Long Beach Middle School

English Language Arts Department

Grade 6

Students will develop the language skills needed to pursue life goals, personal achievement, and participation as informed members of society.  Students will be prepared to communicate effectively to meet the diverse literacy demands they will face in their futures.  The reading program includes drama, novels, short stories, non-fiction, poetry, and informational text, and students are required to choose texts to read independently.
 
The New York State English Language Arts Assessment will be administered to all students.  This exam includes critical reading and short and extended writing tasks.
 
Units of Study

• Launching the Reading and Writing Workshop
• Literary Analysis:  Explore story elements, the concept of theme, and how an author develops a work.
• Argument:  Reading and writing to explore and create arguments
• Test as Genre:  Identify themes across texts, write comparative essays, cite textual evidence, understand the demands of one-draft writing and multiple choice questions
• Research:  Write from sources to read-to-learn across a collection of related texts

 
Outcomes for students in sixth grade:
Reading:

• Cite textual examples of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text
• Determine how major ideas are developed throughout the text
• Understand author’s craft and how authors create meaning
• Determine the meaning of new words by using context clues
• Analyze how a works format and structure is related to a text’s meaning
• Compare and contrast texts on similar topics or with similar themes (fiction and non-fiction)

 
Writing:

• Write arguments and support their claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence
• Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information
• Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences
• Research topics using multiple print and digital sources
• Develop editing and revision skills
• (This information for reading and writing standards is adapted from the Common Core Standards documents found at http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy)

 
Sources for grades:

    Writing:  Process and Product Scores
    Class participation
    Independent and group work
    Rubrics and checklists
    Independent Reading Activities
    Reading responses
    Notebooks
    Projects
    Homework
    Skills Tests

 
 
Curriculum approach used:

    Whole-class instruction
    Small-group work
    Workshops that require individual and small-group collaborations
    Team projects and inter-disciplinary connections
    Literature Circles: small group reading groups