Sixth Grade Blog

HUMANITIES  This week in Social Studies, we learned about the Minoan people of Crete in ancient Greece by “traveling back in time” to their palace. We examined the frescoes — or paintings on wet plaster —  that were uncovered on their palace walls, and we made inferences about Minoan culture based on these designs. Read more about the beautiful Minoan frescoes here. We then transitioned to a few hundred years later and visited the ancient Greek agora, or outdoor marketplace. Students learned that the agora was not only a great place to buy and sell goods; it was also a... Read More

HUMANITIES  In ELA last week, we began our new unit on “Coming of Age.” Each student has chosen to read either The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt or Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead. Both books follow middle school-age kids experiencing normal, “tween” and teen challenges related to friendships, family, clashing emotions, and identity formation. Students are discussing their reading in small book clubs of 3-4, practicing their speaking, listening, and compromising skills while they converse. We’re using these texts as a lens through which to confront issues relevant to the kids’ lives, as they come of age and explore... Read More

HUMANITIES As we transition into spring, we are also wrapping up several units and beginning new ones in Humanities. In ELA, we have finished reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, and are now completing some culminating activities related to the text itself and its historical context. For example, we identified over a dozen different literary terms in the story – including foreshadowing, dialect, flashbacks, and symbolism. We also further explored the racial divide in the Jim Crow era South by taking an old Louisiana voter Literacy test — a test that many African Americans were forced to take and... Read More

HUMANITIES  Last week, 6th graders had the opportunity to bring their learning to life when we visited the Brooklyn Museum. We explored art and artifacts related to ancient Egypt, including a real mummy, classic amulets, the “Book of the Dead” (or a “cheat sheet”/guide to the afterlife), sculptures of pharaohs, and more. The students used their ancient Egypt expertise to inform their analysis of the items in the exhibit; it was wonderful to see them teaching and learning from each other. –> Enjoy the photos from our field trip here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/JcBaLuj7umX3Re166 Meanwhile, in ELA we are continuing to delve deep... Read More

HUMANITIES  Last week in Social Studies, students reviewed all the steps that were involved in building the ancient Egyptian pyramids – from choosing the perfect spot, to finding and carving the stones, to hauling the stones up temporary ramps to build the pyramids. After reading about all the different jobs and kinds of labor involved, students acted out the entire pyramid-building process. See videos of their skits below! Links to Pyramid-Building Skits – What are the four stages of building a pyramid?  (Note: don’t worry – these videos are not public or searchable! They are only accessible to people who... Read More

HUMANITIES: This week in ELA, students began an exciting new writing unit related to research and debate. They chose “real world” questions that felt meaningful to them, including: Should schools punish cyberbullying? Should the U.S. continue giving foreign aid? and more. They are researching all sides of the argument using online and offline sources, and determining their own stance as they work. In order to ensure responsible research, we learned how to determine whether a source is reliable or unreliable. We had fun examining a wide range of websites — from amateur blogs to university publications — finding both trustworthy... Read More

HUMANITIES It was a pleasure to experience several special programs this past week in Humanities, including a special workshop on The Giver and a visit to the United Nations Headquarters. Mara Stephens, otherwise known as “Vera’s mom,” came in on Tuesday for an interactive program related to Lois Lowry’s The Giver. Mara actually used to performed her own one-woman show about this book, and we were so lucky that she was able to share some of her performance with us. She also led several movement and acting-based activities with the class, bringing the story in The Giver to life. As the students followed firm,... Read More

MATH:  Hello everyone, I am Katie, the new 5th and 6th grade math teacher! The first few days back at school have been great; everyone has been so kind and welcoming. I am excited to jump right into learning about percents with the 6th grade! We have already used m & m’s to estimate percents on a circle graph we created, and made predictions based on the patterns we saw. Coming up, we will be creating menus and changing recipes…all while getting a better understanding of percents.  BAR/BAT MITZVAH CLASS: The sixth graders have completed the rough drafts of their dvar Torah’s! Phyllis... Read More

Last week, students explored ratios, and saw its relationship to fractions. This was made more obvious as they learned that ratios could be equivalent, and therefore, simplified. With this knowledge, students spent the better part of the week practicing some difficult word problems that did not  involve algebra. Very different from the way I learned to solve these, the use of visuals, particularly bar graphs, were extremely helpful, and could be applied to a variety of problems. This week, sixth grade math moved onto rate, and how it is used in the real world, such as in unit rates and... Read More

ADVISORY This week in advisory, students focused on team-building skills. They participated in several fun group challenges (ask your child about the marshmallow tower challenge!), and analyzed the qualities that make a successful team. We also celebrated Hanukkah with our 2nd grade buddies! Here are some photos from our activities:       HUMANITIES:  These past few weeks, 6th graders have been working hard to prepare for the Heroes Convention next Thursday. They finished up their independent reading projects about biographies, wrapped up their own digital hero stories, and thought about the heroes in their personal lives. Students also read... Read More