Overview:

The sixth grade language arts curriculum is part of a developmental continuum that provides connected literacy experiences as an integral part of learning to communicate in a variety of ways. Students will experience a literate environment by engaging daily in speaking, listening, reading, and writing activities spanning all genres and curricular areas.

Speaking and Listening

Note: Many objectives for reading and writing relate directly to the area of listening and speaking. Such objectives have been included in the Reading and Writing sections and have NOT been duplicated here. The following objectives focus on listening and speaking for oral communication (speaking) and aural understanding (listening) with others. The state of Alaska has not developed Grade Level Expectations for Listening and Speaking.

Comprehension & Collaboration:

FNSBSD Core Learner Objectives

Using a gradual release of responsibility model, students will:

• Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with a variety of partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly:

  • • Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion

    • Follow rules for age appropriate discussions, set specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed

    • Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making comments that contribute to the topic, text, or issue under discussion

• Differentiate between contexts that call for standard English (e.g., presenting ideas) and situations where informal discourse is appropriate (e.g., small-group discussion)

• Listen and demonstrate understanding by responding appropriately (e.g., follow three-step directions, restate, clarify, question, summarize, elaborate formulating an opinion with supporting evidence, interpret verbal and nonverbal messages, note purpose and perspective, identify tone, mood, emotion)

• Evaluate whether a selection was intended to inform, persuade, or entertain

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas:

FNSBSD Core Learner Objectives

Using a gradual release of responsibility model, students will:

• • Capture listeners’ attention and stimulate interest by beginning with a strong lead/introduction

  • 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

  • Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, images, music, sound) and visual displays in presentations to clarify information

  • Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate

  • Speak clearly and audibly with expression in communicating ideas (e.g., effective rate, volume, pitch, tone, phrasing, tempo)

  • Demonstrate awareness of and sensitivity to the use of language associated with references about immutable characteristics, for instance, race, skin color, gender, age, disability, culture, or sexual orientation, of a group or to a specific individual

  • Restate, understand, and follow three-step oral directions

Writing

Genres and Purposes:

6+1 Trait Focus: Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Conventions, & Presentation

Alaska Grade Level Expectations (GLEs):

The student writes for a variety of purposes and audiences by:

• • [6] 2.2.2 Writing in a variety of nonfiction forms using appropriate information and structure (e.g., step-by-step directions, descriptions, observations, or report writing)*

  • [6] 2.2.3 Using expressive language when responding to literature or producing text (e.g., writer’s notebook, memoirs, poetry, plays, or lyrics)*(L)

FNSBSD Core Learner Objectives (GLEs are labeled as (ES)):

Using a gradual release of responsibility model, students will:

• Identify audience, purpose, and form for writing

• Produce personal writing (e.g., journals, personal experiences, eyewitness accounts, memoirs, literature responses)

• Produce narrative and formula poetry

• Produce traditional and imaginative stories

• Produce informational text (e.g., book reports, cause/effect reports, compare/contrast essays, observational/research reports, content area reports, biographies, historical fiction, summaries)

• Produce writing to persuade (e.g., essays, editorials, speeches, TV scripts, responses to various media)

• Write in response to reading

• Produce functional texts (e.g., newspaper and newsletter articles, e-mails, simple PowerPoint presentations, memos, agendas, bulletins, web pages)

• Analyze and respond to a test writing prompt that addresses the purpose, genre, and audience

• Recognize and produce the following genres: narrative, informative, opinion, five paragraph essay, friendly letters, business letters, and poetry (ES)

Research to Build & Present Knowledge (Research Skills):

6+1 Trait Focus: Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, & Conventions

Alaska Grade Level Expectations (GLEs):

The student documents sources by:

• [6] 2.5.1 Giving credit for others’ ideas, images, and information by citing title and source (e.g., author, storyteller, translator, songwriter or artist)*(L)

FNSBSD Core Learner Objectives (GLEs are labeled as (ES)):

Using a gradual release of responsibility model, students will:

• • • Participate in shared and independent research and writing projects

    • Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question

    • Ask questions and gather information on a topic

    • Take notes or make sketches to help remember and organize information (ES)

    • Cite sources used (ideas, images, etc.) (ES)

    • Synthesize relevant information while researching (ES)

Production & Distribution of Writing (Writing Process):

6+1 Trait Focus: Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Conventions, & Presentation

Alaska Grade Level Expectations (GLEs):

