Overview

Writing | Reading | Grammar | Vocabulary

Sixth grade students study stories, novels, and plays from a broad historical and cultural range. The content themes throughout the year are intended to reflect and complement the Social Studies curriculum in World Cultures.

Students will be able to produce expressive and imaginative writings (stories, journals, and poetry) as well as summaries and reviews by using a variety of writing strategies. In the process of writing to understand the themes presented in the course, students will hone language skills and improve grammatical correctness.

• Introduce effective pre-writing and organizational techniques.
• Introduce identification and elimination of run-on sentences and fragments.
• Develop strategies for writing effective introductions and conclusions to stories.
• Introduce the correct way to cite examples from the text to support assertions.
• Develop the use of similes, metaphors, personification, foreshadowing, and imagery.
• Introduce strategies for appropriate character development.
• Develop rich descriptive writing by using vivid, concise vocabulary.
• Develop the technique of delineating/explaining themes.
• Develop the awareness of clarity and coherence.
• Introduce strategies in writing to maintain reader interest.
• Introduce the methods of writing clear responses to open-ended, personal reflection questions.
• Develop the craft of writing effective responses to text-based questions.
• Develop the craft of writing effective responses to text analysis questions.
• Introduce the elements of paraphrase.
• Introduce the elements of summary.
• Introduce the elements of the book review.
• Introduce correct documentation of outside sources.

• Response to discussion and study questions
• Descriptive paragraphs
• Myths
• Story continuation/missing chapter
• Poetry
• Book reviews

Assessment Methods

• Peer review of writing
• Graded rubrics evaluating specific writing skills

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Students will be able to identify the structures and images of myths and the symbolism that recurs in literature and culture through the ages.

Students will begin to develop critical and analytical reading skills by looking for implications of meaning, tolerance of ambiguity, and open-ended interpretation of theme and symbolism.

Students will be able to read stories, myths, and novels closely and to discuss them articulately, making personal and literary connections. Students will be able to cite examples from the texts to support their assertions.

• Reinforce reading comprehension (finding the main idea, identifying facts, following sequences, drawing conclusions, and making assumptions).
• Introduce the process of a "close reading."
• Introduce annotation (make and use book notes).
• Develop verbal expression of comprehension and analysis.
• Understand and identify conflicts.
• Identify and explain themes.
• Delineate character traits and motivations.
• Understand and identify the following literary devices: simile, metaphor, personification, foreshadowing, imagery, dialogue, and irony.
• Relate reading to broader course themes.

• Summer reading:

All students are required to read Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry during the summer prior to entering the sixth grade, in addition to one other book of their choice from the sixth-grade section of the Cary Academy Middle School Summer Reading Booklet.

• Core readings: Teachers choose from the following list:

  • The Well of Sacrifice by Chris Eboch

  • The Giver by Lois Lowry

  • Ghost in the Tokaido Inn by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler

  • Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang

  • Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher

  • Junior Great Books Grade 6

• Book reviews
• Objective tests
• Study and discussion questions
• Class discussion
• Group presentations

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Students will be able to recognize the parts of speech; to write complete sentences using correct punctuation; to correct run-on sentences, fragments, and the incorrect use of homophones; and to proofread and edit their own work.

• Review parts of speech.
• Review the proper use of basic punctuation.
• Introduce effective strategies for proofreading and editing.
• Develop techniques to recognize and to correct run-on sentences and sentence fragments.
• Introduce the correct use of homonyms and homophones.
• Introduce the correct use of quotation marks in the writing of dialogue.
• Introduce correct use of apostrophes and conjunctions
• Introduce the proper citation of sources.

• Grammar and Language Workbook by Glencoe McGraw-Hill

• Objective tests
• Writing projects evaluated using rubric for grammatical correctness
• Peer and teacher review of drafts

Students will acquire new vocabulary based on classical roots, allowing them to use their knowledge of word roots to identify other classical root-based words in context.

• Gain recognition of classical roots.
• Use new vocabulary in writing projects and in speech.

• Building Vocabulary Skills by Townsend Press

• Objective quizzes
• Writing Projects

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