Standard #: LAFS.8.RI.2.4 (Archived Standard)


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Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.


General Information

Subject Area: English Language Arts
Grade: 8
Strand: Reading Standards for Informational Text
Date Adopted or Revised: 12/10
Date of Last Rating: 02/14
Status: State Board Approved - Archived

Test Item Specifications

    Item Type(s): This benchmark may be assessed using: EBSR , MS , MC , GR , SHT , DDHT item(s)
    Assessed with: LAFS.8.L.3.4, LAFS.8.L.3.5

    Assessment Limits :
    Items should focus on grade-appropriate words. Items should not focus on dictionary word meanings but should focus on how the words and phrases function within the context of the text. Items should focus on words and phrases that have figurative or allusive meanings central to the meaning of the text rather than isolated, incidental vocabulary. Items may ask about words with discrete context clues in close proximity or words whose meaning is conveyed more implicitly throughout the text. Items may ask students to employ various strategies to explore word meaning, including the application of context clues, roots, or affixes. Items may require students to make connections between words and to delve into figurative or connotative meanings. Items should not include obscure analogies or allusions and should only reference grade-appropriate texts.
    Text Types :
    Items assessing these standards may be used with one or more grade-appropriate informational texts. Texts may vary in complexity.
    Response Mechanisms :
    The Technology-Enhanced Item Descriptions section on pages 3 and 4 provides a list of Response Mechanisms that may be used to assess these standards (excluding the Editing Task Choice and Editing Task item types). The Sample Response Mechanisms may include, but are not limited to, the examples below.
    Task Demand and Sample Response Mechanisms :

    Task Demand

    Determine the meaning of words or phrases, using context as a clue.

    Sample Response Mechanisms

    Multiple Choice

    • Requires the student to select the meaning of a word or phrase from the passage. 

    Multiselect

    • Requires the student to select multiple correct meanings of a word or phrase from the passage. 

    EBSR

    • Requires the student to select a word’s or phrase’s meaning and then to select context clues from the text to support the meaning. 

    Selectable Hot Text

    • Requires the student to select a word’s or phrase’s meaning and then to select context clues from the text to support the meaning.

    Task Demand

    Analyze the impact of word choice on the text’s meaning or tone.

    Sample Response Mechanisms

    Selectable Hot Text

    • Requires the student to interpret the meaning of words or phrases and then to select the impact they have on the text.
    • Requires the student to select the tone or meaning of the text and then select words or phrases that helped create that tone or meaning. 

    Multiple Choice

    • Requires the student to select the impact of word choice on a certain section of the text. 

    Multiselect

    • Requires the student to select multiple ways in which words or phrases affect a certain section of the text. 

    EBSR

    • Requires the student to select the text’s meaning or tone and then to select words from the text that support that meaning or tone. 

    Open Response

    • Requires the student to explain in one or two sentences how the impact of word choice affects the text’s meaning or tone.

    Task Demand

    Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words or phrases, using grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots.

    Sample Response Mechanisms

    Multiple Choice

    • Requires the student to determine how common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots may provide clues to the meaning of a word.

    Task Demand

    Interpret figures of speech in context.Multiple Choice • Requires the student to select the meaning of figurative language from the passage. 

    Sample Response Mechanisms

    EBSR

    • Requires the student to select the meaning of figurative language and then to select context clues from the text to support the meaning. 

    Selectable Hot Text

    • Requires the student to select the meaning of figurative language and then to select context clues from the text to support the meaning. 

    Multiselect

    • Requires the student to select multiple pieces of textual evidence that act as context clues when determining the meaning of figurative language.

    Task Demand

    Use the relationship between particular words to better understand each of the words.

    Sample Response Mechanisms

    Multiple Choice

    • Requires the student to select how a relationship between two words serves as a context clue for the meaning of one of the words. 

    Drag-and-Drop Hot Text

    • Requires the student to move words into a graphic organizer to demonstrate their relationship with one another. 

    GRID

    • Requires the student to move words into a graphic organizer to demonstrate their relationship with one another.

