During this 90-minute lesson, students develop conceptual knowledge of denotation and connotation, understand that words may have positive or negative connotations, and analyze how those connotations impact the author's message of a story. Scaffolded to ensure students master each step before moving to the next (i.e., define before identify, identify before analyze), this introductory lesson quickly moves students to intermediate and advanced work with the concepts, even for students with little or no prior knowledge about the topic. This includes a lesson plan developed using Common Core State Standards that takes teachers step-by-step through the lesson, a student handout, and a corresponding PPT presentation. The lesson utilizes several engagement strategies, frequent checks for understanding, and is built using the Understanding by Design framework.