Literacy | WORK DUE |
We have completed our first writing unit, in which students chose a topic and genre and took their writing through a process of planning, drafting, revision and editing. We learned that using a “mentor text” (a piece of writing that we want to emulate) helps us improve our own writing. We shared our pieces with our classmates. Over the next few weeks, we will continue to write independently -- at least 3-6 pages/week. Students may continue or revise a piece they started in October, or try out new entries. November is “National Novel Writing Month” (NaNoWriMo). Students who are interested in keeping a longer piece of writing going are welcome to sign up for an account. Visit this page for information about how to join. And use code AHACBURV to join the 6th grade literacy group. (This is completely optional, but can help students meet independent writing goals). We have launched our second reading unit: A Deep Study of Character. Students will have the opportunity to explore characters, in all their complication. We will learn to make sophisticated inferences and develop interpretations about characters, think about how settings can affect characters, and begin to think about how themes emerge through a character’s growth. Partner talk and notebook work will support the sophisticated thinking that we are asking of students. | Students will receive grades for their first writing project by November 15. They will use this feedback to set independent writing goals. Writer’s notebooks will be assessed by the end of November. Students will set goals for both reading volume and kinds of thinking they want to do. Students are expected to read 30-40 pages per day (6 days/week), and develop their thinking across each book through jots on post-its and at least one longer entry per week. |
Math | WORK DUE |
This month, students are continuing their study in Unit 1: Variables and Pattern. The goal of Investigation 2 is to extend students’ understanding and skill in working with relationships between quantitative variables as they are expressed their understanding in written stories, tables, and graphs. By the end of Investigation 2, students will be getting a project called Graphs and Stories. Details for that project will be given in class. Please be on the lookout for a project description sheet and project rubric. Variables and Patterns will end with Investigation 3. The goal of Investigation 3 is to analyze relationships between quantitative variables by using of algebraic expressions and equations. By the end of this first unit, students should be flexibly analyzing situations with tables, graphs and equations. | Unit 1 Project: Graphs and Stories
Quiz #1 and Quiz #2 will returned on 11/15. It will be posted on Alma by then. Quiz #3 on 11/18. Quiz will be about interpreting graphs or interpreting stories. Homework daily. It might be a new handout of finishing up classwork. Looking at your child’s planner is the best way to see what the homework is daily. Math Challenge 1 Problem - due 11/15 (This was given in class on 11/6 or 11/8, depending on class.) |
Science | WORK DUE |
Students are continuing their research in Unit 2: Hudson River Ecology. The essential questions guiding the research are: 1) In what ways are living and nonliving things dependent upon each other? 2) How do humans influence the natural world? Students are in the process of drafting infographics with their research partner as a culmination of their immersion research into ecology subtopics. Partnerships will break off into teaching teams to teach their peers about their topic and learn about the other ecology subtopics their peers have created infographic on. For the second part of our unit, we will be exploring the research question: Is the Hudson a river or an estuary? In order to answer this question, students will engage in a variety of scientific practices such as analyzing and interpreting data, constructing explanations, developing & using models, and carrying out investigations. | Ecology Synthesis Pages have been graded in the science notebook and returned to students. Grades are entered on Alma. Ecology Infographic Project due 11/15. Homework is an extension of the work we do each day in class. It is assigned to give students time to process and reflect on the day’s work in order to promote deeper understanding of content and to prepare for participation in class the following day. As a result, students have been receiving a variety of homework most nights. |
Social Studies | WORK DUE |
In Social Studies we are wrapping up our study of Early Humans and “The Stone Age,” focused on comparing how humans have met basic survival needs as hunters/gatherers in the Stone Age to how we meet these needs as city dwellers in 2019. Next, we will learn about the “Neolithic Revolution” in which people in some regions of the world transitioned from hunting/gathering to a more settled way of life, developing farming and domesticating animals. We will then do a brief geography study of Rivers. All of this sets the stage for our study of two of the first major “River Valley Civilizations:” the Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia) and Ancient Egypt, which will begin at the end of November. Work has been focused on using the notebook in service of the research process - reading multiple texts, using a variety of organizational note-taking structures, and beginning to develop ideas/interpretations through annotation, revision, partner and whole group talk, and written responses to research. | Students continue to receive weekly Plan & Prepare grades for homework completion and use of time in class. Notebooks will be graded weeks of 11/12 and 11/18 for. (See rubric in the back of the SS NB). The project for our Rivers study will be an Illustrated Glossary of river terms (e.g. tributary, downstream, delta), done in the NB and due 11/20-22. Upcoming trip to the Ancient Egyptian Galleries at Metropolitan Museum of Art on December 9 (603), 11 (601) and 12 (602). Permission slips and chaperone requests coming soon! |
ADVISORY
We are currently in Series 1: What is Advisory? Our focus so far has been on developing a safe community where people feel comfortable to share their thoughts about sensitive topics related to the social and emotional aspects of their lives.
We started our work thinking about ourselves as being a part of a larger community and we did some team building work.
Over the last few sessions, we’ve been exploring our own lives and creating identity webs. Each advisory class launched this work with a read aloud that allowed us to explore the identity of the main character in the book. Together, we created an identity web for the main character which served as a mentor for students to use as they started to think about their own lives.
The identity web that students are creating provide them with a powerful way to visually represent the many factors that shape who they are. Students will be asked to share their identity webs in a small group or gallery walk.
We started our work thinking about ourselves as being a part of a larger community and we did some team building work.
Over the last few sessions, we’ve been exploring our own lives and creating identity webs. Each advisory class launched this work with a read aloud that allowed us to explore the identity of the main character in the book. Together, we created an identity web for the main character which served as a mentor for students to use as they started to think about their own lives.
The identity web that students are creating provide them with a powerful way to visually represent the many factors that shape who they are. Students will be asked to share their identity webs in a small group or gallery walk.