6th GradeEnglish Language Arts2ndQuarter

Introduction

In 2014, the Shelby County Schools Board of Education adopted a set of ambitious, yet attainable goals for school and student performance. The District is committed to these goals, as further described in our strategic plan, Destination 2025.

By 2025,

  • 80% of our students will graduate from high school college or career ready
  • 90% of students will graduate on time
  • 100% of our students who graduate college or career ready will enroll in a post-secondary opportunity.

In order to achieve these ambitious goals, we must collectively work to provide our students with high-quality, College and Career Ready standards-aligned instruction. Acknowledging the need to develop competence in literacy and language as the foundations for all learning, Shelby County Schools developed the Comprehensive Literacy Improvement Plan (CLIP). The CLIP ensures a quality balanced literacy approach to instruction that results in high levels of literacy learning for all students, across content areas. Destination 2025 and the CLIP establish common goals and expectations for student learning across schools and are the underpinning for the development of the English/Language Arts curriculum maps.

Designed with the teacher in mind, the English/Language Arts (ELA) curriculum maps focus on literacy teaching and learning, which include instruction in reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language. This map presents a framework for organizing instruction around the TN State Standards (CCRA) so that every student meets or exceeds requirements for college and career readiness. The standards define what to teach at specific grade levels, and this map provides guidelines and research-based approaches for implementing instruction to ensure students achieve their highest potentials.

A standards-based curriculum, performance-based learning and assessments, and high quality instruction are at the heart of the ELA Curriculum guides. Educators will use this guide and the standards as a road map for curriculum and instruction. Carefully crafted curricular sequences and quality instructional resources enable teachers to devote more time and energy in delivering instruction and assessing the effectiveness of instruction for all learners in their classrooms, including those with special learning needs.

How to Use the Literacy Curriculum Maps
Our collective goal is to ensure our students graduate ready for college and career. This will require a comprehensive, integrated approach to literacy instruction that ensures that students become college and career ready readers, writers, and communicators. To achieve this, students must receive literacy instruction aligned to each of the elements of effective literacy program seen in the figure to the right.

This curriculum map is designed to help teachers make effective decisions about what literacy content to teach and how to teach it so that, ultimately, our students can reach Destination 2025. To reach our collective student achievement goals, we know that teachers must change their instructional practice in alignment the with the three College and Career Ready shifts in instruction for ELA/Literacy. We should see these three shifts in all SCS literacy classrooms:

(1) Regular practice with complex text and its academic language.

(2)Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational.

(3)Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction.

Throughout this curriculum map, you will see high-quality texts that students should be reading, as well as some resources and tasks to support you in ensuring that students are able to reach the demands of the standards in your classroom. In addition to the resources embedded in the map, there are some high-leverage resources around each of the three shifts that teachers should consistently access:

The TN Core Literacy Standards
The TN Core Literacy Standards (also known as the College and Career Ready Literacy Standards):
/ Teachers can access the TN Core standards, which are featured throughout this curriculum map and represent college and career ready student learning at each respective grade level.
Shift 1: Regular Practice with Complex Text and its Academic Language
Student Achievement Partners Text Complexity Collection:
/ Teachers can learn more about how to select complex texts (using quantitative, qualitative, and reader/task measures) using the resources in this collection.
Student Achievement Partners Academic Word Finder:
Links to Support Vocabulary Instruction & Development



/ Teachers can copy and paste a text into this tool, which then generates the most significant Tier 2 academic vocabulary contained within the text.
Shift 2: Reading, Writing and Speaking Grounded in Evidence from the Text
Student Achievement Partners Text-Dependent Questions Resources:
/ Teachers can use the resources in this set of resources to craft their own text-dependent questions based on their qualitative and reader/task measures text complexity analysis.
Shift 3: Building Knowledge through Content-Rich Non-fiction
Student Achievement Partners Text Set Projects Sequenced:
/ Teachers can use this resource to learn about how to sequence texts into “expert packs” to build student knowledge of the world.

Using the Curriculum Maps, Grades 6-8

  • Begin by examining the text(s) selected for the week. Read the text(s) carefully and become familiar with all text(s) and the “Big Idea.”
  • Locate the TDOE Standards in the left column. Analyze the language of the standards, and match each standard to an evidence statement in the center column.
  • Plan your weekly and daily objectives, using the evidence statements to help.
  • Consult your Pearson Literature Teachers’ Edition (TE) and other cited references to map out your week(s) of instruction.
  • Study the suggested writing prompts/performance assessments in the right-hand column, and match them to your objectives.
  • Plan the questions you will ask each day using these three types of questions: those that derive general understanding, those that address craft and structure, and those that elicit an overall meaning of the text. Be sure that the questions you ask will lead students to success on your selected performance assessments.
  • Examine the other standards and skills you will need to address—writing, vocabulary, language, and speaking and listening skills.
  • Using your Pearson TE and other resources cited in the curriculum map, plan your week using the SCS lesson plan template. Remember to include activities differentiated by process for small-group instruction and literacy stations.

