’s literal meaning and the feelings or ideas it suggests. They explain how choosing one synonym over another changes tone and reader response.
What Mastery Looks Like: Given words such as slender, skinny, and scrawny, students can state the shared literal meaning and distinguish each association. They can replace a word and explain how the change affects tone.
Common Misconceptions: Students may treat connotation as another dictionary definition or assume every word is simply positive or negative. They may also treat synonyms as interchangeable and ignore context or audience.
How to Assess It: Use this exit ticket: “The review calls the restaurant cheap.” Define cheap, name its connotation, then replace it with a neutral word and explain the tone change.

Lesson moves

Give groups cards labeled slender, skinny, and scrawny; have them sort by positive, neutral, or negative association and defend each placement.
Ask: How would calling a classmate confident rather than arrogant change the reader’s impression? Students write a two-sentence explanation.
Play Connotation Swap: teams replace one highlighted word in a sentence, then earn a point for accurately naming the tone change.
Compare two headlines about the same event and circle words that reveal approval or disapproval beyond their literal meanings.

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