6th Grade Units
Unit 1: Friendship and Belonging--Elements of Fiction
Students will choose from several titles and participate in an independent reading book completing a close study of the character's sense of belonging. Throughout the unit, students will develop their analysis skills by diving deeper into the elements of fictional writing: character, setting, plot, and theme. The summative assessment will have students apply their reading skills on a short story. They will also complete a creative project about their independent reading book.
Unit 2: Finding Your Voice--Informational Reading Skills
Students will deepen their informational reading skills by studying how author's use text features, structure, and purpose to develop a central idea. They will explore a variety of short informational texts as well as participate in reading the literary non-fiction memoir, I Am Malala. The summative assessment will allow students to find their own voice on a topic of interest and use the skills learned to craft an article that will showcase their knowledge.
Unit 3: Perseverance and Loyalty--Deepening Literary Analysis Skills
Students will participate in a whole class reading of Where the Red Fern Grows. Throughout this unit, students will deepen their literary analysis skills as they study author's craft, particularly the use of flashback, suspense, and symbolism. This shared reading allows the class to develop strong discussion skills around a beloved story. The summative assessment is a literary analysis essay on a topic of choice.
Unit 4: The Art of Argument
Students will study the art of crafting effective arguments. They will practice debating and then choose a topic to research and debate.
Unit 5: Test Taking Strategies
In this mini unit, students will study a variety of test-taking strategies in preparation for SBAC and other standardized assessments.
Unit 6: Understanding Multiple Perspectives--A Study of Wicked
Students will read the play Wicked. The goal of the unit is to introduce students to reading and interpreting a play. The play is read aloud in class and clips from a variety of productions are shown for students to compare and contrast to the written version.
Unit 7: Poetry
Students will end the year with a short unit allowing them the chance to explore and craft their own poems in a variety of styles and formats.