The Parent Plan explicitly lists the standard in the Skills section, so students are expected to determine word meanings and analyze word choice. Students complete a multi-part vocabulary activity in which they match words (incredulous, errant, furtive, susurration, sepals, decorum, discursive, leviathan) to definitions, images, and quotations from Lord of the Flies. The lesson text also prompts students to review vocabulary terms and includes statements that 'word choice is a tool authors use to create the tension and excitement in their stories.'

The lesson tells students to "Mark words you don't understand and then look them up" and to "Re-read the text, replacing the unknown words with the definitions," directing word-level work in context. Annotation suggestions instruct students to "circle key terms or words you need to define to understand the text" and the activities require students to annotate an article and fill in a graphic organizer about the author's argument. An annotated example image shows students circling and underlining words and writing margin notes, modeling close reading of specific words and phrases.

Students are asked to fill a Five Senses chart with quotations from the book, label each example as positive or negative, and explain how the description serves as imagery. The directions require students to indicate whether a description suggests a paradox or emphasizes contrast and to label examples as "paradise" or "dystopia," reinforcing how imagery creates tone. The lesson defines imagery and tone and provides a quoted passage from Golding for students to analyze and connect word choice to attitude.

Students are asked to examine underlined passages from Lord of the Flies and notice how interruptions, minute details, and a series of verbs (e.g., looked, spilt, leapt, laughed) slow narrative pace and create tension. They compare Example A and Example B to see how specific word choice and sentence-level detail make the reader feel the emotions of the scene. Students are instructed to recreate an important moment from their own lives using slow-motion narrative pacing, practicing the use of discrete verbs and descriptive details.

Students are given multiple examples of Golding's phrases (e.g., "ill-balanced twister," "darkish figure against the shimmer of the lagoon," "a kind of dentist's chair unreality") and are asked to "notice how well-crafted phrases create vivid images for the reader." Students complete activities that require identifying phrase types in Lord of the Flies and drawing arrows to the words those prepositional phrases modify. The Parent Plan lists a skill that students will "analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure a text... create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise," which directs attention to authorial choices.

Students complete vocabulary activities that ask them to read sentences from Lord of the Flies containing target words and match those words to definitions (Option 1) or fill blanks from a word bank using sentence context (Option 2). The lesson explicitly states students will "learn the meanings of the words and practice recognizing them in context," and provides answer keys showing correct contextual meanings.

Students practice vocabulary by matching words (e.g., furtive, susurration, discursive) to definitions on the Unit Test (Part II). Students locate and note passages related to prompts (Brainstorming pages) and are asked to paraphrase questions and look for patterns in those passages. Students identify literary devices (Part III asks for examples of direct characterization and dramatic irony) and complete close-reading tasks such as finding prepositional phrases and labeling clauses (Part I).

Students are asked to annotate the text and to mark "words or phrases that seem important," which directs them to attend to diction and connotation. A guided question explicitly asks students to explain how O. Henry uses descriptive language (for example, words like "shabby" and "beggar" and images such as the broken doorbell and too-small mailbox) to indicate economic status. Homework asks students to research and explain allusions (the Magi, Queen of Sheba, King Solomon) and to explain how understanding those references contributes to their understanding of the story.

Students are asked to identify literary techniques such as hyperbole and irony in both stories (Activity 1 lists "The two stories use hyperbole" and "The use of irony in the stories"). Students are directed to find specific examples and quotations from the texts and to use the APE method to prove and extend their points, explaining how each quotation supports their comparison. The rubric and planning pages require students to cite textual evidence and explain how that evidence supports their analysis.

Students are asked to analyze dialogue and "speech and tone," including the kinds of words characters use, as part of the characterization activity. The Characterization and Character Portrait pages require students to record speech examples and label them as direct or indirect characterization. The Parent Plan provides sample speech excerpts (e.g., Mrs. Jones' lines and Roger's polite phrases) that students can cite when discussing character through word choice.