    Task Demand

    Distinguish among the connotations of words with similar denotations.

    Sample Response Mechanisms

    Multiple Choice

    • Requires the student to select the reason an author chose a particular word or phrase instead of a word or phrase with a similar denotation.
    • Requires the student to select a different word or phrase that would maintain the connotation of a word or phrase in the text. 

    Multiselect

    • Requires the student to select multiple ways a different word choice might change the tone or meaning of the text. 

    GRID

    • Requires the student to match words with similar denotations with the change in connotation each word has to the original word.


Related Courses

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1000000: M/J Intensive Language Arts (MC) (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2018, 2018 and beyond (current))
1000010: M/J Intensive Reading 1 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2021, 2021 and beyond (current))
1000020: M/J Intensive Reading and Career Planning (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2019, 2019 - 2021, 2021 and beyond (current))
1001070: M/J Language Arts 3 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1001080: M/J Language Arts 3 Advanced (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1002020: M/J Language Arts 3 Through ESOL (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1002180: M/J English Language Development (MC) (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2018, 2018 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1008070: M/J Reading 3 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2021 (course terminated))
1008080: M/J Reading 3, Advanced (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2021 (course terminated))
1100000: M/J Library Skills/Information Literacy (MC) (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
7810013: Access M/J Language Arts 3 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2018, 2018 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1002181: M/J Developmental Language Arts Through ESOL (Reading) (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1010000: M/J Literacy through Film & Literature (Specifically in versions: 2016 and beyond (current))
1010010: M/J Literacy through World Literature (Specifically in versions: 2016 and beyond (current))
1010020: M/J Literacy through Philosophy (Specifically in versions: 2016 and beyond (current))
1400025: M/J Peers as Partners in Learning (Specifically in versions: 2019 - 2022, 2022 - 2023, 2023 and beyond (current))


Related Resources

Lesson Plans

Name Description
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In this close reading lesson, students will be asked to use multiple strategies to respond to informational text in way that is aligned to the state standards, requiring that they respond with explicit details drawn from the passage. With this short, free-standing article, teachers can incorporate this mini-lesson into their already set curriculum to reinforce the standards and skills being taught. This lesson would also make an excellent small group resource. Attachments needed for this lesson are all provided and include text-dependent questions, graphic organizers, and an objective summary writing prompt with rubric.

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This is a lesson based on President Obama’s remarks on the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in Normandy. His speech focuses on the anniversary of D-Day and the effect it had on soldiers and civilians who experienced the attack. This lesson provides an opportunity for vocabulary acquisition and an analysis of the meaning of President Obama’s speech.

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Original Student Tutorials

Name Description
Word Scholar: Using Context Clues

Identify and apply context clues, including synonyms, antonyms, and inferences, to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in passages about the life of Frederick Douglass with this interactive tutorial. 

Read Between the Lines: Understanding Allusions and Analogies

Learn how authors use allusions and analogies within informational texts. In this interactive tutorial, you'll practice identifying analogies and allusions used in context to better understand their purpose. 

Bridging Figurative Language

Learn how figurative language contributes to the meaning of an informational text. In this interactive tutorial, you'll examine excerpts from President Obama's 50th Anniversary Speech of the March on Selma. You'll specifically analyze his use of imagery and metaphors and how they add to the meaning of his speech.

Student Resources

Original Student Tutorials

Name Description
Word Scholar: Using Context Clues:

Identify and apply context clues, including synonyms, antonyms, and inferences, to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in passages about the life of Frederick Douglass with this interactive tutorial. 

Read Between the Lines: Understanding Allusions and Analogies:

Learn how authors use allusions and analogies within informational texts. In this interactive tutorial, you'll practice identifying analogies and allusions used in context to better understand their purpose. 

Bridging Figurative Language:

Learn how figurative language contributes to the meaning of an informational text. In this interactive tutorial, you'll examine excerpts from President Obama's 50th Anniversary Speech of the March on Selma. You'll specifically analyze his use of imagery and metaphors and how they add to the meaning of his speech.



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