LAFS.6.W.1.2Archived Standard

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
  1. 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.
  2. Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
  3. Use appropriate transitions to clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
  4. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
  5. Establish and maintain a formal style.
  6. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from the information or explanation presented.
General Information
Subject Area: English Language Arts
Grade: 6
Strand: Writing Standards
Idea: Level 4: Extended Thinking &Complex Reasoning
Date Adopted or Revised: 12/10
Date of Last Rating: 02/14
Status: State Board Approved - Archived

Related Courses

This benchmark is part of these courses.
1000000: M/J Intensive Language Arts (MC) (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2018, 2018 and beyond (current))
1001010: M/J Language Arts 1 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1001020: M/J Language Arts 1 Advanced (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1002000: M/J Language Arts 1 Through ESOL (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1002180: M/J English Language Development (MC) (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2018, 2018 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1006000: M/J Journalism 1 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2021, 2021 and beyond (current))
1007000: M/J Speech and Debate 1 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2019, 2019 - 2021, 2021 and beyond (current))
1009030: M/J Writing 1 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1100000: M/J Library Skills/Information Literacy (MC) (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1700000: M/J Research 1 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1700060: M/J Career Research and Decision Making (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2019, 2019 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
7810011: Access M/J Language Arts 1  (Specifically in versions: 2013 - 2015, 2015 - 2018, 2018 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1007025: M/J Speech and Debate (Specifically in versions: 2015 - 2019, 2019 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1400025: M/J Peers as Partners in Learning (Specifically in versions: 2019 - 2022, 2022 - 2023, 2023 and beyond (current))

Related Access Points

Alternate version of this benchmark for students with significant cognitive disabilities.

Related Resources

Vetted resources educators can use to teach the concepts and skills in this benchmark.

Lesson Plans

Smooth Smoothie:

In this Model Eliciting Activity, MEA, students will analyze data to decide what blender to use, the number of times the recipes are used and the total ingredients needed.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Analyzing Central Ideas and Details to Answer a Research Question:

In this lesson, students will formulate a research question, practice analyzing the central ideas and relevant details of informational texts they locate during a partner research activity, and then synthesize this information into an expository paragraph.

Type: Lesson Plan

Batter Up Travel Plans:

A traveling baseball team coach is asking a group of engineers to provide a travel plan from Boston to Jacksonville, Florida with the hopes of attending Major League baseball games along their route. The students will design the route on a large US map highlighting their travel plan and submit the map and a written rationale of their plan.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

A Poignant Passage about the Middle Passage:

In this lesson, students will explore what makes a passage poignant by analyzing an important chapter from the historical fiction novel, The Slave Dancer, by Paula Fox. In cooperative groups, they will use their prior knowledge of figurative language, conflict, theme, and characterization to identify a passage that has high emotional impact, relating to the journey along the Middle Passage during the slave trade. As culminating assessments, students will present their group's textual analysis to the class.

Type: Lesson Plan

Storm Window Treatments:

Students will be asked to analyze a given set of data to determine the best storm window treatments for a local company to use when building a new homes. Students will be asked to write a letter to the company explaining how they ranked the storm window treatments.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

Original Student Tutorial

Explain Yourself: Organizing Your Writing:

Learn several different strategies to help organize your writing in this interactive tutorial. You'll practice several different ways to introduce and organize ideas in your informative writing. These strategies include compare and contrast, classification, cause and effect, and definition

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Teaching Idea

Teaching Tolerance: Dr. Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement:

This collection of teaching ideas offers multiple activities to support rich classroom discussions on Dr. King and the events of the Civil Rights Movement. Writing, WebQuests, and other extension ideas are included in this resource.

Type: Teaching Idea

Tutorials

Personification: Cowbirds:

In this tutorial from PBS, students will explore the power of personification in non-fiction while analyzing an author's treatment of his subject in a documentary on cowbirds. They will be able to read informational text, learn and practice vocabulary words, and explore content through videos and interactive activities as they begin to understand how this work uses human motives and emotions to tell the cowbird's story.

Type: Tutorial

Symbolism: Keely's Mountain:

In this interactive lesson from PBS, students will read informational text, learn and practice vocabulary words, and explore content through videos and interactive activities as they begin to recognize and understand the relationship between symbolism and one's sense of identity.

Type: Tutorial

Using Supporting Examples:

In this tutorial you will practice using supporting details. Each practice gives you a main idea and three possible details. Your job is to choose the detail that best supports the main idea. Each question gives you feedback on why your answer is correct or incorrect.

Type: Tutorial

Unit/Lesson Sequences

Unit Plan for Tru Confessions: Two Wishes to Accomplish:

Tru Confessions is the story of Tru, a teenager whose brother Eddie has special needs. Tru writes in her journal about her wish to find a cure for Eddie and to have her own television show. In this unit, students will examine factors that influence how families, classmates, and people in the community perceive and interact with children with developmental disabilities as they work to summarize key details and events from the text, analyze ways in which the author unfolds the plot, and explain how the author develops the point of view of the narrator and discuss how the text’s characters change.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

A Study of "America Street: A Multicultural Anthology of Stories":

This is a sixth grade unit using the collection of short stories in "America Street: A Multicultural Anthology of Stories" by Anne Mazer. Students will examine point of view, multiple perspectives, character development, and setting in these varied texts. This unit includes a complete packet with graphic organizers, a pacing guide, and an assessment with answer key and possible student responses.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

