ELA – Grade 6
Required Core Connections Text and Lessons in green and Core Connections performance text and tasks in purple
Quarter
1 – Coming of
Age/Making
Your Voice
Heard
Writing to
Inform and
Explain
Literary Reading
Focus
RL.3
RL.6
L.5
W.2
W.7
Extended Text
Short Story:
“My Wonder
Horse”
(Sabine R.
Ulibarri)
Literary Text
“Eleven” (Sandra
Cisneros)
“Four Skinny Trees”
(Sandra Cisneros)
Short Story: “Thank
You Ma’am”
(Langston Hughes)
Poem: “A Poem for
My Librarian, Mrs.
Long” (Nikki
Giovanni)
Short Story: “What
Do Fish Have to Do
with Anything?” (Avi)
(Close Reader)
Poem: “A Voice” (Pat
Mora)
Short Story: “The
White Umbrella”
(Gish Jen)
(Assessment Booklet)
Informational Text
Article: “Wild Animals
Aren’t Pets” (USA
Today)
Article: “Let People
Own Exotic Animals”
(Zuzana Kukol)
Article: “Innocent and
Imprisoned” (Robert
McGuinness) (Close
Reader)
Article: “White House
Conference Tackles
Bullying” (Mimi Hall)
(Assessment Booklet)
Article: “Parenting a
Bully: What Are the
Responsibilities?”
(Damien Steiner)
(Assessment Booklet)
Writing Tasks
Daily routine writing
tasks to develop and
convey
understanding of
texts
4-6 short response
analyses that inform
and explain
Research Projects
1 research project
to integrate
knowledge from
sources/culminatin
g writing analysis
essay (using
multiple texts from
unit)
Other
Sources from
Collection 4
“Wild
Animals” and
“Exotic
Animals”
articles great
precursor to
Quarter 2
standards
Article: “Speaking
Bonobo” (Paul
Raffaele) (Assessment
Booklet)
Article: “When
Animals
Communicate, They
are Not Using
‘Language’” (Mia
Lewis) (Assessment
Booklet)
Graphic: “What is
Language?”
(Assessment Booklet)
2 – Decisions
That Matter
Argumentative
Writing
Informational
Reading Focus
RI.3
RI.5
RI.8
SL.3
W.1
W.7
Memoir
Excerpt: “It
Worked for
Me: In Life
and
Leadership”
(Colin Powell)
Biography
Excerpt:
“Colin Powell:
Military
Leader”
(Warren
Brown)
Poem: “The Road Not
Taken” (Robert Frost)
Short Story: “The
Ravine” (Graham
Salisbury)
Short Story: “The
Jumping Tree” (Rene
Saldana Jr.) (Close
Reader)
Article: “Ohio
Overturns Pit Bull Bill”
Article: “Miami-Dade
County Votes to Keep
Pit Bulls Out”
Article: “Pit Bulls
Haven’t Always Had a
Bad Rep”
Article: “The Media
and the Pit Bull”
Article: “Zoos and
Aquariums Have a
Positive Impact on
Visitors”
Daily routine writing
tasks to develop and
convey
understanding of
texts
4-6 short response
analyses to argue
1 research project
to integrate
knowledge from
sources/culminatin
g writing analysis
essay (using
multiple texts from
unit)
Sources from
Collections 1
&5
Pictures of
World Trade
Center,
Pentagon, US
Capitol
Building
Novel:
Hatchet (Gary
Paulsen)
Article: “Do Zoos
Shorten Elephant Life
Spans?”
Article: “Free Jumbo”
Article: “Trunk show:
the Cleveland
Metroparks Zoo's
African Elephant
Crossing provides
guests with a colossal
close-up and engages
the community in
conservation efforts”
Poem: “Paul Revere’s
Ride” (Henry
Wadsworth
Longfellow)
(Textbook, Grade 6;
HMH Assessment
Booklet, Grade 8)
Media/Audio Poem:
“Paul Revere’s Ride”
(narrated by C-David
Cottrill)
Excerpt: “The Real
Story of Revere’s
Ride”
Essay: “Paul Revere
and the American
Revolution” (Ethel
Ames) (HMH
Assessment Booklet,
Grade 8)
Essay: “How Accurate
Was Longfellow’s
Poem?” (Franklin
Johnson) (HMH
Assessment Booklet,
Grade 8)
Poem: “The
American Hero”
(Roger J. Robicheau)
Article: “On Doomed
Flight, Passengers
Vowed to Perish
Fighting”
Media: “Memorial is
Unveiled for Heroes of
Flight 93”
Short Story: “The
First Day of School”
Excerpts from Novel:
The Watsons Go to
Birmingham
(Christopher Paul
Curtis)
Article: “Every Person
Has a Story of
Courage: The Little
Rock Nine”
Autobiography
excerpt: “No One Ever
Told Me Not To
Dream” (Charlayne
Hunter-Gault)
(Elements of
Literature, Third
Course)
3- Mythology
Writing to
Inform and
Explain
Informational
Reading Focus
RI.6
RI/RL.7
RI/RL.9
W.2
W.6
W.8
Greek Myth
Excerpt:
“Black Ships
Before Troy:
The Story of
the Illiad”
(Rosemary
Sutcliffe)
Greek Myth:
“Medusa’s Head”
(retold by Olivia E.
