words.
To have students determine the figurative and connotative meaning of words, do the following:
Identify with students figurative language or words with other connotative meanings; then have them determine the literal or denotative meaning of those words; then ask them to determine, in light of how the words are used in this context, the figurative or connotative meaning.
Direct students’ attention to words used figuratively (simile, metaphor, analogy, euphemism, and pun) and ask them to determine a word’s meaning and explain how its use affects the meaning of other words around it or contributes to the meaning of the larger text.
Have them assess whether a set or series of words used figuratively has a unifying theme (e.g., they are all related to gardens, sports, the law) and, if they do, what it is and how that set of thematic words adds meaning to the text.
To have students analyze the cumulative impact of word choice on meaning and tone, do the following:
Complete a think-aloud as you read through a text, noting the author’s use of certain words that combine with others (through sound, imagery, meaning, or stylistic or rhetorical effect) to add meaning or serve some other purpose (e.g., to reinforce a theme).
Direct students to highlight, code, or otherwise indicate (by alternately circling, underlining, or putting dotted lines under words) those words or phrases that are connected; ask them then what conclusions they can draw from the patterns, connections, or general use of words about their meaning.
Provide students a list of words or phrases with a common theme left unstated; ask them what the words have in common and how that relates to the text from which they come.
To have students determine the meaning of discipline-specific words, symbols, terms, do the following:
Show students how to make use of any textual features—sidebars, captions, typography (is the word in bold and thus in the glossary), diagrams, footers, or glossaries in the chapter or in the appendix—available in the textbook.
Teach students, when appropriate, the root words or etymology of certain subject-specific words (bio = life, ology = study of) as part of the study of any discipline.
To have students analyze how authors use and refine the meaning of key terms, have students do the following:
Cut and paste the whole text into www.wordle.net to see which words are used most frequently in the text; then choose those which are most important to the text or topic and see how they are used over time and how their meaning shifts.
Access a text, if possible, in a digital form so you can use the search feature to find all the instances of a word; then you can examine with students its use in those different contexts and trace how its meaning changes from beginning to the end of the text.
To help your English Language Learners, try this:
Use these words as often as possible, speaking them aloud so students hear them used in context and pronounced correctly.
Preparing to Teach: Connections to My State’s Standards
Common Core Reading Standard 4: Academic Vocabulary: Key Words and Phrases
Connotative meanings: Words have a primary or literal meaning; some also have a secondary or connotative meaning, which implies an additional idea or feeling related to the word or phrase.
Cumulative impact: When a specific word (fair in Lord of the Flies) or phrase (“an honorable man” in Julius Caesar) is repeated throughout a text or an important passage, it has a cumulative effect, a bit like a snowball gathering mass and speed.
Domain-specific words and phrases: Within each discipline or branch of that discipline, certain words (cell, division) have a domain-specific use in, for example, biology; other words, however, are unique to that discipline and are, thus, essential for students to know to read, discuss, and write about complex texts in that subject.
Evokes a sense of time and place: Language brings to life a time or place through its rhythms, phrases, words, and their syntax; antiquated phrases spoken by a contemporary character suggest one thing. Language, such as Mark Twain and Zora Neal Hurston, used evokes a time, a culture, a place, and one’s character.
Figurative meanings: Figures of speech (or figurative language) are those often colorful ways we develop of saying something; they include euphemism, hyperbole, irony, understatement, metaphor, simile, and paradox, among others. Some of them are specific to an era, region, or social group and, thus, can confuse readers.
Interpret: Best understood as a way of explaining what someone said or wrote using more accessible, familiar language for those who lack experience with or knowledge of the subject or this type of text.
Key terms: In highly technical or scientific subjects, certain terms are an essential part of the precision and accuracy that discipline demands. In some subjects, a certain term (e.g., evolution, uncertainty, or entropy) represents a specific idea or applies to a very precise process.
Court opinion: A statement announcing a decision after a case is tried. The judge summarizes the facts, reads the applicable law, explains how it relates to the case, provides the rationale behind the decision, and states the judgment, which is usually written.
Shape meaning or tone: Certain words carry added, often implied meanings; we describe these as “loaded words,” for they have the power to affect the meaning of the words around them or to influence the speaker’s tone (e.g., turning it from sincere to ironic).
Symbols: In humanities classes, a symbol suggests some greater meaning when it is attached to an idea; thus, the bald eagle symbolizes the American spirit; in science and math, however, symbols represent operations, procedures, and concepts such as change (∆) or pi (π).
Technical meanings: These would be words with specialized meanings specific to the subject being investigated, explained, or argued about; one example might be the distinctions made between political philosophies, such as libertarian and republican.
Tone—informal and formal: When thinking of tone, think about tone of voice. The formal tone of the Constitution matches its importance and subject; the informal tone of a literary text signals the relationship between the individuals and reveals the character of the speaker.
Words and phrases as they are used in a text: The point of close reading is to understand what the text really says; to do this, students must scrutinize the words and phrases used by the author as they are the key to determining what the author really means or what the text says; also, they are an essential source of evidence.
Uses
