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How to learn Grade 6: English language arts

Washington academic standards: English language arts, Grade 6

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1. Language Standards

  1. Domain Vocabulary Across Subject Areas: Acquire and use accurately academic and domain-specific vocabulary relevant to grade-level topics, including words that signal precise meaning in informational texts across subject areas
  2. Vocabulary Strategies: Determine the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases using a flexible range of strategies — including context clues, Greek and Latin affixes and roots, reference materials, and verification of inferred meaning
  3. Academic Vocabulary: Acquire and use accurately a broad range of general academic vocabulary and domain-specific words — drawing new vocabulary from reading and listening and deploying it consciously in writing and speech to achieve particular effects
  4. Advanced Figurative Language: Understand and interpret figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meaning — including allusion, irony, pun, oxymoron, and extended metaphor — and distinguish between connotation and denotation when analysing or choosing words
  5. Standard English: Know and understand the differences between spoken and written language — including differences in formality, register, grammar, and vocabulary — and between Standard English and other varieties of English, using Standard English confidently in writing and speech

2. Speaking and Listening Standards

  1. Adapting Speech to Context: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation while adjusting tone, vocabulary, and style for different audiences
  2. Multimedia Presentations: Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes
  3. Listening and responding: Listen and respond appropriately to adults and peers; follow agreed-upon rules for discussion such as listening to others and taking turns speaking
  4. Evaluating a Speaker's Argument: Summarise the points a speaker makes and explain how each claim is supported by reasons and evidence, evaluating the logic and relevance of the support
  5. Summarising Spoken and Media Presentations: Summarise a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats including visually, quantitatively, and orally
  6. Group discussions: Participate actively in collaborative conversations staying on topic; continue a conversation through multiple exchanges; maintain attention in discussions

3. Writing Standards

  1. Writing for an audience: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organisation are appropriate to the task, purpose, and audience, maintaining a consistent style and structure throughout
  2. Literary Evidence in Writing: Draw evidence from literary texts to support analysis, reflection, and research in writing, applying grade-level reading standards to literature
  3. Evidence-Based Writing: Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research in writing, applying grade-level reading standards to non-fiction
  4. Short Research Projects: Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic, gather information from print and digital sources, and take brief organised notes
  5. Research & Note-Taking: Gather relevant information from print and digital sources, summarise or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a basic bibliography or list of sources
  6. Developed Informational and Explanatory Writing: Write informative and explanatory texts that examine a topic and convey ideas clearly — organising information logically with headings and formatting, developing the topic with relevant facts, definitions, details, and quotations, and using precise vocabulary
  7. Research & Source Evaluation: Summarise and organise material from reading and research — gathering relevant information from multiple sources, assessing credibility, integrating evidence without plagiarising, and supporting ideas with factual detail
  8. Sharing and Publishing Your Writing: Read own writing aloud clearly enough to be heard by peers and the teacher; use digital tools to produce and publish writing
  9. Planning, Revising and Editing Writing: Plan, revise, and edit writing to improve coherence and effectiveness — considering how the writing reflects its intended audience and purpose, amending vocabulary, grammar, and structure, and proofreading for accurate spelling, punctuation, and grammar
  10. Narrative Writing: Write narratives with developed settings, characters and plot, using dialogue and description to develop experiences and show character responses to situations
  11. Basic Informational Writing: Compose informative or explanatory texts that introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section
  12. Persuasive Writing: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence — including introducing claims, acknowledging counterclaims, organising reasons logically, maintaining a formal style, and providing a concluding statement