Using the WIDA MPIs

WIDA English Language Development (ELD) standards and example Model Performance Indicator (MPI) strands appear within this document to provide teachers with appropriate scaffolding examples for ELLs and struggling readers. Strands of MPIs related to the domain of Reading are provided and linked to the corresponding set of CCR standards.By referencing the provided MPIs and those MPIs within the given links, teachers can craft "I can" statements that are appropriately leveled for ELLs (and struggling readers) in their classrooms. Additionally, MPIs can be referenced for designing new and/or modifying existing assessments.

Weeks 1 – 3
Reading Selections
  • Literary Analysis Workshop
  • from “This Land Was Made for You and Me” (1020L) by Elizabeth Partridge (p. 383)
  • from “Zlata’s Diary” (640L) (non-fiction) by ZlataFilipovic (p. 384-392)
Anchor Texts:
  • “Jackie Robinson: Justice at Last” (710L) by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns (p. 422-424)
  • “The Shutout” (1200L) by Patricia C. McKissack and Fredrick McKissack, Jr. (p. 428-432)
Supplemental Text:
  • “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” (poem) by Maya Angelou (p. 574-575)

Essential Question:How do people preserve dignity in the face of adversity?
TN State Standards / Evidence Statements / Content
Reading Complex Texts / Reading: Informational Texts
RI.6.2
Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
RI.6.3
Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).
RI.6.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings.
RI.6.5
Analyze how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the ideas.
RI.6.6
Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.
Reading: Literature
RL.6.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings.
These standards are constant and should be taught throughout each quarter.
Cite Evidence: RL/RI.6.1
Analyze Content: RL/RI.6.2-9
Text Complexity: RL/RI.6.10 / Evidence Statements
  • Provides a statement of the central idea(s) of a text.
  • Provides an objective summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments. RI.6.2
  • Provides detailed analysis of how a key individual, event or idea is introduced in a text (e.g., through examples and anecdotes).
  • Provides detailed analysis of how a key individual, event or idea is illustrated in a text (e.g., through examples and anecdotes). RI.6.3
  • Demonstrates the ability to determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text (e.g., figurative, connotative, technical). RI.6.4
  • Provides an analysis of how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter or section fits into the overall structure of a text.
  • Provides an analysis of how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter or section contributes to the developmentof the ideas. RI.6.5
  • Provides a statement of an author’s point of view in a text.
  • Provides a statement of an author’s purpose in a text.
  • Provides an explanation of how the author’s point of view or purpose is conveyed in the text. RI.6.6
Reading: Literature
  • Determine the meaning of literal and figurative language (metaphors and similes) in literary text.
  • Analyze how an author’s word choice affects tone and meaning. RL.6.4
/ Prentice Hall Literature – Reading Selections
Unit 3 – Types of Nonfiction
  • Literary Analysis Workshop(RI.6.2, RI.6.3, RI.6.4, RI.6.5, RI.6.6)
  • From “This Land Was Made for You and Me” (nonfiction)
  • Skill Focus: Author’s Purpose (Elements of Nonfiction)
  • Text-Dependent Questions(Using annotated exemplar, p. 383)
  • Which details in this selection relate to the title?
  • What do these examples suggest about life during this time?
  • What details from the text support the author’s purpose in writing the text?
  • Thematic Connection: Given what you’ve read about Woody Guthrie in this selection, how do you think he preserved his dignity when faced with adversity? (Possible answer: He wandered off. He rambled around. He traveled to another place.)
  • From “Zlata’s Diary” (narrative essay)
  • Skill Focus: Author’s Purpose (Elements of Nonfiction)
  • Text Dependent Questions: (Using annotated exemplar, p. 384-392)
  • What does the title tell you about this text and the author’s purpose?
  • To what does Zlata compare the crowd of people? Why does she say it will “win”?
  • What fact does Zlata offer at the beginning of this entry? What state idea about war does this fact support?
  • Compare the May 2 entry to the March 30 entry. How has Zlata’s purpose for writing changed? Use examples from the text to support your claims.
  • How would you describe the tone of the May 2 entry?
  • Zlata has begun to repeat a certain idea in her journal entries. State it in your own words.
  • The two entries on p. 389 tell a story. What makes the story suspenseful? What key ideas does the story support?
  • Compare/contrast two later entries. Has Zlata’s purpose for writing changed? Has her tone changed? Use examples from the text to explain.
  • Thematic Connection: Based on her diary entries, Zlata’s method for dealing with adversity might involve what actions? (Possible answers: She might write about it until she cools down. She might send a letter to someone who cares about her or an issue. She would probably argue for peace. Ultimately, she and her family decided to leave Sarajevo. Once she got to Paris, she focused on the positivity of the present and not the darkness in the past.)
  • “Jackie Robinson: Justice at Last” (710L, expository essay) (RI.6.6)
  • Skill Focus: Author’s Purpose (Elements of Nonfiction)
  • Text-Dependent Questions:
  • Use the TDQs provided in this unit from achievethecore:
  • Thematic Connection: How did Jackie Robinson preserve his dignity in the face of adversity? (Many examples from the text may be given.)
  • The Shutout (1200L; expository essay) (RI.6.6)
  • Skill Focus: Author’s Purpose (Elements of Nonfiction)
  • Text-Dependent Questions:
  • Reread the paragraphs marked on p. 429 in the bracketed passage. Identify the main idea of each paragraph.
  • Based on the information in the text, why would there be a need to establish guidelines for “proper play”?
  • Look at the bracketed passage #6 on p. 430. What details in this paragraph provide focus for the topic of the essay?
  • What is the author’s general purpose for writing this essay? What is the author’s specific purpose for writing this essay?
  • Based on the text, what were the team owners’ reasons for not letting African Americans play? What effect did this exclusion have on the history of baseball? What attitudes and conditions contributed to this exclusion?
  • Thematic Connection: Describe an example of adversity or a tough situation from this text. According to the author, what is the outcome of this adverse situation? How did the people involved handle the problem? Was the problem solved, based on information included in the text? (Many examples from the text may be given.)
  • “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” by Maya Angelou (poem) (RL.6.4)
  • Skill Focus:Literal Meaning/Figurative Language, Tone/Mood
  • Text-Dependent Questions:
  • Use the TDQs provided in this unit from achievethecore:
  • Thematic Connection: How does the speaker of the poem maintain her dignity when faced with adversity? (Possible answer: By repeating certain lines of the poem, she is trying to build up her confidence so she can face her fears. Her repetition is an act of bravado.)

