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 (With Book Summaries)
Aside from numerous short stories, articles, poems, TED talks and videos, and independent reading books, we will also plan to read the following novels together as a class in 2026-27: The Outsiders by SE Hinton, I Will Always Write Back by Martin Ganda and Caitlin Alifirenka, Beowulf, The Adventures of Ulysses by Bernard Evslin, The Crossover by Kwame Alexander, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and Wonder by RJ Palacio if time permits.
In addition, the whole middle school will read Project Hail Mary. We will combine ELA and science lessons, and hopefully be able to integrate Explorations as well.
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 encourage each student and their family to consider buying their own copy of the books. It is 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 world and culture (past and present) and at ourselves. 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. For further information about the texts, I suggest websites like Commonsensemedia.org or Goodreads.com. Should you have questions or reservations about any selections due to content, please contact me no later than August 27th. It is never my intention to have students read texts that cause them pain or conflict; however, I stand by each of my choices for the positive, powerful, and significant takeaways that come from reading and discussing these texts. Should a separate text need to be selected for your child, I need notice by 8/27/26 in order to best prepare.
Summaries are thanks to Amazon.com and Goodreads.com
The Outsiders (classic)
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.
I Will Always Write Back (nonfiction)
"It started as an assignment. Caitlin had never even heard of Zimbabwe when everyone in her class was told to write a letter to an unknown student in a distant place. Excited for the first time about homework, she went home that night and wrote about her favorite color and what sports she played, and asked her mystery pen-pal about life in Zimbabwe.
Martin had never heard of Pennsylvania when he read Caitlin’s letter. He was lucky to even receive a pen-pal letter—his class only received ten letters for fifty kids! But as the top student, he got the first one. He wrote Caitlin back, talking about his siblings and soccer and saying he hoped she wrote again.
These letters were the beginning of a correspondence that spanned six years and changed two lives. In this compelling dual memoir, Caitlin and Martin recount how they became best friends—and better people—through their inspiring long-distance exchange." (summary from Amazon.com)
Beowulf (Epic poem/ graphic novel)
"This exhilarating graphic-novel edition of an ancient classic honors the spirit of the original as it attracts modern readers.
The epic tale of the great warrior Beowulf has thrilled readers through the ages — and has been reinvented for a new generation with Gareth Hinds’s masterful illustrations. Grendel’s black blood runs thick as Beowulf defeats the monster and his hideous mother, while somber hues overcast the hero’s final, fatal battle against a raging dragon. Speeches filled with courage and sadness, lightning-paced contests of muscle and will, and funeral boats burning on the fjords are all rendered in glorious and gruesome detail. Told for more than a thousand years, Beowulf’s heroic saga finds a true home in this graphic-novel edition." (summary from Amazon.com)
The Adventures of Ulysses (epic poem retold)
The legendary adventures of the Greek king’s epic journey come to life in a modern retelling of The Odyssey that’s “an unmitigated delight” (School Library Journal).
In their ten-year siege of Troy, the Greeks claim victory thanks to the cunning wit of Ulysses, King of Ithaca, who devised the infamous Trojan Horse. Now, with the epic war finally finished, Ulysses sets sail for home—but his journey will be long and arduous. Having angered Poseidon, god of the sea, Ulysses and his men are thrown off course by a raging storm and forced to wander the perilous world for another ten years.
On his epic trek, Ulysses must match wits and strength with man-eating Sirens, a towering Cyclops, the witch-goddess Circe, and a slew of other deadly foes. Meanwhile, in Ithaca, his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, contend with a rowdy mob of suitors who have taken over their home in an attempt to usurp the absent ruler’s place. (Summary from Amazon.com)
Wonder (contemporary)- if time permits
"I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.
August Pullman was born with a facial difference that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. Starting fifth grade at Beecher Prep, Auggie wants nothing more than to be treated like everybody else—but his new classmates can’t get past the way he looks.
Beginning from Auggie’s point of view and expanding to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others, the perspectives converge to form a portrait of one community’s struggle to live up to its values.
R. J. Palacio has called her debut novel “a meditation on kindness”—indeed, every reader will come away with a greater appreciation for the simple courage of friendship. Auggie is a hero to remember who proves that you can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.
“A beautiful, funny, and sometimes sob-making story of quiet transformation.”—The Wall Street Journal" (Summary from Amazon.com)
The Crossover (novel in verse)
"A beautifully measured novel of life and line."—The New York Times Book Review "With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . .The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. Cuz tonight I’m delivering," announces dread-locked, 12-year old Josh Bell. He and his twin brother Jordan are awesome on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood, he's got mad beats, too, that tell his family's story in verse, in this fast and furious middle grade novel of family and brotherhood from Kwame Alexander.
Josh and Jordan must come to grips with growing up on and off the court to realize breaking the rules comes at a terrible price, as their story's heart-stopping climax proves a game-changer for the entire family.
Project Hail Mary (science fiction)
"Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.
All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.
Or does he?
Hailed by USA Today as “an epic story of redemption, discovery, and cool speculative sci-fi,” Project Hail Mary is an irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could deliver." (summary from Amazon.com)
The Hunger Games (dystopian)
Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. . . .
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
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Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
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