The student writes about a topic by:

• • [6] 2.1.1 Writing a story or composition of at least two paragraphs with a topic sentence (which may include a lead or hook), maintaining a focused idea, and including supporting details

  • [6] 2.1.3 Organizing and sequencing ideas logically to establish clear relationships within and between paragraphs (e.g., using transition words or phrases that reveal order or chronology, comparison/contrast) (L)

  • [6] 2.2.3 Using expressive language when responding to literature or producing text (e.g., writer’s notebook, memoirs, poetry, plays, or lyrics)*(L)

  • [6] 2.2.4 Using diagrams, charts or illustrations with captions or labels in research projects or extended reports (L)

  • [6] 2.3.1 Varying the beginnings, lengths, and patterns of sentences to improve flow and to enhance meaning of writing*

  • [6] 2.3.2 Identifying and/or correcting mistakes in spelling (e.g., grade-appropriate, high-frequency words, homophones, and contractions)*

The student revises writing by:

• • [6] 2.4.1 Rearranging and/or adding details to improve focus, to support main ideas, to clarify topic sentence, and to make sequence clear

  • [6] 2.4.2 Giving/receiving appropriate feedback and using established criteria to review own and others’ written work (e.g., peer conferences, checklists, scoring guides, or rubrics)*(L)

  • [6] 2.4.3 Combining sentences for fluency and selecting precise, descriptive words to improve the quality and effectiveness of writing (L)

  • [6] 2.3.4 Identifying and/or correcting mistakes in usage (e.g., subject/verb agreement, verb tense, sentence fragments and run-on sentences, possessives, and pronouns) (L)

FNSBSD Core Learner Objectives (GLEs are labeled as (ES)):

Using a gradual release of responsibility model, students will:

Writing Process

• Embedded in the teaching of writing is the use of the writing process and 6+1 Traitsâ analysis. Students will use the 6+1 TraitÒ Writing framework as developmentally appropriate, which includes: Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, and Conventions. Students at the end of 6^th Grade will be proficient with all steps of the writing process. 6th grade focus is improving peer editing skills. (ES)

Prewrite: Gather ideas and organize

• Generate ideas for writing by reading, discussing, researching, and reflecting on personal experiences

Draft: Composition and fluency

• • Select and narrow a topic from generated ideas

  • Write interesting topic sentences that include relevant information to develop cohesive paragraphs (ES)

  • Demonstrate the ability to maintain a focused topic

  • Use a variety of graphic organizers to organize information from multiple sources to develop a cohesive paragraph

  • Draft ideas on paper in an organized manner utilizing words, sentences, and multiple paragraphs (e.g., beginning, middle, end; main idea; details; characterization; setting; plot)

  • Use voice to fit the purpose and audience

  • Use strong verbs and precise and vivid language to convey meaning

  • Identify and use effective leads and strong endings

  • Write a minimum of five paragraphs that include an introduction, topic sentence, supporting details, and a conclusion (ES)

Revise: Change content for clarity and originality

• • Revise by elaborating and clarifying a written draft

  • Revise draft to add details, strengthen word choice, clarify main idea, and reorder content

  • Enhance fluency by using transitional words, phrases to connect ideas, and a variety of complete sentences and paragraphs to build ideas (e.g., varied sentence length, simple and compound sentences) (ES)

  • Rearrange details to improve written presentation

  • Add elaborations, definitions, explanations, and facts to support or describe the main ideas and develop the voice, mood, and tone of the writing (ES)

  • Organize paragraphs logically (ES)

  • Critique draft using a scoring rubric

  • Consider suggestions from others, revise and refine own writing

Edit: Correct mechanics, spelling, and format

• • Edit writing for correct capitalization and punctuation (i.e., introductory and dependent clauses, dialogue, singular and plural possessives)

  • Use a revising and editing checklist to edit work (ES)

  • Edit for spelling of grade level-appropriate words

Publish: Share work with an audience

• • See Presentation

  • Publish 4-8 individual products (a minimum of one per quarter)

Conventions of Standard English:

6+1 Trait Focus: Conventions, Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice & Sentence Fluency

Alaska Grade Level Expectations (GLEs):

The student writes and edits using conventions of Standard English by:

• • [6] 2.3.1 Varying the beginnings, lengths, and patterns of sentences to improve flow and to enhance meaning of writing*

  • [6] 2.3.2 Identifying and/or correcting mistakes in spelling (e.g., grade-appropriate, high-frequency words, homophones, and contractions)*

