6th Grade English Arts

Avon Lake City Schools

Curriculum Framework

English 6 and English 6+

Course Overview:

6th grade English Language Arts engages students in a wide range of experiences to build students’ reading, writing, vocabulary, and grammar skills. Students in the ELA 6 class read various texts, focusing on analyzing text structure and communicating text comprehension through well-constructed written pieces. Students write routinely over extended and shorter periods for various purposes and audiences. They focus on writing three main forms of texts: narrative, informational, and argumentative. Students organize their writing into clear and coherent text by developing a thesis statement and supporting claims. A main focus in sixth grade is finding text evidence within reading and writing passages. English 6+ students move at an accelerated pace and analyze more challenging works with greater independence.

Textbook (Title and Publishing Company):

Amplify ELA

Online/Supplemental Materials:

Quill.org

Assessments:

Ohio State Test
NWEA MAP Growth
Amplify ELA Unit Assessments & Essays

Content/Topics/Learning Goals

Subject to Pacing and Schedules

1st Quarter

Dahl & Narrative Unit

Core text - Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl
Skills and Content:
- Topic & Theme: The impression of a moment
- Reading: Observe how an author creates a character
- Writing: Focus on a moment in the text and develop a unique perspective about it
- Activity Highlights: Respond with constructive comments to peers' writing
- Text Features: Memoir with vivid descriptions and 20th-century British slang

Mysteries & Investigations Unit

Core text - The Secret of the Yellow Death: A True Story of Medical Sleuthing by Suzanne Jurmain of Medical Sleuthing by Suzanne Jurmain
Skills and Content:
- Topic & Theme: Reading like an investigator
- Reading: Assess the credibility of evidence used to support conclusions
- Writing: Explain which trait is most useful to problem-solving investigators
- Activity Highlights: Use an app to identify, organize, and evaluate claims and supporting evidence
- Text Features: Narrative nonfiction of scientific discoveries, detective stories, inductive reasoning

2nd Quarter

Continue Mysteries & Investigations Unit

The Chocolate Collection Unit

Core text - The Chocolate Collection
- students explore primary documents and conduct independent research
Skills and Content:
- Topic & Theme: Facts and stories about chocolate through the ages
- Reading: Identify various sources’ perspectives on a topic
- Writing: Synthesize information from several sources to develop an argument
- Activity Highlights: Scavenger hunts, debate, internet research, and media project
- Text Features: Primary and secondary source materials, varied topics and perspective

3rd Quarter

The Greeks Unit

Core text - Greek myths
- "Prometheus" from Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin
- "Daedalus" from Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin
- "Demeter" from Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin
- Excerpts from The Odyssey by Homer, translated by E.V. Rieu
Skills and Content:
- Topic & Theme: Man vs. gods in ancient Greece
- Reading: Analyze what symbolic characters show about human nature
- Writing: Write about the development of a shared theme in two texts
- Activity Highlights: Myth World Quest, write original interpretations of ancient myths
- Text Features: Modern prose retellings of myths and translation of ancient narrative poem

Summer of the Mariposas Unit

Core text - Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Skills and Content:
- Topic & Theme: The hero's journey through Aztec mythology
- Reading: Trace a character's arc from the beginning of a novel to the end
- Writing: Analyze how character traits assist a heroic character on their journey
- Activity Highlights: Fishbowl discussions, presentations of research on Aztec mythology
- Text Features: Latinx YA novel, incorporates magical realism, Aztec mythology, hero's journey