Arkansas State Standards for Language Arts: Grade 6

AR.1. Oral and Visual Communication: Speaking: Students shall demonstrate effective oral communication skills to express ideas and to present information.

OV.1.6.1. Speaking Vocabulary: Develop vocabulary from content area texts and personal reading .

OV.1.6.2. Speaking Vocabulary: Use standard English in classroom discussion.

OV.1.6.3. Speaking behaviors: Use appropriate oral communication for various purposes and audiences .

OV.1.6.4. Speaking behaviors: Demonstrate appropriate eye contact and posture.

OV.1.6.5. Speaking behaviors: Use correct pronunciation and inflection to communicate ideas and information.

OV.1.6.6. Speaking to share understanding and information: Contribute appropriately to class discussion.

OV.1.6.7. Speaking to share understanding and information: Deliver oral presentations using standard English, appropriate vocabulary, and organization .

OV.1.6.8. Speaking to share understanding and information: Use a variety of visual aids in oral presentations across the curriculum.

OV.1.6.9. Speaking for literary response and expression: Participate in a variety of speaking activities, including reading poems, skits, and plays.

OV.1.6.10. Speaking for critical analysis and evaluation: Evaluate self and peers' contributions to discussions based on preset criteria.

AR.2. Oral and Visual Communication: Listening: Students shall demonstrate effective listening skills in formal and informal settings to facilitate communication.

OV.2.6.1. Listening for information and understanding: Demonstrate effective listening skills by exhibiting appropriate body language .

OV.2.6.2. Listening for information and understanding: Establish purpose for listening .

OV.2.6.3. Listening for information and understanding: Listen attentively for main ideas and detail.

OV.2.6.4. Listening for information and understanding: Demonstrate attentive listening skills to respond to speaker's message.

OV.2.6.5. Listening for critical analysis and evaluation: Evaluate presentations using established criteria/rubrics.

AR.3. Oral and Visual Communication: Media Literacy: Students shall demonstrate knowledge an understanding of media as a mode of communication.

OV.3.6.1. Utilizing media for information and understanding: View a variety of media (e.g., posters, film clips, periodicals, charts, cartoons, graphs, statistics, etc.) to enhance and show understanding of a specific topic.

OV.3.6.2. Utilizing media for critical analysis and evaluation: Use appropriate criteria to evaluate media for bias .

OV.3.6.3. Utilizing a variety of resources to produce visuals that communicate through print and non-print media: Create visual aids that convey information .

AR.4. Writing: Process: Students shall employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately.

W.4.6.1. Prewriting: Generate ideas using such strategies as reading, discussing, focused free-writing, observing, brainstorming, and reading logs.

W.4.6.2. Prewriting: Organize ideas by using such graphic organizers as webbing, mapping, charts/graphs, and formal outlining with main topics and sub-topics.

W.4.6.3. Prewriting: Demonstrate an awareness of purpose and audience for all modes of written discourse.

W.4.6.4. Prewriting: Use available technology to access information by using a card catalog and the Internet.

W.4.6.5. Drafting: Use prewriting to draft expository paragraphs with emphasis on the following: Central idea; Explanation; Elaboration; Unity; Purpose and audience.

W.4.6.6. Drafting: Organize expository paragraphs that include a topic sentence, supporting details, and a concluding sentence.

W.4.6.7. Drafting: Create an effective lead sentence for each paragraph by using such features as a factual statement or an unusual statement about the topic.

W.4.6.8. Revising: Revise content for: Central Idea; Organization (e.g., beginning, middle, and end; sequencing ideas; major points of information, etc.); Unity; Elaboration; Clarity.

W.4.6.9. Revising: Revise style for: Sentence variety; Tone; Voice; Selected vocabulary; Selected information.

W.4.6.10. Revising: Revise writing using various tools/methods, such as peer and/or teacher collaboration, a revision checklist, rubric, and/or reference materials (e.g., dictionary, thesaurus, etc.).

W.4.6.11. Editing: Edit individually or in groups for appropriate grade-level conventions, within the following features: Sentence formation; Usage; Mechanics .

W.4.6.12. Publishing: Use available technology for sharing and/or publication.

W.4.6.13. Publishing: Maintain a writing portfolio that exhibits growth in meeting goals and expectations .

W.4.6.14. Publishing: Publish/share according to purpose and audience.

AR.5. Writing: Purposes, Topics, Forms and Audiences: Students shall demonstrate competency in writing for a variety of purposes, topics and audiences employing a wide range of forms.

W.5.6.1. Purposes and Audiences: Write to describe, to inform, to entertain, to explain, and to persuade.

W.5.6.2. Purposes and Audiences: Select the form of writing that addresses the intended audience.

W.5.6.3. Topics and Forms: Create expository, narrative, descriptive, and persuasive writings.

W.5.6.4. Topics and Forms: Write poems using a variety of techniques/devices, with emphasis on narrative, including ballads.

W.5.6.5. Topics and Forms: Write research reports using a variety of sources, summarizing, and paraphrasing .

W.5.6.6. Topics and Forms: Write to reflect ideas/ interpretations of multicultural and universal themes and concepts.

