6th Grade Learning Previews 2/12/19

Science
Mr. Phil Nerboso [email protected]

Currently, students are learning that rock layers and fossils are valuable sources of evidence about the history of Earth as well as past environments and climate. They learn how sedimentary rocks are formed, the Law of Superposition, how fossils are formed and how fossils can be used to determine the relative age of rock layers. (Students need this background information for our next lesson when they begin to figure out Wegener’s mystery.) Students put all of this together as they learn about the geologic time scale and create posters describing the Earth through time. They also will investigate the scientists that study rocks and fossils to see how our thinking about the Earth has changed over time.

Social Studies
Ms. Gisel Saillant [email protected]

Our social studies scholars finished their Early Humans unit with an investigation on the biological basis of race and its social impacts. Ask your student, “Is there a biological basis to race? “What are stereotypes and how can they impact people?” Be on the lookout for our second social studies newsletter in your email. This month, students are beginning their third unit on ancient Mesopotamia and we’ll investigate the following questions: “What is a society?
How does water access influence societies? How do people build power, and what did it look like?

ELA
Dan Tobin, aka Mr. Tobin [email protected]

We just finished The Giver! The end of unit assessment has been to write an additional chapter to the book, reflecting a prompt students will soon see on MCAS. After vacation, we’ll start reading about real-life oppressive societies, beginning with The Wall, Peter Sis’s memoir of growing up in Czechoslovakia under Soviet rule. As we notice things about the text, we’ll transition into reading either Red Scarf Girl, about China’s cultural revolution, or I Am Malala, written by Nobel Peace Prize-winning young person Malala Yousafzai. This will lead us to a compare-contrast essay that will also help prepare students for the mid-April MCAS test. Keep your student reading: the goal for the end of the year is 15-20 books, but three students are over 100 and I’m eager to see how many books kids read this year!

Math
Ms. Alexandra Spencer [email protected]

During the month of February we will be moving onto our fifth unit: Arithmetic in Base Ten. Students will become fluent with multiplying, dividing, adding, and subtracting with decimals. We will launch our new unit with tasking students to create a dinner party menu using real-life grocery store prices and a budget. Ask your student what they chose to have at their party or to identify their biggest challenge with shopping on a budget! If you are looking for a way to contribute to our classroom, we are in need of dry erase markers for our very cool and useful whiteboard tables! Lastly, student accounts for the new online math program ALEKS.com are up and running. If students are looking for additional practice outside of the classroom this adaptive program is fantastic for independent practice of math skills!
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