Common Core ELA6th GradeLanguage

L.6.6: Learn and Use Academic Vocabulary

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.6 · Cluster: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use.

Build a Unit Word List All 41 6th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 6, Language · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What L.6.6 Means in Plain English

Sixth graders learn two kinds of words and use them accurately: academic words that work in every class, like evidence, contrast and consequently, and subject words like irrigation or ratio. When a word matters to what they read or say, they track it down instead of skipping it.

Fifth graders (L.5.6) learned academic and subject words, including linking words like however and although. Sixth grade expects students to gather vocabulary on their own when a word is important, from the text, a glossary or a dictionary. Seventh grade (L.7.6) carries the habit to words like photosynthesis.

L.6.6 I Can Statements

I can use unit words like irrigation correctly in my own sentences.
I can use academic words like consequently to connect my ideas.
I can look up a word when it matters to understanding.

L.6.6 Worked Example

A social studies answer with the right ideas and none of the right words, then the same ideas said precisely.

Prompt

Revise this answer to “Why did farming villages in Mesopotamia grow into cities?” Use the unit words irrigation and surplus, and an academic word that shows cause and effect.

Not YetThe farmers dug water things from the rivers to the fields, so they grew a ton of food. Then not everyone had to farm, so some people did other stuff, and the towns got really big.The ideas are right, but “water things,” “a ton of food” and “other stuff” stand in for the words the unit taught. A reader can’t tell whether the writer knows them.

Meets the StandardFarmers dug irrigation canals to carry water from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to their fields. As a result, they grew a surplus of grain, more than their families needed. Consequently, not everyone had to farm, and some people became potters, priests and traders. Villages with these specialized workers grew into the first cities.Irrigation and surplus name exactly what “water things” and “a ton of food” were reaching for, and surplus is defined in passing. As a result and consequently mark each link in the chain of causes.

Moves to Use

Swap vague stand-ins like things and stuff for the unit word they mean.Define a new term in passing the first time you use it.Connect ideas with academic words like consequently and as a result.When a word blocks a passage, look it up before reading on, and log it.

Common Mistakes with L.6.6

Talking around the word

“The water things they dug,” when the unit word is irrigation canals

Try this: Post the unit word list beside the prompt, and have students replace each vague noun with the word it stands for.

The word used, but wrong

“Irrigation is when it rains a lot.”

Try this: Ask for a sentence that shows the meaning, like “Without irrigation, fields far from the river stayed dry,” and check it with a partner.

Reading past the word that matters

A student skips ziggurat three times and can’t say what the paragraph described

Try this: Teach a stop rule: when one word blocks a whole paragraph, look it up in the glossary before reading on, and log it.

Where L.6.6 Fits

Comes BeforeL.5.6Use grade 5 academic and subject words, including linking words like however and although.

AlongsideRI.6.4Work out technical and subject words in nonfiction.W.6.2Write informative texts with precise language and subject vocabulary.

Comes NextL.7.6Use grade 7 academic and subject words, and gather vocabulary independently.

Practice L.6.6

Vocabulary Worksheet GeneratorFree ToolWord, definition, sentence and picture practice from the unit’s word list, like irrigation, surplus and consequently.Unit word listSentencesGrade 6

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Quick Check

Which vague phrases in the weak answer do irrigation and surplus replace?
“Water things” becomes irrigation canals, and “a ton of food” becomes a surplus of grain.
How does the strong answer show what surplus means without a separate definition?
It adds “more than their families needed” right after the word.
Which academic words in the strong answer show cause and effect?
“As a result” and “consequently.”

L.6.6: Other Names

L.6.6CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.6