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It's Not All Black And White Lesson Analysis

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In the lesson plan “It’s Not All Black and White: Understanding Shades of Meaning in Words” edited by Lauren Davis (2013), I start to grasp how to teach students in grades six thru eight about the shades of meaning in words (p. 141). This lesson plan provides a good starting point for teaching an effective lesson to middle-school-aged students about the difference between the denotation of words and the connotations of words as well as why this is important for them to know this. In this paper, I will give a short summary of the lesson plan edited by Lauren Davis followed by my critique and ideas for teaching this lesson.
According to the Common Core State Standards, students should learn to “distinguish amongst the connotations (associations) of words with similar denotations (definitions)” and “determine the meanings of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings” (2015). The lesson should take approximately one class period and requires no particular student background knowledge. By the …show more content…

55). I also would keep the mini-lesson on denotation and connotation near the beginning of this lesson. The graphic organizer in the lesson requires students to grab a dictionary and write connections. Perhaps in this activity students will be more focused on completing their handout and less focused on the value of the lesson. I would only use this activity as an extension to this lesson if my students learned better from traditional grammar instruction (Benjamin & Berger, 2013, p. xiv). Either way, authenticity is definitely lacking from this lesson. Why does it matter that they use a word with a particular connotation when it has the same denotation? How does this apply to them beyond just reading and writing? I would like this lesson to have more value given to the students for authentic

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