LAFS.910.RL.2.4

Description: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
Maps to Reading Plus skills: 4A, 4B, 4C

Exemplars

4B: Interpreting Analogies

4B: Interpreting Analogies

Description: Interpreting Analogies

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: J-11

J-11

Grade level: 10
Word count: 2199 words
Author: Diane Lang
Synopsis: Skylar and Jason's relationship is already strained when they're paired together for a class project. Will their "no-technology" challenge make them, or break them?
Excerpt: "But getting back to this notion of living independently," he continued, "there's a little Walden-inspired experiment you'll be conducting over the next few weeks."

Ignoring the grumblings, Mr. Crawford continued, "Working in pairs, you'll each choose a meaningful passage to absorb, understand, and live by. I don't care which quotation you choose -- use the 'close your eyes and open the book' method if you want -- but I expect you to discuss it with your partner, live your life accordingly for two weeks, and we'll check-in periodically."

Question: Mr. Crawford uses the phrase "Walden-inspired experiment" to mean an activity in which the students
  1. focus on living in thoughtful and significant ways.
  2. work toward improving individual literacy goals.
  3. research endangered plant and animal life.
  4. develop ecologically based community programs.

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Describe how an author can use figurative language to create suspense and give an example from a selection.

Evaluator

Organization: Curriculum Design Institute

4A: Interpreting Word Meaning

4A: Interpreting Word Meaning

Description: Interpreting Word Meaning

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: J-17

J-17

Grade level: 10
Word count: 2251 words
Author: Guy de Maupassant
Synopsis: Simple actions may sometimes lead to unexpected, dire consequences.
Excerpt: He passed on, buttonholed by everyone, himself buttonholing his acquaintances, beginning over and over again his tale and his protestations, showing his pockets turned inside out to prove that he had nothing in them.

Question: What do the terms "buttonholed" and "buttonholing" mean in this part of the selection?
  1. hold for comment or conversation
  2. work in a hasty or impatient manner
  3. inadequate in quantity or volume
  4. substitute for a lesser quality

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Explain how a character's actions or attitude can change the meaning of a word or phrase.

Evaluator

Organization: Curriculum Design Institute

4C: Visualizing

4C: Visualizing

Description: Visualizing

SeeReader
✓ standard met

Selection: J-17

J-17

Grade level: 10
Word count: 2251 words
Author: Guy de Maupassant
Synopsis: Simple actions may sometimes lead to unexpected, dire consequences.
Excerpt: The peasants examined the cows, went off, came back, well acquainted with the workings of the market and always in doubt for fear of being cheated, never quite daring to decide, looking the seller square in the eye in the effort to discover the tricks of the man and the defect in the beast.

Question: Reread this excerpt. What is the underlying mood of the people in the marketplace?
  1. distrustful
  2. industrious
  3. optimistic
  4. exhausted

Writing
✓ standard met

Writing prompt: Describe how you relate scenes you visualize from reading with real life scenes. Give examples.

Evaluator

Organization: Curriculum Design Institute