6th Grade News 1/21 – 2/1/19

HUMANITIES:

This week in ELA, students began an exciting new writing unit related to research and debate. They chose “real world” questions that felt meaningful to them, including: Should schools punish cyberbullying? Should the U.S. continue giving foreign aid? and more. They are researching all sides of the argument using online and offline sources, and determining their own stance as they work. In order to ensure responsible research, we learned how to determine whether a source is reliable or unreliable. We had fun examining a wide range of websites — from amateur blogs to university publications — finding both trustworthy and faulty information across the web. Soon, students will transition from note-taking to outlining, and begin articulating their claims and evidence in organized, coherent ways. I look forward to reading students’ notes and seeing their arguments come together.

In Social Studies, we have delved into a deeper study of the spectacular ancient Egyptian pyramids. After closely examining these impressive structures, students drew inferences about ancient Egyptians: They must have held their pharaohs in extremely high esteem, valued riches and beauty, and cared deeply about the afterlife. Now, students are preparing skits to show the various tasks required to build these pyramids and the variety of workers that participated in the process — from architects to stonecutters to builders. Some students are even incorporating songs into their performances, imagining a pyramid-building musical! I’m confident that all the skits be informative and entertaining.

Have a nice weekend and stay warm,

Naomi

JUDAICS:

We are in new chevruta/ learning pairs now in Chumash. Students are working on translating alone and then collaborating on the deeper thought questions about the text. This was not an easy transition for them. They were used to helping each other fill in the gaps of their own personal knowledge and bounce possible translations off each other. It was tough at first to sit alone and figure out the meaning of a pasuk /sentence word by word. In just one week I have seen huge improvements in their perseverance and use of context clues. They have felt real pride in themselves when they have the time to struggle through a pasuk and use their own knowledge and resources to discover its meaning. The weekly vocabulary challenges have also helped with this improvement in translation skills and confidence. Students are “leveling up” at a speed I have never seen before! I will soon have to make new vocabulary challenges to keep up with them. They are using the newly memorized vocabulary and grammar concepts to translate their text carefully.

We are looking at the text surrounding the moment where Moshe approaches the “Sneh” (Thorn bush). We have translated carefully and discussed in detail how Moshe might be feeling each step of the way. Now we are looking into Midrash/ Rabbinic stories about the “sneh” itself. The Midrashim give us ideas of what the thorn bush represents. Students will begin to write their own Midrash including their ideas about symbolism in this scene. We are also looking at many famous pieces of art depicting the “Moshe and the Burning Bush” scene, dating all the way back to the time of the Talmud. With each painting or sculpture we ask, what is the artist trying to tell us and where do we see the details of the text depicted or not depicted. This is all leading to an awesome art project so stay tuned!

HEBREW:

Dear parents,

This week we embarked on projects combining creativity with knowledge! Hebrew J is working on producing their own version of the TV show “What Not To Wear.” and Hebrew K is producing an episode of “Wife Swap.” By writing the script and acting it out, the students are involved in memorizing new vocabulary, and practicing how to use it verbally in authentic language. I am positive that in our next blog post we will be able to share with you the results.

For now, I am sharing with you a short interview Hebrew K gave on their dream school.

I wish everyone a relaxing weekend,

Andreea

Science

Science has finished with their exploration of the digestive system and started to explore the circulatory system. Students conducted a rotation activity measuring their heart rate doing seven different activities. Then student had another rotation activity using tools to further discover their heart. With the use of a blood pressure machine, EKG, CO2 sensor and stethoscope, Students discovered different ways to measure functions of the circulatory system. We will continue our exploration of this powerful human body system next week.

Mike Noll

HEBREW HERITAGE