6th Grade Update
Social Studies
According to 6th grade social studies standards, “students will focus on geography, history, and culture in global regions. Students will analyze the regional, physical, and cultural characteristics of places. The analysis will show how these factors influenced people who lived there and how the people and characteristics have changed over time.”
Sixth grade is in its second year of using the online curriculum from the Teacher’s Curriculum Institute (TCI). It has been a great resource for our students, providing a variety of activities that allow them to learn material. All students have access to this online and can work on the website if they are absent and do not have their note packets.
So far this year, students have learned about the earliest humans and the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and—most recently—India. As always, students begin by learning the geography of the region to determine the geographical features that led to settlement in the area. Students have found many connections from ancient history to our present world!
Students have leveraged a variety of activities and strategies when learning new concepts and ideas. They build their comprehension and understanding through class participation and discussions. Students demonstrate their learning through hands-on activities or short quizzes throughout the unit, rather than a formal end-of-unit assessment. After students finish studying India, we plan to uncover the ancient cultures of China, Greece, and Rome to end the school year.
As stated in previous communications, students may reference their daily class agendas for each of their courses in Google Classroom any time they are absent. Students and parents can access PowerSchool to view grades and missing assignments. Please do not hesitate to reach out to any teacher with questions.
Science
In science classes at Central Lee, we follow the Next Generation Science Standards, which improve student learning through Three-Dimensional Learning. This practice helps prepare students for real-world problems and communicating, as well as potential science and engineering careers.
In 6th grade science specifically, we start the school year by learning about life sciences. Students now have an understanding of cells, body systems, reproduction, and genetics. Currently, students are learning about physical science with a focus on chemical reactions and thermal energy. We launched a newer curriculum (OpenSciEd) last year,and students are developing deeper thinking skills, engaging in hands-on learning, and focusing on collaborating like scientists to generate questions, explanations, and ideas.
In each unit, students engage in a lab or project to apply their knowledge of the content. Through this, we strive for students to understand how all science concepts, standards, and experiences are connected and apply this knowledge to their own lives.
Additionally, the first Science Fair competition for Central Lee Middle School is January 31! We will also participate in competitions with other schools across the state. If your student is participating in any upcoming science fairs, please remind them to regularly check their Google Classroom page for updates and bring home notes from sponsors. Any 6th grade students or parents who have questions/concerns or need guidance may email me or any of the other sponsors.
Math
In 6th grade math, students learn about math concepts in depth rather than simply memorizing rules or math facts. The curriculum, Illustrative Mathematics, is built around hands-on activities, real-world examples, and peer collaboration. Every lesson includes a warm-up activity, individual activities, group activities, and a cool-down activity.
The cool-down activity is usually a short formative assessment that allows me to determine students' understanding. During collaborative activities, students are expected to explain what they did to solve a problem while using their mathematical language and vocabulary. In our curriculum, it is important for students to understand the process behind a problem—not just the solution.
Students are now starting Unit 5, which is focused on decimals. Students have reviewed how to add and subtract decimals, and they will extend that knowledge by learning how to multiply and divide decimals.
Students are provided with a math workbook that allows them to easily stay organized. Please note that students are expected to bring their workbook to class every day and complete the lesson within this book. Our workbook also includes practice problems students can use for extra practice or to study for upcoming tests or quizzes.
Reading/Language Arts
In 6th grade reading class, students continue to grow and expand through studying a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction texts. Our daily learning targets come from the Iowa Core Standards and guide our movement throughout each unit. The curriculum consists of verified resources that are aligned with our Iowa Core Standards, including iReady, CommonLit, Scholastic Scope, and carefully selected whole-class novels.
Through the use of diverse texts, students have developed skills such as determining central ideas, producing unbiased summaries, determining the meaning of interesting or new words, identifying story elements, analyzing the author’s purpose and word choice, inferring the theme of the story, citing text evidence, and much more! Beyond building their reading abilities, students have used what they’ve read to discuss and answer important questions like these: what does it mean to grow up, can people change, and what does it mean to be successful? In an upcoming unit, we will be asking: what does it mean to be resilient?
In ELA, students are learning about different genres of writing. Students complete daily quick-writes, where they respond to a high-interest writing prompt (provided by the teacher) or pick a writing idea from a previous brainstorm session. The purpose is to increase our writing stamina, practice generating ideas, apply recently learned strategies, and become comfortable sharing our writing with others. We’ve seen students grow in their independence and confidence through making their own writing decisions.
In each unit of writing, we focus our lessons around the three major genres of writing: argumentative, informative, and narrative. Throughout these units, students work on mastering specific grade-level skills such as style, organization, purpose, applying the writing process, gathering reliable information from multiple resources, and properly citing resources. As a 6th grade team, we use the Iowa Core Standards to map our learning throughout the year to address a wide range of skills.
I look forward to extending additional reading and writing opportunities for our students with an upcoming reading competition (Battle of the Books) and creative writing opportunities.