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Austin Middle School

Course
Syllabus
Sixth Grade Language Arts

School Year
2015-2016

Mrs. Maya Woodall

mwoodall@paulding.k12.ga.us

Mrs. Sandra Fisher

sfisher@paulding.k12.ga.us

Mrs. Connie Zingaretti

czingaretti@paulding.k12.ga.us

Ms. Kayla Smith

kjsmith@paulding.k12.ga.us

Link to teacher websites via the AMS homepage at http://www.paulding.k12.ga.us/Domain/27.

I.

Course Overview
In 6th grade, students apply skills they learned in earlier grades to make sense of longer, more
challenging books and articles. That includes learning about how authors try to influence readers and find
evidence to support their ideas. Focusing on how authors make their points and support their arguments
with evidence and reasoning helps 6th grade students sharpen their ability to write and speak with more
clarity and coherence. Students will write in a variety of genres including narrative, argumentative, and
informative. In addition, students will expand their vocabulary by focusing on both academic vocabulary
and contextual vocabulary. To practice and improve grammar/language and reading/writing skills, students
will have a brief assignment (All Things ELA) to complete each night, Monday through Thursday.

Unit
Time
Frame
1st
Quarter
2nd
Quarter
3rd
Quarter
4th
Quarter

Extended Text

Theme

Chicken Soup for the Teenage


Soul
Anne Frank: The Diary of a
Young Girl
*Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Life, Love, & Learning


Seeing the Good in
Others
Determination &
Perseverance
Belonging

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

Main
Reading
Focus
Informational

Main Writing
Focus

Informational

Informative

Literary

Informative

Literary

Argument

Narrative

*Note: Each student will receive a copy of Hatchet, the Unit 3 extended text. This book will be checked out from the
AMS library. Class sets will be used for the other units. Students who prefer to highlight and make notes as they
read/study texts should purchase a personal copy. Since we are focused on the themes of the units and close
reading, we will not read all books from cover to cover. Instead we will pull out the themes and pair texts for analysis.

III. Classroom Assessment


Grading Scale

100-90=A

89-80=B

Summative Assessment
60% of Grade
Unit Tests, Projects, Performance Tasks
Extended Writing Tasks

79-70=C

69 and below=F

Formative Assessment
40% of Grade
Quizzes, Shorts Assignments, Daily Work
Short Writing Tasks

IV. 6th Grade Behavior Intervention Plan


The grade level and class rules/guidelines are simple: be your best, be responsible, be respectful, and be
brave. Students should follow the class/grade level guidelines and policies and procedures. Various
incentives will be used to reward classroom behavior. When students do not comply with guidelines and
rules, the 6th grade teachers will use a step plan to intervene.

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