Grade 6 – Quarter 1
2013-14
Readers/Writers Workshop Quarterly Planning Guide:
Unit Overview: This unit examines how our lives are connected to those of others. Students will investigate a variety of genres with a focus on fictional narratives that explore
how various characters interact. Students will be asked to interpret how the theme is conveyed through a character’s actions, perspective, relationships and conflicts. Students
will create a fictional piece that uses narrative techniques to develop experiences, events and/or characters.
Theme Essential Question:
Students will understand that:
How does understanding a character help me
understand others and/or myself?
Certain people and characters impact our
lives.
Reading/Writing Process Essential Question:
How does understanding a character’s
perspective help readers analyze a narrative text?
Readers notice and name narrative
techniques to examine character
development and theme in literature.
How do writers use mentor text and narrative
techniques to express a perspective and engage
an audience?
Writers compose narratives using techniques
to develop a character’s perspective and
theme.
Common Reading Performance Task:
Timeline: Weeks 1-2
Format: Formative Short Constructed Response
After reading Gary Soto’s “Oranges,” write a short constructed
response that explains what occurs between the saleslady and the boy.
Why is this important to the meaning of the poem?
[*NOTE: Refer to MS/K8 Common Reading Performance Task Rubric]
Critical Language
Functional Language Focus:
Describe and Elaborate
Sequence of Events
Inferential Language
Grammatical Forms:
Common Writing Performance Task:
Timeline: Weeks 8-9
Format: Extended Response
Think back to Gary Soto’s “Oranges,” a poem about a young boy’s first
walk with a girl. Write a narrative from the perspective of a different
character from the poem. Be sure to include multiple narrative
techniques.
[*NOTE: Refer to APS 4-10 Analytical Writing Rubric or APS 4-10
Holistic Writing Rubric]
Proper dialogue punctuation
Adverbs and adjectives
Consistent verb tense
Academic Vocabulary: Cite textual evidence,
interpret, analyze, mentor text
Technical Vocabulary: Narrative techniques,
dialogue, voice, tone, mood, pacing, graphic
elements, sequence, connotation, alliteration,
point of view, perspective, resolution
Thematic Vocabulary: Empathy, sympathy,
relationships, impact, perspective, identity,
experiences
PACE Setters!
Grade 6 – Quarter 1
2013-14
Possible Texts/Supports:
Real Time: Conversations in Context, 6*
Pearson Learning Solutions
Aurora Public Schools Custom Resource
Additional suggested texts:
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
Tangerine by Edward Bloor
Miracle’s Boys by Jacqueline Woodson
*Additional texts as appropriate to respond to the students
in class and reflect essential questions
“My Soul” by Ember Ward
“Tuesday Siesta” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg
Thomas’ Snowsuit by Robert Munsch
Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
Common Core State Standards Appendix A – The Standards’ Approach to Text Complexity
Common Core State Standards Appendix B – Text Exemplars and Sample Performance Tasks
Common Core State Standards Appendix C – Samples of Student Writing
Grade 6 – Quarter 1
2013-14
Readers/Writers Workshop Quarterly Progression
Reading Like a Writer
Close Reading
Writing
(approx. timeline – 3 weeks)
Standards addressed: 1.1d, 2.1a, 2.1b, 2.3a, 3.3a
(Click links to access articulated standards on
Grade 6 Pacing & Planning Guide)
(approx. timeline – 3 weeks)
Standards addressed: 2.1a, 2.1b, 2.3b, 2.1f, 3.1b
(Click links to access articulated standards on
Grade 6 Pacing & Planning Guide)
(approx. timeline – 3 weeks)
Standards addressed: 3.1a, 3.1b, 3.1c, 3.1e, 3.3a,
3.3b, 3.3c, 3.3d
(Click links to access articulated standards on
Grade 6 Pacing & Planning Guide)
Learning Objectives:
Learning Objectives:
Learning Objectives:
LO#1: Students will read fictional narratives and
poetry to determine the characters’ perspectives and
the author’s point of view.
