6th grade core courses

ENG1003 Adv English 6

In preparation for advanced middle and high school English courses, students read challenging texts written in various time periods and rhetorical contexts. Students develop their ability to express ideas with clarity and precision by writing increasingly complex compositions for a variety of purposes, including literary analysis, persuasion, and research. The English 6 course uses the StudySync Grade 6 Curriculum. Each of the six units (Testing our Limits, You and Me, In the Dark, Personal Best, Making Your Mark, and True to Yourself) include lesson sequences and materials structured to meet the Common Core State Standards in meaningful ways and to provide flexibility for a range of learners. Formative assessments in each unit are designed to measure student progress towards mastering focus indicators for the processes and content of English. StudySync is a comprehensive English Language Arts curriculum that is designed for all 21st century learners. StudySync combines print books with a digital platform for reading and writing.

The English for Emergent Multilingual courses use a version of the StudySync Grade 6 Curriculum that is slightly modified for students who are learning English. Each of the six units (Testing our Limits, You and Me, In the Dark, Personal Best, Making Your Mark, and True to Yourself) include lesson sequences and materials structured to meet the Common Core State Standards in meaningful ways and to provide flexibility for a range of learners. Formative assessments in each unit are designed to measure student progress towards mastering focus indicators for the processes and content of English. Student will be scheduled in to one of two classes based on their language needs.

English 6 for ELs 1 & 2

Double period class that focuses on StudySync 6th grade curriculum coupled with English Language development in order to meet the Common Core State Standards. .

English 6 for ELs 3

Single period class that uses the StudySync 6th grade curriculum and language supports in order to meet the Common Core State Standards.

ESL1014 ESOL English 6 for Eng Learners I (double period)

ESL1017 ESOL English 6 for Eng Learners II (double period)

ESL1020 ESOL English 6 for Eng Learners III

Grade 6 is a year of exciting mathematics. Students study ratio and rate, learn to divide fractions by fractions, extend their understanding of numbers to include negative numbers, and understand and use variables, to name just some of the major work of this year. This course unfolds across 9 units that range in length from about 16 to 22 days. Grade 6 begins with a unit on reasoning about area and understanding and applying concepts of surface area.

This course extends students’ understanding of mathematical concepts developed in Math 6 and accelerates the pace of instruction to prepare for Algebra 1. This course compacts all of the Grade 7 and 8 Common Core State Standards into a single year. Students who successfully complete AIM are prepared for Algebra 1. AIM will focus on four critical areas: (1) developing a unified understanding of a number, recognizing fractions, decimals (including both those that have a finite or a repeating decimal representation), and percents as different representations of rational numbers; (2) using linear equations and systems of linear equations to represent, analyze, and solve a variety of problems; (3) comparing two data distributions and reasoning about differences between populations; (4) analyzing geometric relationships in order to solve real-world mathematical problems.

Topics of Study:

• Rational Numbers and Exponents

• Proportionality and Linear Relationships

• Statistics and Probability

• Creating, Comparing, and Analyzing Geometric Figures

AIM is designed to extend students' understanding of mathematical concepts aligned with Common Core State Standards, accelerating the pace of instruction while diving deeper into concepts.

The Illustrative Mathematics AMP Courses compact 3 on-grade level courses, Math 6 – 8, into two coursework-years completed in Grade 6 and Grade 7. AMP6+ is offered to 6th graders and is a pre-requisite for AMP7+ as a 7th grader. AMP6+ provides cyclical & connected instruction on Math 6 - 8 standard threads. Rather than completing an entire grade level course at an accelerated pace and then moving into the subsequent grade level course and cycling through the standards again, the AMP6+ course aligns math standards from each grade level to be instructed together.

In sixth grade, students will investigate the topics of Chemistry, Ecosystems, Human Impact on the Environment, and Energy and Waves. The focus on chemistry in the first unit will allow students to discover elements, atoms, molecules, and how the movement of these particles relate to heat transfer and magnetism. 6^th graders will explore simple chemical reactions that release and absorb energy and will apply their understanding of chemistry to a real-life situation and design a solution. Unit 2’s focus on biodiversity within ecosystems will allow students to investigate populations within food webs and categorize those populations as producers, consumers, and decomposers. Students will use this information to create and maintain a habitat for a local species. As students learn about global citizenship in Unit 3 they will discover that natural resources are used by living things in a variety of ways, but how much and in what ways we use those resources affects the footprint of our planet. Groups will investigate how human activity and use of resources impacts the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere and consider alternative solutions for the products we make and the resources that we use. They will model a solution to a variety of environmental problems created from natural resource use. In the final unit on Energy and Waves students will discover how alternative energy sources can be used to solve real world problems and design a solution. They must consider the ideas of electricity, magnetism, electrical energy production, and conversions of different types of energy, in order to debate and choose the best source of alternative energy.

This course is built around the core Grade 6 social studies curriculum, Historical Inquiry in World Studies 6, that includes historical content from early civilizations, the empires of Greece and Rome, the dynasties of China, and civilizations of the first millennium.

Cohort students will go beyond this core as they learn additional content, explore deeper connections to today, engage in investigative inquiry to strengthen their writing through Document Based Questions, and enhance their learning through relevant literature connections. They will also participate in a culminating Model UN simulation at the end of the year. All students will be enrolled in this course.

The daily physical education program offers a comprehensive and well-balanced series of instructional activities. At each grade level, there are six focus areas: Exercise Physiology, Biomechanics, Personal and Social Responsibility, Fitness, Physical Activity and Motor Learning. The six focus areas are taught throughout the year in the following units: net games, invasion games, striking activities, conditioning and physical fitness, and dance. Team sports and individual sports game tactics and fundamental skills are taught throughout the units. Students are assigned a locker with a lock for their clothes. Each student is expected to change into approved P.E. attire, i.e., shorts, t-shirts, sweats/warm-ups, and proper shoes. One marking period students will be enrolled in Health.

Comprehensive health education is taught for a term of 9-weeks during Grade 6. Students will take Health during one marking period of physical education. Knowledge, concepts, skills, and strategies essential to making healthful decisions are presented promoting lifelong health and well-being. Certified Health Education teachers implement a variety of learning activities to promote and practice wellness skills and health literacy. The development of lifelong positive health-related attitudes and behaviors are emphasized to promote self-reliance and self-regulation. Skills include accessing information, decision-making, goal setting, communication skills, analyzing influences, and advocacy.

Key Concepts

• Mental and emotional health - personal well-being; analyzing influences; accessing information; interpersonal communication; decision making; goal setting; managing emotions; stress-management; advocacy.

• Alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs - benefits of a drug-free lifestyle.

• Personal and consumer health - personal hygiene; health care products.

• Safety and injury prevention - media, technology, and harassment; cyber-bullying and bullying; personal safety; first aid and emergency response.

Students in the 6th grade will take an "arts rotation." Students will rotate between 4 courses on a 9 week quarterly rotation. The courses allow middle school students to meet state requirement for computational thinking and fine arts. The courses include:

1. Ecology/FACS

2. Coding/Robotics

3. Art

4. Awareness in Language and Culture