6th Grade News: 4/8/22

Humanities

These past few weeks, students worked hard to write, edit, and polish their Rome research essays about a wide range of topics, including Roman engineering, architecture, art, and more. They should be proud of their final drafts; for most of them, it’s the longest essay they’ve ever written at 6-8 paragraphs! Students also learned how to adapt ideas from research and cite their sources responsibly, writing both in-text citations within the body of the essay as well as a complete and properly-formatted bibliography at the end of the essay. I’m sure you’ve seen your child working hard on their Roman artifact at home, and I’m looking forward to seeing all of their projects at our Roman banquet this coming Tuesday. Students will also get a chance to share parts of their essays as we celebrate our learning together. Don’t be surprised if your child asks you to help them tie a toga in preparation for our banquet… we are hoping to really get into the Roman spirit and have an authentic celebration!

In ELA, we are finishing up our unit on Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Throughout the unit, I’ve been impressed with students’ maturity and bravery as we discuss difficult themes and historical events related to violence and racism. As we near the end of the book, we are drawing connections to the prejudice and systemic racism that unfortunately still exists in our communities today. To balance out the difficult topics in Roll of Thunder, we are also making sure to focus on the main characters’ sense of resilience and hopefulness despite their circumstances. Our next unit, too, will celebrate “stories of triumph”; students will choose from several books about young people finding their voice and fighting for justice in inspiring ways. As they read, students will think about their own social justice projects and get ready to take action themselves. I’m excited to get started!

Shabbat shalom,

Naomi

Math: 

Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities!

We have had a good time learning about writing and evaluating expressions. Students got to pair up to complete creative activities (including but not limited to: writing a children’s book, creating an online game, creating a matching memory game, and making an “All About Me” poster”) to prepare for their unit test on expressions. Starting next week, we will begin to learn about equations and inequalities. 

Judaics: 

Have you ever seen a scene or picture of Moshe and the Burning bush? It is one of the “top ten classic moments” in the Torah. The students looked deeply into the details of the text and thought about how they would depict it and how their depiction is a form of interpretation. We looked at some art from the ages and thought about the artist’s decisions based on what was rooted in the text and what was an interpretation. We also explored the theme of “holy space” and taking our shoes off in these moments and grounding ourselves in them. Throughout our studies of this section we will see how Moshe acts humble as he is being called to leadership and how God provides guidance and comfort as he comes up against some worries about being a leader. Students wondered why God showed themselves in this form which led us to a great discussion about why physical ritual items can be helpful to help us feel connected. We will continue this unit with our own art and interpretations after break and you will get to see them at our end of the year showcase!

We are now preparing for Passover with the classic songs and prayers and the Mishnah about the 3 things we need to speak about on Passover. Josh Less, the student teacher is teaching this unit and focusing on the gratitude that we can cultivate by discussing these three things each year. Students will bring home a personal piece of writing to share at their seder.

We have also been working hard on running the Penny Drive! 6th graders have counted over 1000$ so far for Ali Forney Center. They are keeping the students motivated to keep donating and we can’t wait to present the total sum to the center after break when they come to speak to our students.

Shabbat Shalom!

Laura

Science

Before the coming break, students continued learning about body systems with the exploration of the skeletal and muscle system. Students completed a hands-on activity that required them to use toothpicks to create a skeleton model of the basic human bones. This allowed students to appreciate how many bones are in the human body. After this activity students had to create functional hands using craft supplies. They used paper for skin, straws for bones, and string for muscles. This allowed students to apply their knowledge and make functional hands. When we return from break students will use a coding program called “Scratch” in order to create an informational game program about a disease. This will connect to the final body system of study, the immune system. This allowed them to be creative and take ownership of explaining how a disease affects the body systems.

Mike Noll

Hebrew Heritage: