Reading Curriculum

The Course:

These units provide sixth grade students with a critical foundation in reading and writing narrative, informational, and argument texts. Through analysis and production of texts in these three modes, students become more adept readers, thinkers, and writers. Across the year, they come to understand the distinctions between narrative, informational and argument texts by studying fiction and nonfiction in a variety of formats and developing a more thorough understanding of audience and purpose when both reading and writing. The use of a reader or writer’s notebook for each unit encourages students to be independent, engaged, and empowered learners who value close reading, idea generation, drafting, and revision. The first two units facilitate the use of the notebook for close reading and generative writing of narrative in addition to developing the classroom writing community. The focus on understanding and using the elements of argument underpins three of the units (Argument Paragraph, Literary Essay, and Writing the Argument), supporting students in becoming more competent producers of argument in both written and spoken form. The informational reading and informational essay units steep students in how to critically read nonfiction, as well as analyze and use text structures, central ideas, and supporting details to craft an informational text.

Rationale

The ability to access, navigate, and evaluate information is a crucial skill of citizens in contemporary society. Through the study of these units, students learn strategies to be critical consumers of informational and literary texts. They explore the role nonfiction and fiction plays in their daily lives and identify and analyze text structures and features of text in print and digital formats.

Scope and Sequence

Careful thought has been given to the order in which the English 6 units are presented. The year-long course is designed to build rhetorical and 21st century skills, as well as habits of mind and experiences critical for success in later grades. Students continue to develop a learner identity and content knowledge that builds their level of persistence to engage in complex tasks that call upon strong analytical thinking and reasoning. As a result, certain scaffolds have been created based on this unit order. Schools should take care in moving units from their intended placement in the curriculum. For example, Launching the Writer’s Notebook and Independent Reading units are designed to establish certain learner habits, strategies, and practices that help ramp students into later units of analyzing complex texts and writing well-reasoned arguments.

Alignment

The English 6 course is designed to meet the larger learning goals listed in the Framework for Success in Post-secondary Writing developed by the Council of Writing Program Administrators, National Council of Teachers of English, the National Writing Project, and the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

Essential Understandings of Grade 6:

Independent Reading:

• How do I see myself as a reader?
• How do readers select captivating books to engage with?
• How do readers recognize they have become stronger?
• How do readers stay focused on what they are reading? How do they refocus when their attention drifts?
• How do readers connect with the main character and "fall into a book"?
• How does character motivation drive the plot?
• How does understanding story structure help readers become more effective?
• How do readers keep an open mind while reading?
• How does thinking about the theme of a book deepen a reader's understanding of it?

Narrative Reading:

• How do I function within a community of readers?
• How do authors set a tone in their writing?
• Why do authors write in first or third person?
• How do readers adjust their thinking when reading first or third person writing?
• Why do authors include certain information in a story?
• What effect does an oral interpretation have on the listeners and their perceived meanings?
• How do different genres affect readers?

Informational Reading:

• How do informational text readers think differently while reading?
• How do informational text readers use text features to facilitate comprehension?
• How do informational text readers adjust to text structures?
• How do informational text readers decide what is the one big thing this text is teaching and how do all the details connect with it?
• How do informational text readers decide which details to include in a summary?
• How do informational text readers summarize what they have read?
• How do informational text readers determine the meaning of unfamiliar content specific words?
• How do informational text readers decide why the author wrote this informational text?
• How do informational text readers compare how different authors present their ideas?