Coolidge) (Close
Reader)
Poem: “Medusa”
(Agha Shahid Ali)
Poem: “The Apple of
Discord” (Kate
Hovey)
Poem: “A Lesson in
Mythology” (Eliza
Calvert Hall) (Gale)
Poem: “Medusa”
(Louise Bogan) (Gale)
Essay Excerpt: “The
Role of Myths in
Ancient Greece”
(Simone Payment)
Excerpts from
“Mythology”
(Encyclopaedia
Britannica Online)
**Biography:
“Community Hero:
Chief Wilma
Mankiller” (Susannah
Abbey)
**Autobiography:
“Every Day Is a New
Day” (Wilma
Mankiller)
**These texts are in
Collection 5 of the
HMH Close Reader.
Although they do not
Daily routine writing
tasks to develop and
convey
understanding of
texts
4-6 short response
analyses to inform
and explain
HMH Assessment
book, pp. 82-83
1 research project
to integrate
knowledge from
sources/culminatin
g writing analysis
essay (using
multiple texts from
unit)
HMH Assessment
book, p. 75 “How
are the lessons
taught by the folk
tales alike, and
how are they
different?”
Sources from
Collection 6
Teachers
supplement
with
additional
mythologyrelated
resources (as
needed)
Gale –
resource
fit the mythology
theme, they align to
the quarter 3
standards (RI.6 and
RI.9).
Assessment Booklet:
Natural Disasters
(Maps, Info, etc.)
(Hurricanes…)
Article: Native
American Blessing/No
Hurricanes (TBA)
Folk Tale: “Yeh-Shen:
A Cinderella Story
from China” (Ai-Ling
Louie) (Elements of
Literature, First
Course)
Indian Folk Tale: “Six
Men and an
Elephant” (John
Godfrey Saxe)
(Assessment Booklet)
African Folk Tale:
“The Red and Blue
Coat” (Assessment
Booklet)
Article: “What is a …
Folk Tale” (Sandra
Merrick) (Assessment
Booklet)
Novel/Drama/
Graphic Novel: “The
Prince and the
Pauper” (Mark
Twain) (Close
Reader)
4- Mystery and
Horror
Argumentative/
Opinion Writing
Literary Reading
Focus
RL.3
RL.5
RI/RL.7
RI/RL.9
W.1
W.3
W.6
W.8
Novel: “The
House of Dies
Drear”
(Virginia
Hamilton)
Novel Series:
“Sammy
Keyes”
(Wendelin
Van Draanen)
Novel:
“Chasing
Vermeer”
(Blue Balliett)
Short Story: “There
Article: “Fears and
Will Come Soft Rains” Phobias”
(Ray Bradbury) (Close (KidsHealth.org)
Reader)
Article: “Face Your
Radio Play
Fears: Choking Under
Script/Audio: “Zero
Pressure Is Every
Hour” (Ray Bradbury) Athlete’s Worst
Nightmare” (Dana
Drama/
Hudepohl) (Close
Radio Play Audio/
Reader)
Media Clip Visual:
“Sorry, Wrong
Article: “In the
Number” (Annatole
Spotlight” (Glenn
Litvak)
Murphy)
Media & Text
Article: “Face Your
Excerpt: “The Storm
Fears and Scare the
Hag” (S.E. Scholosser) Phobias Out of Your
Brain” (Jason Koebler)
(Close Reader)
Media/Online Science
Exhibit: “Wired for
Fear” (The California
Daily routine writing
tasks to develop and
convey
understanding of
texts
4-6 short response
analyses that focus
on arguments and
opinions
1-2 extended
narratives to convey
experiences, events,
and/or procedures
1 research project
to integrate
knowledge from
sources/culminatin
g writing analysis
essay (using
multiple texts from
unit)
RI.9/W.1:
Synthesize info
from media and
other info texts to
argue a position
Sources from
Collection 1
The Storm
Hag:
americanfolkl
ore.net
Gale –
resource
Science Center)
Play: The Adventures
of the Speckled Band
Photo: Sherlock
Holmes (BBC)
www.bbc.com
Letter from Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle to Dr.
Joseph Bell
Article: Letter Makes
Real Holmes
Elementary (Marc
Horne)
eLearning
Photo: Dr. Bell (BBC)
www.bbc.com
eLearning
Map: “Hurricanes and
Tornadoes in the U.S.”
(Assessment Booklet)
Info Text: “What You
Should Know About
Tornadoes” (Sheldon
Hammond)
(Assessment Booklet)
Info Text: “Basic Facts
About Hurricanes”
(Eve Perry)
(Assessment Booklet)
Info Text: “What Are
Rogue Waves?”
(Neveah Simmons)
(Assessment Booklet)
Info Text: “What
Causes Tsunamis?”
(Jane Sanborn)
(Assessment Booklet)