GRADE 6 First Six Weeks
Analyzing Literature
Week 3 / Literary Elements: Conflict and Perspective
Textbook Resources: Reading
Resources for Building Understanding of Language Arts:
Overview of Conflict (Holt McDougal pgs. 46-47)
Passages for Modeling Skills:
The Good Deed, Holt McDougal pgs. 48-61 (Explicitly talk about conflict and its relation to the climax of the story).
Woodsong, Holt McDougal pgs. 116-121 (Students practice in Collaborative Groups)
Additional Resources:
Best Practices Toolkit: Section D – Literary Analysis
Building English Language Proficiency Handbook (on CD)
VIDEO – Teaching Theme/Plot Analysis in Layers for 6-8 from the Teaching Channel
VIDEO- Using Think-Alouds with Fiction and Non-Fiction texts from ed.gov
“Types of Conflict Powerpoint:
(Additional Resources listed are only recommendations. Teachers may make use of other available resources to support instruction of TEKS).
Textbook Resources: English
Weekly Grammar Focus:
Nouns – (Texas Write Source pg. 738)
Choose the Right Word - (Texas Write Source pg. 696)
Reading and Writing Connection:
This week, students are learning about conflict in literature, and the relationship between conflict in literature, and the relationship between conflict and the climax of the story. Students should learn to include these plot elements in their own writing.
Vocabulary/Word Study
In addition to the textbook-recommended vocabulary terms from, “The Good Deed (pg. 64-generic, pert, incredibly, trite, impaired, accusation) and the academic vocabulary (affect, analyze, evidence, impact, provide), teachers should also identify high-utility Tier II words from the passage to teach explicitly following Marzano’s 6-Steps approach.
TEKS: 6.2A
Determine the meaning of grade-level academic English words derived from Latin, Greek, or other linguistic roots and affixes
6.20B
Recognize and use punctuation marks including commas in compound sentences.
The Good Deed by, Dane Bauer
Vocabulary Study………………………………pg. 47
Context Clues
Vocabulary Practice………………………....pg. 48
Academic Language
Vocabulary Strategy…………………………pg. 49
Suffixes
Grammar in Context…………………………pg. 52
Avoid Run-On Sentences
TEKS: 6.2A
Determine the meaning of grade-level academic English words derived from Latin, Greek, or other linguistic roots and affixes
TEKS: 19A
Use and understand the function of parts of speech.
Woodsong by, Gary Paulsen
Vocabulary Study……………………………pg. 139
Context Clues
Vocabulary Practice………………………..pg. 140
Academic Language
Vocabulary Strategy………………………pg. 141
Prefixes and the Latin Word ject
Grammar in Context………………………pg. 144
Maintain Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement / Reading / English
TEKS: 6.6A (Readiness) RC2
Summarize the elements of plot development (e.g., rising action, turning point, climax, falling action, denouement) in various works of fiction.
Fig.19F (Readiness) RC2
Make connections (e.g., thematic links, author analysis) between and across multiple texts of various genres and provide textual evidence.
The Good Deed by, Dane Bauer
Unit 1
TEKS FOCUS
·  Conflict and Climax
·  Connect
Lesson Contents
Lesson at a Glance ………………………………………..pg. 33
Lesson Plan and Resource Guide…………………….….. pg. 34
Additional Selection Questions…………………………...pg. 37
Ideas for Extension……………………………………..…pg. 38
Teacher Notes……………………………………………..pg. 40
Big Question: Can first IMPRESSIONS be trusted?
Summary…………………………………...... ….pg. 41
Literary Analysis: CONFLICT AND CLIMAX…………pg. 43
Reading Strategy: CONNECT……………………………pg. 45
Reading Check…………………………………………….pg. 50
Question Support (Literary Analysis)………...... pg. 51
Reading Fluency…...…………………………………..….pg. 53
Answer Key………………………………………….…..pg. 243
ASSESSMENT
Selection Test A ……………………………………..…....pg. 27
Selection Test B/C…………………………………...... …pg. 29
Answer Key……………………………………………...pg. 285
______
TEKS: 6.7 (Supporting) RC2
Understand, make inferences and draw conclusions about the varied structural patterns and features of literary nonfiction and provide evidence from text.
