This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 6th Grade English Language Arts. 

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 6th Grade ELA.

This teachers guide for Searching for Silverheels by Jeannie Mobley includes a prereading activity, discussion questions, and writing and research activities for after reading.

Novel based curriculum is an amazing tool. Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty is sure to grab the attention of the students and keep them engaged throughout. These are standard aligned comprehension questions that force the students to develop a deeper understanding of the characters and the novel.

This teachers guide for Somewhere There is Still a Sun by Michael Gruenbaum with Todd Hasak-Lowy includes discussion questions and prompts for interpretation for each part of the book, assignments and worksheets, ideas to integrate visual media, and writing assignment ideas.

In this video resource from PBS Learning Media, students will be introduced to Samuel Clemens, the man with two identities who, as Mark Twain, was considered to be a master storyteller.

In this video resource from PBS Learning Media, students will explore the darker side of Mark Twain, the man who once wrote, "The secret source of Humor itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no laughter in heaven."

This lesson provides a clear example of an author who created four specific voices. By reading and discussing the characters in Anthony Browne's picture book, Voices in the Park, students will gain a clear understanding of how to use voice in their own writing. Students begin by giving a readers? theater performance of the book and then discuss and analyze the voices heard. They then discuss the characters? personalities and find supporting evidence from the text and illustrations. Finally, students apply their knowledge by writing about a situation in a specific voice, making their character?s voice clear to the reader.

In this lesson, students study issues related to independence and notions of manliness in Ernest Hemingway’s “Three Shots” as they conduct in-depth literary character analysis, consider the significance of environment to growing up and investigate Hemingway’s Nobel Prize-winning, unique prose style. In addition, they will have the opportunity to write and revise a short story based on their own childhood experiences and together create a short story collection.

This teacher's guide for Totally Joe by James Howe contains discussion questions, activities, and research assignments.

This teacher's guide to Tracks by Diane Lee Wilson includes a summary of the text, discussion questions, activities, and research assignments.

In this 3 day lesson that includes 4 activities, students will learn how to analyze textual detail as a key to discovering meaning, focusing on reading, analyzing, and comparing texts. Students will also develop a comparative question in groups and individually write a paragraph answering their question.

In this lesson, students become familiar with point of view while rewriting their favorite fairy tale from another character's perspective other than the one in which it is written.

In this lesson, students will use the poem, "The Turkey Shot Out of the Oven" written by Jack Prelutsky to explore verbs, synonyms, and poetry.

This lesson allows students to see and experience how a story can drastically change when told from the perspective of a character whose voice was not heard in the story's original form. After reading and discussing a New York Times review of the latest Tarzan film, students will select a favorite children's story and rewrite it from another character's point of view, focusing on the character's view of the elements of the plot, other characters, and himself or herself.

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In “Water”, Helen Keller describes her first experiences with her new teacher. Keller finally grasps the idea that a word Anne Sullivan is spelling, water, corresponds to the water flowing over Keller’s hand. This insight leads Keller to make connections and open doors of knowledge and opportunity previously closed to her. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this story through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

Good riddles rely upon creative use of metaphor, simile, and metonymy; concrete imagery; and imaginative presentation and description of an object or concept. Because they are games, riddles are an excellent vehicle for introducing students to poetry and poetry writing. Students begin their exploration of riddle poems by reading sample riddle poems and guessing the answers. They then analyze the riddle poems to find the techniques used in the poems and to define what makes a good riddle poem. Students then write a riddle poem together as a class and conclude by writing riddles poems individually and sharing them with the class.

In this lesson, students practice identifying point of view in the story The Pain and the Great One.

In this lesson, students read fairy tales and then write a modernized version of the story.

In this activity, students read about Sheldon Allan “Shel” Silverstein (1930-1999) who was an American poet, cartoonist, and author of children’s books. “Where the Sidewalk Ends” is a poem from Silverstein’s collection by the same name, which features poems alongside illustrations. Students respond to questions after reading the poem.