6th Grade News: 11/11/21

Humanities

This past week in ELA class we’ve launched into The Odyssey together, joining Odysseus on his wild adventures as he travels home from the Trojan War. The graphic novel edition that we’re reading contains vibrant and colorful drawings that help students better follow the characters and action in this complex story. As we read together, students are tracking and analyzing themes related to loyalty and disloyalty, temptation and self-restraint, and “hubris” (or pridefulness). In addition, we’re keeping our overarching theme of Heroism in mind throughout, asking questions like: What does it mean to be a hero? Is Odysseus a hero? When is he a hero, and when is he not one? What about the other, less celebrated heroes in this story and others, like his wife, Penelope? As students finish their independent biography books this coming week, they’ll complete a project that requires them to ask similar questions about their own book: is the person they read about a hero? Why, how, and when?

In Social Studies, we are continuing to explore the culture and traditions of ancient Greece, providing students with a more complete picture of the context in which the Odyssey was written. We’re discovering important connections to our lives today as we learn about the ancient Greek Olympics, the “agora” (or ancient Greek marketplace), and Athenian democracy. The students had fun embarking on several simulated “field trips” to ancient Greece: first visiting the ancient Minoan palace in Crete, and then spending some time at the Olympic games. (We were lucky enough to snag tickets!) I look forward to diving deeper into these topics through continued simulations and creative activities.

Enjoy the photos in post’s slideshow of students creating their own “Great Greek Gods of NYC” after learning about the famous Greek gods of Mount Olympus. Ask your child what their own god was in charge of!

Judaics: 

We have had a great start to our Chumash studies over the past two weeks. Students prepared for their weekly vocab challenges in class and at home using the new fun study tool “blooket”. We will have a vocab challenge most Fridays. Students will progress levels at their own pace as long as each week they get better by at least two words. These skills can already be seen helping them with their translations of the Shemot text. We are exploring themes of “how is a nation formed” and “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. It has been so nice to hear the room buzzing with translation and excitement for understanding the story. We are also working hard on coming up with kushiyot (text based questions). That help us unlock deeper understandings within the text. We will pause our Chumash studies as we learn about Hannah Senesh in preparation for observing her yahrzeit. This year we will be looking at her identity within different periods of her life and seeing how her heroism can inspire us. Look out for their reflections on this topic!

Shabbat Shalom,

Laura

Hebrew Heritage:

במהלך השבועיים האחרונים התלמידים נחשפו לסוגיות שעולות מהמצב האקולוגי של ים המלח באמצעות סרטונים, טקסטים ודיונים בכיתה.

כל זאת במסגרת יחידה ״המדריך למטייל״ שבה התלמידים חוקרים מקומות בעולם שבהם היו רוצים לטייל או שמעוניינים להמליץ לחברי הכיתה.

פרויקט סיום היחידה כולל עבודה עצמאית  של התלמידים תוך לימוד הקלדה בעברית על המחשב.

סוף שבוע נעים,

אילנה

Math

Throughout the next few weeks, our math class will be learning about multiplying and dividing fractions. We will also be learning how to estimate products and quotients of fractions. Students will be completing a real life project of what it takes to plan a family reunion picnic. They will put their math skills to task as they plan out recipes, location, activities, and matching shirts! You can expect to see a little more homework from math class as well. Students will get weekly homework assigned on Monday that will be due each Friday. Looking forward to an exciting few weeks.