ELA

Reading Workshop

Across our district, our readers participate in reading workshop, read-alouds, small group instruction, independent reading and book clubs. Our goal is to create lifelong readers who are confident and independent. Students in all of our classrooms have access to a wide variety of high quality middle grade and young adult literature and have the opportunity to read a wide range of topics, authors, genres, and text. During reading workshop, students are taught explicit strategies to apply to their independent reading.

As part of reading workshop, students curate a variety of resources using digital tools to gather and share information, and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.

Sixth Grade Reading Workshop

Upper middle grade readers are considering complex character traits, including the ways in which pressures, other characters, and setting influence those traits. They continue to build on their understanding of theme by noticing how characters may drive a theme or author's message. Readers also determine central and main ideas in nonfiction texts and supporting details. This includes analyzing author's craft to understand word choices, tone, perspective, and how authors advance their point of view.

READING UNITS OF STUDY INCLUDE:

A Deep Study of Character: Upper middle grade readers investigate complex character traits, setting, and theme in fiction texts.
Social Issues Book Clubs: Upper middle grade readers study character relationships, power imbalances, perspectives, and tone in fiction texts. The books they read in their book clubs are focused on issues that impact our society.
Tapping the Power of Nonfiction: Upper middle grade readers determine central ideas and supporting details in nonfiction texts. They read critically, synthesizing across texts and analyzing informational texts that contradict each other.

Sixth grade readers could be reading fiction books like Rules, The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora, The Someday Birds, The Year of the Dog, or The Crossover.

Sixth grade readers could be reading nonfiction texts like Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom, Captured History: Little Rock Girl, 1957, Marching for Freedom, or Through My Eyes.

Writing Workshop

Writing workshop encourages writers to practice work that is similar to the work of professional authors. Students choose their own topics, issues, and stories to write about and move through the writing process to produce and “publish” a variety of genres throughout the year. Students study high quality published middle grade and young adult literature, in addition to real-world texts like newspaper or magazine articles. Students receive explicit instruction in writing strategies to navigate through the writing process. Utilizing various writing tools, writers create a number of texts. When in a writing Unit of Study, students have time to write every day.

In writing workshop, students learn to communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the technological platforms, tools, styles, formats, and digital media appropriate to their goals.

Sixth Grade Writing Workshop

Sixth grade students will write in a variety of genres, including narrative, informational, and argument texts. In their argument writing, students explain a topic and stake out a position that can be supported by a variety of trustworthy sources. Each part of the text builds a part of the argument and leads to a conclusion. In their narrative writing, students compose stories that have tension, resolution, and realistic characters, and also convey an idea, lesson, or theme. In their informational writing, students convey ideas and information about a subject in a well-structured text. Writers incorporate arguments, explanations, stories, or procedural passages.

WRITING UNITS OF STUDY INCLUDE:

Literary Essay: From Character to Compare/Contrast: Sixth-grade writers craft essays that make arguments about characters and themes. They learn strategies to gather, analyze, and explain evidence from the text to support their claims.
Personal Narrative: Crafting Powerful Life Stories: Sixth-grade writers create true stories about meaningful experiences in their own lives. Writers develop strategies to manage pace in their storytelling, elaborate on important scenes, and deepen insights.
Research-Based Information: Books, Websites, and Presentations: Sixth-grade writers learn ways to research and write informational essays, books, and digital presentations or websites to teach their readers about a topic, using increasingly sophisticated ways to draw on and structure information to explain a position or make a call to action.

6th Grade Comprehension and Evidence Benchmark Understanding: Student can cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Learning Targets:

Student can analyze what the text says explicitly.
Student can draw inferences from the text.
Student can cite textual evidence.

6th Grade Theme/Central Idea Benchmark Understanding: Student can determine central ideas or themes from a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

Learning Targets:

Student can determine a central idea/theme from a text.
Student can support the central idea/theme with details from the text.
Student can provide an objective summary.

6th Grade Author’s Craft Benchmark Understanding: Student can Analyze how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the ideas. Student can also explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

Learning Targets:

Student can identify the primary structure of the text.
Student can explain how a particular section (line, chapter, etc.) supports the overall text structure.
Student can develop claims about a character’s (L)/author’s (I) point of view.
Student can explain how a narrator’s(L)/author’s (I) point of view influences the way the plot/text unfolds.

5th-8th Grade General Writing Structure Benchmark Understanding: Student can produce clear and organized writing to meet an established purpose.

General Learning Targets:

Student can divide writing into sections/paragraphs appropriate to the task.
Student can write a beginning (intro/lead), appropriate to the task.
Student can write a middle (body paragraphs), appropriate to the task.
Student can use transitional words and phrases, appropriate to the task.
Student can write an ending (conclusion), appropriate to the task.
Student can incorporate grade-level appropriate conventions.

5th-8th Grade General Writing Craft Benchmark Understanding: Student can develop a piece elaborated and crafted in the style appropriate to the task and audience.

Learning Targets:

Student can craft a variety of evidence/story elements.
Student can craft language (word choice, literary devices) appropriate to the task.
Student can craft domain/character-specific vocabulary appropriate to the task.
Student can craft a tone appropriate to the task.

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