Embedded Files
Students presenting about irrigation system designs for a lesson about ancient Mesopotamian engineering.
September
September
This month in 6th Grade Core we launched new units across all three subjects. In Language Arts we worked on becoming stronger narrative writers, and deep critical thinkers. In History we began our study of the ancient world by learning about the first civilizations in Mesopotamia.
History
History
This month was the true beginning of our study of Ancient History. This month we traveled back in time and met some of our earliest ancestors: Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, Homo Neanderthals and ourselves, Homo Sapiens. Students learned about human life in the Paleolithic Age and how the inventions and discoveries of these early humans lead to the advancements of the Neolithic Age.
To enhance their study of Ancient Humans students engaged in two projects. The first being our Early Human Video Game Character presentations. Together as groups, students gave the four groups of Early Humans "video game" statistics that matched up with their respective advancements.
Students also got to work with LPIE to learn more about the cave art that has been discovered from this time. Together as a class we learned about the significance of cave paintings and what they show us about the people who lived on earth before us.
After our study of Ancient Humans we traveled forward in time to learn about the worlds first civilizations, the city-states and empires of ancient Mesopotamia. We learned about how these ancient peoples discovered advancements in technology, engineering, and farming that allowed them to survive and thrive.
We later discussed how, because these city states were so advanced, many of them were untied as empires. The students learned about four major empires from this time period, the Akkadian, the Babylonian, the Assyrian, and the Neo-Babylonian empires. We discussed and learned about the governments and armies of these empires, as well as their achievements and their demise.
In the coming month we finish our study of Mesopotamia and begin our study of Ancient Egypt.
Early Human Video Game Character Student Example
In Reading we began our "Deep Study of Character" unit. Throughout this unit we will be engaging in a shared class novel. This year we will be reading Freak the Mighty, by Rodman Philbrick.
We began the unit by discussing how characters, like real people, are complicated and present more than one characteristic to the reader. We worked together to identify characteristics of the main characters Max and Kevin, two complicated characters that struggle with their own challenges and disabilities. Throughout the first chapters of the book students worked on pulling out textual evidence that proved a character trait. As we got deeper into the story we began to realize that the traits we originally thought were true of our characters, actually needed to be re- thought, as we discovered the complexities of these two individuals.
In addition, this month we also learned how to write a reading response paragraph using textual evidence and analysis. This is a skill we will continue to work on throughout the year.
Language Arts
Language Arts
In writing we began our Narrative Unit. Students are writing a personal narrative of their choosing. Over the last month we have moved from brainstorming, into planning, into drafting, and we are getting closer and closer to our final drafts each day.
Our main focus has been on building knowledge of narrative writing conventions such as: adding dialogue, details, actions and internal thinking to our writing to bring the stories to life. Students are building on their work from fifth grade and discovering how to "level-up" dialogue and sentence structures by adding adjectives and alluding to characteristics about their characters. Additionally students are learning to incorporate figurative language, hyperbole, and onomatopoeia into their writing as well as how to add larger themes and morals within their writing.
Response Paragraph Example
On Monday Sept. 19, great jazz drummer Akira Tana and his band Otonowa came to campus. Together as a class we were able to go and enjoy the music.
IMG-9229.MOV
Conversation Starters
Tell me more about your early Hominid Video Game Characters?
What do you think of the novel Freak the Mighty?
What is your narrative story about?
What independent reading book are you reading now?
What did you think of the jazz performance?
What did you think of the books that you learned about during First Chapter Friday?
Tell me more about what you learned about banned books during banned books week?
First Chapter Friday Books: September
Each Friday we read the first chapter of a book as a class. The books are picked based on student interest, nearby holiday's, or general events and celebrations.
Unstoppable by Tim Green
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Ghost by Jason Reynolds
Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar
Page updated
Report abuse