LO#5: Students will use context as a clue to the meaning
of a word or phrase.
LO#8: Students will use their knowledge of structure to
organize their own narrative pieces.
LO#6: Students will analyze how word choice impacts
meaning, tone and craft.
LO#9: Students will use literary elements (welldeveloped characters, setting, dialogue, conflict) to
develop a narrative.
LO#2: Students will read fictional narratives and
poetry to understand how the characters’ actions
convey the theme(s).
LO#3: Students will understand how a particular
story or poem’s plot unfolds and how the characters
respond or change as the plot moves toward
resolution.
LO#7: Students will employ a range of planning and
drafting strategies to generate descriptive and sensory
details.
LO#10: Students will use word choice, sentence
structure, and sentence length to create voice and tone
in writing.
LO#11: Students will demonstrate control of
conventions and grammar when writing fictional
narratives.
LO#4: Students will cite textual evidence to support
their analysis of characters’ perspectives and/or
theme(s).
Additional learning objectives will be determined by using the Teaching/Learning Cycle and APS
Reading & Writing Continua to plan instruction in response to the needs of current students.
APS Readers/Writers Workshop Teaching & Learning Constructs and Instructional Approaches
(Click links to access articulated documents)
Teaching/Learning/Planning Guide
APS Readers/Writers Workshop Instructional Frameworks:
Brian Cambourne’s Conditions of Learning
Conferring
Reading Intervention
APS Secondary Literacy Reading Continuum
Craft Instruction
Responding to Reading
APS Secondary Literacy Writing Continuum
Independent Reading
Shared Reading
Readers/Writers Workshop Implementation Continuum
Independent Writing
Small Group Reading Instruction
Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
Purposeful Talk
Writing Demonstration
*Also see ELAchieve Resource Notebooks (ELD and Constructing Meaning)
Reading Demonstration
Grade 6 – Quarter 1
2013-14
APS Readers/Writers Workshop Teaching & Learning Constructs and Instructional Approaches
(Click links to access articulated documents)
These are the foundational constructs and frameworks that guide Literacy instruction in APS. The constructs support teachers in understanding the theoretical underpinnings that
structure the APS Readers/Writers Workshop model. The Instructional Frameworks are a series of documents that define, explain, and support the various approaches teachers
use in Literacy classrooms throughout APS. The constructs and frameworks facilitate teacher knowledge and help refine expertise in planning differentiated instruction to meet the
needs of all students as readers and writers.
Teaching/Learning/Planning Guide
APS Readers/Writers Workshop Instructional Frameworks
Brian Cambourne’s Conditions of Learning
Conferring
Reading Intervention
APS Secondary Literacy Reading Continuum
Craft Instruction
Responding to Reading
APS Secondary Literacy Writing Continuum
Independent Reading
Shared Reading
Readers/Writers Workshop Implementation Continuum
Independent Writing
Small Group Reading Instruction
Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
Purposeful Talk
Writing Demonstration
*Also see ELAchieve Resource Notebooks (ELD and Constructing Meaning)
Reading Demonstration
Quarterly Pacing Guides:
The purpose of the Quarterly Pacing Guides is to align and embed the Colorado Academic Standards (CAS) into grade level quarterly
instructional units. The Quarterly Pacing Guides are color coded with red for most critical, blue for critical and black for foundational evidence
outcomes to support teachers in determining which standards to emphasize based on the long term analysis of frequently assessed
CSAP/TCAP items.
Quarterly Planning Guides:
The purpose of the Quarterly Planning Guides is to support teachers in unpacking the Colorado Academic Standards (CAS) to plan grade
level instruction within Readers/Writers Workshop. The Quarterly Planning Guides should be used in conjunction with the CAS and Quarterly
Pacing Guides to plan for instruction that meets student needs. The Quarterly Planning Guides are intended to support a comprehensive and
logical timeline for meeting the demands of the CAS.