6th Grade English/Language Arts
First Six Weeks: Week 1-6
Writer: Jennifer Tippett
Reading Focus: Fiction,
Short Stories, Novels
Writing Focus: Fiction
Objective:
The learner will:
 read and write daily (read alouds, shared, small group)
 read a self-selected text for a minimum of 15 minutes daily (independent reading
that may occur beyond the classroom)

Use a flexible range of metacognitive reading skills in both assigned and
independent reading to understand an author’s message.
 read grade-level text with fluency and comprehension
 understand new vocabulary and use it when reading and writing
 make inferences and draw conclusions about theme and genre in different cultural,
historical and contemporary, contexts and provide evidence from the text to
support their understanding
 use elements of the writing process (planning, revising, editing and publishing) to
compose text
 write to express their ideas and feelings about real or imagined, people, events and
ideas
 write expository and procedural or work-related text to communicate ideas and
information to specific audiences for specific purposes
 understand the function of and use the conventions of academic language when
speaking and writing
 use comprehension skills to listen attentively to others in formal and informal
settings
 work productively with others in teams
Overview
In the first days of school the students will be introduced to classroom procedures and teacher
expectations.
In order for a student to write well, they must be given example of great writing. They should
be able to recognize the importance of characterization. They need to recognize character traits
and motivation and recognize point of view.
At the start of the year it is also important that students use reading strategies including
predicting and making connections.
As a writer, the student should learn prewriting, drafting, and revising skills. Students should
complete a story by the end of the six weeks.
Academic Vocabulary: conversational voice, dialect, first-person point of view, plot, setting,
inference, conflict, internal conflict, external conflict, climax, connect, classical fable, moral,
modern fable, cultural and historical setting, cultural values
Essential Questions:
Enduring Understanding: Good readers set a purpose for reading, monitor and adjust their
comprehension while reading.
What are the classroom procedures that must be followed?
Unit question: What makes a great story?
How do you build a story?
What are the procedures for journal writing?
TEKS:
Unit Focus: (6)
Comprehension
of Literary Text
(A), (B), (C)
Figure: 19
Reading/
Comprehension
Skills
(A), (B), (C),
(D), (E), (F)
(1) Fluency
(A)
(2) Vocabulary
Development
(A), (B), (D), (E)
(3)
Comprehension
of Literary Text
(A), (B),
(14) Writing
Process
(A), (B), (C),
(D), (E)
(15) Literary
Texts
(A) (i, ii, iii)
(17) Expository
and Procedural
Texts
(C)
(19)
Conventions
(A) (ii, vi)
(21) Spelling
(A), (B), (C)
(26) Listening
(A), (B)
(28)
Teamwork
(A)
Suggested Lesson Ideas:
Week 1:
After students have been introduced to procedures, a diagnostic assessment should be
administered.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Introduce Journal Writing. Insure that students understand there will be a focus for
each 6 weeks. The first six weeks it will be the parts of a story and the flow of plot.
Have students brainstorm, individually or in a small group, how characters affect the
pacing of the plot.
Introduce DOL. Teach students the procedures and expectation involved with DOL.
Complete unit 1 in the Vocabulary workbook
Introduce class procedures
Introduce CHAMPS discipline plan and expectations. Be sure to have CHAMPS posters
displayed prominently in the classroom.
Give interest survey to determine the student’s interests and learning styles.
Introduce “Parts of a Story” p. 28-33 Model setting and character with two excerpts
Week 2: TEKS: 6, 6A, RC-6(B), 19C
1.
2.
Continue Journal writing
Begin prewriting, choosing a story, thinking about audience, characters and setting.
Struggling readers can draw an illustration of stages of plot.
3. Vocabulary Practice Unit 1
4. Administer STAR test in Accelerated Reader
5. Read the selection: The School Play pp. 36-42.
Model the skill- Plot Structure. Use the chart on page 36 to demonstrate with the plot
diagram. Be sure to use the diagram as the story progresses.
Differentiated instruction: use targeted passages page 36. Students can work in
pairs to list questions as the story progresses. Then they can work in groups or pairs to
answer questions.
Advanced readers- have students begin to discuss the qualities of character and their
effects on plot. (page 37) If time allows, you may use the Literary Analysis questions on
page 43. After reading page 41, have advanced readers do a quickwrite description of
Robert from the perspective of other characters in the story.
Week 3: TEKS: 6A, 2A, RC-6(F), 20B
1.
