6th Grade News: 11/13/20

Advisory:

In 6th grade advisory periods and morning meetings this month, we’ve focused on a variety of important academic and social skills. We identified and practiced healthy behaviors on social media, and then followed up with discussions about the role of non-verbal communication. Students are beginning to see how those all-important non-verbal cues are not present when we text or type online (emojis aside . . .! ), and we hope that they will keep this in mind when they decide how and when to communicate messages online.

Other advisory topics have included reading and following all instructions (and doing so independently!), time management strategies, responding to stress, healthy relationships, and conflict-resolution. We will continue to loop back to these topics and emphasize related skills to help our students thrive both inside and outside the classroom.

Humanities:

In English Language Arts these past few weeks, we’ve immersed ourselves in the world of Homer’s The Odyssey. We are so enjoying the detailed, colorful drawings and dramatic language in Gareth Hinds’s graphic novel adaptation of the classic tale. While we read, students are tracking themes like Hospitality, Kindness/Cruelty to Strangers, Courage, Temptation, Self-Restraint, and more. They’re learning to find details in the text to support their ideas, and they’re beginning to think about our big questions of the unit: Is Odysseus a hero or not a hero? In general, what makes a hero? You might consider reading alongside your child if you’re interested; all students have a copy of the book at home. Students are simultaneously reading biographies of their choice and considering similar questions around heroism. Is the person they are reading about a hero? Why or why not? I hope that you will join us for our virtual “Heroes Convention” on December 18 (more details forthcoming), where we will share projects and opinions about The Odyssey, the biographies we’re reading, and the theme of Heroism.

Our Social Studies curriculum lines up nicely with our focus on The Odyssey, as we’re currently studying the history of ancient Greece. Ancient Greek mythology from both the D’Aulaires Book of Greek Myths and The Odyssey provided an engaging opening to our unit, and students eagerly jumped into learning more about this ancient civilization. We are examining the impact of climate and geography, the mythological and (potentially) historical parts of The Trojan War, the origins of democracy in Athens, and more.

Lastly, students recently wrapped up their narrative essays about their experiences during the time of Covid. I was impressed with their ability to reflect on both their struggles and positive experiences from the past few months. Students wrote about missing friends, doing more activities online, becoming closer with family members, anxiety about sickness, and more. I encourage you ask your child to read their essay if you haven’t; some of their reflections on this unique year may surprise you!

Shabbat shalom,

Naomi

Music:

In music class, students were asked to create a ringtone which represents their favorite music styles using different loops on the new sound engineering program called Soundtrap. 

Here are some examples of the ringtones they created. Enjoy!

Hannah’s Ringtone

Lorelei’s Ringtone

Judaics: 

In Judaics we finished out our holiday Rabbinic’s unit. I encourage you to take a look at your child’s Mishnah quiz. It is so impressive how 6th graders were able to jump right into learning Rabbinic text this year. They did a wonderful job looking at the rules and their roots in Torah. They were able to skillfully think about the intention behind the rules and think about what kind of society the Rabbis were trying to set up. They took these intentions and thought about how we practice the holidays today and what benefits that can bring us in modern society. I also encourage you to check out their sukkah projects. Your child can show you their flip grid presentation. Students thought about the central lesson of “temporariness” in Sukkot. They designed sukkot that portrayed the beauty and important of this lesson in todays world. Many students used this as a place to express their desires for change in our world and awareness of these difficult times not being forever.

We are not working on our Dvrei Torah. Each student has chosen a parsha (chapter in the Torah) to write about. This big project is a part of their B’nai Mitzvah class curriculmn and designed to help them not only apply skills we are learning in chumash, but also prepare for their upcoming B’nai Mitzvot. I look forward to seeing the students begin to create their text based questions, work with partners to get varied perspectives and even look into classic commentary to root their ideas in tradition.

Shabbat Shalom,

Laura

Hebrew Heritage

להורים שלום,

סיימנו בהצלחה את התרגול שערכנו עם מילות קישור ושאלה, התלמידים נבחנו על זה והבינו את החומר.

במהלך השבועיים האחרונים עבדנו על המשל ״השועל והתיש״, שוחחנו על משמעות משל במה זה שונה מסיפור רגיל. התלמידים נבחנו על אוצר המילים והצליחו בה יפה.

שבת שלום,

אילנה

Science

Students during the last month continued to use microscopes and interactive software to explore the wonderful world of cells. Students learned how to properly make slides of their own cheek cells. This can be difficult but everyone maintained focus and were excited when discovering their own cells under the microscope. We finished our cell unit with individually creating cell models. Students were creative with the limited art supplies in order to build these models. We currently have started our exploration of DNA and genetics. Everyone continues to seek understanding and ask informative questions about this topic. We are looking forward to continuing with these topics in the month ahead. 

Mike Noll