Shades of Meaning - Part 1

Aim:
IWBAT understand and explain "shades of meaning" in related words (e.g., softly and quietly).

Tasks:
1. Complete this link to set your fourth quarter AR goal: Click Here

2. Read this introduction to Shades of Meaning:

Humans live in a “color-drenched world.” In fact, there are one million colors that the human eye can distinguish. Other researchers put the number as high as seven million. How we translate colors into language is a challenging and endless task. 

Did you know that the Inuit people have over 300 words for snow? Why do you think that is? It is because they want to distinguish between subtle, but important differences in color, texture, composition and origin. 

Although there may be many different words for the same thing, there are usually slight differences in meaning. For example, “cross” and “furious” both mean angry, but “irate” is more intense than both of them.

Words that seem to mean the same thing often have different shades of meaning. If you study their definitions carefully, you will notices slight differences in meaning from one to another.

3. Review these examples of shades of meaning:

The words fast, rapid, speedy, and hasty are all very close in meaning. Yet their shades of meaning are important to catch if you want to understand and use them correctly. 

• Fast is often used to refer to a thing that moves, such as a fast car 

• Rapid usually describes the movement itself, such as a rapid current 

• Something speedy is quick, but often the word adds the idea that something is good or successful, too, such as speedy service 

• Hasty suggests that something is hurried and done carelessly, such as hasty inspection

There’s no magic way to learn all the shades of meaning that different words can carry. The best way is to read a lot and see how different words are used.

4. Try a sample problem on Socrative: Here's how these problems will look on the CST:

Which word best completes the following paragraph?

Some felt that Mayor Walsh made a _________ decision. Perhaps she should have thought more carefully before cancelling the annual cheese festival, which would have brought in millions of tourism dollars.

A)  fast          B)  hasty          C)  rapid         D)  speedy

5. Learn key terms and ideas:

• Denotation: the literal meaning of a word
• nosey and curious both mean having an interest in someone else's concerns
• Connotation: the feelings associated with a word
• Being nosey is thought of as a bad thing -- someone who is looking into someone else's business without their permission.
• Being curious is more likely to be thought of as a good quality that goes along with someone who likes to learn.
• Synonym: words with similar meanings
• When we look at "shades of meaning," we are examining words that are considered synonyms (same denotation) but have different feelings that go along with them (different connotations).

6. Sort words into synonym pairs with positive and negative connotations.

• Open your Google Drive.
• Click your Writing Portfolio folder and open the file called Shades of Meaning.
• Follow the directions at the top of the page, to sort the words by shades of meaning.

7. On Socrative, generate synonyms with different connotations: For each of the words that Mr. T prompts, type a synonym with the same denotation but a more positive connotation.

8. Practice CST-type questions on Socrative.

9. If time allows, review frequently missed questions on the Practice CST: #15-19, #78-83


Homework: Shades of Meaning

We've come a long way since October! (Red --> Blue)

However, we can still do better! (Blue --> Green)