6th Grade Social Studies
This past month in Social Studies we have been studying topics of BIBLICAL proportion. I prefaced everything in this unit by explaining the difference between “textbook” history and “biblical” history. I made it clear that I am not preaching to them and telling them what to believe. I simply explained the history of the Abrahamic religions that started in Southwest Asia from each religion's point of view. We began by discussing how the Israelites got their start in Canaan with Abraham and his family and how this began the religion of Judaism. Then we followed their migration to Egypt with Jacob(Israel) and their eventual Exodus and return to the Promised Land, with the help of Moses. We then discussed how the Twelve Tribes split into the two separate kingdoms of Israel and Judah after the leadership and deaths of Joshua, Saul, David, and Solomon. This eventually led to their takeover by many other kingdoms and their battles with the Greeks and Romans. We ended this chapter learning about Christianity and Islam and the similarities and differences between those religions and Judaism. We will soon be shifting our focus to Ancient India and China and the beginnings of Hinduism and Buddhism.
6th Grade ELA
In ELA we have continued to work on Text Dependent Analysis writing. We analyzed the writing that we did in January for “On Sea Turtle Patrol.” We are now continuing this writing work with other readings. Recently, the classes read a piece from the February 2024 issue of Scope Magazine titled, “Should We Switch to the Metric System?” Students wrote their claim and backed it up with textual evidence along with further explanations and analysis. This practice will help students in future writings.
In addition we have moved on to a new unit in our textbook titled, “Modern Technology.” In this unit students will read and respond to different texts centered around the essential question of “How is modern technology helpful and harmful to society?” This is a fun and thought-provoking unit.
Image: percentages and proportions; Source: https://www.cuemath.com/commercial-math/percent-proportion/
6th Grade Math
Math class has been buzzing with activity as we delve into the fascinating world of percentages and proportions. We're busy learning how to turn fractions and decimals into those handy percentage signs, figuring out what part of a whole something represents (proportions!), and even tackling real-world problems like calculating tips at restaurants or finding the best deal on sale items. It's like unlocking a secret code that helps us understand the world around us in a whole new way. Remember, there's no such thing as a silly question in math, so keep those curious minds engaged and ask away!
6th Grade Science
The 6th Grade Red Team Science is beginning the final section of our unit on Plate Tectonics. Over the last few weeks, the students have identified that Earth’s crust is made of rigid slabs of rock called plates. The plates make up the continents we live on today, and they are moving! Using fossil evidence, the students are investigating where the plates have been and where the plates are going. Most important of all is our current section that will explain what on (or inside Earth) is powerful enough to push the plates around and reshape the surface of our planet.
The students have also explored earthquakes and volcanic activity associated with plate movement through several labs and STEAM challenges. The tasty tectonics lab allowed the students to model plate motion with graham crackers and frosting. The STEAM structure challenge had the students work in teams to design and build a structure to withstand the ground movement of an earthquake. Finally, the students learned the story of Richard Lasher and his first hand account of how sleeping in saved his life during the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in May of 1980.