2.
3.
Journal Writing
Continue writing story with plot plan p. 415-416.
Read the selection The Good Deed p. 46-61
Use Video Trailer on Think Central to introduce selection.
Literary analysis: Plot and Setting p. 46 Introduce Literary Analysis: Conflict and
Climax. Discuss the difference between external and internal conflict
Use the reading strategy: connect. You may want to use a chart like the one on
page 47. Have students identify how the author can help a reader relate to the
feelings of a character or event.
Differentiated Learning: use targeted passages p. 48, Have the students
identify what the narrator’s “good deed” is. You can also introduce figures of
speech, such as similes, on page 50 starting at line 44.
Advanced Learners: Have students create a Venn diagram to compare and
contrast Heather and Risa. Students can also write dialog for Heather and Risa in
which they describe themselves to each other (page 53)
4.
Vocabulary Practice Unit 2
Week 4 TEKS: 6A, 2E, RC-6(D), 20B
1.
2.
3.
Journal Writing
Continue writing story with drafting. Include academic vocabulary: exposition,
rising and falling action and climax, falling action, resolution p. 435 Students
should develop a first draft p. 417.
Read the selection All Summer in a Day p. 66
Introduce plot and setting. p. 67 Discuss the way that setting can affect the plot.
Introduce the reading skill “Making Inferences.” Use the equation- “Clues from the
story + My Knowledge = Inference” as a definition. A chart can be constructed
from this equation.
Differentiated Learning: Give struggling readers a chance to read dialogue on
page 70. Have students read with a partner to practice. You may want to review
conflict. A two column chart may be used as on page 71 to compare internal and
external conflict.
Advanced readers can write a two line poem to illustrate something they have
seen to someone who has not seen it. Students can also compare the two similes
used in lines 168-169 and 182-183. They can create similes that describe these
actions.
4.
Vocabulary Practice Unit 3
Week 5 TEKS: 3B, 3C, 7, 2A, 2E, 19B
1.
2.
3.
Journal Writing
Continue writing story with revising. Use the check list on page 418. You may
want to make use of peer review or analyzing a student draft. P. 418.
Read the selection The Ant and the Grasshopper p. 384.
Literary analysis: Fable. Discuss the differences in a classic fable and a modern
fable.
Reading strategy: set a purpose for reading p. 363
Differentiated Learning: targeted passages p. 384. Have the students compare
and contrast the two main characters. The students can pair up with stronger
readers and read the dialog section reader’s theatre style (page 385).
Advanced Readers: Have the students identify what money symbolized to Lottie
and how that changed as the plot advanced
4.
5.
6.
The Horse Snake p. 126. Model the reading skill: Trace chronological order. Have
students create a timeline of the story. Make sure to show clue words like
nightfall, or the next day.
Vocabulary Practice Unit 4
Review Reading skills Covered this six weeks
Week TEKS: 6, 2B, 20B
1.
2.
Benchmark test
Read Lob’s Girl p. 86. Review chronological order and introduce sequence.
Introduce foreshadowing. Use the modeling example on page 87. Help students
set a purpose for reading, such as, the effects of a dog’s loyalty on a girl and her
family. Struggling readers can use the Audio Anthology in combination with
Targeted passages to ensure that there is a focus on key story events, concepts
and skills. Have advanced readers differentiate between foreshadowing on page
87 and predicting on page 12.
3.
Complete and present stories. Editing and Publishing p. 421.
If teachers choose the following novels may be use in place of or in addition to selections
from the textbook: Sounder or Bud, Not Buddy, but all TEKS must be addressed.
Suggested Assessment:





Analyze students’ comments during class discussions for relevant information.
Read student responses to text to check for comprehension.
Examine the students’ Future Career Graphic Organizer for their’ abilities to sequence
events and explain the responsibilities and prerequisites for their desired career.
Unit and Benchmark tests
Workbooks
Resources:
Holt McDougal Textbook
Novels: Sounder, Bud, Not Buddy
Ancillary Material: Vocabulary Practice workbook, Language Handbook
Teacher created material
Technology: GrammarNotes DVD, WriteSmart DVD, Teacher One Stop DVD-ROM, Accelerated
Reader
Media:
Graphic organizers. KWL Charts
Interactive Reader
Spectrum Reading Grade 6
Daily Oral Language Review (DOL)
Computer Lab- Study Island