Your sixth-grader will be reading more challenging material, including history/social studies and science, and developing critical analysis skills. He or she will be writing for a variety of reasons. Throughout the sixth grade, your student will practice and refine key skills that further the development of college and career readiness.
Reading Literature
- Provide objective summaries of reading materials.
- Determine the central theme of a text, through explicit and inferred evidence from the text.
- Analyze the impact of a particular word, chapter, scene, etc. on the overall meaning of a text.
- Compare and contrast how different types of content (for example, poems vs. novels) and different mediums of content (for example, text vs. video) approach similar themes to convey similar or varying messages.
Reading Informational Text
- Use examples to assess how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced and elaborated in a text.
- Determine figurative, connotative, and technical meanings of words based on surrounding context.
- Organize information presented in different formats (for example, words and charts) to develop a coherent understanding of a topic.
- Evaluate arguments and distinguish claims supported by evidence from claims with no evidence.
Writing
- Introduce and support arguments by using credible sources, relevant evidence, and clear reasoning.
- Organize, develop, and transition through the relationships among different ideas and concepts.
- Compose narratives using dialogues and structured event sequences to develop characters and storylines.
- Use technology, including the Internet and computers, to produce and publish/print writing.
- Research and gather information from multiple print and digital sources to support analyses of arguments and claims.
- Example 6th Grade Essays
- MLA FORMATTING
Speaking and Listening
- Engage in and contribute to a range of collaborative work, including but not limited to peer-to-peer, group, and teacher-led discussions.
- Present and speak to findings, using relevant evidence in the form of visuals or other media to clarify information and supporting arguments.
Key Developments:
Questions to ask your student:
- Identifying specific arguments within a text, as well as the evidence that supports the claims.
- Determining the intent of a text, based on explicit and implied meanings.
- Researching and organizing different types of information into a coherent understanding.
- Presenting arguments and findings with the aid of different media to support and clarify claims.
Questions to ask your student:
- Why do you think the author chose those specific words?
- How did the examples help solidify the author’s arguments?
- Where else can you look for related information to the topic?
- What events were happening around the time the text was written?
- Listen to a debate with your child. Ask your child how the presenters used different words, tones, evidence, and expressions to justify each claim.
- Create a “word of the week” game. Each week, pick a word that fits with your child’s reading level. Encourage your child to use the word in creative ways, including poems, songs, and stories. If you want, you can also set up a reward system every time your child completes a new “word of the week” assignment