Standards
6th Grade Social Studies
6.SS.1. Skills & Argumentation
Identify statements based on objective truth vs. subjective understanding.
Form an argument about what a primary source document says and cite in-text evidence to support it.
Make arguments about civilizations that left little or no written record (using archaeological evidence), including identifying elements of the Oceti Sakowin culture through oral traditions, written accounts, and primary source information.
Write a narrative essay of 4-5 paragraphs on a historical event based on class notes.
Write an informative essay of 4-5 paragraphs on a historical figure based on class notes.
Write a persuasive paragraph based on class notes, including a topic sentence, supporting evidence, and explanation of how the evidence proves the topic sentence.
6.SS.2. Geography & Geographic Skills
Read a map using a compass rose including ordinal directions.
Compare similarities and differences between modern and historical maps of the same region.
Identify the six essential elements of geography: spatial terms; places and regions; physical systems; human systems; environment and society; and the uses of geography.
Interpret graphs or charts about geographic information (rainfall, elevation, temperature, population density).
Identify elements that make up a person’s culture, including political culture.
6.SS.3. World Geography
A. The student locates on a map and describes the features of Africa’s geography, including:
Major Geographic Features: Sahara Desert, Nile River, Mount Kilimanjaro, Atlas Mountains, the Horn of Africa, Red Sea, Suez Canal, Cape of Good Hope, Red Sea
Major Countries (Cities): Algeria, Cameroon, Chad, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt (Cairo, Giza), Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya (Nairobi), Libya (Tripoli), Madagascar, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa (Johannesburg, Cape Town), Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia (Tunis), Uganda, Zimbabwe
B. The student locates on a map and describes the features of the Middle East’s geography, including:
Major Geographic Features: Arabian Peninsula, Persian Gulf, Euphrates River, Tigris River, Sea of Galilee, Jordan River, Caspian Sea, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, Black Sea, Strait of Hormuz, Gulf of Oman
Major Countries (Cities): Iran (Tehran), Iraq (Baghdad), Israel (Jerusalem, Tel Aviv), Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Mecca), Syria (Damascus), Turkey (Istanbul, Ankara), United Arab Emirates (Dubai), Yemen
C. The student locates on a map and describes the features of Central Asia’s geography, including:
Major Geographic Features: Bay of Bengal, Ganges River, Indo-Gangetic Plain, Northern Mountains, Deccan Plateau, Himalayan Mountains, the Steppes, Indus River
Major Countries (Cities): Afghanistan (Kabul), India (Mumbai, Delhi), Kazakhstan (Almaty), Pakistan (Islamabad, Karachi), Sri Lanka
D. The student locates on a map and describes the features of Southeast Asia and Oceania, including:
Major Geographic Features: Australia, Antarctica, major Pacific islands, Coral Sea, Bay of Bengal, South China Sea, Strait of Malacca, Great Victoria Desert, Great Barrier Reef, Australasia rainforest, Indo-Burma Rainforest
Major Countries (Cities): Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia (Jakarta), New Zealand, Philippines (Manila), Singapore, Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi)
E. The student locates on a map and describes the features of northern and East Asia, including:
Major Geographic Features: Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, Gobi Desert, Himalayan Mountains, Yellow River, Yangtze River, Siberia, Korean Peninsula, Mount Everest
Major Countries (Cities): China (Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong), Japan (Tokyo), North Korea (Pyongyang), Russia, South Korea (Seoul), Taiwan
F. The student locates on a map and describes the features of North and South America, including:
Major Geographic Features: Amazon River, Amazon Rainforest, Andes Mountains, Cape Horn, Panama Canal, Yucatan Peninsula, Straits of Magellan, Isthmus of Panama, Rocky Mountains, Appalachian Mountains, Mississippi River, Hudson Bay, Saint Lawrence River, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Great Plains
Major Countries (Cities): Argentina (Buenos Aires), Brazil (Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro), Chile, Peru, Venezuela, United States (New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago), Canada (Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal), Mexico (Mexico City), Greenland, Cuba (Havana), Haiti
6.SS.4. Ancient Civilizations & Influential Ideas – Asia, Middle East, Northern Africa, Eastern Mediterranean
Explain the six characteristics of civilizations (cities, government, etc.).
Understand the major ideas of philosophers/religious thinkers of antiquity (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle), especially regarding logic, truth, ethics, and politics.
Explain the conquests of Alexander the Great, the founding of the city of Alexandria, and the spread of Hellenistic culture.
6.SS.5. The Roman and Classical World
Demonstrate knowledge of Rome and its systems (laws, social and political organization, etc.).
6.SS.6. The Middle Ages
Understand how society changed with the fall of the Roman Empire.
Explain the Great Schism of 1054.
Explain the Investiture Controversy and the Concordat of Worms.
6.SS.7. Late Middle Ages & the Reformation
Understand the major ideas, events, and influence of the Reformation period.
6.SS.8. Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment & French Revolution
Explain the scientific method and major discoveries of the Scientific Revolution.
Explain the major ideas of the Enlightenment.
Explain the causes, outcomes, and key events of the French Revolution, including the rise of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna.
Explain the effects of the French Revolution and Napoleonic period, including movements such as Romanticism, Nationalism, Liberalism, and early Socialism.
Common Core
Reading: Informational Text
6.RIT.1
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
6.RIT.2
Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions.
6.RIT.3
Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text.
6.RIT.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings.
6.RIT.5
Analyze how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and contribution to the development of the ideas.
6.RIT.6
Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.
6.RIT.7
Integrate information presented in different media or formats as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.
6.RIT.8
Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from the claims that are not.
6.RIT.9
Compare and contrast one author's presentation of events with that of another
6.RIT.10
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6-8 text complexity proficiently
Writing
6.W.1
Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
6.W.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
6.W.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
6.W.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
6.W.5
With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
6.W.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three pages in a single setting.
6.W.7
Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate.
6.W.8
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources.
6.W.9
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
6.W.10
Write routinely over extended time frames and shorter time frames for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes
Reading Literature
6.RL.1
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
6.RL.2
Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions.
6.RL.3
Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.
6.RL.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.
6.RL.5
Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot.
6.RL.6
Explain how the author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.
6.RL.7
Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they see and hear when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch.
6.RL.9
Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.
6.RL.10
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6-8 text complexity.
Speaking and Listening
6.SL.1
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade 6 topics building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
6.SL.2
Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats and explain how it contributes to a topic, text or issue under study.
6.SL.3
Delineate a speakers argument and specific claims, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not.
6.SL.4
Present claims and findings, sequencing ideas logically and using pertinent descriptions, facts, and details to accentuate main ideas or themes; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume and clear pronunciation.
6.SL.5
Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify information.
6.SL.6
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
Language
6.L.1
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
6.L.2
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
6.L.3
Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
6.L.4
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 6 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
6.L.5
Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
6.L.6
Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.