Grade 6 English Language Arts
10 units matched to the BC Curriculum. Kids see this subject as “Language Arts”.
Big Ideas
- Language and text can be a source of creativity and joy.
- Exploring stories and other texts helps us understand ourselves and make connections to others and to the world.
- Exploring and sharing multiple perspectives extends our thinking.
- Developing our understanding of how language works allows us to use it purposefully.
- Questioning what we hear, read, and view contributes to our ability to be educated and engaged citizens.
Units
Unit 1
Close Reading
Reading original stories and information texts, then finding the theme or main idea, making inferences, explaining why characters act as they do and choosing the sentence that best supports an answer.
Learning standard: Reading strategies; literary elements (theme, character); text structures; using evidence from texts to support ideas
Unit 2
Point of View
Telling first person, third person limited and third person omniscient apart, and thinking about what each narrator can and can't know.
Learning standard: Literary elements: narrative point of view (first person, third person limited, third person omniscient)
Unit 3
Figurative Language
Naming similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, alliteration and idioms, explaining what they mean, finding the sense an image appeals to and working out what a symbol stands for.
Learning standard: Literary devices: simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, idiom, imagery and symbolism
Unit 4
Connotation & Tone
Words can share a dictionary meaning (denotation) but carry different feelings (connotation), like “cozy” and “cramped.” Students choose words for effect and identify a writer's tone.
Learning standard: Language features: word choice, connotation and denotation; how language shapes tone and meaning
Unit 5
Make Your Case
Building an argument: stating a claim, choosing the strongest evidence, recognizing counterarguments and rebuttals, spotting persuasive techniques and ordering a persuasive paragraph.
Learning standard: Forms, functions and genres of text: persuasive writing (claim, reasons, evidence, counterargument); writing processes
Unit 6
Sources & Bias
Separating fact from opinion, judging whether a source is reliable, spotting loaded words and one-sided reporting, and asking who made a message and why.
Learning standard: Accessing information from a variety of sources and evaluating its relevance, accuracy and reliability; fact, opinion and bias in media
Unit 7
Agreement
Making verbs agree with their subjects (even with tricky phrases, “each,” “everyone” and “either…or”) and choosing pronouns that clearly match the nouns they replace.
Learning standard: Language features, structures and conventions: subject–verb and pronoun–antecedent agreement
Unit 8
Sentence Repair
Spotting sentence fragments, run-on sentences and comma splices, and choosing correct ways to fix them with periods, semicolons, joining words or dependent clauses.
Learning standard: Syntax and sentence fluency: complete sentences; correcting fragments, run-ons and comma splices
Unit 9
Commas & Clauses
Finding dependent clauses, telling simple, compound and complex sentences apart, and using commas in lists, compound sentences, introductions and appositives.
Learning standard: Language features, structures and conventions: independent and dependent clauses, sentence types and comma use
Unit 10
Roots & Analogies
Using Greek and Latin roots (like “geo,” “aud” and “port”) to work out unfamiliar words, and completing analogies that compare word relationships.
Learning standard: Language features: Greek and Latin roots and word relationships (analogies) as vocabulary and word-solving strategies
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