1. Semester 2 Common Assessment
6th Grade Study Guide
Directions: Everything under the “practice” slides must be completed. “More Practice” opportunities are for you to use if you feel like you need more help in a certain area. This study guide should take ALL of class today. If you finish early, use that time to complete some “More Practice” in your weakest subject.

2. Section One
Author’s Purpose

3. Quick Lesson
Author’s purpose is WHY an author is writing. To persuade (to try to convince someone of something), to inform (to give the reader information), or to entertain (for fun and enjoyment).

4. Author’s Purpose Practice
Questions
A section in a history book describing the conditions and causes of the Great Depression in the Midwest in the 1930s
An article where the author argues that an iPhone is better than an Android phone
A story written about a young boy who moves to a new school and is bullied, but he gains self-confidence by joining a sports team and learns to stand up for himself.
Answers

5. Still need practice? Additional Practice!
If author’s purpose is hard for you, try this additional practice! (Answers are at the very bottom)

6. Section Two
Main Idea & Theme

7. Quick Lesson
MAIN IDEA is the text is mostly about. (This story is about dogs, or iphones, or war)
THEME is the message is trying to teach the readers. (The author believes that the best way to solve a problem is to work together)

8. Main Idea & Theme Practice
A Tale of Two Sisters
Liane was confident about the sand sculpture contest. She and her sister, Amanda, had been building sand castles for years. People often stopped to admire the intricate details of their creations.
The two knelt in the damp sand by the foamy surf and tried to hatch a winning idea for the contest.
"We should make something really unusual for this contest. Like a giant octopus or something," said Liane.
"I thought we were making a sand castle town, like we always do. Look, I collected all these shells for the walls," said Amanda. She pointed at a pile of smooth pile shells.
"Come on, let's do something different," Liane insisted. "Think big!"
"I don't know," Amanda said, dragging a finger in the sand. "No, I'm sticking to the original plan." She compressed a clump of sand between her palms, shaping it into a castle corner.
"I'll just make my own, then," Liane said. She marched to another spot a few yards away, plopped herself down, and began making her own sculpture.
At the end of the day, Liane gave up on her sculpture of a giant octopus attacking a castle. It looked like a lopsided shack with a blob on it. Liane hadn't had time to add any details.
Amanda had made a satisfactory castle, small but neatly ornamented with shells. Around it she had shaped the sand to look like rolling farmland. Amanda had spent most of her time on making a little herd of shell cows.
Looking around, Liane realized that neither of them would win the contest. Liane's sculpture was missing Amanda's skillful touch, and Amanda's castle was missing Liane's big ideas.

9. Main Idea & Theme Practice
What is this story MAINLY about?
What is the THEME of this story?
The author believes that...

10. Play this main idea vs theme game!
Click Here!
Still need practice?
Play this main idea vs theme game!

11. Plot, Conflict, & Characters
Section Three
Plot, Conflict, & Characters

12. Quick Lesson
The PLOT of a story is the main events (first, then, last). The CONFLICT is the problem in a story. INTERNAL conflicts are conflicts or problems a character has with themselves and EXTERNAL conflicts are problems characters have with others or with outside forces (like weather, monsters, or bad luck!). The CHARACTERS are the people or creatures in a story.

13. Read the passage:
Once upon a time there was an honest shoemaker who was very poor. He worked as hard as he could, and still he could not earn enough to keep himself and his wife. At last there came a day when he had nothing left but one piece of leather, big enough to make one pair of shoes. He cut out the shoes, ready to stitch, and left them on the bench; then he said his prayers and went to bed, trusting that he could finish the shoes the next day and sell them. Early the next morning, he rose and went to his workbench and discovered there a pair of shoes, beautifully made. The leather was gone, and there was no sign of anyone having been there. The shoemaker and his wife did not know what to make of it. Then the first customer who came was so pleased with the beautiful shoes that he bought them, and paid so much that the shoemaker was able to buy leather enough for two pairs. Happily, he cut them out, and then, as it was late, he left the pieces on the bench, ready to sew in the morning. But when morning came, two pairs of shoes lay on the bench, most beautifully made, and no sign of anyone who had been there. It was another puzzle. That day a customer came and bought both pairs, and paid so much for them that the shoemaker bought leather for four pairs, with the money. Once more he cut out the shoes and left them on the bench. As before, the next morning he discovered that all four pairs were made. It went on like this until the shoemaker and his wife were prosperous. They were concerned, they could not be satisfied to have so much done for them and not know to whom they should be grateful. So one night, after the shoemaker had left the pieces of leather on the bench, he and his wife hid themselves behind a curtain, and left a light in the room. Just as the clock struck twelve, the door opened softly and two tiny elves came dancing into the room, hopped on to the bench, and began to put the pieces together. They were quiet, they made little conversation, and they had brought tiny scissors and hammers and thread. Tap! Tap! went the little hammers; stitch, stitch, went the thread, and the little elves were hard at work. No one ever worked so fast as they. In almost no time all the shoes were stitched and finished. Then the little creatures whisked away out of the window. The shoemaker and his wife looked at each other and said, "How can we thank the little elves who have made us happy and prosperous?" "I should like to make them some pretty clothes," said the wife. "I will make the shoes if you will make the coats," said her husband. That very day they worked on this surprise for the elves. The wife cut out two tiny, tiny coats of green, two little pairs of trousers, of white, two very small caps, bright red, and her husband made two little pairs of shoes with long, pointed toes. They made the clothes as good-looking as could be, with nice little stitches and pretty buttons. By Christmas time, they were finished. On Christmas Eve, the shoemaker cleaned his bench, and on it, instead of leather, he laid the two sets of clothes. Then he and his wife hid away as before, to watch. Promptly at midnight, the little elves came in. They hopped upon the bench; but when they saw the little clothes there, they laughed and danced for joy. Each one caught up his little coat and things and began to put them on. They were so happy. Then, when the clock struck two, they left smiling. They never came back any more, but from that day they gave the shoemaker and his wife good luck, so that they never needed any more help.

14. Plot Characters Conflict
List the three most important events from the story:
Describe the characters in the story:
What is the conflict in this story? Is it internal or external?
More Practice
More Practice
More Practice

15. Section Four
Tone & Mood

16. Quick Lesson
TONE is the author’s attitude toward the topic they are writing about. MOOD is how the writing makes the reader feel.

17. Practice Quiz
Click Here to take the practice quiz for tone and mood! Take the quiz until you get 100%!

18. Section Five
Figurative Language

19. Quick Lesson
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE is language that is not meant to be taken literally. It is used to make writing more descriptive and interesting.

20. Practice Activities
Click Here to try activities about SIMILE, METAPHOR, PERSONIFICATION, and HYPERBOLE. Complete at least TWO activities before moving on.