Sixth Grade Blog

Humanities:  This past month in Social Studes, students engaged with our content through primary source exploration, role-playing activities, and discussions about current events. To learn more about the mythology behind Rome’s founding, we read an excerpt from the classic Latin epic poem The Aeneid. The language was sophisticated and complex, but students did a great job reading closely and rewriting the text in their own words. Our class has also experienced ancient Roman life for ourselves by getting into character — which students love! For example, we spent one lesson acting as “plebeians” (commoners) and “patricians” (upper class citizens) in... Read More

  Humanities:  In 6th grade humanities this month, we wrapped up older units and started several new ones. To celebrate the end of our ancient Greece unit, students competed in our annual “6th Grade Ancient Greek Olympics” — once again in person this year! They divided into four teams named for ancient Greek City states, made team signs and cheers that boasted true facts about their cities, and competed in some of the same competitions featured in the real ancient Greek Olympic Games. Students flexed their muscles and cheered each other on during the long jump, “javelin” throw, relay races, and... Read More

Humanities:  As you know, sixth graders proudly presented several humanities projects around the theme of Heroism at our Heroes Convention on Tuesday. Thank you for attending to join us in celebration of their hard work, and thank you for supporting your children at home in the weeks beforehand as they read their chosen biographies, wrote responses, and created engaging posters. After the event, I congratulated the students on managing their time as they prepared a few different long-term projects, and we discussed how learning to plan out and execute multi-step projects like these will help them succeed in middle school,... Read More

Humanities This past week in ELA class we’ve launched into The Odyssey together, joining Odysseus on his wild adventures as he travels home from the Trojan War. The graphic novel edition that we’re reading contains vibrant and colorful drawings that help students better follow the characters and action in this complex story. As we read together, students are tracking and analyzing themes related to loyalty and disloyalty, temptation and self-restraint, and “hubris” (or pridefulness). In addition, we’re keeping our overarching theme of Heroism in mind throughout, asking questions like: What does it mean to be a hero? Is Odysseus a... Read More

Judaics: It looks like a construction zone in the JS classroom this week! Students worked hard to translate and understand many Mishnayot (Rabbinic texts) about the Sukkah. The used this research to make a blue print to scale in order to then create a physical or virtual model Sukkah. They are also tackling the extra challenge of creating a sukkah that promotes something important to “dwell in” this year. I can’t wait to share pictures of this project soon! While working on this unit students have been asking themselves constantly, “what kind of society are the Rabbis trying to set... Read More

Humanities  Hi! I’m Naomi, and this is my 6th year as a 6th grade humanities teacher and advisor at Hannah Senesh. It’s so exciting to start off this year back in the building each day! I’ve had a great time beginning to get to know the students this week, and I’m looking forward to a year filled with academic growth and joyful learning in our friendly and colorful classrooms. In Social Studies and English Language Arts, students can expect to engage deeply with texts: we’ll read critically for deeper meaning and draw connections to our own lives and the world... Read More

Humanities:  Wow – what a crazy, back-and-forth, challenging, surprising, exciting, and fun year it’s been! I’ve been so impressed with the 6th graders’ resilience and positive attitude these past several months while adjusting to new routines, tiresome protocols, and ever-changing schedules. Being around their joyful energy inspired me to stay positive and persevere during this long-lasting pandemic, and for that I am truly grateful. We closed out the semester in Humanities with a multi-media group project that required students to imagine and create their own medieval manor (country village). In small teams, students researched the daily lives and customs of... Read More

Humanities:  In humanities class this week, we began discussions about our new class novel, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. The story tells the strange and spooky tale of a child raised by ghosts in a graveyard. Though his upbringing is anything but ordinary, the conflicts and internal struggles he faces as he comes of age are universal and relatable. While 6th graders experience the emotional and physical changes of their “tween” years, The Graveyard Book provides an engaging entry-point to conversations about gaining independence, building personal identity, and navigating our relationships to our homes and the outside world as we... Read More

Humanities:  We had so much fun in Social Studies this week celebrating our Rome research projects during our 6th grade Roman Banquet. At the banquet, students read from their research essays and shared “artifacts” they made related to their topics. Check out all the artifact videos at this link (if it asks for a password it’s RomeResearch), and see photos from the event at this link. We reclined on pillows and blankets, just as wealthy Romans did during ancient times, we sipped on grape juice just like they drank wine, and we enjoyed ancient Roman entertainment in between presentations, like... Read More

Humanities:  These past several weeks in humanities have included mature and nuanced discussions about social justice issues in the past and today. As we wrapped up our ELA unit on Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, we had open and honest conversations about how our country’s legacy of racism continues to impact our communities and world. We explored questions like: How do prejudices begin to form at a young age? How is systemic racism embedded into our institutions? How can we help prevent racism around us and within ourselves? I was so impressed with students’ thoughtfulness, maturity, and self-awareness during these... Read More