Math: Ms. Alexandra Spencer [email protected]
Our math scholars have been working hard on a variety of hands-on tasks to deepen their understanding of area and surface area of shapes. It has been wonderful to see their mindsets start to change from fixed to growth in just a few short weeks through their hard work!
Ask your student to share with you how to “decompose” a parallelogram! Students can expect their first end of unit assessment on geometry midway through the month. We will be providing them with unit guides as a resource sheet for important information to study and doing some additional review in class. Every student will have an opportunity to do a quiz/test reflection where they reflect on their work and improve their understanding on any lingering struggle areas or concepts. Perhaps you can take some time to check in with them to review the assessment together!
Later in the month students will be kicking off our second unit: Introducing Ratios. Students will continue to work on team challenges, partner tasks, and independent work to build their problem solving skills and content knowledge. Remind your students that they can schedule extra help time with me at any time--with your help encouraging them they will grow to be successful self-advocates!
Social Studies: Ms. Gisel Saillant [email protected]
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 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 18th, students homework will be to complete that day’s unfinished project tasks. The tentative project due date is November 15th. 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 [email protected]
We began our first full unit: What Is a Hero? We’re beginning by figuring out how to understand a complex text by chunking the text and annotating it with gist statements. Now we’ll shift into reading Paul Fleischman’s Seedfolks as a whole class. As we read his vignettes of different character’s experiences with a developing urban garden, we’ll review elements of fiction and begin learning how to structure an argument paragraph. Just remember MEAL, which stands for Main Idea, Evidence, Analysis, and Link Back. We use MEAL throughout the middle school, in all core classes and into seventh and eighth, so this is a significant foundational step for sixth graders. Next up: students will read one of four shared texts in “book clubs,” and we’ll go deeper into analyzing elements of fiction.
Science: Mr. Phil Nerboso [email protected]
Budding scientists have begun to delve in 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 4 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 4 conditions for seeing. Soon we will begin to develop a consensus model of how we see things by including the 4 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.