• LANGUAGE ARTS IN SIXTH GRADE

    Skills

    ·      Reading Comprehension: Students read novels, short stories, poetry, and non-fiction, and are introduced to inference making and identifying theme, purpose, narrative, and plot structure.

    ·      Writing: Students write using a range of formats and styles for different purposes and styles. They are introduced to the Point, Evidence, Analysis (P.E.A) structure in writing and focus on developing strong paragraphs.

    ·      Vocabulary: Through Membean, an online learning tool that provides guided, multimodal vocabulary instruction, students increase their reading and writing skills. Vocabulary expertise is increased through familiarization of prefixes, suffixes, root words, and homonyms and by identifying new words in text and speech.

    ·      Grammar: Students develop grammar skills through Daily Grammar Practice, among other resources. Areas of focus include parts of speech, sentence structure and analysis, punctuation, capitalization, and diagramming.

    ·      Speaking and Listening: Presentations, discussions, story sharing, and debates increase student capacity to hear and respond critically.

    Unit 1:  Realistic Fiction/Character Analysis

    Essential Questions:

    ·      What are the advantages and disadvantages of being an “outsider”?

    ·      What is the importance of revisiting a novel in order to write effectively about a character?

    Topics/Skills:

    ·      Reading comprehension – The Outsiders

    ·      Writing: Character analysis

    Unit 2:  Science Fiction/Book Review

    Essential Questions:

    ·      What does it mean to be “alive”?

    ·      How can I effectively communicate my opinions and ideas about a piece of writing?

    Topics/Skills:

    ·      Reading comprehension – Transall Saga

    ·      Writing:  Book review – introductions, conclusions, body paragraphs, transitions

    Unit 3: Empathy

    Essential Questions:

    ·  How do we react to those who are different from ourselves?

    Topic/Skills:

    ·  Reading comprehension – To Be Determined

    ·  Writing: Point of view

    Unit 4:  Poetry

    Essential Questions:

    ·      What is poetry?

    ·      How can poetry change me and/or the world?

    Topics/Skills:

    ·      Reading and writing of poetry

    ·      Figurative language – alliteration, similes, metaphors, personification, onomatopoeia, rhyme

    Unit 5:  Short Stories

    Essential Questions:

    ·      How can I make people and places “come alive” in a fictional piece of writing?

    Topics/Skills:

    ·      Reading comprehension skills - short stories

    ·      Short story characterization, plot, setting, theme

    Unit 6:  Historical Fiction/Character Analysis

    Essential Questions:

    ·      What can the time period of slavery teach us about how we treat people today?

    Topics/Skills:

    ·      Reading comprehension skills – Novel TBD

    ·      Character analysis (in depth)

    Additional novels are chosen for study in accordance with the students’ progress and interest.