W.5.6.7. Topics and Forms: Write with and without prompts for a sustained period of time.

W.5.6.8. Topics and Forms: Write responses to literature that demonstrate understanding or interpretation.

W.5.6.9. Topics and Forms: Write on demand with or without prompt within a given time frame .

W.5.6.10. Topics and Forms: Write across the curriculum.

AR.6. Writing: Conventions: Students shall apply knowledge of Standard English conventions in written work.

W.6.6.1. Sentence Formation: Use a variety of simple and compound sentences of varied lengths.

W.6.6.2. Sentence Formation: Use different kinds of sentences: Declarative; Interrogative; Imperative; Exclamatory.

W.6.6.3. Sentence Formation: Use compound sentence elements (e.g., subjects, predicates, complements, and complete sentences, etc.) to combine sentences for more effective writing style.

W.6.6.4. Sentence Formation: Define, identify, and use natural and inverted sentence order for emphasis and variety.

W.6.6.5. Sentence Formation: Identify and correct fragments and run-ons .

W.6.6.6. Sentence Formation: Use knowledge of the parts of speech to construct effective sentences: Common and proper nouns; Pronouns to avoid repetition; Active and linking verbs; Adjectives to modify nouns and pronouns; Adverbs to modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs; Coordinate conjunctions to join; Interjections for excitement; Prepositions to indicate relationships.

W.6.6.7. Usage: Apply conventions of grammar with emphasis on the following: Subject-verb agreement; Parts of speech; Parts of a sentence; Conjugation in perfect verb tenses; Possessive, nominative, and objective pronouns.

W.6.6.8. Spelling: Apply correct spelling to commonly misspelled words .

W.6.6.9. Spelling: Spell homonyms correctly according to usage.

W.6.6.10. Capitalization: Apply conventional rules of capitalization in writing.

W.6.6.11. Punctuation: Apply conventional rules of punctuation in writing with emphasis on: End marks; Quotation marks; Comma in a series; Comma in compound sentences; Comma in complex sentence; Comma in direct address.

AR.7. Writing: Craftsmanship: students shall develop personal style and voice as they approach the craftsmanship of writing.

W.7.6.1. Purposefully shaping and controlling language: Use figurative language purposefully, such as onomatopoeia, to shape and control language to affect readers.

W.7.6.2. Purposefully shaping and controlling language: Use a variety of sentence types and lengths (see Conventions Standard 6).

W.7.6.3. Purposefully shaping and controlling language: Use word or sentence repetition for effect.

W.7.6.4. Purposefully shaping and controlling language: Use transition words/ phrases .

W.7.6.5. Purposefully shaping and controlling language: Use purposeful vocabulary with emphasis on developing style.

W.7.6.6. Purposefully shaping and controlling language: Create a strong lead and conclusion.

W.7.6.7. Purposefully shaping and controlling language: Narrow the time focus of a piece of writing.

W.7.6.8. Purposefully shaping and controlling language: Use writer's checklist or scoring guides/rubrics to improve written work.

W.7.6.9. Purposefully shaping and controlling language: Self-evaluate writing using checklists or scoring guides/rubrics.

AR.9. Reading: Comprehension: Students shall apply a variety of strategies to read and comprehend printed material.

R.9.6.1. Prior Knowledge: Use previewing, activating prior knowledge, predicting content of text, formulating questions, and establishing purposes for reading .

R.9.6.2. Making Connections: Analyze the interrelationships of text and world issues/events by applying connection strategies.

R.9.6.3. Using questioning and monitoring: Generate and revise questions to establish purposes for reading.

R.9.6.4. Using questioning and monitoring: Generate and revise questions relevant to text and topics.

R.9.6.5. Using questioning and monitoring: Monitor comprehension in relation to questions generated.

R.9.6.6. Using inferences and interpretations: Connect own background knowledge and personal experience to make inferences and to respond to new information presented in text.

R.9.6.7. Using inferences and interpretations: Make inferences and draw conclusions about characters' traits and actions based on plot, setting, motives, and responses to other characters.

R.9.6.8. Using inferences and interpretations: Analyze literary elements of character, plot, and setting.

R.9.6.9. Using inferences and interpretations: Compare the actions, motives and appearance of characters in a work of fiction and discuss the importance of the contrasts to the plot or theme.

R.9.6.10. Using inferences and interpretations: Distinguish among facts and inferences supported by evidence and opinions in text.

R.9.6.11. Determining Importance: Use text information and background knowledge to draw conclusions and to make inferences (e.g., theme, etc.).

R.9.6.12. Determining Importance: Identify main ideas and supporting evidence in short reading passages.

R.9.6.13. Determining Importance: Use the text features to locate and recall information, with emphasis on cue words and phrases .

R.9.6.14. Determining Importance: Use knowledge of text structure(s) to enhance understanding with emphasis on cause/effect and compare/contrast.

R.9.6.15. Determining Importance: Classify and organize text information by determining subtopics of information.

R.9.6.16. Determining Importance: Use skimming and scanning to locate specific information to develop a general overview.

