Students work collaboratively to research and record information about different spinoffs of space exploration. Using the information they find, students then write a script to be produced into a podcast or vodcast.

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.

The Adventurers of Sojourner presents a third-person narrative account of the Mars Pathfinder mission, which included the deployment of a small science rover named Sojourner. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this history through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this activity, students will work in collaborative groups to create 9M x 9M models of plant and animal cells. Class population can be split into 2 or 4 groups, with half the students constructing animal cells and the other half constructing plant cells. Students must organize and assign duties, provide materials for this activity, and write a written report. They will also give "Cell Tours" to other students and/or classroom guests.

Argumentative Writing Unit for 6th grade English Language Arts. 

Students will learn the components of an argumentative essay and learn to write an essay.  The unit will begin with an overview of bullying in order to present the argument of, "Should bullies be treated as criminals?".  This essay will be researched and written as a class practice and will not be scored.   The students will write a second essay in connection with an ecology unit in science titled, "Do humans help or hurt the Great Lakes?"  This essay will be used as a summative assessment.  The final scored assessment will an argumentative essay of choice on the part of the student.

This lesson explores the language of electronic messages and how it affects other writing. Furthermore, it explores the freedom and creativity for using Internet abbreviations for specific purposes and examines the importance of a more formal style of writing based on audience.

In this alternative to the traditional book report, students have to really understand a character from a book they have read in order to successfully communicate the essence of the character using a few words and symbols on a business card. They begin by discussing the details commonly found on business cards and looking at samples. They think about how font, colors, and logos can be used to represent their characters, as well as the taglines, products and services, and other details that could be included. Students then use planning sheets to think through the elements they want to include on their business cards before creating the final version using a word processing program on the computer.

Students work in groups to read and discuss a book, keeping track of their feelings and opinions about the book, as well as facts and quotations, as they read. Students then decide which parts of their review they wish to annotate, with each student in the group responsible for one topic. Each student writes about his or her topic, including bibliographic information.

This lesson has students create stories that reflect this kind of reading. Students begin by reading untraditional books that use fragmented storylines, multiple perspectives, and unresolved plots. They apply these same types of strategies to their own writing, which they then publish using wiki technology. In doing so, students practice important literacy skills including searching for information, integrating images into text, and creating storylines that are reflective of the new types of reading found on the Internet. With different on-level literature, this lesson can also be adapted for high school classrooms.

In this lesson, students will reflect on how following the six-steps of the writing process helped improve their writing. They consider “stars” and “next steps” in the writing process.

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.

Working in small groups, students will work produce sections of an historical newspaper or journal for publication in democratic Athens. Using the resources of this Web site (as well as books and other resources listed in the Research Links & Resources Page) pick an approximate date and research stories for your newspaper. This section has been tailored for a newspaper about Athens during the time of Pericles, because of the greater amount of information available for that period. However, with some adaptation and additional research it would be possible to compile newspapers for early or later periods.

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

In this lesson, students analyze a model narrative, "The Golden Key", and will complete a final draft of their narratives for the end of unit assessment.

In this lesson, students will evaluate the eyewitness quotes they have collected in order to choose those most relevant to the factual information while also being compelling.

In this lesson, students will begin working in small group and analyzing research texts. Teams will use folders that contain a small number or research texts in order to focus the group and facilitate learning.

In this lesson, students will continue to research and gather information, recording it in their researcher's notebook.

Students will be able to recognize characteristics of a personal narrative Students will recognize the traits of good writing and will write, revise, and publish a personal narrative.

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.