Reading/English Language Arts in Grade 6
In grade 6, students apply skills they learned in earlier grades to make sense of longer, challenging texts. They identify ways in which authors try to influence readers and find facts in the text to support their ideas.
Grade 6 students learn more complex vocabulary words, which they use to write stories, reports, and essays and make well-organized speeches. They know and use English language conventions, including more complex sentences. Students also apply their skills to research projects. They locate and evaluate information from a variety of sources, such as books and the Internet.
TOPICS COVERED
Reading/English language arts standards cover the following eight topics, or strands. Expectations for what a child should be able to do increase from one grade to the next.
• Using and understanding spoken words (Language Development)
• Moving from spoken language to print (Beginning Reading)
• Getting facts from books and other writing (Informational Text)
• Learning from and enjoying stories, poems, and plays (Literary Text)
• Using materials to find out information (Research)
• Using written words to share information, ideas, and feelings (Writing)
• Getting information from television, film, Internet, or videos (Media)
• Knowing how to spell and use grammar correctly (English Language Conventions)
WHAT YOUR CHILD SHOULD KNOW
BY THE END OF GRADE 6, YOUR CHILD SHOULD KNOW AND BE ABLE TO PERFORM THESE SKILLS:
1. Identify and use organizational structures in text. These structures include chronological order, cause and effect, logical order, and classification schemes.
2. Describe incidents that advance the plot in a story or novel. Explain how each incident leads to the next or suggests a future event.
3. Determine the meaning of figurative language, including similes (e.g., “hard as a rock”), metaphors (e.g., “it’s a dog’s life”), personification (e.g., “old man winter”), and grade-appropriate idioms (e.g., “the test was a piece of cake”)
4. Identify and use simple sentences (e.g., “They finally read the book.”) and compound sentences (e.g., “They finally read the book, or so I thought.”).
5. Give oral presentations, such as speeches, that are focused and organized and that have a point of view. Presentations should match purpose, message, and occasion to the audience.
6. Write stories that demonstrate careful placement of details describing setting, characters, and events.
7. Write essays that support a position with organized and relevant evidence.
8. Get information from a variety of sources. Organize information, document sources, and present research in individual and group projects.
HOME ACTIVITIES
1. Encourage your child to read books that explore new interests. Grade 6 students enjoy A Hero Ain’t Nothin but a Sandwich, by Alice Childress; The Friends, by Rosa Guy; and A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle.
2. Watch the news together. Ask your child to summarize a story and explain why the story was important.
3. Ask your child to write a story on what political life was like in this country 40 years ago as compared to current political activity. Invite your child to explore several sources, such as the public library, newspapers, and the Internet.
4. Listen to a political speech together. Talk about the ways the speaker tried to win approval.
Grade 6 Reading Course Outline
Sixth Grade English/Language Arts Worksheets
Analogies
- worksheet 2
Analogies
- worksheet 3
Synonym
Sleuth
Blues
and Folk Music Workshop -
reading comprehension, standardized test practice, AIMS practice
worksheet.
History Worksheets
You
Know the Answer #3 Candidates
-
grades 4-6 math and social studies
Independence
Day writing activity
Women
of the Revolutionary War
-
puzzle and activity
Native
American Pottery
-
coloring and visual perception
Flag
Facts
Family
Shield