Targeted Intervention Lesson
TARGET
Determine Meanings of Words
Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and
figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
PURPOSE AND EXAMPLE
The Craft and Structure standard concentrates on how a text is written. The reader focuses on the word
and phrase choices that authors make and becomes aware how these choices shape the meaning of the text
in a figurative, connotative or technical way. Students also learn the meaning of the three terms.
• Technical Meaning Textbook
The aristocracy, government of the privilege, gave way to a form of tyranny because the tyrant
often was a champion of all the people while the aristocracy was concerned with themselves.
Democracy differed from both of the above because it was a government by the citizens.
Straightforward definitions/explanations
• Figurative Meaning “Miss Rosie”
When I watch you
Wrapped up like garbage
Sitting surrounded by the smell
Of too old potato peels
• Connotative Meaning Figurative Language - Simile
Gettysburg Address But, in a larger sense we cannot dedicate – we cannot consecrate – we cannot hallow, this ground
–The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our poor
power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here; while it
can never forget what they did here.
Connotative meaning Reader is strongly aware of their sacrifice.
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Targeted Intervention Lesson
TEACHING TIPS
• Define Terms
oo Technical meaning – the literal meaning of the word or phrase that means exactly what it
says
oo Connotative meaning – the idea or emotion/ feeling that word or phrase evokes in a person
oo Figurative meaning – the use of words or phrases in an imaginative way that implies a nonliteral meaning
• Emphasize cluster reading
oo Look for phrases that elaborate on a specific word or concept by using repetition or other
literary technique for emphasis.
oo Look for words/phrases that make you feel an emotion.
• Connotative or Figurative? The figurative meaning of a group of words often provides an emotional
context that falls in the area of connotative meaning.
ASSESSMENT QUESTION STEMS
• Read this sentence from the article. What does the sentence tell readers about _______?
• Which pair of words from the article best describes _______ that is conveyed in the picture that follows?
• As used in the homepage, which two words are most similar in meaning?
• Read these lines from the “_______” (poem). Based on the rest of the poem, which sentence best restates
the meaning of the lines above?
• Read this line from “_______.” Which word from the_______ (poem, article) if used to replace _______ (word
in poem or article), would create the most opposite _____ (meaning, definition, image)?
• Which phrase best describes both the _______(person, character, fact) in “_______” (article, poem, or
passage #1) and the speaker of “_______” (article, poem, or passage #2)?
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Targeted Intervention Lesson
APPLICATION
Teacher Model
Read aloud the example and think aloud about the type of meaning described. Underline words or phrases
that are clues to meaning.
Text Example
Technical Meaning
Connotative Meaning Figurative Meaning
Forensic science is deX
fined as ‘the use of physi- 1. Latin root is defined.
cal sciences to analyze
2. Forensic science is
the evidence found at a
defined in the context
crime scene.” The word
of a criminal setting.
forensic is derived from
the Latin word forensis,
3. Roman Empire
which means “before the
example links the
forum.” During the time of
forensic science and
the Roman Empire, those
forensic so that I can
accused of a crime had to
sense its meaning.
plead their cases before a
public meeting, or forum,
of their peers.
Question: What would be considered the forum in for a forensic science discussion?
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Targeted Intervention Lesson
Guided Practice
Read aloud the example and think aloud about the type of meaning described. Underline words or phrases
that are clues to meaning.
Text Example
“The Highwayman”
– Alfred Noyes
The wind was a torrent
(rushing flow) of
darkness among
the gusty trees;
The moon was a ghostly
galleon (ship) tossed
upon cloudy seas;
The road was a ribbon
of moonlight over the
purple moor
Technical Meaning Connotative Meaning
Figurative Meaning
X
1. We have learned
that metaphors are
implied comparisons
between two unlike
things.
2. There are no
technical terms to
define in this excerpt
but the wind is
being compared to a
torrent. The moon is
being compared to a
galleon and road is
being compared to
a ribbon. These are
metaphors and make
me see the wind,
moon and road.
Question: If you were a meteorologist, what kind of weather situation would you describe to the television
viewers?
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Targeted Intervention Lesson
Independent Work
Underline words or phrases that are clues to meaning.
Text Example
Martin Luther King –
Sound of Success unit
“And so let freedom ring
from the prodigious
hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring
from the mighty mountains of New York. Let
freedom ring from the
heightening Alleghenies
of Pennsylvania. Let
freedom ring from the
snow-capped Rockies of
Colorado. Let freedom
ring from the curvaceous
slopes of California.”
Technical Meaning
Connotative Meaning
Figurative Meaning
X
1. Freedom is repeated five
times in this part of the
speech.
2. MLK links two words:
freedom and ring
so that I feel the
excitement of freedom
in all of these states.
3. I am confident about
freedom being expected
by all people in our
country because he
names states from the
four corners of our
country.
Question: What is the purpose of Martin Luther King’s speech, and how does his tone enhance it?
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