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

Before reading, students decide why they're reading a given text. That simple step helps them focus on what matters and get more out of what they read.

Before, during, and after reading, students ask their own questions about the text to dig deeper into what it means and what they can learn from it.

Students predict what will happen next in a text, then check whether they were right as they keep reading. They use clues from the text's structure and details to guide those predictions.

Reading a text, students link what they find to something they lived, read before, or see happening in the world around them.

Reading between the lines is the skill here. Students use clues from the text, plus what they already know, to figure out what the author implies but never says outright.

Students restate what a text says in their own words, keeping the main ideas in the right order without changing what the author meant.

Students pull information from several texts or sources, then combine what they find to reach a conclusion or insight that no single source contained on its own.

When a passage stops making sense, students pause and fix it. They might reread a tricky sentence, connect it to something they already know, or jot a question in the margin until the meaning clicks.

Reading a book or article, students connect what they find to their own life. They explain how the ideas, events, or people in the text relate to something they have experienced or already know.

Students write about what they read, explaining what texts say and how two or more sources are alike or different. The focus is on showing real understanding of the reading, not just summarizing it.

Students back up their answers with specific details or quotes pulled directly from the reading. The response stays grounded in what the text actually says, not just what students think or feel about it.

Students restate what a passage says in their own words without losing the main idea or leaving out details that matter.

Students read a text and respond to it by jotting notes, marking up the page, or sketching ideas to help them think through what they read.

Students identify how a story's characters, setting, conflict, and plot work together to shape the whole piece. This standard covers poems, short stories, and other kinds of writing.

Students look at how a story, poem, or argument is built and ask why the author made those choices. The shape of a text (its chapters, stanzas, or sections) changes what the writing means and how it lands on the reader.

Students learn to tell different kinds of writing apart: a text that explains facts, one that argues a position, and one that tells a story. They look at how each type is built and what makes it work.

Students look at why an author made specific choices, like word selection or structure, and figure out what effect those choices have on the reader.

Students look at how an author uses tools like headings, bold words, sidebars, maps, and photos to make a piece clearer or more convincing. The goal is to figure out why each feature is there and what job it does.

Students study why an author chose specific words, looking at the feelings a word carries beyond its dictionary meaning. They also identify images and figurative language, like a metaphor or simile, that make writing more vivid.

Literary devices are tools writers use on purpose to create an effect. Students study how specific choices like metaphor, irony, or imagery change the way a reader feels, thinks, or sees the story.

Writing isn't a straight line from draft to done. Students practice returning to earlier steps, such as revising or rethinking ideas, to produce polished, readable work that follows standard grammar and punctuation rules.

Students choose a writing format (like a story, argument, or how-to piece) that fits what they want to say and who will read it.

Students take their rough draft and shape it into a focused piece of writing with a clear structure from start to finish.

Students go back into a draft and make it better: sharpening sentences, filling in thin spots, reordering ideas that feel out of place, and swapping weak words for ones that do more work.

Students review their writing and fix grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling errors before finishing a piece. This is the polishing stage, where a draft becomes something ready to share.

Students take a finished piece of writing and share it with a real audience, choosing a format that fits the readers, whether that means a printed essay, a class presentation, or a digital post.

Students write personal stories and poems, using the techniques that make each form work, such as vivid details in a narrative or line breaks and rhythm in a poem.

Students write nonfiction pieces that explain, describe, or inform, using the structure and details a reader needs to understand the topic clearly.

Students write a persuasive piece that takes a clear position on a topic and backs it up with reasons and evidence. The goal is to convince a real reader, not just complete an assignment.

Students write letters, emails, or notes with a clear point and the right tone for whoever is reading them. A message to a teacher sounds different from a message to a friend, and students learn to make that call.

Students come up with questions about a topic they're researching, then sharpen those questions until they're specific enough to actually guide their search for answers.

Students map out a research plan with some adult guidance, then find sources that actually connect to their question. This standard covers the organizing-and-searching step before any writing begins.

Students find and collect information from more than one source, books, websites, interviews, or articles, that actually connects to their research question. --- Fixing that: no em dash allowed. Students find and collect information from more than one source (books, websites, interviews, articles) that actually connects to their research question.

Students learn to tell the difference between an original source (a diary, a speech, a photograph) and a secondary source (a textbook, an article that summarizes someone else's work), then decide how much to trust each one.

Students pull facts and ideas from multiple sources, combine them into one clear explanation, and note where each piece of information came from.