R.9.6.17. Determining Importance: Analyze information from the text, based on purpose and/or level of importance.

R.9.6.18. Summarizing and Synthesizing: Summarize the content of a text.

R.9.6.19. Evaluating: Identify events that advance the plot of a literary work and evaluate how those events relate to past, present, or future actions.

R.9.6.20. Evaluating: Evaluate personal, social, and political issues as presented in text.

AR.10. Reading: Variety of text: Students shall read, examine, and respond to a wide range of texts for a variety of purposes.

R.10.6.1. Exhibits behaviors and habits of an active reader: Read for a substantial amount of time daily, including assigned and self-selected materials at independent and instructional levels.

R.10.6.2. Exhibits behaviors and habits of an active reader: Read texts that reflect contributions of different cultural groups.

R.10.6.3. Exhibits behaviors and habits of an active reader: Vary reading strategies according to text and purpose.

R.10.6.4. Reading a variety of informational materials for enjoyment, critical analysis, and evaluation: Read a variety of informational text, including textbooks, newspapers, magazines, and other instructional materials .

R.10.6.5. Reading a variety of informational materials for enjoyment, critical analysis, and evaluation: Compare /contrast information from multiple sources.

R.10.6.6. Reading a variety of informational materials for enjoyment, critical analysis, and evaluation: Use skimming and scanning to locate specific information or to develop a general overview.

R.10.6.7. Reading a variety of informational materials for enjoyment, critical analysis, and evaluation: Select informational sources appropriate for a given purpose.

R.10.6.8. Reading a variety of informational materials for enjoyment, critical analysis, and evaluation: Organize and synthesize information for use in written and oral presentation.

R.10.6.9. Reading a variety of informational materials for enjoyment, critical analysis, and evaluation: Understand and analyze the differences in structure of various informational text.

R.10.6.10. Reading a variety of literature for enjoyment, critical analysis and evaluation: Read a variety of literature, including historical fiction, autobiography, and realistic fiction.

R.10.6.11. Reading a variety of poetry for enjoyment, critical analysis and evaluation: Read a variety of poetry, with emphasis on narrative, including ballads.

R.10.6.12. Reading a variety of poetry for enjoyment, critical analysis and evaluation: Explain how form, including rhyme, rhythm, repetitions, line structure and punctuation, conveys the mood and meaning of a poem.

R.10.6.13. Reading a variety of practical materials for enjoyment, critical analysis and evaluation: Read and utilize functional/practical texts, including advertisements, slogans, brochures, and timelines.

R.10.6.14. Reading a variety of practical materials for enjoyment, critical analysis and evaluation: Analyze message through pictures, images, and photographs.

R.10.6.15. Reading a variety of practical materials for enjoyment, critical analysis and evaluation: Analyze selections through text, images, and photographs for a given purpose.

AR.11. Reading; Vocabulary, Word Study, and Fluency: Students shall acquire and apply skills in vocabulary development and word analysis to be able to read fluently.

R.11.6.1. Word recognition: Automatically decode words to ensure focus on comprehension.

R.11.6.2. Word recognition: Continue to develop and maintain an adequate body of sight words.

R.11.6.3. Word recognition: Add content words to sight vocabulary.

R.11.6.4. Word Study and Vocabulary: Use knowledge of root words and affixes and word relationships to determine meaning.

R.11.6.5. Word Study and Vocabulary: Use context to determine meaning of multiple meaning words.

R.11.6.6. Word Study and Vocabulary: Use resources to determine meaning of technical and specialized vocabulary.

R.11.6.7. Word Study and Vocabulary: Determine useful and relevant words.

R.11.6.8. Word Study and Vocabulary: Explain the meaning of figurative language such as idioms, similes and metaphors.

R.11.6.9. Word Study and Vocabulary: Identify word origins, derivations and inflections and foreign words.

R.11.6.10. Word Study and Vocabulary: Use context clues to select appropriate dictionary definition.

R.11.6.11. Reading with fluency: Read grade level text orally with an approximate rate of 145 words per minute.

R.11.6.12. Reading with fluency: Read grade level text orally with accuracy and expression.

AR.12. Inquiring/Researching: Research/Inquiry Process: Students shall engage in inquiry and research to address questions, to make judgments about credibility, and to communicate findings in ways that suit the purpose and audience.

IR.12.6.1. Accessing information: Generate questions to explore and select a specific topic for research.

IR.12.6.2. Accessing information: Use reference features (e.g., bibliographies, etc.) and text features (e.g., appendix, preface, index, glossary, etc.) to access information.

IR.12.6.3. Accessing information: Use print and electronic sources, including computer databases, to locate information .

IR.12.6.4. Accessing information: Gather information from more than one source appropriate to purpose and topic.

IR.12.6.5. Interpreting Information: Interpret information from graphic sources .

IR.12.6.6. Interpreting Information: Develop notes that include main ideas, summaries, and paraphrasing from one or more sources.

IR.12.6.7. Interpreting Information: Create a formal topic outline of main and sub-topics .

IR.12.6.8. Interpreting Information: Use research to create one or more oral, written, or visual presentations /products.