United States · Common Core State Standards
6th Grade English Language Arts
This course builds critical reading and writing skills through the study of diverse literary and informational texts. Students develop analytical depth in understanding author craft while mastering the conventions of narrative, argumentative, and expository communication.
The Power of Narrative: Character and Conflict
Students explore how authors build complex characters and plot structures to convey universal themes. Focus is placed on citing textual evidence and analyzing internal and external conflicts.
Analyzing how characters respond to challenges and how their internal motivations drive the plot forward.
Examining the structural elements of a story and how conflict serves as the engine of the narrative.
Learning to distinguish between a story's topic and its deeper thematic message while practicing concise summarization.
Uncovering the Truth: Informational Text Analysis
Students engage with non-fiction to identify central ideas and analyze how authors use text features to organize information.
Identifying the primary message of a text and evaluating the evidence used to support it.
Analyzing how authors use structures like cause/effect, comparison, and chronology to clarify information.
Evaluating the intent behind a text and how the author's perspective shapes the presentation of facts.
The Art of Argument: Writing with Purpose
Students learn to construct logical arguments, using credible sources and clear reasoning to support their claims.
Developing strong, debatable thesis statements that provide a clear roadmap for an essay.
Researching and integrating data, quotes, and examples to build a persuasive case.
Using words and phrases to create flow and clarify the relationships between ideas.
Poetic Voices: Language and Meaning
An exploration of figurative language, word choice, and poetic structure to understand how authors evoke emotion.
Identifying and interpreting metaphors, similes, personification, and hyperbole in various contexts.
Analyzing how specific verbs, adjectives, and nouns contribute to the tone and precision of a text.
Examining how line breaks, stanzas, and rhythm contribute to the overall meaning of a poem.
Investigating Perspectives: Research and Synthesis
Students conduct short research projects to answer questions, drawing from multiple print and digital sources.
Developing the skills to distinguish between biased, unreliable, and authoritative sources of information.
Combining information from different texts to create a comprehensive understanding of a topic.
Learning the importance of citations and avoiding plagiarism in academic work.
The Power of Speech: Speaking and Listening
Students practice collaborative discussion and formal presentation, focusing on clarity, eye contact, and active listening.
Learning to engage in meaningful dialogue by building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Designing and delivering presentations that use visual aids to enhance the audience's understanding.
Listening to speeches or debates to identify the speaker's main claims and supporting evidence.