Students are asked to locate and explain examples of foreshadowing, including figurative language such as the simile "His room was as black as pitch" and the metaphor of a "watch enveloped in cotton." The foreshadowing activity and the provided answer key direct students to note repeated diction (the words "heart", "beat", "beating") and to explain how these repetitions build toward the story's climax. The Gothic characteristics activity has students find text examples that create gloomy atmosphere, terror, and melodrama, requiring them to cite language that produces tone and mood.

Students are taught to use precise words, sensory language, and literary devices (Parent Plan lists: "Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language"). The "Show, Don't Tell" section models how descriptive language can evoke a sense of time and place using Shirley Jackson's opening as an example. The rubric includes a "Descriptive Language & Literary Devices" criterion and the reader-review sheet explicitly asks whether descriptive language "contribute[s] to the meaning or movement of the story."

Students read explanations and tips for many commonly confused word pairs (e.g., a/an, a lot/alot/allot, accept/except, adapt/adopt, advice/advise) and record notes and examples on the "Commonly Confused Words" activity pages. Students complete multiple-choice and sentence-completion activities that require them to choose the correct word form in context (e.g., circling accept/except, a/an, allot/a lot) and check answers against an answer key. The lesson asks students to note pronunciation and usage cues (e.g., say the noun aloud for a/an; memorize differences like "advise" vs. "advice").

Students read explicit definitions and usage tips for commonly confused words (e.g., all together/altogether, allusion/illusion, alter/altar) and record notes and examples. Students complete an activity page that requires them to circle the correct word in context for ten sentences and check answers against an answer key. The lesson also explicitly defines 'allusion' as a literary device, giving students one direct link between a word's meaning and literary usage.

Students read explicit definitions and usage tips for commonly confused word pairs (breath/breathe, can/may, coarse/course) and record notes in Set V. They complete a worksheet that requires circling the correctly used word in context, practicing determination of meaning from sentence usage. Students also read explanations that a colon can signal formality or emphasis and complete written and oral tasks (opening statements and courtroom questioning) that require explaining punctuation effects.

Students read explicit definitions and usage tips for commonly confused word pairs (e.g., explanations for cite/sight/site and council/counsel, and tips for desert/dessert, discreet/discrete, ensure/insure). Students complete activity pages that require circling the correctly used word in sentences, forcing them to determine which word fits the sentence meaning. Students create detective cards and use mnemonics that highlight the correct meaning and usage of tricky words.

Students read and mark poems ("Richard Cory," an Emily Dickinson poem, and Billy Collins' "Introduction to Poetry") to identify important words and phrases and note their denotation and connotations. In Activity 2 they underline words, choose three to explore, record dictionary definitions and connotations, list similar words, and explain why the original word is more or less effective. The lesson highlights specific word choices (e.g., "sole to crown," "imperially slim," "richer than a king") and asks students to consider how those choices build an image of Richard Cory and convey ideas about books in Dickinson's poem. The homework Poem Response directs students to select words with strong positive/negative connotations and explain why they are effective and why the poet chose them.

Students identify and label sound devices (alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia) in poems and in prompted phrases and then write about their effects (Activity 1 asks students to find examples in Frost's poem and choose one to explain why the repetition is effective). Students mark rhyme and sound devices in The Tyger and reflect in their journals on how rhyme and sound affect the reader; they also answer a discussion question identifying that the first stanza uses Could while the last uses Dare and describe the effect. The lesson begins by asking students to consider how word choice helps readers experience poetry, prompting consideration of how language choices create musical qualities and effects on meaning and tone.

Students are instructed to read poems and identify similes, metaphors, personification, symbolism, and imagery by citing stanza and line numbers and providing explanations (Activity 1 and the Student Activity Page). In Activity 2 Option 2, students must identify irony/understatement/overstatement/paradox in poems, provide the exact phrase or line, and explain how the poem uses that device. Homework Option 1 asks students to note how the poet uses imagery to imagine the skylark, identifying senses appealed to and citing other figurative devices with examples and explanations.

Students are asked to identify tone words and to record specific words or phrases that convey tone for three poems (Activity 2 Tone chart). Students analyze Robert Frost's "The Fear" by listing sight and sound images, noting repeated words (see/look/light/lantern) and explaining how those repetitions and dashes contribute to the poem's eerie tone. In Activity 1 students identify speakers and note language choices that reveal speaker traits (e.g., speech indicating education level in "Mother to Son").

