This resource accompanies our Rethink 6th Grade ELA course. It includes ideas for use, ways to support exceptional children, ways to extend learning, digital resources and tools, tips for supporting English Language Learners and students with visual and hearing impairments. There are also ideas for offline learning. 

This parent guide supports parents in helping their child at home with the 6th grade English Language Arts content.

In this lesson, students will take their knowledge of how a position paper is constructed using reasons and evidence in order to plan their body paragraphs on the Planning My Body Paragraphs graphic organizer.

In this 14 day unit plan students read, research, draw conclusions, and write beginning level argumentative essays comparing/contrasting major world religions.

In this 28 day unit, students will gain background information on historic wars, compare different genres, presentations of events, recognize different points of view, research an essential question, compile evidence, create warrants that lead to a claim which answers the essential question, and write an argumentative essay.

In this lesson, students will discover a policy within their school or district that is important to them and that they'd like to change. They will conduct an investigation of the policy in question and write a letter with their claim, results, and recommendation to the appropriate audience.

Birth of a Colony explores the history of North Carolina from the time of European exploration through the Tuscarora War. Presented in five acts, the video combines primary sources and expert commentary to bring this period of our history to life. The opening segment describes the forces that motivated European exploration and colonization of the New World. Explorers and colonists encountered native peoples with agricultural lifestyles, strong communities, and respect for the land. These Indian communities saw themselves as part of nature, and they lived in harmony with the natural world. Their spiritual practices, such as the Green Corn Ceremony, reflected this worldview. The Europeans came to the New World primarily in search of land and riches. With two such different cultural viewpoints, clashes were inevitable. This teacher's guide includes a strictly social studies lesson and a complementary ELA lesson (writing assignment).

The lesson includes an exploration of the genre of letters to the editor, a review of persuasive writing structure and letter format, and an emphasis on multi-draft writing. The lesson focuses on the character Roy Eberhardt from Carl Hiaasen’s Newbery Honor Book Hoot for its examples. Students can complete the activity for any book that they have read.

Students become novice lexicographers as they explore recent new entries to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), learn the process of writing entries for the OED, and write a new entry themselves. Students will follow up their entry with a persuasive essay and a competition in which the strongest contender for the title of New Word is chosen. Extensions will offer students a chance to evaluate old lists of "new words" and discuss the power dynamics of dictionaries.

Students examine books, selected from the American Library Association Challenged/Banned Books list, and write persuasive pieces expressing their views about what should be done with the books at their school.

Students research the three tenets of cell theory and describe the scientific evidence that supports this theory. After students complete their research, they will engage in all steps of the writing process, including prewriting, outlining, revising, and editing. At the conclusion of the lesson, students will create a three-paragraph argumentative essay to examine the cell theory and the scientific evidence that supports this theory.

In this lesson, students will analyze a body paragraph of the model position identifying the author's reason, supporting evidence, and the author's explanation of how the evidence supports the claim.

Students are introduced to concepts of social justice, such as diversity, tolerance, equity, and equality, through a literary text, class discussions, and guided research. Students plan a service-learning project, then work in small groups using Photo Story software to produce a multimedia presentation designed to foster community support for the project. Students also use the ReadWriteThink.org Printing Press to create informational fliers about the project. The lesson concludes—and the service-learning project begins—with a showing of the Photo Story productions for parents and other community members.

Students will be taught the "drill skill and kill" method to be used on grammar concepts within an argumentative paper.

Students will build on their existing knowledge of the solar system as they research one of the planets in order to determine whether a manned mission to that planet would be feasible. Students will collect information about the geology, composition, and orbit of their assigned planet. They will then work collaboratively to create a proposal for or against planning a trip to the planet to be presented to the rest of the class.

In this lesson the students will be using a variety of skills to analyze fiction and expository texts. This combines the reading of detective fiction with written expository analysis in the form of a Detective’s Handbook. Each student reads a detective mystery, and the class watches and analyzes Murder She Purred to establish a collective example.

This is a PBL meant for grade levels 4-8. In this project, students will explore areas in their school that need “fixing.” It could be anything from an area that needs sprucing up to clubs that could be added to social problems such as bullying. Students will choose one area that they can affect change. The final product will be a persuasive essay to the person/people in charge that could make the change happen.

This project can work for individuals, pairs, or small groups. In younger grades, the class can choose one project and work as a whole group. If you choose this route, each student should be given a specific task to ensure engagement of everyone.

This activity is designed for 4-5 class periods. It can be shortened or lengthened as needed.

The standards given are for 6th grade, but the same number standards work for any of the other grade levels. Adjust accordingly.

Suggestions on how to guide students through the writing process when writing editorials "” from brainstorming a topic to publishing their work "” and all the steps in between.

6th grade students were introduced to hardships around the world through literature. Students selected a topic they were interested in and researched that topic. Then they collaborated with a team of peers and created a tri-fold poster board display about their topic. These were displayed in the media center and parents and other classes were invited to come in. The guests of the exposition were encouraged to ask the teams questions about their topics, allowing the students to further demonstrate the knowledge and passion they had for their topic. The guests also voted on the teams that had the best information and the most knowledge about their topic.

In this lesson students draft an analytical mini-essay using partner talk and graphic organizers to guide their thinking.