At a Glance:
| Grades: | 6, 7, 8 |
|---|---|
| Subject: | ELA (English Language Arts) |
| Topic: | Vocabulary Acquisition and Use |
| Lesson Length: | 45 mins |
Standards / Framework:
What will students learn in this activity?
Understanding the difference between denotation, the strict meaning of a word, and connotation, the feeling the word conjures, can be challenging to wrap one’s head around. Visually demonstrate the difference for readers and writers.
What should students know before this activity?
It is helpful for students to be familiar with denotation and connotation.
How can teachers introduce this lesson?
- Write the words skinny and slim on the board and explain that each is defined as thin in size (denotation.)
- Add these words to the list: wiry, delicate, lean, lanky, slight, and svelte.
- Ask students to rank the list from positive to negative (connotation.)
What will students do?
- Have students create a coherent and informative comic demonstrating both the denotation and connotation of a particular word.
- Which is the literal meaning and which is the figurative meaning?
- Does the word have a positive, negative, or neutral connotation?
- How can this word be used uniquely in two different sentences?
How can teachers wrap up the lesson?
- Have students share and discuss their comics with a peer.
How can teachers differentiate this activity?
- Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.
- Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.
- Provide a list of words from which to choose that can be used in creating the comic.
Cold War
Beach
Castle
Middle School