Students are instructed to "look up any unfamiliar words" and to write brief summaries, which requires determining word and phrase meanings in context. Activities ask students to identify figurative language (symbolism, extended metaphor) and to find figurative or connotative meanings (questions about symbols, themes, and what figurative meanings could be). Students are also asked to identify tone(s) and the images the poem evokes and to research allusions that deepen meaning.

The lesson explicitly tells students to "listen for some things you have learned thus far like metaphors and allusions or literal versus figurative language," and the Parent Plan lists the skill to "Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings." Students are asked to watch poets read and to reflect on what they like and why, and a Poet Profile asks students to record favorite poems and explain what was interesting or appealing about the poet's work or delivery.

Students are instructed to annotate poems by marking words and phrases, writing margin notes about questions, images, and feelings, and commenting on words or phrases that convey strong images (Activity 1 and annotation suggestions). The Poetry Map activity directs students to fill a "Word Choice" box, identify imagery for the five senses, note where tone changes, and consider symbols/allusions, explicitly tying word choice to tone and meaning. The Poetry Puzzle asks students to analyze an alphabetical word list to infer where and when a poem takes place and what its topic and tone are, asking students to use grouped word choices to draw conclusions.

Students are asked to identify and explain figurative language and its effect (e.g., identify the apostrophe in Whitman's "A Noiseless Patient Spider" and answer how comparisons in Billy Collins's poem create humor). The ekphrasis activity directs students to analyze what each poem says about the artwork, what emotions the poem evokes, and how the poet changes the meaning of the artwork, prompting analysis of language effects. Narrative-poem questions require students to determine tone and to evaluate how dialect helps or hinders understanding, engaging them with connotative meaning.

Students compare the book's in-text vocabulary entries with dictionary definitions on the Vocabulary Student Activity Page and answer questions about differences and how the author's method aids understanding. In Option 2, students write a vocabulary poem modeled on the book's "As in:" sentences, using people and events from their own lives. The homework Option 1 asks students to track how the word "crossover" changes meaning across specific poems and to evaluate whether using the word in different ways is effective.

The Parent Plan explicitly lists determining meanings of words and phrases, including figurative and connotative meanings, and analyzing the cumulative impact of word choices as a stated skill. The Poetry Map student activity requires students to annotate and record "Word Choice," "Other Figurative Language," and "Tone," and to summarize and identify theme. Day 2 and Day 1 question sets require students to identify and explain effects of specific devices (similes, alliteration, spacing/line breaks, repetition) on tone and reader experience. Day 3 Activity 4 directs students to research cultural references in a poem and explain how those references enrich meaning, connecting language to time/place.

Students are instructed to mark unfamiliar words and look up their meanings and pronunciations, which asks them to determine word meaning in context. Students are asked to determine who the speaker is and what the poem's tone is and to think about how to communicate that tone through voice and delivery. The lesson asks students to consider why the poet chose certain words and gives a concrete example (Housman's use of "chaired" vs. "picked the boy up") to show how a specific word creates a strong image. Students are taught about enjambment and pause decisions that affect how lines and sentences convey meaning and tone.

The unit test (Part I) asks students to define denotation and connotation and identifies figurative terms such as onomatopoeia and voice. Choice 5 (Poetry Explication) asks students to identify figurative language, notable word choice, repetition, tone, and to highlight specific words on slides to show how those words communicate tone and devices. The Director's Notebook and Lighting project choices require students to use specific poem details (e.g., repeated references to the lantern, descriptions of place and time) to plan set, lighting, and tone, explicitly tying language choices to evoking time, place, and mood.

The Parent Plan lists the skill: "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." The Student Activity Page includes a Vocabulary study where students define biography, autobiography, and memoir, and the Answer Key instructs students to look up these terms in a dictionary or reference source and then write definitions in their own words. The homework directs students to consult the book glossary (p. 213) for any terms they do not understand while reading I Am Malala.

