MPS ELA Anchor Texts for Grades 6-12
Grade
Level
Humanities/Social Studies Alignment
ELA Anchor Texts
(to be used in ELA Units)
Alternative Texts List:
Independent Study, Literature Circle,
Supplemental Texts, other
One Set of 40-50 of Each Title Per Building
6th
Minnesota History:
The first Minnesotans, The Ojibwe, The Fur
Trade, Minnesota Economics, MN Newcomers,
The Civil War, Sodbusters, Historical Research
7th
World Studies:
Intro. To Geography, human geography and
culture, the Americas, Current Events, Africa,
Southwest Asia, Historical Research, Asia,
Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, and
Antarctica
8th
United States History:
History, Historical Review, and American Government,
Growth and Change, Westward Expansion, Industrial
Revolution, Progressive Era, Onto a World Stage, World
War I, The Roaring 20’s & Harlem Renaissance, The
Great Depression & the New Deal, Historical Research
World War II, World War II on the Home front, the US
in the Postwar World, The Cold War, Civil Rights and
Social Change, the 1970’s, 80’s, and 90’s, and the
Contemporary World
Dragon Wings
Taking Sides
Walk Two Moons
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry
Touching Spirit Bear
Seedfolks
Dog Song
Wrinkle in Time
Number the Stars
Holes
Bless the Beast and Children
Bridge to Terabithia
Tuck Everlasting
Double Dutch
Soldiers Heart
Child of the Owl
Scorpions
The Clay Marble
Nothing But the Truth
Finding Miracles
The Breadwinner
So Far From the Bamboo Grove
Children of the River
Breaking Through
The Friends
Freak the Mighty
The Skin I’m In
The Giver
Rite of Passage
Diary of Anne Frank
To Kill a Mockingbird
Nightjohn
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
A Raisin in the Sun
Right by My Side
The Outsiders
Somewhere in the Darkness
Journey to Topaz
Pigman
Parrot in the Oven
The Book Thief
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MPS ELA Anchor Texts for Grades 6-12
9th
High School Geography:
Intro to Geography & North America, Latin
America and Europe, Africa Southwest Asia an d
Central Asia, Monsoon Asia, Oceania, and
Antarctica
Days of Rondo
Of Mice and Men
The Absolutely True Diary of a PartTime Indian
House on Mango Street
Romeo and Juliet
Piano Lesson
Animal Farm
Bean Trees
Persepolis (I &II)
Fallen Angels
Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale
Joy Luck Club
Monster
The Late Homecomer ( K.Yang)
Maus I
The Pact (Davis, Jenkins, Hunt &
Fraser)
Before We Were Free
Life and Times of Fredrick Douglas
(to be used at any grade level)
10th
World History: (Essential Questions)
How do civilizations arise and how do they
change? (Nomadic/Agr. Societies, nile river
civilizations, Greeks & Romans)
What is the relationship between religion and
empire? (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam,
African kingdoms, Ancient Asia, & the Americas
How does geography influence destiny?
(Medieval Europe and Byzantium, Renaissance &
Reformation, Colonization & Imperialism,
Industrial Revolution)
How have the legacies of imperialism and conflict
shaped our world? (World War I, Global &
Regional Conflict, Independence, and
Globalization)
Catcher in the Rye
Lord of the Flies
Macbeth
1984
The Things They Carried
Night
A Doll’s House
Auto. Of Malcolm X
Nervous Conditions (class set per
building)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
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Bless Me Ultima
Anthem
There Are No Children Here
Joys of Motherhood
Siddhartha
Life of Pi
Power Of One
MPS ELA Anchor Texts for Grades 6-12
11th
United States History: (Essential Questions)
How die the European conquest of North America
transform indigenous civilizations, institutionalize
African slavery and ultimately lead to an
independent and democratic US?
In what ways was the Civil War inevitable?
What role did industrial capitalism play in
American life and in the US s’ rise as a world
power?
How have postwar social, political, and economic
forces changed the US internally and in its
relationships with the rest of the world?
12th
Economics:
How do individuals, institutions, and businesses
approach the fundamental economic question of
scarcity?
Government:
How does the American form of government
reflect and express the ideals of the worth and
rights of individuals, the rule of the majority and
the rights of the minority, equality and justice, and
the common good?
How do the ideals of a nation shape its civil
liberties and work to balance interests in a diverse
nation?
How have citizens worked both inside and outside
of the current theories and the current practices of
American Government to shape our society and
the world?
Their Eyes Were Watching God
The Crucible
Black Boy
The Great Gatsby
Love Medicine
The Color Purple
Oedipus
Fences
Ordinary People
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Inherit the Wind
Black Elk Speaks
The Scarlet Letter
Invisible Man (Ellison)
Frankenstein
Beloved
Crime and Punishment
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their
Accent
Things Fall Apart
Ceremony
Hamlet & Othello
Native Son
Handmaid’s Tale
Krik Krak
Reservation Blues
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