  • [6] 2.3.3 Identifying and/or correcting mistakes in punctuation (e.g., quotation marks for dialogue, commas in dates, salutations, and closings in letters , and commas in a series) and capitalization

  • [6] 2.3.4 Identifying and/or correcting mistakes in usage (e.g., subject/verb agreement, verb tense, sentence fragments and run-on sentences, possessives, and pronouns) (L)

FNSBSD Core Learner Objectives (GLEs are labeled as (ES)):

Using a gradual release of responsibility model, students will:

• • • Identify parts of speech to enhance sentence structure

    • Use a variety of sentence structures (simple, compound, complex, sentences with clauses) (ES)

    • Use different kinds of sentences: imperative, declarative, interrogative, and exclamatory

    • Identify correct usage (subject/verb agreement, verb tense, sentence fragments, run-on sentences)

    • Use correct capitalization, punctuation (e.g., introductory and dependent clauses, dialogue, singular and plural possessives) and paragraphing (ES)

    • Use apostrophes correctly with contraction and ownership (ES)

Word Study - Phonics, Spelling, & Vocabulary:

6+1 Trait Focus: Word Choice, Conventions, & Voice

Alaska Grade Level Expectations (GLEs):

• • [6] 2.3.2 Identifying and/or correcting mistakes in spelling (e.g., grade-appropriate, high-frequency words, homophones, and contractions)*

  • [6] 2.6.1 Looking up spelling or definitions of words in dictionaries or correcting misspellings using software programs, including choosing the correct spelling option among several choices (L)

FNSBSD Core Learner Objectives (GLEs are labeled as (ES)):

Using a gradual release of responsibility model, students will:

Spelling

• • Spell 6th Grade No Excuse Spelling Words correctly (ES) (see pg. 84)

  • Use knowledge of word families, patterns, syllabication, and common letter combinations to spell new words

  • Use knowledge of Greek and Latin roots and affixes to spell multi-syllable words

  • Spell an increasing number of high-frequency and irregular words correctly (e.g., straight, soldier, property, particular)

  • Use knowledge about spelling to predict the spelling of new words

  • Visualize words while writing

  • Spell homonyms correctly according to usage

Vocabulary

• Use multiple resources to enhance word choice (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses) (ES)

Presentation:

6+1 Trait Focus: Presentation

Alaska Grade Level Expectations (GLEs):

The student uses resources by:

• [6] 2.6.3 Writing with a word processor using formatting features to produce a final draft (L)

FNSBSD Core Learner Objectives (GLEs are labeled as (ES)):

Using a gradual release of responsibility model, students will:

• • Write using upper- and lower-case manuscript and cursive letters using proper form, proportions, and spacing

  • Increase fluency with cursive handwriting

  • Produce legible documents with manuscript or cursive handwriting (ES)

  • Use technology for publishing an essay that includes the use of pictures, graphs, etc. that enhance the topic (ES)

  • Use a word processor to produce and publish a piece of writing

  • Use a variety of formats in presentations with various forms of media (e.g., pictures, posters, charts, ads, newspapers, graphs, videos, slide shows)

  • Publish/share according to purpose and audience

  • Use appropriate formatting features (e.g., margins, indentations, titles, headings)

Attitude/Stamina:

Alaska Grade Level Expectations (GLEs):

• Not addressed through Alaska Grade Level Expectations

FNSBSD Core Learner Objectives (GLEs are labeled as (ES)):

Using a gradual release of responsibility model, students will:

• • • Build stamina to write independently for 30–45 minutes through participation in the writing process (ES)

    • Set quarterly personal goals for writing development with teacher support (ES)

    • Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences

Reading Literature*

Key Ideas & Details (KI):

1. Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Essential Vocabulary:

• Explicit

• Inference

2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; restate and summarize main ideas or events, in correct sequence, after reading a text.

Essential Vocabulary:

• Central Idea

• Subtopic

3. Describe how a particular story 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 or as the narrative advances.

Essential Vocabulary:

• Anecdote

• Elaborate

Craft & Structure (CS):

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.

Essential Vocabulary:

• Connotative Meaning

5. Analyze the overall structure of a text: how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall work and analyzing how it contributes to the development of the characters, theme, setting, or plot.

6. Determine author’s purpose and explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

FNSBSD Additional Objectives:

• Identify bias/propaganda by citing textual evidence.