The Parent Plan explicitly lists as a skill: interpreting words and phrases including technical, connotative, and figurative meanings and analyzing how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. The Student Activity Page asks students to analyze two paraphrases (one about the Taliban's ideological aim and one summarizing research claims), prompting students to judge accuracy, word choice, and whether the original's stronger language should have been quoted. The paraphrasing tips direct students to use synonyms carefully, change sentence order, and re-read surrounding context to ensure precise meaning.

QUESTION #1 asks students to define the term IDP and explain what it means in context, so students determine the meaning of a term as it is used in the text. In Option 1 students must write assumptions based on the picture and the brief description that accompanies each photo, and in Option 2 students analyze descriptions of transportation and list advantages and disadvantages, which requires interpreting descriptive language and contextual information.

Students read substantial portions of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (first and second halves) and answer questions about King's arguments and the four steps of a nonviolent campaign. Students underline excerpts and record whether they agree with King's reasoning, identify historical allusions King makes (People of the Past activity), and are asked to identify rhetorical tools King uses (e.g., drawing comparisons to historical and religious figures). The parent plan also lists skills that include determining an author's purpose and analyzing how an author uses rhetoric to advance that purpose.

Students are asked to look up and define vocabulary terms (e.g., xenophobia, nationalism, Auschwitz) and annotate Wiesel's speech, which requires determining word meanings in context. The parent answer key and prompts ask students to identify a metaphor Wiesel used and to find quotes that support claims, directly engaging students with figurative language. Activities also ask students to notice Wiesel's style and tone and to explain why he mentions paradoxical details (e.g., perpetrators who loved Bach and Goethe), prompting consideration of word choice and its effect.

The Parent Plan Skills explicitly instruct students to "interpret words and phrases... including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone." The vocabulary activity has students write initial definitions, look up each word in the dictionary and "record its definition in your own words," and use vocabulary words to fill in sentences drawn from the text. The Wrapping Up section asks students to "note how the book's style of writing differs" from another memoir, prompting comparison of tone and style.

Day 2 Question 1 asks students to infer the identity of "white tablets" from context, prompting them to determine word/phrase meaning using surrounding text. The "Different Accounts" activity asks students to record differences between the book and a video, and the answer key explicitly notes differences in wording (e.g., the video uses "forcefully recruited"), which directs students to attend to word choice across sources. The Skills section requires students to cite strong textual evidence to support analysis, encouraging close reading of language in the text.

Students are asked to interpret specific word choices and connotations, e.g., Question about why Beah says "needed" instead of "wanted" and the question about what Beah means by "I found their somber eyes irritating," which require analyzing connotative and figurative meaning. Students analyze rhetorical language such as repetition when comparing the phrases "The rebels are responsible for everything that has happened to you" and "None of these things are your fault," asking how repetition is used to influence belief. Students choose and explain which of Elie Wiesel's quotations applies to Beah's memoir, requiring interpretation of quoted language and its impact on meaning and tone.

The lesson explicitly asks students to consider authors' use of rhetoric and writing style (Ideas to Think About; Things to Know). The Comparing Memoirs activity asks students to choose adjectives to describe each author's style, assess effectiveness for intended audiences, and compare specific scenes (e.g., Malala's shooting vs. Beah's rebel attack) to see how they're presented differently. The Parent Plan Skills list includes "Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view," indicating students will analyze rhetorical choices.

Students are asked to identify and explain figurative language and sound devices in poems (Part VI asks for metaphor, personification, alliteration, imagery, and tone). Students are asked to explain the difference between denotation and connotation (Part III, short answer #4) and to paraphrase and correctly integrate quotations (Part V), which requires attending to nuance of meaning. Discussion prompts and short-answer items ask students to explain why irony or specific rhetorical choices were effective, requiring some analysis of how language contributes to effect.

Students complete a vocabulary matching activity that asks them to pair specific words from Ender's Game (e.g., invective, impassively, puerile, ascetic) with their definitions, and the Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill of determining meaning of words and phrases. Students also answer review questions and discuss the line "We're people, not Thirds," which prompts consideration of dehumanizing language and its implication.

