6th Grade Newsletter
February 2017
General Announcements
- February 10 - Dance 3:30 - 5:30pm
- February 14 - Early Release
- February 27 - Progress Reports
Language Arts
Mrs. Dyson
Mrs. Dyson's Language Arts classes we have finished with our fables, folk tales, and myths studies. We've started learning how to annotate nonfiction passages. Students should be practicing annotating when they do their Newsela assignments in Google Classroom. Our next novel is Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life.
Mrs. Kerr
Mrs. Kerr's Language Arts class has traveled the seas with Ulysses on his 20 year voyage, outwitting giants, as well as the ocean god Poseidon. Students have also discovered the meanings of several stems, which will assist with tackling unknown vocabulary. The theme of courage will be continue to be explored, as students will soon be reading poems and short stories with characters who face adversity.
Math
Math classes have been working hard on rates, ratios and proportions. We are moving on to the exciting world of fractions, decimals and percents! My Math students are invited to "Math Help!" on Tuesday Mornings (7:25-7:45) in my classroom.
Mr. Hockaday
Mr. Hockaday's students are diving deep into percentages and their fraction and decimal equivalents. We have focused on how they are part of a whole and various ways to represent them. Out of all of the things we learn in 6th grade, percentages are one of the concepts students will see most often in their everyday lives. In addition, we are learning real-world skills with estimation and finding percent of a number. Encourage your child to calculate your family's tip at the next dinner outing or decide how much they will get off using a coupon you've collected! Students will have an activity on Google Classroom coming up to wrap up the percentage unit.
Science
My Science classes have been "digging deep" in the world of rocks and soil. Students have been learning about the make up of soil and how important it is to preserve Earth's most valuable resource! Please check out my Google Classroom for assignments and announcements.
Mr. Strickland
We would never eat dirt! Unless you're a toddler in a toy sandbox. But some organisms love to eat dirt. Our class has examined the roles certain organisms play in creating healthy, nutrient rich soil. Soil is an important part of our life and it is worth protecting. Understanding the importance of soil conservation is more evident when seen through the events of the 1930's Midwestern Dust Bowl. Our class has also created photo albums of erosion control techniques utilized by the construction crews at the new Davie High School. Highlighting these structures and design techniques has been a crucial aspect of driving home the importance of soil management and conservation.
Social Studies
Mrs. Smith and Mr. Brook's Social Studies classes recently held their Geography Bee. Each of the 6 social studies classes held a competition to get the top ten 6th graders who competed against each other to get the top three. The winners were 3rd place Cooper Ray, 2nd place James Rhyle and 1st place Travis Goddard. These 3 went on to represent 6th grade in the school bee where they did a fantastic job! Also, we are well into our study of the Indus River Valley civilization. Students are enjoying learning about how these people lived and especially like participating in a simulation of the caste system of social classes. With the recent Inauguration Day activities we also learned about how the staff at the White House "flip" the house in approximately a 6 hour time period to move the Obama family out and the Trump family in.