For most sixth grade students in Georgia, this is their first year in Middle School. Going from Elementary School to Middle School is a big change. This usually means moving classes, changing teachers, changing friends, managing many different expectations, increased responsibility and less down time. Sixth graders are growing and learning at different paces. Physically, emotionally and academically, this is a year of growth. To be considered College & Career Ready, sixth graders reading Lexile levels range between 925L to 1070L. Sixth graders are expected to have a robust vocabulary, be able to effectively organize, summarize, explain, defend and support their answers. The ELA Sixth Grade Curriculum Map suggests students participate in up to 7 reading texts, 6-9 writing pieces, in addition to making research connections with written responses and participating in routine writing every nine weeks.

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The sixth grade ELA Milestones Blueprint tells us that students will have one 2 point constructed response item and 4 point Extended Constructed Response items for a Narrative prompt, and a 7 point Extended Writing Response for either an Informational or Opinion prompt. Because the writing and language portion will count as 47% of their overall score, it is important for students to have experience with and understand the sixth grade writing rubrics that will be used for Milestones scoring. Also note, 35-55% of the items on the sixth grade Milestones are at a DOK 3 or 4 level requiring higher cognitive demands than the previous levels.