6th Grade News 12/9 – 12/20/19

Advisory:

This week in advisory, we participated in activities around the theme of self-control. We learned about the famous marshmallow experiment by watching this video, and then discussed how recognizing and controlling our impulses can help us become more successful both academically and socially. We also conducted our own experiment based off of the marshmallow one: Mike and I gave each student one hershey kiss at the beginning of class, and we told them that if they had enough control to not eat it throughout the whole class, then they could have more hershey kisses at the end of class. It was fun to see the kids’ reactions and how the strategies they implemented to practice self-control!

We also had a Hanukkah celebration with our 2nd grade buddies this week. We played dreidel, sang Hanukkah songs, and practiced lighting candles. Enjoy the photos below!

Humanities:

Thank you to everyone for coming to the 6th grade Heroes Convention this year! The students felt proud of their posters, videos, and essays, and it was great to have the opportunity to share them with you.

In Social Studies these past few weeks, we’ve been wrapping up our ancient Greece unit with the “Peloponnesian Summit” – during which we reimagined the history of the ancient world. After learning about the destructive Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens, our class staged a peace conference between the two city-states to try to stop the war and rebuild Greece. (This conference didn’t actually happen in history.)

The students created ancient Greek personas for themselves, pretending they were Spartans or Athenians. They each researched and then presented about a different topic: Athenian or Spartan military, education, government, and social structure. After watching the presentations, we sat together to discuss which parts of Athens and which parts of Sparta we wanted to take with us to the new empire we were building. We debated questions like: Do we want two monarchs (like Sparta), no monarchs (like Athens), or something different entirely? Do we want to build up our foot-soldier army (like Sparta), our navy (like Athens), or both?

I was so impressed with the way that students were able to run these discussions entirely by themselves, giving everyone a chance to speak and defending their arguments with sound reasoning. In the end, each class landed on several unique laws and structures for their new country. For example, one class decided that we should have a government council with representation from all adult age groups. Another class decided that the first six years of school would be dedicated to the arts and sciences, while the next six years should focus on military training. Ask your child about about the policies they came up with for their “new Greece” around education, military, government, and social structures.

Throughout the process of the Peloponnesian Summit, students demonstrated research and presentation skills, listening skills, and debate skills. They also practiced civic responsibilities by participating in policy discussions and voting on them. They truly took ownership of their learning during this project, and they should be proud of what they learned.

Happy Hanukkah!

Naomi

Hebrew:

Dear parents,

It was such a pleasure to meet you at the Hero Convention and to share with you your children’s learning in Hebrew! We ended the semester learning about life in the desert, comparing it verbally and in writing to our life here, in Brooklyn. Students read texts describing life in the Negev, and then wrote and discussed about what people can and cannot do in the desert.

I wish you a Happy Hanukkah and a relaxed vacation,

Andreea

Math:

Chapter 4 was a whirlwind of a Chapter, short and fast. After taking our chapter test on Wednesday, we worked on some holiday themed logic puzzles to get in the spirit. When we come back, we will begin Chapter 5, which focuses on ratios. Hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing holiday.

Judaics:

This week we learned Mishnah and Gemara about Hanukkah. Students did a wonderful job remembering key terms and structure from our last Rabbinic unit.

Please look in your email for a special Hanukkah Family Source sheet. Like my other holiday source sheets, this is an invitation to learn about the holiday with your child and have them share their expertise on the text we learned in class.

Wishing you all a light and love filled Hanukkah,

Laura

Science:

Students are starting to explore the human body systems. Our first system of discovery is the digestive system. Students had two hands on activities in order to explore this system. First students used different color string in order to learn about the overall length of the digestive system parts. They discovered their small intestine is amazingly long, more than 4 times their height. During the next activity we used different zip lock bags to see how a cracker is digested. This activity allowed students to focus on the function of the individual digestive system parts, including mouth, esophagus and stomach. When we get back from break we will continue our exploration of the digestive system.