Course Description
ELA Grade 6 marks the first year of lower secondary school, where students transition from learning English as a set of skills to using the language as a tool for learning and academic thinking. The program introduces students to longer texts, more abstract ideas, and more structured forms of writing.
Throughout the course, students practice summarizing, making inferences, and identifying main ideas across a variety of texts. They also develop the ability to write well-organized paragraphs and short essays, incorporating evidence from readings to support their ideas. Speaking and listening activities further build their ability to express basic viewpoints using academic language.
By the end of the course, students will be able to read critically, write with clearer organization, and begin taking greater ownership of their learning through individualized study paths. This program lays the essential foundation for advanced academic thinking in the years ahead.
Learning Content
1. Genres
In Grade 6 ELA, students are introduced to a wide range of text types to support comprehensive language and academic development. Literary texts include short stories, poetry, myths, and folktales, allowing students to explore character, plot, and theme in depth. Alongside literature, students engage with informational texts such as news articles, popular science writing, biographies, and social commentaries, strengthening their ability to comprehend and analyze real-world information. In addition, multimodal texts such as infographics, video transcripts, and interactive websites are integrated into the curriculum, helping students become familiar with modern text formats commonly used in academic and everyday life.
2. Reading Skills
Reading instruction in Grade 6 emphasizes academic analysis and response. Students learn to identify main ideas, supporting details, and to track the development of characters and themes in literary texts. For informational texts, they are guided to analyze argument structure, recognize author’s tone and purpose, and compare texts on similar topics to draw informed conclusions. Reading practice also focuses on inference, synthesizing information across multiple passages or sources, and developing comprehension of texts with visual elements, charts, or digital data.
3. Writing Skills
The writing program in Grade 6 centers on three core academic genres: argumentative, informational, and narrative writing. Students practice presenting personal viewpoints supported with textual evidence, explaining concepts or phenomena, and crafting structured stories. The writing process includes brainstorming, outlining, drafting, revising, and publishing, helping students develop organization and academic precision. Frequent practice with short responses, analytical paragraphs, and reading journals builds their ability to express ideas clearly, logically, and in an appropriate academic style.
4. Listening & Speaking Skills
Within the personalized online learning environment, listening and speaking skills are developed through guided activities with clear outcomes. Students practice listening to speeches or recordings in order to summarize and respond, and they record or film their own presentations with appropriate tone, pacing, and structure. Speaking tasks often require the use of slides, visuals, or charts to support content, fostering academic presentation skills across multiple modalities. Students also learn to self-assess their speaking based on criteria such as coherence, organization, use of academic vocabulary, and appropriateness to purpose.
5. Language Development
The language component of Grade 6 reinforces core grammar and expands academic vocabulary. Students master sentence structures (simple and compound), verb tenses, pronouns, articles, and prepositions, while practicing flexibility in sentence formation to improve accuracy and clarity. Instruction also emphasizes editing for grammar, logical sentence flow, and correct punctuation. Vocabulary instruction focuses on academic word development, contextual understanding, and precise usage, including work with synonyms, antonyms, and multiple-meaning words. These foundations prepare students for advanced language skills in higher grade levels.
Required Materials
This course is delivered entirely online and does not require or rely on any specific printed textbook. Students will need access to the following resources to support both online and offline learning activities:
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A scanner, smartphone camera, or similar device to digitize handwritten work or hand-drawn illustrations.
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Headphones or speakers, along with a microphone for recording and participation in interactive tasks.
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A printer for selected assignments and practice activities.
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A folder, binder, or notebook to organize offline tasks and project work.
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Basic stationery and learning materials for completing offline activities.
Learning Methodology
To achieve the ELA Grade 6 learning outcomes under the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in a personalized online setting, the curriculum must adopt a task-based approach that integrates reading, writing, speaking, and language. Instruction emphasizes interdisciplinary connections, continuous formative assessment, and frequent academic feedback.
Teachers design scaffolded learning activities tied to concrete products, with content aimed at fostering independent academic competencies. On the learner’s side, effective progress requires strong self-management skills, the ability to apply critical thinking strategies, self-assessment, and goal-setting. Students are also expected to develop habits of engaging with academic texts, citing textual evidence accurately, and revising their language products according to clear academic criteria.
Lessons:
