SCHOOL DISTRICT OF THE CHATHAMS
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CONTENT AREA(S): English Language Arts
COURSE/GRADE LEVEL(S): Sixth Grade
I. Course Overview
The focus of Sixth Grade Language Arts is to provide students with a comprehensive and integrated
approach to literacy learning. Students are able to discover personal and shared meaning by learning
to read, write, speak, listen and view critically, strategically and creatively.
This integrated approach utilizes a wide selection of contemporary award-winning novels, short
stories, non-fiction and informational texts through which students employ good reading strategies to
help them understand text. Strategic readers compare, infer, synthesize, and make connections as
they construct meaning within and beyond texts. Literary and informational texts are connected to
central themes that cross content areas whenever relevant. Both literature and expository texts
provide models of writing that enable students to see how author’s use words, phrases and
information and the basis for instruction in vocabulary and grammar. Literature and inquiry circles
provide opportunities for students to collaborate, to investigate and to extend learning.
Within this program students use a repertoire of writing strategies that enable them to vary form and
style in order to write for different purposes, audience and contexts. Students write a range of grade
appropriate prose that includes narrative elements, and will also write grade appropriate essays on a
variety of persuasive, personal, descriptive and issue-based topics. The instructional focus of writing
within the sixth grade includes explicit instruction on all steps of the writing process: brainstorming,
drafting, revision, editing and publishing. Within this writing process, students will develop and
refine their ideas for thinking, learning, communicating and aesthetic expression.
II. Units of Study
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Short Stories
Narrative Writing
Multiple Intelligences
Mystery Stories
Persuasive Writing
Diversity
Mythology
III. Learning Objectives
The following objectives are aligned with the Common Core State Standards for English Language
Arts:
A. Through a variety of reading experiences, using an inquiry based approach to literature
and informational texts, students:
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Employ stages of the reading process including predicting, reading, monitoring and
understanding. (RL. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 & RI. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10)
Recognize different purposes for reading and adjust appropriately. (RL. 2, 5, 6 & RI. 2, 5,
6)
Use prediction strategies to link new learning to prior knowledge and to monitor
understanding. (RL. 1, 2, 10 & RI. 1, 2 & 10)
Conduct research to gather contextual information and develop more insightful
understandings of a text. (RL. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & RI. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
Utilize appropriate study skills and reading strategies to prepare for a meaningful
discussion. (RL. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & RI. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
Utilize the text’s features, structures and characteristics to comprehend and analyze text.
Make text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to- world connections. (RL. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & RI.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular plot
details. (RL. 1, 2 & RI. 1, 2)
Demonstrate an understanding that authors convey their intended themes by analyzing
plots and conflicts. (RL. 1, 2, 3,7)
Identify and explore story elements of setting, characters, point-of-view, and plot. (RL. 1,
2, 3)
Explore how plot develops through the rising action, climax, falling action, and
resolution (RL. 5)
Examine texts to find specific evidence to explain an understanding and support an
interpretation. (RL. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
B. Through a variety of writing experiences, students:
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Employ stages of the writing process. (W.5)
Demonstrate understanding of expository writing style and pattern. (W.2)
Demonstrate understanding of persuasive writing style, pattern and techniques. (W.1)
Demonstrate understanding of narrative writing and storytelling. (W.3)
Demonstrate understanding of reflective writing as a tool for personal and academic
growth. (W.2, 3)
Demonstrate understanding of personal writing as a means to process, connect or explore
ideas. (W.2, 3)
Use rubrics as a guide when writing and editing. (W.5 & L.1, 2)
Utilize appropriate vocabulary and interesting diction when writing. (W.4, L.3)
Demonstrate understanding of how diction influences an audience and establishes voice.
(W.4, 5, 6 & L.1, 2, 3, 5, 6)
Compose clear introductory paragraphs to provide overview of the paper’s purpose.
