6th grade · Reading & Literature
What a 6th grade student learns in Reading & Literature
Grade 6 Reading & Literature centers on rigorous analysis of complex literary texts (stories, dramas, and poems in the grades 6–8 complexity band), requiring students to cite textual evidence for both explicit meaning and inferences, determine themes, track plot and character change, and examine author’s craft in structure, word choice, and point of view. Students also compare works across genres and media while reading independently and proficiently.
The skills for the year
- 1Cite precise textual evidence to support analysis of what a literary text states explicitly and inferences drawn from it
- 2Determine a theme or central idea of a story, drama, or poem and analyze how it is conveyed through particular details
- 3Provide an objective summary of a literary text distinct from personal opinions or judgments
- 4Describe how a story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in episodes and how characters respond or change as the plot moves toward resolution
- 5Determine figurative and connotative meanings of words and phrases as used in a literary text
- 6Analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone in literature
- 7Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to theme, setting, or plot development
- 8Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a literary text
- 9Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem with listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version
- 10Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems, historical fiction and fantasy) in their approaches to similar themes and topics
- 11Analyze how authors develop characters through dialogue, actions, thoughts, and interactions with others
- 12Identify and interpret elements unique to drama (dialogue, stage directions, acts/scenes) and their contribution to meaning
- 13Analyze structural elements and figurative language in poetry (stanzas, rhyme, imagery, metaphor)
- 14Trace how setting influences plot and character development across a literary work
- 15Distinguish among narrator types and evaluate reliability or perspective effects on the reader
- 16Read and comprehend literature (stories, dramas, poems) in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently by year’s end
Want this planned for you?
Arbor turns exactly this into a ready-to-teach 6th grade Reading & Literature plan for your child, the weekly schedule, the lessons, the worksheets, all written for them. Start free, no card.
Build my child’s plan free →