English Language Arts — Grade 6

The ABC's of the Three Little Pigs

This lesson uses a familiar fairy tale to teach writing. It is designed to emphasize using varied sentence patterns in writing.

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

By Penny Canipe.

Camp Earth Bound: Problem Solving and Finding for Fun

Students will work together in small groups of four to six students to solve the following word problems. Their solutions will require them to practice interview techniques and create a database and/or spreadsheet of their results. This information will be the basis of the answers to the following eight word problems. Skills such as area, cost, calorie count, ratio, percentage and scale, as well as persuasive writing will be applied.

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

By Jamie Hulse.

Grammar and editing

In this lesson for grade six, students will learn about the conventions of grammar and will learn how to write and edit a business letter.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6 English Language Arts)

By Jennifer Brookshire and Julie McCann.

Pattern Writing Using Nouns and Adjectives

In this lesson plan, students will think and write creatively using nouns and adjectives. They will experience all phases of the writing process.

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

By Susan Craver.

Travel Brochure for Western Europe

Students will explore a particular country in Western Europe and get a general overview of the country. This is an activity designed to cover a great amount of material in a brief period of time.

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

By Debra Martinez.

Lesson plans on the web

ABC bookmaking builds vocabulary in the content areas

Engages and motivates students in building content area vocabulary through the creation of ABC books. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Action is character: Exploring character traits with adjectives

Students “become” one of the major characters in a book and describe themselves and other characters using lists of accurate, powerful adjectives. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Alliteration in Headline Poems

Introduces students to the term alliteration. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Alphabiography project: Totally you

In this lesson, students write alphabiographies recording an event, person, object, or feeling associated with each letter of the alphabet after reading Totally Joe by James Howe. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Blending fiction and nonfiction to improve comprehension and writing skills

Introduces text sets to increase student interest in and understanding of content area material and to develop critical writing skills. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–6 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Book report alternative: A character's letter to the editor

In this lesson, students choose a character from a novel they have read and consider the significant beliefs and feelings of that character to identify an issue or situation that would encourage that character to try to persuade the audience of other characters in the novel to take a specific action or change their position on an issue. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Book report alternative: Character and author business cards

Students make business cards for characters and authors. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Book report alternative: Creating a childhood for a character

In this lesson, students examine the character traits of an adult character in a book they have read, create a childhood for the character, and describe that childhood in the form of a short story, journal entry, or time capsule letter. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Choose your own adventure: A Hypertext writing experience

In this lesson that focuses on reading and writing, students discuss various stories and plan their own adventure story. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Clues from the Black Sea

Students discuss the scientific method and define “theory” and “hypothesis.” (Learn more)

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

Provider: National Geographic

Cooking up descriptive language: Designing restaurant menus

In this lesson students explore the genre of menus by analyzing existing menus from local restaurants and creating their own original menus. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Cosmic oranges: Observation and inquiry through descriptive writing and art

This lesson employs scientific observation, descriptive writing, sketching, reading, investigation, and poetry writing to train students to use their senses and focus their attention. (Learn more)

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

Provider: 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)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Entering history: Nikki Giovanni and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Students read Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in conjunction with Nikki Giovanni’s poem “The Funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr.” in order to better understand the speech and the impact it had on observers like Giovanni during the Civil Rights movement and Americans today. (Learn more)

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

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Exploring and sharing family stories

Students access their own life experiences and then discuss family stories they have heard. After choosing a family member to interview, students create questions, interview their relative, and write a personal narrative that describes answers to their questions and their reactions these responses. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE