Common Core Standards
Grade 6
Reading RL.6.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.
Aside from figurative language, which students have seen starting in fifth grade, this standard also tacks on the requirement of knowing about connotations. Having students understand connotation is to have them understand that you can't simply replace words in a sentence with synonyms and expect the sentence to still have the same meaning. For example, "What a beautiful dress!" and "What a cute dress!" give off two completely different mental images, even though both pretty and cute have very similar denotative definitions.
Example 1
Here is a lesson to use when studying mythology with your students.
Have students highlight important words used in Greek and Roman myth that help them determine the way the Ancient Greeks saw the world. Then have them create a Grecco-Roman picture-dictionary of the gods and goddesses (using the vocabulary words they found) to describe each of the major gods and goddesses of the pantheon. They should include images and pictures that represent them, as well.
Aligned Resources
- Teaching A Wrinkle in Time: Famous Kids Traveling in Threes (or Fours)
- Teaching Coraline: Looking for Four Shadows (Foreshadowing)
- Teaching The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963: Let's Do the Time Warp
- Teaching The Westing Game: A Puzzle Mystery: "America the Beautiful": In Depth
- Teaching Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry: Integration In Our Nation
- Teaching The Little Prince: Things Passed Down – A Poem
- Teaching Because of Winn-Dixie: Because of Winn-Dixie: Yes, That's Actually the Title of This Assignment
- Teaching Because of Winn-Dixie: Channeling Winn-Dixie
- Teaching The View from Saturday: Create Your Own Knowledge Bowl
- Teaching The Westing Game: A Puzzle Mystery: Wanted: Dead or Wax Look-Alike!
- Teaching Walk Two Moons: An Adage a Day…
- Teaching Freak the Mighty: Lotsa Big Words
- Teaching From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler: Will the Real Claudia Please Stand Up?
- Teaching Hatchet: Biology 101
- Teaching Moon Over Manifest: Operation "I Spy"
- Teaching Moon Over Manifest: Ode to a Static or Dynamic Character
- Teaching Bridge to Terabithia: Building Bridges
- Teaching Island of the Blue Dolphins: From Cave Dwellers to Cave Researchers
- Teaching The Fault in Our Stars: The Sword of Damocles
- Teaching Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH: Google Maps: A Modern Tool for a Modern Rat
- Teaching Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry: T.J.'s Downward Spiral
- Teaching The Phantom Tollbooth: Extra! Extra! Read All About It!
- Teaching The View from Saturday: Getting To Know a Turtle (Almost)
- Teaching The Westing Game: A Puzzle Mystery: Share the Wealth: Pair with an Heir
- Using Copyrighted, Creative Commons, and Public Domain Materials: Mixing It Up: Using and Modifying Creative Materials
- Teaching Coraline: Seeing Double
- Teaching Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH: Rats on the Run
- Teaching Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH: The Great Lab Rat Debate
- Teaching Number the Stars: What Does It Mean to Be Human?
- Teaching Hatchet: What's The Big Deal in Hatchet?: Determining the Climax
- Teaching Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry: The Rules of Flag Flying (You Read That Right)
- Teaching The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Out of This World
- Teaching The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963: The Byron Files
- Teaching Walk Two Moons: Walk Two Moons, Read Two Poems