(W.4)
Craft an effective hook to grab a reader’s attention. (W.4)
Compose clear conclusion paragraphs to summarize main ideas of the paper. (W.4)
Write clear thesis statements that guide a paper’s organization. (W.4)
Compose topic sentences that reveal the paragraph’s purpose. (W.4)
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Use appropriate transition words and statements to indicate the logical progression of a
paper. (W.4)
Incorporate evidence from one resource or text to support a position. (W.1)
Demonstrate understanding of and purpose for including direct quotes in writing. (W. 8,
9)
Synthesize research to use as evidence for a position. (W.7, 8, 9)
Respond to literature to reveal a personal connection or reaction to the work. (W.2, 9, 10)
Compose writing that examines a text’s theme. (W. 2, 7, 8, 9, 10)
Compose writing that analyzes a text’s characters and conflicts. (W. 2, 7, 8, 9, 10)
C. Through a variety of speaking and listening experiences, students:
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Demonstrate the ability to work cooperatively in both large and small groups by listening
and responding to others. (SL.1)
Develop the ability to convey one’s point of view through writing and speaking. (SL. 1,
2, 4, 5, 6)
Increase confidence and fluency when reading aloud. (SL.1, 4, 6)
Utilize textual evidence to support a particular point of view. (SL. 2)
Demonstrate the ability to prepare and deliver various types of presentations. (SL.4, 5, 6)
Explain and respond to a variety of visual images and digital media. (SL.5)
D. Through a study of language, students:
 Identify unfamiliar words or phrases and seek to understand them through using various
resources such as context clues, etymology, reference materials and inferencing. (L.3, 4)
 Demonstrate an understanding of purpose and effect of figurative language in their
reading and their writing. (L.3, 5, 6)
 Acquire grade appropriate academic vocabulary in order to increase their comprehension
and expression skills. (L.6)
IV. Essential Questions (The open-ended, provocative questions that help frame inquiry)
Short Stories
 Why do people make choices which they know might lead to negative consequences?
 How does understanding of a text’s structure help to better understand its meaning?
 How are elements of a story developed?
 How does the conflict in a story cause events to move toward a change or climax and
theme or moral?
 How does the language and vocabulary chosen by an author help to develop and more
vividly understand the events in a story leading to an overall consequence?
Narrative Writing
 Why do we write?
 How do good writers express themselves?
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How does process shape the writer’s product?
How do my personal experiences and choices I make affect my understanding of what I
write?
How does point of view affect the fluency, comprehension, and insight of storytelling?
How can narrative writing express the human experience and connect with other people's
choices and consequences?
Multiple Intelligences
 What is intelligence?
 What does it mean to be intelligent?
 How do I learn best?
 How do point of view, life experiences and choices affect the plot and understanding of a
character's development?
 What lesson can be learned from characters who try to change themselves too much?
 How can vocabulary meaning be inferred?
Mystery Stories
 What are the elements of a mystery?
 How are the basic elements of fiction developed in these novels?
 How does the element of a mystery help us discover the events that occur and the
outcome?
Persuasive Writing
 How does a writer make his or her position clear?
 What is the purpose of exploring and analyzing information from a variety of sources?
 How can I use persuasive writing to effectively express my position on a topic?
Diversity
 What is diversity?
 What is bias and prejudice?
 How do stereotypes lead to bias, prejudice, and discrimination?
 How do our actions and thoughts influence the lives of others?
 What character traits allow the characters in the novel to overcome obstacles faced as a
result of their differences?
 What things can you do to prevent prejudice and discrimination and foster an
appreciation of diversity in the world around you?
 How can vocabulary meaning be inferred?
Mythology
 Why do we study mythology?
 Why was mythology created?
 Why do people seek to explain the unexplainable?
 Why are some myths more popular than others?
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V. Key Performance and Benchmark Tasks
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Expository Writing
Persuasive Writing
Narrative Writing
RAFTS
Unit tests
Quizzes
Murals
Presentations
Research Projects
Class Discussions
VI. Instructional Materials
The required reading material for sixth grade include:
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Short Stories
“Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros
“Greyling” by Jane Yolen
“All American Slurp” by Lensey Namioka
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Myths
“Arachne”
“Orphesus”
“Gorgon’s Head”
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Essays
“A Bubble Bursts”
“His Gift to Girls”
“Trial by Fire”
“Bringing Tang Home”
“Play of the Year” by Rick Reilly
“A Special Night for Stillman” by Dallas Jackson
“The Homework Debate” by Cameron Keady
“Are Cyber Report Cards a Good Idea?” by Trisha Morrison
“Ban the Bottle” by Joe McGowan
“Testing, Testing” by Elizabeth Siris and Ritu Upadhyay
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Novels/Novellas
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Island on Bird Street by Uri Orlev
One of the following mystery novels:
o The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
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The Crooked House by Agatha Christie
The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder and Alton Raible
Theodore Boone by John Grisham
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett and Brett Helquist
The supplemental reading materials for sixth grade include, but are not limited to:
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Writer's Choice: Grammar and Composition by Glencoe
Graphic Novel versions of myths