6.10D (Readiness) RC3
Synthesize and make logical connections between ideas within a text and across two or three texts representing similar or different genres.
Woodsong by, Gary Paulsen
Unit 1
TEKS FOCUS
·  Narrative Nonfiction
·  Identify Author’s Purpose
Lesson Contents
Lesson at a Glance ………………………………………pg. 125
Lesson Plan and Resource Guide…………………….….pg. 126
Additional Selection Questions………………………….pg. 129
Ideas for Extension………………………………………pg. 130
Teacher Notes……………………………………………pg. 132
Big Question: Does nature demand RESPECT?
Summary…………………………………...... pg. 133
Literary Analysis: NARRATIVE NONFICTION………pg. 135
Reading Skill: IDENTIFY AUTHOR’S PURPOSE……pg. 137
Reading Check…………………………………………..pg. 142
Question Support (Literary Analysis)………...... pg. 143
Reading Fluency…...……………………………………pg. 145
Answer Key………………………………………….…..pg. 249
ASSESSMENT
Selection Test A ……………………………………..…..pg. 43
Selection Test B/C…………………………………...... pg. 45
Answer Key……………………………………………...pg. 29 / Have students write a personal narrative about a time when they experienced some sort of conflict. Have them identify the type of conflict they experienced (internal or external conflict), and have them pre-write their essay using the plot diagram-the climax should be the clearest point of conflict.
Additionally, students should be aware of the perspective in which they are writing. A personal narrative would be written in 1st Person. As a challenge have them rewrite their essay in the 3rd person omniscient perspective.
TEKS:
6.14 -Writing/Writing Process
6.17 -Writing/Expository and Procedural Texts. Students 6.19-Oral and Written Conventions/Conventions
6.20 - Oral and Written Conventions/Handwriting, Capitalization, and Punctuation
6.21-Oral and Written Conventions/Spelling
Weekly Grammar Focus:
Nouns – (Texas Write Source pg. 738)
Choose the Right Word - (Texas Write Source pg. 696)
Creative Writing and Voice - (Texas Write Source pg. 352; 46-59)
The Good Deed, Holt McDougal pgs. 48-61
Responding To Texts - (Texas Write Source pg. 296)
Woodsong, Holt McDougal pgs. 116-121
Strategies for Student Engagement:
Release of Responsibility: The teacher should be modeling the comprehension skills (Conflict & Perspective) using the passage, The Good Deed, but then the teacher should release responsibility to the students to replicate the same process modeled using another passage of text (Recommended Text: Woodsong). Students will be more engaged if they can work in collaborative groups to read the passage, summarize the plot, identify the conflict, describe the importance of the point-of-view, etc.
Best Practices (ELPS, GT, Differentiation):
Struggling students often feel embarrassed about their abilities, and they don’t want their friends to know they are having problems. But at the same time, they learn more if they have peers to help them and explain things to them. Working in collaborative groups is a great opportunity for strong students to become the “teacher” (meaning they learn the material more deeply) and for struggling students to get additional support from a second source. However, teachers must be strategic in creating and supporting those groups so students work well together.
Fluency:
Use page 53 from the Unit 1 Resource Manager to teach students about proper phrasing when reading aloud.
Have students repeatedly practice reading the first two paragraphs from Woodsong (Holt McDougal p. 116) aloud with a partner until they are able to read it with proper phrasing.
Anchors of Support:
Students should be reminded of the different types of conflict that are encountered in literary texts. Generally the conflict is either internal or external, but there are more specific conflict schema in literature that students should be aware of (man vs. man, man vs. nature, etc.).
Additionally, students should discuss different point-of-view perspectives. The Good Deed was written from a first-person perspective. The story last week (The School Play) was written from an omniscient 3rd person (typically found in fiction) and limited 3rd person (typically found in informational text).
Students have now been exposed to works by a few very popular authors of adolescent literature (Cynthia Rylant, Gary Soto, Gary Paulsen). This is a good stepping stone to start a series of author-study literature circle, students read 2 or 3 works by the same author and they talk about what they like about that author’s writing, the topics, etc. In a few weeks, students can present posters explaining what they read and why they like that author.