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6th-Grade ELA Assignment

This assignment is partially aligned to the standards.

Overview

Sixth-grade students read an article about the Zika virus, then answer two multiple-choice questions about the text and explain why they chose their answers. The assignment is partially aligned to the standards because the text is appropriate for sixth grade, but the accompanying questions are not: students are not required to cite specific details and evidence from the text in their responses.

About the Text

Title and Author

“What Exactly Is Zika Virus – and Should We Be Worried?” by Amy Capetta

What is the Lexile Level of this text?

1100-1200L

Based on Lexile, which grades is this text intended for?

6-8

Is the text qualitatively complex enough for the grade?

Yes

Is this text fiction or non-fiction?

Non-fiction

Is this text authentic or was it written for educational purposes?

Authentic

Does the text provide sufficient detail to build knowledge of a worthwhile topic and/or is it worth reading closely and re-reading?

Yes

Related Standards

We looked at how well the assignment aligned to the following standards:

RI.6.2: Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

Why is this assignment weakly aligned to this standard?

Students are asked to select a main idea from among multiple-choice options and then explain why they chose that answer. But there is no expectation of referring back to key details in the text, nor of including evidence beyond a brief personal rationale.

RI.6.5: Analyze how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the ideas.

Why is this assignment weakly aligned to this standard?

Students are asked to select from among multiple-choice options what the significance of paragraph 10 is and to explain why they chose that answer. Though the question superficially reflects this standard, students do not have opportunity to engage in the more extensive, text-based analysis suggested here.

RI.6.10: By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Why is this assignment partially aligned?

The text is grade-appropriate. The task is based on a real magazine article about the Zika virus. It is appropriately challenging in terms of structure, vocabulary, and meaning, and builds students’ knowledge of an important public health topic. This text would be particularly strong if it were part of a larger text set connected to a common topic (e.g., viruses or healthcare around the world).

The accompanying questions do not require grade-level analysis. While multiple-choice questions are not necessarily problematic, these particular questions don’t focus students on the level of analysis required by the standards (RI.6.2 and RI.6.5). The questions require students to practice extracting the main idea—an important but simplistic skill for sixth grade—instead of helping students make sense of challenging structures and ideas in order to build understanding of the content.

Students are not required to cite details and evidence from the text—a critical component of the sixth-grade standards. Though students are asked to explain why they chose each answer, there is only space for a brief surface-level explanation. The assignment would be stronger if students were expected to cite specific evidence from the text in their responses.

Additional ELA Resources

Common Core ELA Standards
Read the standards and find out what they require of students.
Instructional Shifts in Literacy
Understand the key instructional shifts the ELA standards call for.
Student Work Review Tool – ELA
Use this tool to understand if an assignment is worthwhile for students.