6th Grade ELA (Arizona ELA Standards)

Reading Standards for Literature

• 6.RL.1 Cite text evidence to support analysis of what a text says explicitly and of inferences drawn from it.
• 6.RL.2 Find a text's theme or central idea and how details convey it; summarize without personal opinions.
• 6.RL.3 Describe how a plot unfolds in episodes and how characters respond or change as it moves to a resolution.
• 6.RL.4 Work out figurative and connotative meanings and analyze how word choice affects meaning and tone.
• 6.RL.5 Analyze how a sentence, chapter, scene or stanza fits into a text's structure and develops theme, setting or plot.
• 6.RL.6 Explain how an author builds the narrator's or speaker's viewpoint.
• 6.RL.7 Compare and contrast reading a text with listening to or watching an audio, video or live version of it.
• 6.RL.9 Compare how texts of different forms or genres handle similar themes and topics.
• 6.RL.10 By year's end, read grade 6–8 level literature well on their own, with support for the hardest texts.

Reading Standards for Informational Text

• 6.RI.1 Cite text evidence to support analysis of what an informational text says explicitly and of inferences.
• 6.RI.2 Find a text's central idea and how details convey it; summarize without personal opinions.
• 6.RI.3 Analyze in detail how a key person, event or idea is introduced, illustrated and developed.
• 6.RI.4 Work out figurative, connotative and technical meanings of words and phrases in a text.
• 6.RI.5 Analyze how a sentence, paragraph, chapter or section fits into a text's structure and develops its ideas.
• 6.RI.6 Work out the author's viewpoint or purpose and explain how the text shows it.
• 6.RI.7 Combine information from different media or formats with words to build understanding of a topic.
• 6.RI.8 Trace and evaluate an argument and its specific claims, telling supported claims from unsupported ones.
• 6.RI.9 Compare how two authors present the same events.
• 6.RI.10 By year's end, read grade 6–8 level nonfiction well on their own, with support for the hardest texts.

Writing Standards

• 6.W.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.
• 6.W.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.
• 6.W.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.
• 6.W.4 Produce clear, coherent writing whose development, organization and style suit the task, purpose and audience.
• 6.W.5 With help from classmates and adults, improve writing by planning, revising, editing, rewriting or trying something new.
• 6.W.6 Use technology and the internet to create, share and collaborate on writing, typing at least three pages in a sitting.
• 6.W.7 Carry out short research to answer a question, using several sources and changing focus when needed.
• 6.W.8 Gather information from several print and digital sources, judge credibility, quote or paraphrase without plagiarism and cite sources.
• 6.W.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.
• 6.W.10 Write often, in long projects and short sittings, for many tasks, purposes and readers.

Speaking and Listening Standards

• 6.SL.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 rules for collegial discussion, 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.
• 6.SL.2 Interpret information presented in different media and formats and explain how it adds to a topic.
• 6.SL.3 Outline a speaker's argument and claims, telling supported claims from unsupported ones.
• 6.SL.4 Present claims and findings in a logical order with relevant details, using eye contact, volume and clear pronunciation.
• 6.SL.5 Use multimedia and visuals in presentations to make information clearer.
• 6.SL.6 Adapt speech to different contexts and tasks, using formal English when suitable.

Language Standards

• 6.L.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.
• 6.L.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.
• 6.L.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.
• 6.L.4 Work out unknown and multiple-meaning words using a range of strategies.
  • a. Use familiar Greek and Latin word parts (roots, prefixes, suffixes) as meaning clues.
  • b. Use context (sentence or paragraph meaning, a word's position or function) as a clue to meaning.
  • 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).
• 6.L.5 Understand figurative language, how words relate and fine shades of meaning.
  • a. Explain figures of speech such as personification 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).
• 6.L.6 Learn and use grade-level general academic and subject-specific words, gathering vocabulary knowledge when needed.