6th Grade
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.”
-Walt Disney
This language arts class is designed to build on your previous knowledge and increase communications skills through reading, writing, speaking, and the study of the English language. Our primary focus in language arts class will be mastery of different writing styles, demonstration of the rules of grammar, and the ability to understand and connect to messages and themes from our readings.
We will read a variety of fiction and non-fiction including novels, short stories, dramas, poetry, and essays. We will often make connections to what we are reading in our writing exercises. Writing assignments will include timed responses, essays, critiques, and creative pieces. Vocabulary, spelling, and grammar will be graded through our writing assignments, but we will also work on these areas through workbooks(Vocabulary Workshop) and bell work. Because we are a community of learners, please also expect to work periodically in group situations and to present information to your peers in groups or individually.
Please understand that at-home reading is expected and is a component of our course. You should be reading every night.
Class Description
At the End of This Course, Students Should:
- Analyze how chapters of a book, scenes of a play, or stanzas of a poem fit into the overall structure of the piece and contribute to the development of ideas or themes.- Evaluate the argument and specific claims in written materials or a speech, and distinguish claims that are supported by reasons and evidence.
- Write arguments that provide clear reasons and relevant evidence.
- Write brief essays that examine a topic, have a clear focus, and include relevant facts and details.
- Conduct short research projects to answer a question. Draw on several sources, and sharpen the focus based on the research findings.
- Review and paraphrase key ideas and multiple perspectives of a speaker.
- Recognize variations from standard English in his or her own and others’ writing and speaking, and use this knowledge to improve language use.
- Begin to determine the correct meaning of a word based on the context in which it is used.
Assigned Reading and Book Summaries
Aside from numerous short stories and independent reading books, we will also plan to read the following novels together as a class in 2023-24: The Outsiders by SE Hinton; And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie; The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros; and Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed.
Please note that this is the plan, but it may change as the year progresses. Any changes are at the teacher's discretion.
WAAS has a copy of each text for the students to borrow, but I do encourage each student and their family to consider buying their own copy of the books. It is so much easier to be a strong, active reader when you are able to mark in the book. This tremendously aids in building reading comprehension skills. Additionally, students will read some of these books again in high school and college. Having your own copy is not mandatory, just suggested. Keep in mind, though, that if you use WAAS's copy, you must take care of it, or you will have to replace it.
These reading selections will ask us to take a good look at our culture (past and present) and at our selves. I stand by my choice in selecting all of the novels, short stories, poems, and/or plays that we will read this year, but if you are honestly uncomfortable reading a text, please come to me immediately so that we can discuss it. I am including a brief summary of the texts listed above for families to have an understanding of what we will be gaining through reading and studying these texts.
Summaries are thanks to Amazon.com and Goodreads.com
The Outsiders
This novel is set in the 1960s and describes the conflict between two teenaged gangs, the Socs and the Greasers, or more appropriately described as the haves and the have nots. Pony Boy Curtis is the main character, and despite the fact that he spends most of the novel fighting against the Socs, he also realizes that the two groups have a lot more in common than they would prefer to admit.
Amal Unbound
Twelve-year-old Amal's dream of becoming a teacher one day is dashed in an instant when she accidentally insults a member of her Pakistani village's ruling family. As punishment for her behavior, she is forced to leave her heartbroken family behind and go work at their estate.
Amal is distraught but has faced setbacks before. So she summons her courage and begins navigating the complex rules of life as a servant, with all its attendant jealousies and pecking-order woes. Most troubling, though, is Amal's increasing awareness of the deadly measures the Khan family will go to in order to stay in control. It's clear that their hold over her village will never loosen as long as everyone is too afraid to challenge them--so if Amal is to have any chance of ensuring her loved ones' safety and winning back her freedom, she must find a way to work with the other servants to make it happen.
And Then There Were None
Ten people, each with something to hide and something to fear, are invited to a isolated mansion on Indian Island by a host who, surprisingly, fails to appear. On the island they are cut off from everything but each other and the inescapable shadows of their own past lives. One by one, the guests share the darkest secrets of their wicked pasts. And one by one, they die…
Which among them is the killer and will any of them survive?
The House on Mango Street
Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero.
Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous–it is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers.
