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Common Core ELA6th GradeLanguage

L.6.5: Personification, Word Pairs and Connotation

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.5 · Cluster: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use.

Map a WordAll 41 6th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 6, Language · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What L.6.5 Means in Plain English

Sixth graders read personification in context (“the wind shoved at the door” means a rough, strong gust), use pairs like cause and effect, part and whole, or item and category to pin down words, and choose among near-synonyms by feeling: thrifty praises, stingy accuses, economical just describes.

Fifth graders (L.5.5) explained similes, metaphors, idioms and proverbs and used synonyms, antonyms and homographs. Sixth grade adds personification, relationship pairs and the connotations that separate words with the same dictionary meaning. Seventh grade (L.7.5) interprets allusions to myths and literature and works with analogies.

L.6.5 I Can Statements

  • I can explain what personification shows about a thing in a text.
  • I can use part-whole and cause-effect pairs to understand words.
  • I can choose between similar words by the feeling each one carries.

L.6.5 Worked Example

Three words with one dictionary meaning and three different feelings. The passage decides which one is fair.

Prompt

Which word fits? Grandpa Leo saves rubber bands, reuses foil and patches his own boots, and last summer he bought every grandchild a bike. Choose the word that describes him fairly: stingy, cheap or thrifty.

Not YetGrandpa Leo was stingy. He saved rubber bands and reused foil instead of buying new things.Stingy fits the saving, but it means unwilling to spend or give, and the bikes prove the opposite. The word’s connotation insults a man the passage admires.
Meets the StandardGrandpa Leo was thrifty. He saved rubber bands and reused foil, so when it mattered, he had enough to buy every grandchild a bike.Thrifty shares stingy’s dictionary meaning, careful with money, but carries approval. The second sentence shows the cause and effect that earns the word: saving now, giving later.
Moves to Use
Find the shared meaning first: stingy, cheap and thrifty all mean careful with money.Sort the words by feeling, from insulting to approving.Test the word against everything the text says, not one detail.Read personification by asking what the human action shows about the thing.Use a pair like cause and effect or part and whole to pin down a word.

Common Mistakes with L.6.5

Thesaurus swaps

A thesaurus turns “a curious student” into “a nosy student”

Try this: Place similar words on a line from negative to positive, and have students defend each spot with a sentence about a real situation.

Reading personification literally

“Wind can’t shove anything, so the author made a mistake.”

Try this: Ask what a person who shoves is like, then carry that quality over to the thing the text describes.

Knowing the pairs but not using them

Students sort cause-and-effect cards perfectly, then can’t say what erosion means in the science chapter

Try this: Have students name the relationship while they read, such as “rain is the cause, erosion the effect,” to unlock the unknown word.

Where L.6.5 Fits

Comes BeforeL.5.5Explain similes, metaphors, idioms and proverbs, and use synonyms, antonyms and homographs.
AlongsideRL.6.4Work out figurative and connotative meanings in stories and poems, and how a word sets the tone.W.6.3Write narratives with precise words and sensory language, where connotation does quiet work.
Comes NextL.7.5Interpret allusions, use synonyms, antonyms and analogies, and tell apart polite and condescending.

Practice L.6.5

Vocabulary Quiz GeneratorFree ToolA fill-in quiz with near-synonyms like thrifty, stingy and economical, where each sentence’s feeling leaves room for only one of them.ConnotationFill-inGrade 6
Make a Quiz

Quick Check

  1. What do stingy, cheap and thrifty share, and how do they differ?
  2. What does “the wind shoved at the door” suggest about the wind?
  3. Name the relationship between stanza and poem.

L.6.5: Other Names

L.6.5CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.5

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.