6th Grade Scoop
Melissa Middle School
Reading
We will continue our novel study of Touching Spirit Bear written by Ben Mikaelsen. From the reaction of students during our reading of the first few chapters, I can tell they are hooked in and loving it! Students are getting the chance to read aloud different roles and engage in discussions about major plot elements and events within the story. During the next two weeks, we will also incorporate paired texts such as poems and expository texts to practice making connections and provide students with additional information on those main topics throughout the novel. Much of their classwork and study materials will be done in their journals.
Important Dates:
Monday, April 9: Chapters 1-3 Quiz (vocabulary & comprehension)
Friday, April 13: Chapters 4-7 Quiz (vocabulary & comprehension)
Lyssa Broach- lbroach@melissaisd.org
Reading Honors
Wednesday through Friday we will be reading about Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. We will focus on summarizing main ideas, identifying details which support those main ideas, and making connections between texts.
The week of April 2nd, we will begin our second novel study with Countdown by Deborah Wiles. We do have a class set, but as always, students are encouraged to purchase their own copy of the text so they can annotate, make notes, and deepen their interaction with the material.
Taylor Durham
Social Studies
Math
April 6, 2018
Our current unit focuses on Financial Literacy. Be prepared for the kids to come home and ask questions regarding this topic. They will be researching careers, cars, houses and other things for a presentation. This is usually a very fun and interesting project.
As always, please encourage your student to attend tutorials before or after school if they need extra help or to retake a test. If you have any questions or concerns, please email your student’s teacher and we will respond at our earliest convenience.
Here are the upcoming events in math:
April 9-13
Monday – Financial Literacy Project
Tuesday – 6th grade group activities while 7th and 8th STAAR test
Wednesday – Financial Literacy Project
Thursday - Financial Literacy Project
Friday - Financial Literacy Project; Daily Grade (Weekly Warm-up)
April 16-20
Monday – Financial Literacy Project
Tuesday – Financial Literacy Project PRESENTATIONS
Wednesday – Financial Literacy Project PRESENTATIONS; Review for Unit 11 Assessment
Thursday - Unit 11 Assessment
Friday - Unit 11 Assessment; Daily Grade (Weekly Warm-up)
Math Honors
I can't believe we are in the 4th 9-weeks of this school year! It has moved so quickly and the students have learned so much. These next few weeks we will finish Unit 9 which is data analysis, and we will begin Unit 10 which is personal financial literacy. Unit 10 covers interest, budget, net worth and monetary incentives. After Unit 10 we will begin the STAAR Review.
If you have any questions or concerns please email your child's teacher and we will get back with you quickly. Be sure to check out the 7th grade math website. The notes we take in class will be linked there.
Debbie Duguid- dduguid@melissaisd.org
Writing
Writing
Over the next two weeks, students will be completing their newspaper poster with their group members. Each student will present their own article that focuses on a specific organizational strategy. They will explain their thesis, supporting details, subheadings, captions, and graphic image. After presentations, we will then move into our persuasive unit and prepare for STAAR.
Phonics will continue to focus on types of spelling rules, prefixes, and suffixes as we prepare for 7th grade!
Important Dates:
4/11- Newspaper poster DUE (Presentations)
4/20- Quiz 4.0
4/25- Persuasive Essay DUE
Science
Friday, April 6, 2018
We have continued to discuss the rock cycle this week in class. Student Rock Cycle Projects were due today. These projects showcased student understanding of the three different rock types and how rocks are formed. Students were given a variety of choices for their projects including writing a song, creating a poster, and creating a scrapbook.
Cells will be our next focus. We will discuss the characteristics of organisms and how these characteristics are used to place organisms into groups. Students will participate in a variety of activities to strength their understanding of this concept. A project will be assigned during the project in which students will research an assigned Kingdom. Students will research an assigned Kingdom to determine its characteristics and organisms.
Kisha Maurer kishamaurer@melissaisd.org
Paden Whetzel padenwhetzel@melissaisd.org