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 2025-26: The Outsiders by SE Hinton, I Will Always Write Back by Martin Ganda and Caitlin Alifirenka, Nothing but the Truth by Avi, Beowulf, The Adventures of Ulysses by Bernard Evslin, and The Giver by Lois Lowry (if time permits, we will also read The Crossover by Kwame Alexander).
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 September 15th. 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 9/15/25 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)
The Giver (dystopian)
"In Lois Lowry’s Newbery Medal–winning classic, twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a seemingly ideal world. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver does he begin to understand the dark secrets behind his fragile community.
Life in the community where Jonas lives is idyllic. Designated birthmothers produce newchildren, who are assigned to appropriate family units. Citizens are assigned their partners and their jobs. No one thinks to ask questions. Everyone obeys. Everyone is the same. Except Jonas.
Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. Gradually Jonas learns that power lies in feelings. But when his own power is put to the test—when he must try to save someone he loves—he may not be ready. Is it too soon? Or too late?
Told with deceptive simplicity, this is the provocative story of a boy who experiences something incredible and undertakes something impossible. In the telling it questions every value we have taken for granted and reexamines our most deeply held beliefs.
The Giver has become one of the most influential novels of our time."
Nothing but the Truth (documentary novel)
In this thought-provoking examination of freedom, patriotism, and respect, ninth grader Philip Malloy is kept from joining the track team by his failing grades in English class. Convinced that the teacher just doesn't like him, Philip concocts a plan to get transferred out of her class. Breaking the school's policy of silence during the national anthem, he hums along, and ends up in a crisis at the center of the nation's attention. (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.