Lesson plan - Study Island



|Reading Lesson: Connotative-Denotative Meaning |Grade Level: 5 |

|Lesson Summary: Students discuss how synonyms can convey different connotations but similar denotations. Students identify whether words have negative, positive, |

|or neutral connotations. Advanced students explore how an advertisement uses words that appeal to their emotions rather than logic. Struggling students write about|

|the feelings a noun or adjective creates. |

|Lesson Objectives: |

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|The students will know… |

|that words have multiple meanings: the explicit definition as listed in a dictionary vs. the set of associations/emotional connections that a word brings to mind. |

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|The students will be able to…. |

|identify the connotation and denotation of new words. |

|Learning Styles Targeted: |

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|Visual |

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|Auditory |

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|Kinesthetic/Tactile |

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|Pre-Assessment: |

|Write these words on the board or overhead projector: old, family, raw, alone. Ask volunteers to offer definitions for each word. Tell students that these literal |

|definitions found in dictionaries are also called denotations. Now explain how each word can also evoke different emotions in people, which are called |

|connotations. Ask students what these words suggest to them. |

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|Review with students how synonyms can have the same denotations but different connotations. Write the following words directly below the first list of four: aged, |

|dynasty, crude, unaided. Ask students how these words are related to the first list, and what connotative meanings they have. |

|Whole-Class Instruction |

|Materials Needed: paper, pens, pencils, thesaurus, print or online and PowerPoint Presentation* |

|Procedure: |

|Presentation |

|Discuss how word choice can convey different connotations for similar sentences. Depending on the word, the sentence can convey positive, neutral, or negative |

|connotations. Write the following sentence on the board: The woman selling cookies was slender. Ask students what the implied or suggested meaning of the word |

|“slender” conveys. Then replace “slender” with a variety of synonyms (skinny, gaunt, thin, emaciated, slight, willowy) and ask students whether the words convey |

|positive, neutral, or negative connotations. |

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|Ask students to select an adjective and then use the thesaurus to identify synonyms. Have them create a T-chart showing whether synonyms have positive, neutral, or|

|negative connotations. |

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|Guided Practice |

|Along with adjectives, animals can evoke strong emotions in people. Have students write a paragraph about five animals that evoke warm and fuzzy emotions in |

|people, and another paragraph about five animals that evoke fear and revulsion in people. Ask students to share their paragraphs. |

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|Independent Practice |

|Students explore 10 positive/negative connotations on PowerPoint presentation.* Have students take out pencils and paper and respond to the Slides 2 through 6. |

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|Have students rewrite the ad in slide 7. Ask for volunteers who rewrote the ad in a neutral way to share their answers. Then ask for volunteers who rewrote the ad |

|in a positive way. |

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|In slide 8, students write sentences about how three different characters move. Ask for volunteers to share their answers. |

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|In slide 9, students write how three different characters would talk, using positive connotations. Have volunteers read their descriptions and speak like the |

|character. |

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|Have students complete slides 10 through 14 on their papers. |

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|Closing Activity |

|Ask students to brainstorm a name for their school’s sports mascot using two words with positive connotations. Ask them to supply an alternative name that would be|

|rejected because of negative connotations. |

|Advanced Learner |

|Materials Needed: magazines, paper, and pencil |

|Procedure: |

|Remind students that advertisers use connotative words to evoke emotional responses in the reader, thus persuading him or her to purchase the product being |

|advertised. |

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|Have students pick a particular product that is advertised in a magazine and write a paragraph about how the ad uses words that appeal to their emotions rather |

|than their logic. |

|Struggling Learner |

|Materials Needed: thesaurus, paper, pencil |

|Procedure: |

|Have students select a noun such as “home” or an adjective such as “brave” to look up in a thesaurus. |

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|Then ask them to write a paragraph describing the feelings that the word stirs up in them, using some of the synonyms that they discovered in the thesaurus. |

*see supplemental resources

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