Investigating a Mystery in "Chasing Vermeer":

This sixth grade unit is based on the mystery novel Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. Students will analyze clues and motives, study plot, and make predictions while learning about the artist Johannes Vermeer. It includes a complete packet with creative activities, graphic organizers, a pacing guide, and an assessment with answer key and possible student responses.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

A Study of Science and Fantasy Fiction in A Wrinkle in Time:

This is a sixth grade unit on the sci-fi novel A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle. Students will examine the characteristics of scientific and futuristic fiction including vocabulary, setting, and plot development. This unit includes a complete packet with graphic organizers, a pacing guide, and an assessment with answer key and possible student responses.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

Exploring Verse Novels with "Keeping the Night Watch" and "Chess Rumble" :

This is a sixth grade unit on the verse novels Keeping the Night Watch by Hope Anita Smith and Chess Rumble by G. Neri. This unit explores narrative and lyric poetry, figurative language, author's purpose, voice, and symbolism. It includes games, graphic organizers, and a complete student packet, and includes a pacing guide and assessment with sample student answers.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

Figurative Language and Author's Purpose in "Home of the Brave" by Katherine Applegate:

This is a sixth grade unit on the verse novel Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate. This unit explores narrative and lyric poetry, figurative language, author's purpose, voice, and symbolism. It is rich with games, graphic organizers, and a complete student packet and includes a pacing guide and assessment with sample student answers.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

Drawing Conclusions and Solving Mysteries in “Sammy Keyes and the Hollywood Mummy”:

This is a sixth grade unit on the mystery novel Sammy Keyes and the Hollywood Mummy by Wendelin Van Draanen. Students will analyze characters, study the plot, make predictions, and draw conclusions to solve a mystery in this forensic-themed unit. This unit includes a complete packet with graphic organizers, a pacing guide, and an assessment with answer key and possible student responses.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

Analyzing Characters and Making Predictions in "Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief":

This is a sixth grade unit on the mystery novel Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief by Wendelin Van Draanen. Students will analyze characters, study the plot, and make predictions in this forensic-themed unit. This unit includes a complete packet with graphic organizers, a pacing guide, and an assessment with answer key and possible student responses.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

"The House on Mango Street": A Short Story Unit Examining Point of View, Perspective, and Plot:

This is a sixth grade unit using the short stories in The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros to identify point of view, interpret a character's perspective, and utilize plot elements to retell a story. This unit includes several graphic organizers, an assessment, and an answer key with sample responses.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

Examining an Autobiography: "The Lost Garden" by Laurence Yep:

This is a sixth grade unit on Laurence Yep's autobiography, The Lost Garden. Students analyze author's purpose and the key characteristics of an autobiography. This unit contains a student packet, pacing guide, and an assessment with answer key and sample student responses. In addition, this unit includes instructional techniques such as a PIES chart, a T chart, and more!

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

Analyzing an Autobiography through "Rosa Parks: My Story":

This sixth grade unit on Rosa Parks is a thorough examination of an autobiographical novel and includes the study of author's purpose, main idea, and fact and opinion. It includes a student packet, graphic organizers, a pacing guide, and a unit assessment with sample responses.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

Analyzing the Mystery Novel "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin:

This is a sixth grade unit on the mystery novel "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin. Students will analyze the character's motives, identify clues to solve the mystery, make predictions about the conclusion, and identify 'red herrings'. This unit on detective fiction includes a complete packet with graphic organizers, a pacing guide, and an assessment with answer key.

Type: Unit/Lesson Sequence

STEM Lessons - Model Eliciting Activity

Batter Up Travel Plans:

A traveling baseball team coach is asking a group of engineers to provide a travel plan from Boston to Jacksonville, Florida with the hopes of attending Major League baseball games along their route. The students will design the route on a large US map highlighting their travel plan and submit the map and a written rationale of their plan.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Smooth Smoothie:

In this Model Eliciting Activity, MEA, students will analyze data to decide what blender to use, the number of times the recipes are used and the total ingredients needed.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Storm Window Treatments:

Students will be asked to analyze a given set of data to determine the best storm window treatments for a local company to use when building a new homes. Students will be asked to write a letter to the company explaining how they ranked the storm window treatments.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Original Student Tutorials for Language Arts - Grades 6-12

Explain Yourself: Organizing Your Writing:

Learn several different strategies to help organize your writing in this interactive tutorial. You'll practice several different ways to introduce and organize ideas in your informative writing. These strategies include compare and contrast, classification, cause and effect, and definition

Student Resources

Vetted resources students can use to learn the concepts and skills in this benchmark.

Original Student Tutorial

Explain Yourself: Organizing Your Writing:

Learn several different strategies to help organize your writing in this interactive tutorial. You'll practice several different ways to introduce and organize ideas in your informative writing. These strategies include compare and contrast, classification, cause and effect, and definition

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Tutorial

Using Supporting Examples:

In this tutorial you will practice using supporting details. Each practice gives you a main idea and three possible details. Your job is to choose the detail that best supports the main idea. Each question gives you feedback on why your answer is correct or incorrect.

Type: Tutorial

Parent Resources

Vetted resources caregivers can use to help students learn the concepts and skills in this benchmark.