The Tan Book – 6th Grade Skills

Suffixes:
Rules for adding -able, -ance, -ant, -ence, -ent, -ible, -sion, -tion
Prefixes:
Rules for adding prefixes, compound words, contractions
Spelling Rules:
Double consonants, plural forms (irregular words, pluralization rules), changing f to v and y to i
Phonetics and Patterns:
Rules for ck, dg, ear, er, gn, ie, igh, ir, kn, ou, ough, ow, ur, wor, wr
Study Techniques:
Copying words, syllabication, studying word patterns

Reading

Book Studies:
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, The Bronze Bow, Big Red, The Horse and His Boy
Literary Elements:
Alliteration, autobiography, biography, climax, conflict, context clues, exposition, falling action, fiction, foreshadowing, irony, mood, narrator, personification, plot, resolution, rising action
Poetry Elements:
Couplet, end rhyme, internal rhyme, rhyme scheme, stanza, triplet
Narrative Perspectives:
First person, second person, third person (limited and omniscient)
Comprehension Skills:
Vocabulary building, topic sentences, analogy, repetition
Techniques and Activities:
Choral reading, reciting poetry, discussing content

Grammar

Parts of Speech:
Nouns (common, proper, possessive), pronouns, verbs (linking, helping, regular, irregular), adjectives, adverbs
Sentence Structure:
Subjects and predicates (simple, compound, complete), subject/verb agreement, clauses (independent, dependent)
Punctuation and Mechanics:
Capitalization, apostrophes, commas, colons, semicolons, quotation marks, hyphens, periods, exclamation marks, question marks
Sentence Types:
Declarative, imperative, interrogative, exclamatory
Grammar Rules:
Contractions, direct and indirect objects, prepositions and prepositional phrases, similes, antonyms, synonyms

Composition

Writing Types:
Creative writing, essays, biographies, business letters, journal entries, poetry, prose
Structure:
Outlines, opening and closing paragraphs, thesis statements, supporting sentences, topic sentences
Techniques:
Dialogue, figurative language (simile, personification), paraphrasing, summarizing
Writing Activities:
Book reports, writing fables, news stories, research papers, advertisements

Research and Study Skills

Tools and Techniques:
Dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, timeline creation, map skills
Library Skills:
Dewey Decimal System, alphabetical order, locating Newbery and Caldecott Award books
Research Skills:
Organizing thoughts, conducting interviews, creating bibliographies

High-Order Thinking Skills

Critical Thinking:
Analogies, context clues, giving directions, organizing research
Memory Techniques:
Memorization strategies, sequencing

Creative Expression

Activities:
Creative writing, oral presentations, poetry recitation

Penmanship

Practice Techniques:
Copying passages, writing final drafts