fbpx
(718) 858-8663

6th Grade News: Pre- and Post- Thanksgiving Edition

HUMANITIES

We’ve had a busy week in Humanities since returning from Thanksgiving break! In ELA, 6th graders are working hard on several different projects. For their independent reading projects, students are writing paragraphs and designing a poster to share what they learned from the biographies they read. To tie their work together, they’re all focusing on one primary question: Is the person I read about a hero? Why or why not? Upon reflection, some students have decided they really admire the people the read about, while others feel that they’re not heroes at all. Simultaneously, students are writing their own, original hero stories that follow the classic “Hero’s Journey” pattern we discussed in class. They’re having lots of fun taking their imaginary characters on epic, heroic quests. Eventually, students will share their stories through digital presentations, and display them at our 6th grade “Heroes Convention” on December 20th.

Students are also getting creative in Social Studies. This week, we “traveled back in time” to become Mesopotamian scribes, and practiced writing in cuneiform (the Mesopotamian written language). Students were able to carve their messages into clay tablets, just like scribes did long ago. See the pictures below of our activity, and ask your child what he/she wrote in cuneiform!

 

Have a great weekend,

Naomi

MATH

Following the last quiz on decimals (conversion from and to fractions, multiplication and division), students engaged in a fun project just prior to the holiday break. They worked in groups and were responsible for creating (and shopping for) their own Thanksgiving Menu. Each group first had to decide how many people they would invite (a minimum of 8; a maximum of 25). Next, they had to come up with a menu that had to include a main dish, four sides (two starches and two vegetables), beverages, and desserts. Then they had to research recipes and adjust all ingredients and measurements depending upon the number of people invited. Students were then given circulars of several supermarkets, or had the option to research other bargains online, as they needed to keep a running total of all their dishes, and come up with a final total for the entire menu. Here they learned the arduous task of putting together an annual holiday meal, as well as understand how expensive (or inexpensive) it could be. Aside from the traditional turkey, other offerings included brisket, turduckin, and Peking duck!

Upon return from Thanksgiving, we then delved into negative numbers, and the confusing concept of absolute zero. We will end the week with an exploration of ratios. Once again, I am available early each morning, during any lunch/study hall, and Tuesday afternoons for any extra help.
Fred
JUDAICS
Last week we finished our first Chumash unit for Shemot (Exodus). Students worked hard to learn new root words, grammar concepts and how to ask different types of text-based questions (Kushiyot). We also had great conversations based off of the text. I highly recommend you ask your child to look at what they wrote for their Google classroom response about “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” We spoke about the value of perseverance and how we see that in the lives of Bnai Yisrael after Pharaoh enslaves them and how the phrase could be true in our life experiences as well.
This week we began our Israel curriculum. We reviewed historical events covered last year and then used a documentary called Pillar of Fire to explore the history of the Land of Israel during WW1. Students began this unit by exploring their own personal connections to Israel and thinking about why it is important to the Jewish people. They shared interviews with the class about other people’s connections to Israel. We learned and practiced active listening techniques to make sure that as we learn this sometimes heated topic we know how to properly share our ideas and really hear each other’s opinions even if they differ from our own.
-Shabbat Shalom
Laura
HEBREW
Dear parents,
This week, the students have been working on preparing presentations on a city of their choice. For HaKbatza Aleph, the goal is for them to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of living in that city and the ecological problems. HaKbatza bet is focusing on describing what is and what is not in the city of their choice. The main goal for both groups is to offer the students an opportunity to give a presentation in Hebrew.
I wish everyone a good week,
Andreea
HEBREW HERITAGE
להורים יקרים,
השבוע המשכנו לעבוד על האגדה “יוסף מוקיר שבת”, מלבד הבנת הטקסט התלמידים למדו כיצד נבנה סיפור, מהם חלקיו במטרה שבסוף היחידה הם יהיו מסוגלים לכתוב סיפור משלהם.
סוף שבוע טוב,
אילנה
SCIENCE
In Science we started a unit that has been exploring DNA. Students have conducted hands on activities in order to learn about the parts of DNA. The first activity was doing origami in order to see how DNA twists into a helix shape. Next students used edible materials in order to build a small DNA sequence. This allowed students to learn how the parts of DNA come together.  Later in Science we will apply these concepts of DNA to heredity using genetic smiles created from the computer.