English Language Arts — Grade 6

How do I look to you?

In this lesson, students will evaluate public service posters and a grooming pamphlet to determine if and how propaganda was used to improve the health of children, and define acceptable appearances for young women in the 1930s.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5–8 English Language Arts)

By Loretta Wilson.

Finding hidden messages in advertising

In CareerStart lessons: Grade six, page 1.3

In this lesson for grade six, students will look for hidden messages in magazine advertisements and will create their own ads with hidden messages.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Dance Arts Education and English Language Arts)

By Jennifer Brookshire and Julie McCann.

Resources on the web

You know the movie is coming—Now what?

After exploring cinematic terms, students read a literary work with director's eyes and then try to predict what elements would be present in the film version of the book. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Travel brochures: Highlighting the setting of a story

Students create travel brochures in this lesson that introduces the author's creation of setting in a literary work. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Teaching Voice with Anthony Browne's "Voices in the Park"

By reading and discussing the characters in Anthony Browne's picture book, Voices in the Park, students gain a clear understanding of how to use voice in their own writing. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Products across borders

In this lesson, students identify foreign products available in the United States and learn about U.S. companies that sell products abroad. The students discuss globalization and illustrate two maps to show where products come from and where they're sold. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–7 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

Postmodern picture books in the middle school

Students learn to analyze plot and critique the author's intent in this lesson that focuses on Black and White by David Macaulay, a picture book that presents four story lines. Students will also explore multi-literacies and... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

The poet's voice: Langston Hughes and you

Some poets achieve popular acclaim only when they express clear and widely shared emotions with a forceful, distinctive, and memorable voice. But what is meant by voice in poetry, and what qualities have made the voice of Langston Hughes a favorite for... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: EDSITEment

Poems that tell a story: Narrative and persona in the poetry of Robert Frost

In this lesson from EDSITEment, students read, discuss, and analyze selected poems by Robert Frost. The activities that make up this lesson encourage students to draw inferences about a poem's speaker based on evidence contained within the poem and to gather... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: EDSITEment

Media Awareness, Lesson 3

In this final lesson of the Media curriculum unit from ARTSEDGE, students create a drawing to be used as an advertisement for their toy. They select the background/foreground space as well as possible symbols for their advertisement, with consideration... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5–8 Visual Arts Education and English Language Arts)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

Media Awareness, Lesson 1

In this ARTSEDGE lesson, students discuss why they like the particular toy they have chosen to bring to class. They brainstorm, making a list of different categories of toys, and then discuss reasons for valuing particular toys. They begin to explore the... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5–8 Visual Arts Education and English Language Arts)

Provided by: ArtsEdge

Leading to great places in the middle school classroom

This mini-lesson examines types of leads in prominent young adult literature and challenges students to search for great leads and then write original examples. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Inventing and presenting unit 3: Persuasive speaking and invention promotion

Students read about inventors, propose inventions to solve problems they have identified, and build and test their inventions. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–7 English Language Arts and Science)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Inquiry on the internet: Evaluating Web pages for a class collection

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students conduct a class inquiry project, individually or in groups, collecting Web-based resources that can be used for further study during the course of the class or for more in-depth projects. Students use Internet... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Computer/Technology Skills and English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

In the poet's shoes: Performing poetry and building meaning

In this lesson, students participate in a webquest that challenges them to analyze a variety of poets and their poetry by reading and listening to their work. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

GIST: A summarizing strategy for use in any content area

This lesson supports comprehension and summarizing skills by engaging students in reading and identifying the “5Ws and the H” in newspaper articles. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Expository escapade-Detective's handbook

In this lesson, students combine reading the detective fiction genre with expository writing. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Exploring author's voice using Jane Addams Award-winning books

In this lesson, students explore author's voice and style using Jane Addams Award-winning books. After reading and examining The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark by Carmen Agra Deedy, a Jane Addams Honor... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Doodle splash: Using graphics to discuss literature

Students keep a doodle journal while reading short stories by a common author. In small groups, students combine their doodles into a graphic representation of the text that they present to the class while discussing their story. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

A directed listening-thinking activity for The Tell-Tale Heart

Students participate in a Directed Listening-Thinking Activity (DLTA), in which they listen to the story “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE