6th Grade Newsletter
April 2016
General Announcements
- April 13: Report Cards go home
- April 20: Regular School Day
- April 27: 3rd Quarter Reward - Dash Game
Langauge Arts
We will begin deeply digging into authors purpose coupled with central idea. I encourage students to read as if they were writers to critically evaluate text. I want them to think about word choice, structure, and sequence while reading. Both fiction and nonfiction pieces will be analyzed.
Our continued efforts in grammar and vocabulary development will increase daily as well.
Mrs. Dyson
In Mrs. Dyson's Language Arts class we concluded our Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life novel studies. Students were challenged to use what they've learned in their Science and Social Studies classes to unravel the mysteries hidden in this novel. Now we are working on Poetry and Figurative Language. Students were challenged to bring the poems shared in class to life through movement, sound, and props. The students did a fantastic job with this challenge. As the testing season looms ever so close, please encourage your child to read nightly. Building that endurance up now, will pay off later.
Mrs. Kerr
Mrs. Kerr's Language Arts class is deeply pondering the meaning of life as we read the novel Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life. The main character in the story collects "mutant" candy, so we are conducting a mutant candy contest of our own.
Math
Math classes are mastering equations and inequalities. Students are learning how they use equations and inequalities everyday without even knowing it. Students are learning key vocabulary terms like "isolate the variable" and "inverse operation" to make sure they understand the process. Ask you child how to write and graph "you must be at least 60 inches to ride the roller coaster."
Mr. Strickland
Mr. Strickland's Math class has created math stories using expressions and equations. Learning how to use variables and operations effectively has allowed us to understand word problems and apply them to different mathematical situations. Next, we will step into the factory apply what we have learned to functions.
Science
In Ms. Baldwin's science classes, we are investigating energy, looking at the flow of energy through organisms and the loss of energy depicted in an energy pyramid. Next week students will conduct an owl pellet lab in which they apply the energy pyramid concept to the real world. This week we have had fun guessing the predator described in our classmates' original I AM (a predator) poems.
Mr. Strickland
Our Science class has enjoyed learning about our place in a very precarious ecosystem. Small changes can mean big results and those results are not always ideal for all organisms. Knowing our impact on the planet and learning how to be a conscious steward of our environment goes a long way.
Social Studies
We are putting the finishing touches on Mesoamerica. Students have studied the three early western hemisphere civilizations. In two weeks our unit on Ancient Greece will begin! This is always a favorite. Greek mythology and the Persian Wars will be a focus! Kids love it!
Mrs. Smith
Mrs. Smith's Social Studies classes are beginning their study of the Meso-American civilizations of the Mayan, Aztec, Incan and Olmecs. As a part of this unit students enjoyed a guest speaker, Mr. Munoz, who spoke to students about his knowledge of the area and extensively about Machu Picchu, which is located in the Andes Mountains near Peru. As the end of the school year quickly approaches we will move from the Meso-American civilizations to study Ancient Greece and Rome which is always a favorite of the students. We continue to be more globally aware by keeping up with current news events from around the world and also building on our geography skills.