6th Grade ELA (Alaska Standards)

Reading Standards for Literature

• RL.6.1 Cite text evidence to support analysis of what a text says explicitly and of inferences drawn from it.
• RL.6.2 Find a theme or central idea from details and retell or summarize events in order.
• RL.6.3 Describe how a plot unfolds in episodes and how characters respond or change as it moves to a resolution.
• RL.6.4 Work out figurative and connotative meanings and analyze how word choice affects meaning and tone.
• RL.6.5 Analyze how a sentence, chapter, scene or stanza fits into a text's structure and develops theme, setting or plot.
• RL.6.6 Find the author's purpose and explain how the narrator's or speaker's point of view is developed.
• RL.6.7 Compare and contrast reading a text with listening to or watching an audio, video or live version of it.
• RL.6.9 Compare how texts of different forms or genres handle similar themes and topics.
• RL.6.10 By year's end, read literature from many cultures in the grades 5–7 complexity range, with support at the high end.

Reading Standards for Informational Text

• RI.6.1 Cite text evidence to support analysis of what an informational text says explicitly and of inferences.
• RI.6.2 Trace the central idea and subtopics through details and summarize, in order where needed.
• RI.6.3 Analyze in detail how a key person, event or idea is introduced, illustrated and developed.
• RI.6.4 Work out figurative, connotative and technical meanings of words and phrases in a text.
• RI.6.5 Analyze how a sentence, paragraph, chapter or section fits into a text's structure and develops its ideas.
• RI.6.6 Find the author's purpose (inform, persuade, entertain, critique) and point of view and explain how they are conveyed.
• RI.6.7 Combine information from media such as podcasts, visuals and data with the words to understand a topic.
• RI.6.8 Trace and evaluate an argument and its specific claims, telling supported claims from unsupported ones.
• RI.6.9 Compare how two authors present the same events.
• RI.6.10 By year's end, read literary nonfiction in the grades 5–7 complexity range, with support at the high end.

Writing Standards

• W.6.1 Write arguments that back claims with clear reasons and fitting evidence.
  • a. Introduce claims and organize reasons and evidence clearly.
  • b. Support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence from credible sources.
  • c. Use words, phrases and clauses to clarify links between claims and reasons.
  • d. Set up and keep a formal style.
  • e. End with a conclusion that follows from the argument.
• W.6.2 Write informative texts that explore a topic by choosing, organizing and analyzing information.
  • a. Introduce a topic and organize ideas using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison and cause/effect, with formatting or media if useful.
  • b. Build up the topic with facts, definitions, specific details, quotations or examples.
  • c. Use suitable transitions to clarify relationships among ideas.
  • d. Use precise language and subject vocabulary.
  • e. Set up and keep a formal style.
  • f. End with a conclusion that follows from the information.
• W.6.3 Write narratives of real or imagined experiences with effective technique, relevant details and clear sequence.
  • a. Engage the reader with a context, point of view and narrator or characters, and order events naturally.
  • b. Build events and characters with dialogue, pacing and description.
  • c. Use a variety of transitions to show sequence and shifts in time or setting.
  • d. Use precise words, relevant details and sensory language.
  • e. End with a conclusion that follows from the events.
• W.6.4 Produce clear, coherent writing whose development, organization and style suit the task, purpose and audience.
• W.6.5 With help from classmates and adults, improve writing by planning, revising, editing, rewriting or trying something new.
• W.6.6 Use technology and the internet to produce, publish and collaborate on writing, with good keyboarding skills.
• W.6.7 Carry out short research to answer a question, using several sources and changing focus when needed.
• W.6.8 Gather information from several print and digital sources, judge credibility, quote or paraphrase without plagiarism and cite sources.
• W.6.9 Use evidence from literature or informational texts to back up analysis, reflection and research.
  • a. Apply grade 6 reading standards to literature in writing.
  • b. Use the grade 6 informational reading skills when writing about nonfiction.
• W.6.10 Write often, in long projects and short sittings, for many tasks, purposes and readers.

Speaking and Listening Standards

• SL.6.1 Take part well in many kinds of discussions with different partners about grade 6 topics and texts.
  • a. Come prepared and refer to evidence on the topic to explore ideas.
  • b. Follow discussion norms (turn-taking, paraphrasing, respect), set goals and deadlines and define roles.
  • c. Ask and answer specific questions with elaboration and detail that add to the discussion.
  • d. Review key ideas and show understanding of different perspectives through reflection and paraphrase.
• SL.6.2 Interpret information from podcasts and visual, numerical and oral formats and explain what each adds.
• SL.6.3 Outline a speaker's argument and claims, telling supported claims from unsupported ones.
• SL.6.4 Present claims and findings in a logical order with relevant details, using eye contact, volume and clear pronunciation.
• SL.6.5 Use multimedia and visuals in presentations to make information clearer.
• SL.6.6 Adapt speech to different contexts and tasks, using formal English when suitable.

Language Standards

• L.6.1 Use correct standard English grammar when speaking and writing.
  • a. Use pronouns in the right case (subjective, objective, possessive).
  • b. Use intensive pronouns (e.g. myself, ourselves).
  • c. Recognize and fix inappropriate shifts in pronoun number and person.
  • d. Recognize and fix vague pronouns.
  • e. Recognize variations from standard English in one's own and others' writing and speaking, and improve expression.
• L.6.2 Show command of capitalization, punctuation and spelling when writing.
  • a. Use commas, parentheses or dashes to set off nonrestrictive or parenthetical elements.
  • b. Spell correctly.
• L.6.3 Apply what is known about language and its rules in writing, speaking, reading and listening.
  • a. Vary sentence patterns for meaning, reader interest and style.
  • b. Keep style and tone consistent.
• L.6.4 Work out unknown and multiple-meaning words using a range of strategies.
  • a. Use roots, prefixes, suffixes, grammar and context as clues to meaning.
  • b. Use familiar Greek and Latin word parts (roots, prefixes, suffixes) as meaning clues.
  • c. Use print and digital references to find pronunciation, precise meaning or part of speech.
  • d. Check a first guess at a word's meaning (e.g. in context or a dictionary).
• L.6.5 Understand figurative language, how words relate and fine shades of meaning.
  • a. Interpret figures of speech such as personification, metaphor and alliteration in context.
  • b. Use relationships between words (cause/effect, part/whole, item/category) to understand each better.
  • c. Tell apart connotations of words with similar definitions (e.g. thrifty, stingy, economical).
• L.6.6 Learn and use grade-level general academic and subject-specific words, gathering vocabulary knowledge when needed.