WIDA Standard 2 - English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts.
Model Performance Indicator for RL6.3: Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).
Level 1: Entering
Identify words in a text that support the theme or central idea of a text citing details to support the theme, using a visually supported text with a partner. / Level 2: Emerging
Identify words or phrases in a text that support the theme or central idea of a text citing details to support the theme, using a visually supported text with a partner. / Level 3: Developing
Identify details in a text that support the theme or central idea of a text citing details to support the theme, using a highlighted text with a partner. / Level 4: Expanding
Determine the theme or central idea of a text citing details to support the theme, using a highlighted text. / Level 5: Bridging
Determine the theme or central idea of a text citing details to support the theme.
Language – Vocabulary
L. 6.4d
Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).
L. 6.6
Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
These standards are constant and should be taught throughout each quarter.
Study and apply vocabulary- L.6.4-6 / Evidence Statements
  • Demonstrates the ability to use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
  • Provides a statement demonstrating accurate meaning and use of grade-appropriate general academic words and phrases.
Reviewed throughout the quarter:
Synonyms/antonyms
Affixes- Latin roots
Context clues
Analogy and word relationships
Word parts and families / Vocabulary
Prentice Hall Literature- Pearson Publishing
  • Literary Analysis Workshop - from “This Land Was Made” (nonfiction) and from “Zlata’s Diary” (narrative essay)
  • Introducing the Big Question: Learning Big Question Vocabulary pg. 377
  • “Jackie Robinson: Justice at Last” (expository essay)
  • Latin prefix sup- or super-
  • Making Connections: Vocabulary pg. 420
  • Vocabulary Development pgs. 422, 423, 424
  • After You Read: Vocabulary pg. 425
  • “The Shutout” (expository essay)
  • Latin prefix ir-
  • Making Connections: Vocabulary pg. 426
  • Vocabulary Development pgs. 428, 429, 431, 432
  • After You Read: Vocabulary pg. 433
  • “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” (poem)
  • Latin root –mal-
  • Making Connections: Vocabulary pg. 570
  • After You Read: Vocabulary pg. 581
Pearson Online Resources

  • Benchmark and Unit Assessments
  • Unit Resources
  • Common Core Companion
Other resources
  • - Vocabulary Central
  • Word Benches pg. 57-61 (Greek and Latin affixes)
  • Online Dictionary:
  • Vocabulary Strategiesand graphic organizers


Writing to Texts / Writing
Argumentative Writing
W.6.1
Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
W.6.1a
Introduce claim(s) and organize the reasons and evidence clearly.
W.6.1b
Support claim(s) with clear reasons and relevant evidence, using credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
W.6.1c
Use words, phrases, and clauses to clarify the relationships among claim(s) and reasons.
W.6.1e
Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from the argument presented.
Informational/Explanatory
W 6.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.