4. Reading Standards for Informational Text

  1. Wide Independent Reading Across Genres: Read widely and independently across fiction and non-fiction — including whole novels, short stories, plays, poetry, and non-fiction from different genres, periods, and cultures — building stamina, breadth, and personal taste as a reader
  2. Comparing Books: Make comparisons within and across books, identifying similarities and differences in themes, characters, settings, and authorial choices across multiple texts
  3. Using and Evaluating Textual Evidence: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of what a text says explicitly and what can be inferred, distinguishing between strong and weak evidence and explaining how the evidence supports a point
  4. Evaluating Arguments in Non-Fiction: Evaluate arguments and claims in non-fiction texts — assess whether reasoning is sound, evidence is relevant and sufficient, distinguish between fact and opinion, and recognise bias, propaganda, and rhetorical techniques
  5. Supporting ideas with evidence: Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which specific points
  6. Combining information from texts: Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably, combining and comparing what each source contributes
  7. Why the author wrote it: Distinguish one's own point of view from that of the author of an informational text and identify the author's purpose
  8. Analysing Text Structure: Analyse how a text's structure — including its overall organisation, use of chapters, stanzas, scenes, paragraphs, or sections — contributes to its meaning, style, and development of ideas
  9. Figurative Language and Literary Devices: Determine the meaning of figurative and connotative language in context, analyse the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, and identify literary devices such as metaphor, simile, personification, allusion, and irony
  10. Explaining Events & Ideas: Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in an informational text, including what happened and why, by citing specific textual evidence about causes, effects, and steps in a process
  11. Summarising Non-Fiction Main Ideas: Determine two or more main ideas of an informational text and explain how they are supported by key details, then summarise the text without personal opinions

5. Reading Standards for Literature

  1. Tracing Theme Across a Text: Determine and analyse the theme or central idea of a text, trace how it develops across the text through key details and events, and provide an objective summary distinct from personal opinion
  2. Critical comparison across texts: Make critical comparisons across texts — comparing themes, characters, settings, styles, or arguments in two or more works, including texts from different periods, genres, or cultures
  3. Text & Media Connections: Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions from the text
  4. Different viewpoints in texts: Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described, recognising the difference between limited and omniscient narration and how perspective shapes storytelling
  5. How Parts Build a Whole Text: Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a story, drama, or poem, analysing how each part contributes to the whole
  6. Plot Structure and Character Development: Analyse how plot structure unfolds through episodes or key events, and how characters develop, respond to challenges, and change over the course of a narrative — including the relationship between character, setting, and plot

6. Research and Media Literacy · Students make informed choices about how they will engage with media messages based on their personal and community experiences, values, and goals.

  1. Purpose, audience, and context: Identify the purpose, audience, and context of a text and use this knowledge to support comprehension — recognising how writing aimed at different audiences (academic, popular, persuasive) uses different conventions, register, and tone
  2. How Language Choices Affect the Reader: Evaluate how authors use language including figurative language, considering the impact of word choices, imagery, and literary devices on the reader

7. Research and Media Literacy · Students evaluate different parts of media messages when they’re looking for information that’s accurate.

  1. Multimedia elements in texts: Analyse how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text such as graphic novels, multimedia presentations, or illustrated editions of fiction and poetry
  2. Using Multiple Sources: Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or solve a problem efficiently
  3. Fact vs opinion: Distinguish between statements of fact and statements of opinion in texts, recognising how authors blend factual information with subjective viewpoints

8. Language · Students demonstrate understanding of figurative language, explore word relationships and distinguish shades of meaning in the context of sixth grade conversations and reading about experie

  1. Greek and Latin Roots for Word Meaning: Use knowledge of Greek and Latin affixes (prefixes and suffixes) and roots as clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words, building a bank of common roots and their meanings

9. Language · Students determine the meaning of and use new and multiple-meaning words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading, and being read to.

  1. Discussing and Questioning New Words: Ask and answer questions about unknown words in texts; discuss word meanings and link new vocabulary to words already known

10. Language · Students vary sentence patterns for meaning, clarity, and style in group and individual activities in the context of conversations and writing about experiences, events, and sixth grade con

  1. Advanced Punctuation for Clarity: Use punctuation confidently and accurately for effect and clarity — including semicolons to link related clauses, colons to introduce lists or explanations, dashes and parentheses for parenthetical information, ellipsis for omission or suspense, and commas for coordinate adjectives and nonrestrictive elements

11. Language · Students identify and discuss when and why language is used differently according to the setting.

  1. Dialects & Registers: Compare and contrast the varieties of English used in stories, dramas, or poems, including dialects and registers, understanding how language varies by region, context, and purpose

12. Speaking, Listening, and Digital Forums · Students listen, respond respectfully, and contribute during discussions.

  1. Building on Others in Discussions: Pose and respond to specific questions in discussions, making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others

13. Reading · Students use texts they have read for purposes relevant to them.

  1. Justifying Views About Texts: Provide reasoned justifications for views about texts, supporting interpretations and opinions with evidence and logical arguments

14. Reading · Students read with accuracy and fluency.

  1. Reading with Expression and Accuracy: Read aloud with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression (prosody), re-reading familiar texts to build fluency and confidence, and using context to self-correct