English Language Arts-6th Grade

Catholic Standards for Writing

Writing Standards

Catholic Standards for Language

Language Standards

Catholic Standards for Speaking and Listening

Speaking and Listening Standards

Create written works that glorify the Creator, reflect the heart of the Redeemer and are inspired by the Spirit. 

Share well-crafted works, especially those with elements of unity, harmony, and radiance of form. CSDS4 

Write in ways to order our thoughts, align them with truth, and accurately express knowledge and feelings. CSWS2 

Text Types and Purposes

Production and Distribution of Writing 

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Range of Writing 

Exhibit an understanding that words are important to the Word.

Use language as a bridge for communication for the betterment of all involved. CSWS1

Use language to order our thoughts and to accurately express knowledge and feelings. CSWS2 

Conventions of Standard English

Knowledge of Language

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

Interact with people, recognizing diversity, using discussion techniques and language that reflects Catholic teaching and values. 

Use language as a bridge for communication for the betterment of all involved. CSWS1 

Share beautifully told and well-crafted works, especially those with elements of unity, harmony, and radiance of form. CSDS4 

Delight and wonder through reading aloud or listening to creative, sound, and healthy stories, and poems and plays. CSDS7 

Share the beauty and cadence of poetry for its impact on human sensibilities and formation of the soul. CSDS9 

Comprehension and Collaboration 

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

CSIS2: Write how spiritual knowledge and truth are represented and communicated through fairy tales, fables, myths, parables, and stories. 

CSIS8: Write to develop personal judgment based on truth, goodness and virtue. 

CSIS14: Write to explore reasoning and intent.

CSDS8: Write stories about characters possessing virtue and begin to exhibit these virtuous behaviors and attitudes. 

Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence while maintaining Catholic values and identity.

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.

Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. Examples may include prayers, Catholic themes/topics, and reflective essays. 

With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing including multi-media works reflecting a Catholic theme as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. 

Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three pages in a single sitting. 

Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate.

Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources; assess the credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while exercising the virtue of honesty and providing basic bibliographic information for sources, images, and ideas thus eliminating plagiarism.

Draw evidence from literary or informational texts including but not limited to Catholic texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. 

Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. 

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing

Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on Grade 6 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies. 

Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases (including faith literacy); gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led), building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats including but not limited to Catholic texts and sources (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.

Delineate a speaker’s argument and specific claims, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not. 

Present claims and findings, sequencing ideas logically and using pertinent descriptions, facts, and details to accentuate main ideas or themes; use appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation.

Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, images, music, sound) and visual displays in presentations to clarify information.

Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. Capitalize on opportunities to practice these skills within a liturgical context modeling Christ.

CSIS5: Recite prayers and poems of substance that encourage all to strive for virtue and goodness. 

Introduce claim(s) and organize the reasons and evidence clearly. 

Support claim(s) with clear reasons and relevant evidence, using credible sources (including but not limited to Catholic texts) and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.

Use words, phrases, and clauses to clarify the relationships among claim(s) and reasons.

Establish and maintain a formal style.

Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from the argument presented.

Introduce a topic; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. 

Develop the topic (including but not limited to a Catholic topic) with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.

Use appropriate transitions to clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.

Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

Establish and maintain a formal style.

Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from the information or explanation presented.

Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.

Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another.

Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to convey experiences and events. 

Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events. 

Ensure that pronouns are in the proper case (subjective, objective, possessive). 

Use intensive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves).

Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in pronoun number and person.

Recognize and correct vague pronouns (i.e., ones with unclear or ambiguous antecedents).

Recognize variations from standard English in their own and others’ writing and speaking, and identify and use strategies to improve expression in conventional language.

Place phrases and clauses within a sentence, recognizing and correcting misplaced and dangling modifiers.

Use punctuation (commas, parentheses, dashes) to set off nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements.

Spell correctly.

Capitalize Catholic words correctly. 

Vary sentence patterns and structures (e.g., simple, compound, complex, compound-complex) for meaning, reader/listener interest, and style.

Maintain consistency in style and tone. 

Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., audience, auditory, audible).

Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning or its part of speech.

Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary). 

Interpret figures of speech (e.g., personification) in context.

Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., cause/effect, part/whole, item/category) to better understand each of the words.

Distinguish among the connotations (associations) of words with similar denotations (definitions) (e.g., stingy, scrimping, economical, non-wasteful, thrifty).

Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.

Follow rules for collegial discussions, set specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.

Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making comments that contribute to the topic, text, or issue under discussion.

Review the key ideas expressed and demonstrate understanding of multiple perspectives through reflection and paraphrasing.