Sixth Grade

Sixth graders move from the Upper Building to the Middle Building and mix with students from other grades during STEAMS blocks, After School Enrichment, weekly Sharing Assemblies and Clubs.

Language Arts focuses on examining literary terms and themes. Emphasis is placed upon the development of reading skills; writing skills; practice of grammar, spelling, and keyboarding skills; and enrichment of vocabulary. The major theme of all reading and writing assignments is resilience.

The Math curriculum presents important concepts in the context of engaging problems, and also provides personalized, differentiated skills practice. Students will learn to: understand ratio concepts and using ratio reasoning to solve problems; compute fluently with multi-digit numbers and find common factors and multiples; reason about and solve one-variable equations and inequalities; represent and analyze quantitative relationships between dependent and independent variables; solve real-world and mathematical problems involving area, surface area and volume; develop understanding of statistical variability; summarize and describe distributions. Students will also apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division to divide fractions by fractions; of numbers to the system of rational numbers; and of arithmetic to algebraic expressions.

Science class covers the basics of earth and space sciences (geology, oceanography, meteorology, astronomy). Classroom experiences will include lectures, note-taking, labs, activities, cooperative group work, online simulations, watching video clips, reading articles, projects, and various forms of assessment.

Geography begins with reviewing introductory map skills, then moves to study the major regions in the world using selected themes appropriate for each region. Students research family roots, study current and historical events, and learn about political, geographic and geologic features of the regions studied.

In Art class, students explore their personal identity through painting, printmaking, sculpture and drawing. Art history is a regular part of the curriculum, as are class critiques. Students keep a sketchbook for occasional assignments outside of class.

Music focuses on ensemble and individual skills in music, using soprano, alto and tenor recorders, voice, percussion and other instruments. Reading, listening, improvisation and composition are all explored further. Students who study other instruments (e.g., piano, guitar) have opportunities to use their instrument in this class.

Spanish uses the TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) method of instruction, which immerses students in hearing the language in a relaxed and fun setting; students experience the language rather than learn about it in English.

The goal of the Physical Education program is to create an environment where children will be at ease while learning new physical skills, try their best to improve those skills and want to be active. We play as many different sorts of games as possible, working on more organized and competitive games. Our focus is on the development process rather than the outcome of such activities.

In Health Education, our goals are to develop a caring community and to encourage choices that promote physical wellness, personal safety and positive self-esteem. The focus this year is on developing personal strength and resiliency. The coursework is designed to increase awareness of situations and substances that put students at risk and to practice strategies that encourage avoidance of high-risk behaviors and unhealthy situations.