Students are asked to interpret phrases in context on homework (e.g., "What does 'icing out' mean?") and to explain a metaphorical line ("What does the author mean when he said 'Alai was the bridge'?"). The lesson defines vocabulary such as "romanticization" and "anachronism" and has students match example statements to those terms in Activity 2. Discussion prompts ask students to evaluate Graff's pronouncements for melodrama and manipulation, which invites analysis of persuasive language and tone.

Students are asked in Homework Question #3 to explain the figurative contrast "Ender's anger is cold...Bonzo's was hot," requiring them to determine the meaning of that figurative language. A discussion prompt asks students to consider why the author used the n-word in Chapter 6, engaging them with the connotative impact of a specific word choice. The Science Fiction Quiz asks students to write a definition of "science fiction" and to match terms such as "anachronism" and "romanticization" to examples, which has students determine word meanings in genre contexts.

Students are asked to review specific vocabulary words (puerile, invective) in the "Things to Review" and homework sections, which prompts attention to word meanings. A guided discussion question asks students to consider the author's use of an ethnic slur and whether its use has value, which directs students to consider connotative and social implications of a word. The "Text Structure" activity asks students to describe how the chapter-opening conversations stylistically differ from the main text (different font, lack of dialogue tags), prompting analysis of some authorial language and stylistic choices.

Students read a passage that defines and contrasts key terms (authority, power, leadership) and work with those definitions in discussion and homework. Students complete activities that require them to match and interpret famous quotes about leadership and then apply those quotes to characters from the novel. Students write a journal reflecting on why Peter chose the pen names "Locke" and "Demosthenes," which asks them to reason about rhetorical persona and persuasive strategies.

Students are asked to interpret the Latin allusion "Veni, vidi, vici," identify its meaning ("I came, I saw, I conquered"), and write one-to-two paragraph journal entries speculating why the author chose that phrase and how it foreshadows plot developments. The Parent Plan explicitly tells students the phrase's contemporary connotations (smugness, social power) and asks them to consider where else it might appear in the text. Students also discuss how moments in the novel could have used that phrase, which requires attending to the phrase's connotative meaning and its relationship to character action.

Students are asked to review and learn specific vocabulary items (dirigible, albedo, ascetic, impassively, feint) with provided definitions and to review vocabulary again for Chapter 14. The parent plan lists the skill to "Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text," and students are prompted to notice how the narrator's perspective enriches meaning. The Acrostic Challenge asks students to select words for names or to compose sentences from initial letters, requiring deliberate word selection.

The lesson explicitly defines onomatopoeia in "Things to Know" and asks students to notice onomatopoeic words (e.g., THUD WHUMP, HUUUT) in the comic adaptation. In the Activities, students are asked to compare the novel text to movie or comic adaptations, note what dialogue or narration was omitted or changed, and judge which version is more effective. The Comic Adaptation activity page directs students to decide whether Marvel communicated omitted words through pictures and whether omissions compromised the original, which invites consideration of how language and its absence affect meaning.

Students complete a vocabulary section that asks them to use the word "invective" in a sentence, define "polyglot," and choose the correct vocabulary words (puerile, ascetic, dirigible) to fit sentences. Students answer questions defining a flashback and its functions, and the acrostic activity asks them to identify devices such as onomatopoeia and other style-related terms. The Parent Plan Skills section explicitly lists determining the meaning of words and phrases, including figurative and connotative meanings, as an instructional goal.

Students complete Activity 1 by choosing the correct word from a word bank to fill blanks in a letter, requiring them to determine which word fits the context (e.g., phase/faze, envelop/envelope, fewer/less). Students record notes, tips, and examples on the "Commonly Confused Words" activity pages, and the lesson provides explicit usage tips (for example, pronunciation difference for envelop/envelope and the rule for fewer vs. less). Students check their answers against an Answer Key and review any missed items to reinforce contextual meaning and usage.

Students are asked to read explanations and use commonly confused words (foreword/forward, good/well, hear/here, hopefully, imply/infer, in/into, its/it's, lay/lie, loose/lose) in context on activity pages and in a 1–2 page Creative Writing Challenge that requires showing the differences among the target words. The lesson explicitly explains meanings and usage distinctions (for example, the difference between good and well, the meanings and formality of "hopefully," and rules for in/into and its/it's). Activity pages require students to select correct word forms in sentences and to use "hopefully" correctly as a sentence adverb, which asks students to attend to meaning and formality in context.

