Mission for 6th Grade Language Arts: In 6th Grade Language Arts we will be working on becoming better readers and writers together. Students will work on building reading skills through four core novels this year (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, The Great Fire, and Freak the Mighty). Students will build their writing skills by learning how to write well-developed paragraphs and informational essays as well as narrative stories and literary essays. We will also work on grammar by learning the parts of speech, commas, and apostrophes. We will work on vocabulary and spelling through reading literature and working on various vocabulary activities. I hope to develop projects and assignments that are enjoyable and help build skills in a successful way
Unit 1 – Plot and Author's Craft (Fantasy)
Core Literature: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Tuck Everlasting
Essential Questions:
What intentional choices do authors make while writing?
How do an author's choices around craft and structure help convey their meaning and our understanding of events, characters, and situations?
How do story elements (setting, characters, plot) interact and impact one another?
Understandings: Students will understand how an author draws a reader in and creates a captivating story/characters.
Writing and Grammar: Narrative writing (fantasy stories), well-written paragraphs with detail, and writing techniques (metaphor, simile, etc).
Unit 2 – Greek Mythology
Core Literature: Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief
Essential Questions:
How are Greek myths represented in our culture today?
What can we learn about human nature from Greek mythology?
Understandings: Students will understand the main concepts of Greek mythology and explore the remnants of mythology that persist throughout our modern culture.
Writing and Grammar: Narrative writing (mythological stories), well-written paragraphs with detail, and parts of speech.
Unit 3 – Reading to Learn (Nonfiction)
Core Literature: The Great Fire
Essential Questions:
What text structures and features do authors of nonfiction use to convey information to readers?
What strategies do readers use to gather information and develop their knowledge/understanding of the world?
How do readers assess the credibility of a text and determine an author’s point of view?
Understandings: Students will understand how to gather information and develop knowledge of the world through reading. They will understand that not all informational text is reliable and must be checked for credibility and accuracy.
Writing and Grammar: Informational writing and quoting/citing evidence.
Unit 4 – Making A Good Story
Core Literature: Freak the Mighty
Essential Questions:
How does an author create interesting and relatable dynamic characters?
How do authors create texts that reflect and reveal the thoughts, actions, dilemmas, and themes/realities of human beings and the world?
How can I use this as a model for my own writing?
Understandings: Students will understand how an author develops relatable and dynamic characters that we connect with and root for.
Writing and Grammar: Literary writing, commas, and apostrophes.