What does a student learn in StateDelaware,GradeGrade 6,SubjectEnglish Language Arts?

Students find specific lines or passages from a story or poem that back up their answer. They also read between the lines to figure out what the author implies but never says directly.

Students figure out the main message or lesson a story is built around, then trace how the author develops it scene by scene. They also summarize the key details that support it.

Students track how characters, events, and ideas change and connect as a story moves forward. They explain why those changes happen, using details from the text to support their thinking.

Students figure out what words mean in context, including when an author uses figurative language or loaded word choices to set a mood. They also look at how swapping one word for another would change the feeling of a passage.

Students look at how a story or poem is built, tracing how one paragraph or scene connects to the next and shapes the whole piece.

Students figure out who is telling a story or making an argument, then explain how that narrator's or author's perspective changes what details get included and how the writing sounds.

Students compare what a story or poem says in words to how the same idea comes across in a film, audio recording, or image. They think about what each format adds or leaves out.

Students read an argument and judge whether the reasons actually support the point and whether the evidence is relevant. They decide if the writer's logic holds up, not just whether they agree with the conclusion.

Students read two texts on the same topic or theme, then explain how each author handled it differently. The focus is on comparing choices: what each writer included, left out, or emphasized.

Students read full-length novels, stories, and poems on their own without help decoding or following the meaning. By sixth grade, the texts should be genuinely challenging, not just comfortable.

Students find specific sentences or details from a nonfiction passage that back up their answers. They don't just state an opinion. They point to the actual words on the page that prove it.

Students read a nonfiction passage and identify its main point, then trace how that point builds across the text. They also write a brief summary that captures the key details without personal opinion.

Students read an informational text and explain how a person, event, or idea changes or connects to something else as the text moves forward. The focus is on why those changes happen, not just that they happened.

Students figure out what words mean in context, including when a word carries a hidden feeling or is used as a figure of speech. They also look at how an author's word choices shape the mood of a piece of writing.

Students look at how a paragraph connects to the rest of an article or essay. They explain why the author placed a detail or section where they did, and how each part builds on the others.

Students figure out who wrote a text and why, then look at how that shapes what the author included and left out. A news article, a company website, and a scientist's report on the same topic can tell very different stories.

Students compare information across formats like charts, videos, and written articles to understand how the format changes what gets emphasized or left out.

Students read a nonfiction passage and decide whether the author's argument holds up. They check if the reasons make sense and if the facts and details actually support what the author is trying to prove.

Students read two texts on the same topic and compare how each author covers it. They look for what the authors agree on, where they differ, and what reading both texts together shows that one alone would not.

Students read challenging nonfiction on their own, without help, and understand what they read. This means tackling real articles, essays, and textbooks at a sixth-grade level with enough skill to follow the ideas and explain what the text says.

Students write a paragraph or essay that takes a clear position on a topic and backs it up with real evidence from a text or source. The argument has to hold together logically, not just state an opinion.

Students write to explain a topic clearly, using facts and details to help readers understand something they might not know. The focus is accuracy and organization, not opinion.

Students write a story, real or made-up, with a clear sequence of events and specific details that bring the experience to life. The focus is on structure and word choice, not just getting the plot down.

Writing should match the job it's doing. Students learn to organize their ideas, choose the right tone, and shape each piece for a specific purpose and reader, whether that's a story, an argument, or an explanation.

Planning a draft is just the beginning. Students revisit their writing to sharpen ideas, fix weak spots, and decide when a full rewrite works better than a small edit.

Students use computers and the internet to write, publish, and share their work with others. This includes collaborating on documents and posting writing for an audience beyond the classroom.

Students pick a focused question and research it, reading and gathering information until they understand the subject well enough to write about it. Projects can be quick or span several days.

Students find facts from books and websites, check whether each source can be trusted, and weave the information into their own writing without copying it word for word.

Students pull quotes or details from a book or article to back up their own ideas in writing. The evidence has to connect clearly to the point they are making.

Students practice writing regularly, both in quick bursts and across longer projects, for different reasons and different readers. The goal is to make writing feel like a normal part of the school day, not a special event.

Students come to a discussion having done the reading or thinking in advance, then build on what classmates say rather than just waiting for their turn to talk.

Students watch, listen to, or read something, a video, a chart, a speech, then decide what the information means and whether it holds up. They pull together details from different formats to build one clear picture.

Students listen to a speech or presentation and decide whether the speaker's argument holds up. They look at what reasons are given, what evidence backs those reasons, and whether the speaker is trying to sway the audience fairly or through manipulation.

Students present ideas out loud in a clear order, backing each point with evidence so listeners can follow the argument from start to finish. The structure and word choices fit the topic and the audience.

Students learn to add charts, images, or short video clips to a presentation so the audience understands the idea faster than words alone could deliver it.

Students shift how they speak depending on the situation. Talking to a teacher or presenting to the class calls for formal language; talking with a friend does not.

Students write and speak using correct grammar: complete sentences, proper verb tenses, and pronouns that match their nouns. This standard covers the everyday rules that make writing clear and easy to follow.

Students apply standard capitalization, punctuation, and spelling in their writing. That means using commas, apostrophes, and capital letters correctly so sentences are clear and polished.

Students learn how word choices and sentence structure shift depending on the situation: a text to a friend, a school report, a speech. Noticing those shifts helps them read more carefully and write more precisely.

When students hit an unfamiliar word, they figure out its meaning by reading the surrounding sentences, breaking the word into roots or prefixes, or looking it up in a dictionary or glossary.

Reading a phrase like "she had butterflies in her stomach" means knowing it describes nerves, not insects. Students interpret figures of speech, notice how words relate to each other, and pick up on shades of meaning between similar words.

Students build a working vocabulary of precise, subject-specific words and use them correctly when reading, writing, and talking in class. The goal is the kind of word knowledge that holds up in high school and beyond.