6th Grade Newsletter
February 2016
General Announcements
- February 12 - Dance 5:30-7:30
- February 18 - PTO 7:00
- February 25 - Early Release
- February 26 - No School [Teacher Workday]
Language Arts
The time continues to fly by as we march into the second semester. Our focus for the month of February is reading opinion pieces and writing thought out responses. Students will also be charged with writing their own opinion pieces with the purpose to persuade their audience. During our daily grammar builders, students are gaining confidence using quotation marks appropriately as well as identifying pronoun shifts. February's reading challenge will be to read and research a topic of the student's choosing and to teach a lesson to the class.
Mrs. Dyson
In Mrs. Dyson's Lang. Arts classes we have started learning about stems. Students are learning how to identify word stems which allows them to understand word meanings. Also in Lang. Arts we have been evaluating the author's purpose using various nonfiction stories and essays. Students will be writing a persuasive paper in the month of February to earn a delicious treat.
Mrs. Kerr
Mrs. Kerr's language arts class is beginning a journey in mythology with The Adventures of Ulysses. Weekly vocabulary lessons focus on the meaning of stems, which will hopefully assist with breaking down unfamiliar words.
Math
Mrs. Lowery'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.
Mr. Strickland
Mr. Strickland's Math class has been sticking to our budget and hunting for the best deals! Coupons are a great way to understand fractions, decimals and percentages. Our class used sales papers from local stores and compared deals to see which was the best bargain. Using coupons allowed us to see the benefit of finding cheap deals and identifying percentages of a whole value.
Science
Sixth grade rock hounds continue to DIG into the topic of rocks, minerals, and all that makes up Earth's crust. It has been fun to examine rocks and try to determine what natural forces may have created them. We look forward to playing in the dirt (soil) soon!
Mr. Strickland
Let's find out what we're made of! Mr.Strickland's Science class has been exploring how food gets to our table. The Earth has been around a (very) long time, but nutrient rich soil for farming has not. This process involves understanding our role as environmental conservationists and stewards of our planet. Healthy plants and animals are crucial to our understanding of our food supply and it all begins with enriched soil. After all, soil just isn't dirt!
Social Studies
Our study of river valley civilizations moves into ancient China in the next week. Students will learn about the early dynasties and the Great Wall. They will also make their own Terracotta soldiers! Always a fun activity. We continue to work with atlas' daily so your child's geography skills should be expanding!
Mrs. Smith
Mrs. Smith's Social Studies classes are deep in the study of Ancient India. Students have been learning about the way of life in India and the 2 most important religions in India, Hinduism and Buddhism. We have also learned about important people in Ancient India namely Mohandas Gandhi and The Buddha and how they influenced the people during their lives. Students have enjoyed learning about the social divisions, the caste system, and how it is still practiced in India today. Finally we will explore what the ancient Indian civilization invented and gave to us that we still use today. We should wrap up our study of India during the week of February 8th and then we move on to Ancient China.