Essential Vocabulary:

• Bias

• Convey

• Propaganda

Integration of Knowledge & Ideas (IK):

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 (e.g., Shiloh).

Essential Vocabulary:

• Coherent

8. (Not applicable to literature).

9. Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.

FNSBSD Additional Objectives:

• Self select reading for information and pleasure from a variety of genres.

• Set personal reading goals.

• Participate in self-selected reading of appropriate level extending beyond 30 minutes.

Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity (RR):

10. By the end of the year, read and comprehend a range of literature from a variety of cultures, within a complexity band appropriate to Grade 6 (from upper Grade 5 to Grade 7), with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Writing Standards*

Text Types & Purpose:

1. Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.

a. Introduce claim(s) and organize the reasons and evidence clearly.

b. Support claim(s) with clear reasons and accurate, relevant evidence, using credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.

c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to clarify the relationships among claim(s) and reasons.

d. Establish and maintain a formal style.

e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from the argument presented.

Essential Vocabulary:

• Claim

• Formal Style

2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

a. Introduce a topic; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

b. Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.

c. Use appropriate transitions to clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.

d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

e. Establish and maintain a formal style.

f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from the information or explanation presented.

Essential Vocabulary:

• Convey

• Domain-Specific Vocabulary

• Explanatory Text

• Informative Text

3. Use narrative writing to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.

a. Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.

b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

c. Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another.

d. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to convey experiences and events.

e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

Essential Vocabulary:

• Convey

• Engage

• Orient

• Pacing

• Precise

• Sequence

• Sensory

• Shift Signals

• Transition Words

Production and Distributing of Writing:

4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

FNSBSD Additional Objectives:

• Recognize and produce the following genres: letter writing (friendly and business, both letter and envelope), and poetry.

Essential Vocabulary:

• Audience

• Purpose

• Style

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. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1–3 up to and including Grade 6.)

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 create a piece of writing.

Essential Vocabulary:

• Collaborate

• Interact

Research to Build & Present Knowledge:

7. Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate.

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.

Essential Vocabulary:

• Credible

• Focus

• Plagiarism

• Relevant

9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

a. Apply Grade 6 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics”).

b. Apply Grade 6 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., “Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not”).

Range of Writing:

10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Language Standards*

Conventions of Standards English:

1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

a. Ensure that pronouns are in the proper case (subjective, objective, possessive).

b. Use intensive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves).

c. Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in pronoun number and person. *

d. Recognize and correct vague pronouns (i.e., ones with unclear or ambiguous antecedents). *

e. Recognize variations from standard English in their own and others' writing and speaking, and identify and use strategies to improve expression in conventional language. *

Essential Vocabulary:

• Antecedents

2.Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

a. Use punctuation (commas, parentheses, dashes) to set off nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements. *

b. Spell correctly.

Knowledge of Language:

3. Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

a. Vary sentence patterns for meaning, reader/listener interest, and style. *

b. Maintain consistency in style and tone. *

Essential Vocabulary:

• Style

• Tone

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.

a. Determine meaning of unfamiliar words by using knowledge of word structure (root words, prefixes, suffixes, abbreviations) and language structure through reading words in text (word order, grammar), context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

b. Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., audience, auditory, audible).

c. Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses and specialized reference materials), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning or its part of speech.

d. Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).

Essential Vocabulary:

• Affixes

• Context

• Function

• Infer

• Multiple-meaning words and phrases

• Reference Materials

• Tone

5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

a. Interpret the intent or meaning of figures of speech (e.g., personification, metaphors, alliteration) as used in context.

b. Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., cause/effect, part/whole, item/category) to better understand each of the words.

c. Distinguish among the connotations (associations) of words with similar denotations (definitions) (e.g., stingy, scrimping, economical, unwasteful, thrifty).

Essential Vocabulary:

• Alliteration

• Connotation

• Denotation

• Figurative Language

• Metaphor

• Nuance

• Personification

6. Acquire and accurately use grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

Essential Vocabulary:

• Academic Vocabulary

No Excuse Spelling Words are those words that students are expected to master in all aspects of their everyday writing at each grade level. All prior lists should be practiced at subsequent grade levels. These word lists are intended to be only one component of a comprehensive Word Study Program.

These grade level No Excuse Spelling Words were derived from Rebecca Sitton’s 1200 High-Frequency Writing Words; words that appear in 89% of everyday writing.