The 6 Green Times
Bringing you information about your child's work since 2015.
Some reminders!
Core 21
What Matters in Science?
We are finishing up our Chemistry Unit with two labs on chemical and physical changes.
In our Mystery Substance Lab, students had to solve for four mystery substances, and state whether a chemical or physical change occurred using evidence to support their findings. Students then created data tables and wrote lab reports explaining their learning.
Similarly, in our No Touchee Slushie lab, students identified if a chemical or physical change happened.
Before we head into our next unit of study, weather, we are learning to count atoms, write formulas and to balance equations-my favorite! I’m so proud of my students for working hard and not giving up on this last task. They are rising to my challenge and having fun!
Social Studies
We have completed our study of early man during the Paleolithic and Neolithic Eras. Learners worked on a variety of activities to discover the capabilities of hominids and their development to modern humans. As the Neolithic Era ended and early modern humans began to leave their nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle for the more settled life as a farmer, they faced several problems. Students worked collaboratively to find reasonable solutions to these problems. The solutions led to our understanding of how a Sumerian city-state was formed. Before going further into the Mesopotamian Civilization, we will look at what makes a civilization. In the past, I have always given students a descriptive list of the characteristics of a civilization. This school year, I am challenging students to discover these characteristics on their own. I am quite please at their ability to analyze what they know of life and come up with a lengthy list of attributes. Together, the class will organize and categorize the list into a cohesive group of characteristics. I look forward to seeing the final outcome. Wishing you and your family a joyful winter break.
English Language Arts
Math
With the first trimester in the rear view mirror, it is important to reinforce that
once a concept is taught (and re-taught) many students need ample opportunity to practice (and re-practice) that skill to make it permanent. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics offers this brief, but thorough, explanation of "procedural fluency" and it's importance to becoming competent in math. Our goal as teachers of math should always be for students to not just produce correct answers, but to quickly understand the method(s) required to produce those answer. And sometimes that understanding takes a lot of practice!
Currently in math we are working on our fraction unit(6.NS.1). We combined these lessons with a review of addition, subtraction and multiplication of fractions, that was introduced in 4th and 5th grade. We will move forward with new concepts and students will continue to work on perseverance and grit when problem solving. Next up we will work on powers and exponents (6EE.1) Students will apply some useful math concepts to real life situations. All classes have small group instruction to meet the needs of all. Please email us with any questions.