Sixth Grade Blogger

  Science This week students finished their STEAM project. This was a long road of hard work in designing, creating, and building their informational disease games. The students worked extremely hard and had the opportunity to shine during our expo. We could not be more proud of every student’s hard work during this process. Let’s just take a moment and reflect on how far our students have grown as scientists during this year of  science. Cannot wait to finish the year strong with our final science unit.                  Mike Noll and Samantha Butwin... Read More

First . . . enjoy these photos from Lag B’omer in the part and kesher day!   HUMANITIES Though this past week was filled with exciting special events, including the Lag B’Omer celebration and Kesher Day, we still managed to get a lot done in Humanities. We began the week in History class by continuing to focus on the ancient Greek Olympics. Students presented their own “live TV broadcasts” about the games— broadcasting about major competitions, like discus and wrestling, and summarizing some important ancient ceremonies, like sacrifices to Zeus. In addition, we began learning about the various forms of... Read More

HUMANITIES This week in Literature class we began our new novel, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. The book tells a semi-supernatural tale about a human boy who grows up in a graveyard and is raised by ghosts who died hundreds of years ago. It’s both a fun and sophisticated read, filled with spooky elements like werewolves and full moons, as well as frequent references to history, gothic literature, and mythology. As we read, we’ll analyze literary devices like “perspective” and “allusion,” and discuss abstract questions such as How do our homes shape who we are? and What kinds of... Read More

Reminder: May 18th: Student health and emergency forms due –> Forms can be downloaded HERE. Forms should be submitted to Rivkey Nigen, School Nurse at nurse@hannahsenesh.org. HUMANITIES This week in History class, we focused on the ancient Greek agora, or outdoor marketplaces. The agoras of ancient Greece were a sort of combination of today’s farmer’s markets, universities, and downtown areas. Students imagined and acted out what it might have been like for politicians, scientists, shoppers, and philosophers to come together in one central area in order to conduct business and discuss ideas. In Writing class, students finished their outlines for their ancient Greece research... Read More

HUMANITIES This week in History class, students embarked on an imaginary “field trip” back in time to visit the Minoan civilization of ancient Greece. We examined the frescoes (paintings on plaster) that they left behind, drawing inferences about their culture and values. We also watched a video that showed the fascinating ruins of their palace in Knossos, on the island of Crete, and took notes on the Minoans’ lifestyle, religion, and relationship with surrounding people. In Literature, students discussed the endings of their “Coming of Age” novels, Goodbye Stranger and The Wednesday Wars. To culminate our unit, students are completing a podcast project related... Read More

HUMANITIES  This week in Writing class, 6th graders began researching their topics for the ancient Greece research project. Students are focusing on ancient Greek architecture, art, philosophy, science, fashion, and more. They’re examining both online and offline sources, checking that each source is professional and trustworthy. In addition, students are learning to organize their notes into subcategories, which will help them outline their eventual research essays. It’s wonderful to see how the students are gradually becoming experts on their topics. In History class, we began our ancient Greece unit by focusing on geography and climate. We discussed: How did the many mountains in Greece... Read More

MATH Hope everyone is doing well and enjoyed the snow day this week! The sixth grade is working hard right before the break. In 6Y, they are starting a new unit in circles. We are learning about circumference and about the area of a circle. They are figuring out how to use the formula and they finally get the chance to play with a calculator, which they are very excited about. They will continue working on circles through the break. In 6X, they just started a new unit on speed and rate. They will be looking at how fast things... Read More

HUMANITIES It was so nice talking with most of you this week at parent-teacher conferences, and I look forward to speaking with the rest of you next week. In History class, students took a final test on ancient Egypt. Studying for this test was an important learning experience, as students tried out and shared different study strategies and figured out which worked best for them. As part of our preparation for the test, we played a competitive and enthusiastic game of Jeopardy. The students should feel proud of themselves for all that they’ve learned about ancient Egypt this semester! In... Read More

MATH This week in 6Y, since it was a short week due to them going on a field trip we did not have as many classes as usual. We were able to work on rate and speed however and understand how to calculate average speed and find someone’s speed over a certain number of trials. Next week they will have a test as well as lab to do on speed. In 6X, we are talking about ratios and proportions. We are figuring out that they are similar to fractions and understanding how they work. We will continue to work on... Read More

HUMANITIES  This week in Literature, we completed several activities to wrap up our study of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. In order to better imagine the lives of characters in the book, students wrote letters from the perspectives of African American citizens living in the South during the 1930s. They wrote about their struggles living under particular Jim Crow laws, which enforced segregation in parks, restaurants, schools, and other public spaces. I’m looking forward to reading their letters, and I’m hopeful that this exercise helped build the students’ sense of empathy and understanding of persecution. In History, we dug deeper... Read More