Students practice word meaning and usage in Activity 1 by choosing correct words from a word bank (may/have, peak/peek/pique, passed/past, pear/pare) and by reading tips that distinguish meanings (e.g., passed vs. past; "of" never follows a helping verb). In Activity 2 and the Modifier Problems pages, students rewrite sentences with misplaced and dangling modifiers and complete exercises that require them to change word order to clarify meaning. The homework examples for placement of "only" and the Modifier Madness drawing task ask students to show how modifier placement changes a sentence's meaning, sometimes producing humorous effects.

Students read and complete the "Commonly Confused Words, Set XII" passage, selecting between pairs like principle/principal and real/really using contextual clues. Students explain meaning differences and rewrite sentences in the "Hyphen or No Hyphen?" activity (e.g., small animal surgeons vs. small-animal surgeons) and correct number-related hyphenation (e.g., ten-year-old). Students edit a travel-post passage for apostrophe use, which requires recognizing how word forms (its/it's, possessives) function in context.

Students identify and ‘translate' clichés, redundant phrases, and wordy expressions in multiple activities and the Word Choice paragraph, practicing replacing them with clearer, more specific wording. Students act as an editor for a college essay draft, locating vague or clichéd language and revising it to improve clarity and tone. Students also read about levels of formality and take notes on choosing language appropriate for audience and purpose, and they review guidance on choosing strong, specific words (UNC and OWL links).

The Explanatory Guide mini-project explicitly asks students to explain idiomatic expressions and "translate" common clichés for English learners, which requires determining figurative meanings of phrases. Multiple mini-project choices (slideshow, explanatory guide, song/rap) require students to clearly define terms and provide examples, so students practice stating meanings of words or phrases as used. The project rubric requires work to demonstrate that the student understands the topic and that explanations would be useful to others, supporting students' practice in explaining word and phrase meanings.

The homework (Question #5) asks students to infer the meaning of the phrase "egalitarian ethos" from context and then look up both words in the dictionary to confirm their guesses. The Parent Plan Skills section explicitly lists "Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science." The Student Activity Page asks students to locate glossary entries and bold/italicized vocabulary words in Outliers, prompting attention to vocabulary features.

Students are asked to read vocabulary words in context and use a thesaurus to select synonyms that match both denotation and connotation, then try inserting those synonyms into the original sentences. The vocabulary pages include specific words (e.g., arbitrary, profoundly, patronage, beneficiary, persist) with spaces for notes and chosen synonyms. Activity 1 asks students to analyze Gladwell's use of analogy and other strategies to define the term "outlier," which engages students in examining how language conveys meaning.

The homework Question #2 asks students to explain the phrase "Achievement is talent plus preparation" and to judge which part the author would argue plays a bigger role, requiring students to determine the meaning of a phrase in context. Homework Question #3 asks students to "Explain the 10,000 rule," another task that requires interpreting a key phrase or concept as used in the text. The "Things to Review" section directs students to review vocabulary words from Lesson 2, indicating attention to word meanings.

The Looking Closely student page asks students to identify "what words, phrases, or sentences" Gladwell uses in the last two paragraphs of Section 1 to signal a different treatment of Bill Joy, and the answer key points to the transition word "however," the hockey-player example, and a rhetorical question. The Parent Plan skills list explicitly instructs students to "analyze in detail how an author's ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text," which directs students to attend to sentence-level choices. Activity prompts ask students to explain the significance of Gladwell's structural and rhetorical moves across sections, requiring attention to specific wording that shapes those moves.

Students are instructed to underline unfamiliar words as they read and complete the 'Chapter 6 Vocabulary' activity in which they guess meanings from context and then look up and record dictionary definitions and pronunciations. The lesson's Skills list explicitly directs students to determine or clarify meanings using context clues, analyze meaningful word parts, consult general and specialized reference materials, and verify preliminary determinations.

