LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

English Language Arts — Grade 6

Goal 4: The learner will use critical thinking skills and create criteria to evaluate print and non-print materials.

Objective 4.02. Analyze the communication and develop (with teacher assistance) and apply appropriate criteria to evaluate the quality of the communication by:

  • using knowledge of language structure and literary or media techniques.
  • drawing conclusions based on evidence, reasons, or relevant information.
  • considering the implications, consequences, or impact of those conclusions.

Additional related resources

We’re in the process of aligning our content for students to the Standard Course of Study. As we do, you’ll find it here.

General resources

Aligned lesson plans

Resources on the web

What am I? Teaching poetry through riddles
Riddles are an excellent vehicle for introducing students to poetry and poetry writing. In this ReadWriteThink lesson, students explore, analyze, and discuss how metaphor, simile, and metonymy are used in riddle poems. They will use metaphor, simile, and... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)
Provided by: ReadWriteThink
Reading and writing workshop: "Freak The Mighty"
This lesson plan from ReadWriteThink is a novel study of Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick. The lesson includes the modeling and practicing of specific reading comprehension strategies, vocabulary and word study, a figurative language activity,... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)
Provided by: ReadWriteThink
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
Play ball! Encouraging critical thinking through baseball questions
Students create a baseball-themed Jeopardy game after a read–aloud of Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man by David A. Adler. After the teacher explains the purpose of asking good questions, students... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)
Provided by: ReadWriteThink
Pictures in words: Poems of Tennyson and Noyes
In this lesson from EDSITEment, students will explore how poets Tennyson and Noyes use words to paint vivid and memorable pictures and describe how “word pictures” emphasize or qualify the meanings of their poems. (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)
Provided by: EDSITEment
Modeling reading and analysis processes with the works of Edgar Allan Poe
Explore reading strategies using the think-aloud process as students investigate connections between the life and writings of Edgar Allan Poe in this ReadWriteThink lesson, which begins with an in-depth exploration of “The Raven.” Students move... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)
Provided by: ReadWriteThink
Leading to great places in the middle school classroom
In this lesson that examines leads in literature, students consider how an author's description of setting, action, character, and use of reflection can create strong leads. After the teacher shares examples of great leads, students rate and discuss their... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)
Provided by: ReadWriteThink
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
Finding figurative language in “The Phantom Tollbooth”
After reading the first two chapters of The Phantom Tollbooth, students are introduced to figurative language through a brief PowerPoint presentation. Once they understand how authors use figurative language in novels, students... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)
Provided by: ReadWriteThink
Don't be fooled by a photograph
In this Xpeditions lesson, students will study images that were altered digitally to create a desired effect. Students will discuss how a photograph conveys information, and how changing that photograph can change its message. This lesson plan is based... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)
Provided by: Xpeditions
Developing a definition of reading through analysis in middle school
In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students will interact with a variety of different texts to uncover a broader meaning of reading. Given one of a variety of different texts, students will brainstorm alone and together what they will need as a reader... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)
Provided by: ReadWriteThink
Critical media literacy: TV programs
This lesson, from ReadWriteThink, provides a platform from which students can critically analyze popular television programs. The media has a huge effect on popular culture. Television programs underscore stereotypes of various groups of people. By looking... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)
Provided by: ReadWriteThink
Critical media literacy: Commercial advertising
After taking a media literacy quiz, students discuss and evaluate their personal television viewing habits and media usage. Activities for this unit include analyzing television and print advertisements for hidden messages and interpreting the effects of... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts and Information Skills)
Provided by: ReadWriteThink
Battling for liberty: Tecumseh's and Patrick Henry's language of resistance
This lesson challenges students to think critically about how people resist oppression through the spoken word. By examining two speeches by Chief Tecumseh of the Shawnee alongside Patrick Henry's famous “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech,... (Learn more)
Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)
Provided by: ReadWriteThink