Going into this first newsletter I am writing this year, I look back to the summer and realize just how far we have already come in this school year! It has been a wonderful start so far and I know we as a staff are looking forward to building off of that going forward. It is important to look back and reflect on not only school, but life in general. In order to grow, I have myself been working on this to try and become the best version of myself I can be. That led me over the summer to come up with an overarching theme for school this year and that led me to think of the word perspective. It is important to learn not only about your own perspective but also others not only in this country, but around the world. I began the year by showing each class a great video of students from a school in London trying southern barbeque for the first time (ask them about it!) They enjoyed watching the students’ faces as they had brisket, mac and cheese and corn bread for the first time and realizing that things we take for granted are new and unusual to others, just as things may be new and scary to them. I hope going forward to continue to show them that not only do we grow as people by reflecting on our own personal experiences, but also through the perspective of others!
ELA- 6th grade readers discussed annotating for tone (the author’s attitude) and mood (our feelings within the emotional atmosphere in the book) in Boy this week. We also opened up a grammar study of sentence parts and prepositions, with a test planned for 9/11.
Next week, we finish Boy! Be sure to review the annotations rubric with your student and have the comprehension packet questions completed by 9/10. As always, study each night for next week’s test! A study guide will come home Monday.
Science- This week in science 6th grade continued their discussion of air pressure and how high and low pressure air interacts. We worked on reading, interpreting, and creating air pressure maps. Next week we will will begin our investigation into how gasses flow in the atmosphere by exploring density of fluids and convection of air and water using a variety of models.
Social Studies- Sixth grade finished their maps on their ancient civilizations and I am so proud of them for the work they put in. They showed real understanding and deep thinking on these projects and it shows that going forward the projects we do will continue to keep getting better! We are finishing our unit on the beginning of civilization and will be having our first quiz next Friday. Study guides have been made and were given to students on Friday, September 5th.
Math- This week in math, sixth graders were assessed on their area and surface area mastery on their unit 1 assessment. This assessment challenged students to identify the area of different quadrilaterals and triangles, as well as compare the surface area of different three-dimensional prisms. I’m so proud of their efforts and confidence in preparation for their first big assessment of the year!
Sixth grade is full of exploring new concepts in math – as we make a big jump from building and mastering foundational skills in fifth grade to using those skills and applying them to more real-life applications. Next week, we’re going to begin diving into ratios, using our previous knowledge of equivalent fractions, multiples, and number lines to help us make sense of ratios and ratio equivalence.