Students are asked to determine word meanings using dictionaries and context in the Chapter 7 Vocabulary activity, writing synonyms and antonyms and using words in context. The Parent Plan explicitly lists the skill of determining or clarifying meanings of unknown and multiple-meaning words and verifying inferred meanings via reference materials. In Activity 3, students analyze mitigated speech and euphemisms—brainstorming scenarios and creating sketches—which engages them in thinking about connotative meaning and how word choices affect tone.

Students are given a targeted vocabulary list (autonomous, efficacy, recompense, disparagement) with definitions to learn and consult. Students are asked to interpret the figurative phrase "rice is life" (Question #2), which requires determining meaning as used in the text. The Parent Plan/Skills section directs students to consult reference materials to determine precise meanings and to identify patterns of word changes (e.g., analyze → analysis), which supports word-level meaning work.

The lesson states that students will 'analyze Lincoln's rhetorical strategies including the choices he made regarding tone, organization of ideas, and word choice' and directs students to read the Second Inaugural Address and answer interpretive questions. The student activity asks learners to identify quotes, label the literary device (parallelism, antithesis, allusion), and explain the intended effect on the audience. Specific questions and the answer key require students to paraphrase nuanced sentences (e.g., 'no prediction in regard to it is ventured'), identify adjectives describing 'interest', and explain an allusion to Matthew 7:1, which engages interpretation of meaning and tone in individual passages.

The lesson explicitly defines the antiquated and offensive connotation of the word "squaw," noting its historical use and present offensiveness. Students are asked to evaluate speakers' point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric (Parent Plan skills) and to compose persuasive editorials and split-perspective magazine covers, activities that require making deliberate word- and tone-choices. The lesson also prompts students to compare firsthand and secondary accounts and to note differences/consistencies in details and presentation, which invites attention to how language shapes interpretation.

Students read targeted sections about forces and answer direct questions defining terms (e.g., equilibrium, centrifugal vs. centripetal force) that require determining the meanings of domain-specific words. The Student Activity asks students to identify the methods the author uses to explain terms (highlighting, explanation, example, illustration) and to cite how the author supports specific claims, which asks students to use textual evidence to interpret technical vocabulary. The lesson's Skills list explicitly includes determining the meaning of key terms and domain-specific words and phrases in a scientific context.

Students identify and define specialized vocabulary through the Glossary activity, reviewing their How-to Guide sheet to select terms that need explanation and creating glossary entries. Students mark up a passage to highlight subject-specific vocabulary and revise wording/formatting to make meaning clearer (Activity 1 and Activity 6). The Parent Plan and checklist instruct students to use precise language, maintain a formal/objective tone, and revise wording to ensure instructions are appropriate to the audience.

Students define and use specific vocabulary from texts (e.g., they fill in blanks for ‘‘premise,'' ‘‘non-sequitur,'' and ‘‘straw man'') and answer questions that ask them to identify positive words and phrases in Lou Gehrig's speech. Students highlight and annotate Andrew Jackson's speech to identify word choices tied to fallacies (e.g., examples labeled as ad hominem, bandwagon, straw man, non-sequitur). Students write and revise their own short speeches and explicitly note where they used ethos, pathos, and logos, linking word choices to emotional and credibility effects.

The student activity pages explicitly ask students to identify figurative language and symbolism, explain how language shows differences between characters, and describe how language evokes feelings in the audience. The answer key and diction/language descriptors give concrete examples (e.g., the simile "She was like a bird herself," the house's "coldness" as literal and figurative, and dialect features such as dropped -ing and use of "awful") that students are asked to interpret. The lesson provides the play script and performance so students determine word and phrase meanings in context as they analyze diction and character language.

Students are given explicit vocabulary definitions (e.g., "tenements" and "presage") in the Things to Know section and are pointed to Nemiroff's introduction where the word "presaged" appears and is explained as "foretold." Students read descriptive historical context about Chicago's Southside and are directed to watch a History Channel video on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which helps them connect language to a specific time and place. Students answer factual questions about setting and date range that require attention to the words and phrases that locate the play in time and place.

Students are asked to determine vocabulary meanings from context on the "Act I Vocabulary" page and to consult a dictionary if needed, directly practicing word-meaning strategies. The Parent Plan lists skills that require using context clues, consulting reference materials, and applying knowledge of language in different contexts. Students also analyze dialect and vernacular by listening to speech samples and noting how speech creates a picture of speakers and reflects time/place and character, and they record strong adjectives Hansberry uses to describe characters.

