Math: Ms. Alexandra Spencer
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Our math scholars have been investigating relationships between numbers through problem solving tasks. Ask your student to tell you about our candy corn activity! Students can expect an assessment the first week of October on our first unit: finding greatest common factor, least common multiple, and prime factorizations of numbers. Students will be getting unit guides as a resource sheet for important information to study. Every student will have an opportunity to do a quiz/test analysis where they reflect on their work and adjust their mistakes in order to get half credit back. Perhaps you can take some time to check in with them to review the assessment together. During the month of October students will be starting our second unit: working with multiplying and dividing fractions and decimals. Students will continue to work on team challenges, partner tasks, and independent work to build their problem solving skills and content knowledge.
Social Studies: Ms. Gisel Saillant
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Our social studies scholars are building their geographic skills by modeling map projections with balloon globes this week.They worked in teams and wondered just like cartographers, how can we create a flat map of the spherical Earth? We’ll continue to explore the 5-themes of geography used by geographers to study places on Earth. For the geography project, students will apply those skills while researching a country and creating virtual brochures for potential visitors. The project will be done during class periods starting October 24th. Students’ homework will be to complete that day’s unfinished project tasks. The tentative project due date is November 18th. Ask your student what the themes of geography are--and make sure they help you understand how knowing about a country’s geography helps you understand it better!
ELA: Dan Tobin, aka Mr. Tobin
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We’ve been reading books, and now we turn our attention toward the elements of fiction: plot, setting, character, and theme. Soon we’ll be working on the format for a structured argument paragraph: MEAL, which stands for Main Idea, Evidence, Analysis, and Link Back. We use MEAL throughout the middle school, in all sixth grade core classes and into seventh and eighth, so this is a significant foundational step for sixth graders. And reading has shifted to our Reading Fridays, when everyone is immersed in an independent reading book geared toward their personal interest and reading level. Ask your student what book they are reading and why they chose it!
Science: Mr. Phil Nerboso
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Budding scientists have begun to delve into the fascinating and mysterious world of light and how we see. Our investigations have already lead us to understandings about what conditions are necessary in order to see objects around us. Ask your student to describe for you the four conditions needed to see an object. They include an eye, an object, an unblocked path, and light. You may also spark conversation by asking them to describe what the light box investigation taught them about these four conditions for seeing. Soon we will begin to develop a consensus model of how we see things by including the four conditions for seeing. Scientists use model to examine and explain phenomena of the world. In the coming weeks, ask your scientist to draw and explain the consensus model to you.