Students are given a vocabulary list (amiably, coquettishly, epitaph, plaintively, rebuffs, reverie) and Activity 1 directs them to determine each word's meaning from context and then confirm/revise definitions using a dictionary. The Parent Plan Skills explicitly state that students will "determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words... use context..." and "consult general and specialized reference materials." The lesson also includes a discussion question about why George calls Walter "Prometheus," which prompts students to interpret a mythological reference used figuratively in the play.

Students are asked to define the verb "defer" and explain the concept of a "dream deferred," showing work on word meaning in context. They identify five similes in Langston Hughes's poem and analyze the imagery of the final line "Or does it explode?" comparing it with earlier images. Students connect specific poem images to characters' experiences in the play, using the poem's figurative language to explain how a character's dream has been postponed. The lesson includes a vocabulary matching quiz where students match words (e.g., precipitately, deliberately, prefigured) to precise definitions.

The lesson explicitly instructs students to use contextual clues or a dictionary to clarify unclear words and notes peculiarities of Shakespearean spelling and meanings. The Skills list and the activity sheet direct students to determine or clarify unknown and multiple-meaning words, verify inferred meanings, and consult reference materials. The activity asks students to "check for hidden meanings," identify speakers and their meaning, and to rewrite passages in their own words, which requires word- and phrase-level interpretation.

Students are given explicit vocabulary definitions (comic relief; dowry) and asked to determine meanings of lines from the play (e.g., interpret Juliet's line "My only love sprung from my only hate!"). The Parent Plan lists a skill to "Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases," indicating students will work with word meanings. Multiple comprehension questions require students to explain character motivations and summarize scenes, which involves understanding word and phrase meaning in context.

Students identify and explain figurative language in multiple activities: in Activity 1 they circle oxymorons and underline paradoxes in Romeo's speech and explain what those figures mean. In Activity 3 they underline idioms and explain their meanings, fill in the real meanings of euphemisms, and identify or create puns, practicing connotative and figurative interpretation. The Oxymoron/Paradox analysis question asks students to read Romeo's full speech and discuss why Shakespeare uses many oxymorons and paradoxes, prompting examination of the effect of repeated word choices on meaning and tone.

Students are asked to determine meanings of bolded words in context using the Nuances in Meaning activity page, selecting definitions from a provided word box. The lesson explicitly defines denotation and connotation in the "Things to Know" section and asks students in Part III to generate synonyms with positive and negative connotations and use them in sentences. The Day 2 texting activity requires students to rewrite character dialogue in modern text form, demonstrating understanding of character emotions and tone.

Students are directed to search the play for specific time-related words and record their frequencies, and they analyze Scene 1 (Friar Lawrence's monologue), Scene 2 (Capulet's repetition of "tomorrow/3 times"), Scene 3 (tension without time words), and Scene 5 (the Nurse's repeated use of "day" and ironic foreshadowing). The activity asks students to explain how those time words and repetitions create tension or suspense and to note instances of foreshadowing tied to time references.

The lesson explicitly asks students to identify and work with figurative language and word meanings: the unit skills list includes "Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings," and the unit test contains items requiring identification of literary devices (pun, idiom, euphemism, oxymoron) and matching quotes to speakers. Students are asked to rewrite scenes in modern language for the podcast option and to choose song lyrics and explain why those lyrics fit a character for the playlist option, which requires attention to connotative and contextual meanings. Multiple writing tasks (commercial script, song/rap lyrics, podcast scripts, argumentative analyses) require students to select words and phrases for specific effects in their own compositions.

The Skills list and multiple activity items ask students to demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings and to review figurative devices such as foreshadowing, oxymoron, idiom, and euphemism. Student tasks require defining idioms, oxymorons, and euphemisms, identifying foreshadowing examples, and explaining mitigated speech and jargon, which engages students in interpreting nonliteral and specialized language. Grammar and usage items ask students to rewrite wordy sentences and identify clichés, engaging students in choices about diction and clarity.