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The Wellesley Middle School Grade 6 program will place its primary emphasis on the learning goals of each curriculum area and on skills of continued learning. There is a planned sequence of concepts and skills for the various areas of the curriculum. Every learner will be challenged to perform at high standards.  All subjects are taught to inspire further study, to help sixth grade students learn how to study, and to help them appraise their own interests and strengths. Note: No requests for elective changes will be accepted after the completion of the first two cycles (12 school days) of each semester.  

ENGLISH

014 ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS 6

SIX BLOCKS PER CYCLE

Grade 6 Language Arts provides a guided approach to the study of reading, literature, writing, and language skills. Through this integration, students develop and apply strategies in order to read and comprehend literary texts representing a variety of genres, cultures, and perspectives with increasing complexity and independence to meet grade 6 standards. Students read frequently at an instructional level to practice and apply the feedback needed to internalize reading strategies and analyze the components of a text. One essential question that is explored through core novel studies of The Giver and New Kid is, “what is community?” Students reflect on the communities found in literature and the real world and the values at the core of these communities as they relate to identity and the roles one plays in a community. Instruction in writing emphasizes the thinking, drafting, and revision process and the incorporation of text evidence, greater detail, and analysis. Grammar and usage, language mechanics, vocabulary, spelling, listening, and speaking are integral parts of the course. Twelve periods per cycle are allocated to reading and language arts.

MATHEMATICS  

021 MATHEMATICS 6

SIX BLOCKS PER CYCLE

The 6th grade curriculum relies on The Connected Mathematics Project curriculum (CMP3) to drive student inquiry and learning through problem-based mathematics. CMP3 is a comprehensive, integrated mathematics curriculum for middle school students whose approach emphasizes the active exploration of complex problems and the development of oral and written mathematical communication skills.

In grade six, the curriculum focuses on students’ attaining fluency, in operating with whole numbers, fractions, decimals and percents, including changing between these forms.  Units in geometry and statistics and probability broaden students’ experience with geometric shapes and their characteristics and with data collection, representation, and interpretation.  Finally, students are introduced to the algebraic concepts of proportional reasoning and variable expressions and equations.

To help optimize the learning for students in mathematics as they make the transition from elementary school to middle school, students may participate in an optional assessment in the spring of their fifth grade year to determine whether their knowledge and understanding of mathematical skills and concepts would make sixth grade or seventh grade mathematics a more appropriate placement.  (The vast majority of students ultimately remain in grade-level mathematics.)  Details of this process will be communicated to parents of fifth grade students in the spring.    

If a student moves into the district after the start of 6th grade , a placement test may be administered at the school’s discretion if WMS has reason to believe that the incoming student might not be properly placed at their grade level in mathematics.

022 MATHEMATICS 62

SIX BLOCKS PER CYCLE

This course is designed to strengthen computational fluency and develop conceptual understanding in the major mathematical strands—geometry and measurement, statistics and probability, proportional reasoning, and especially number sense and operations—for sixth grade students with strong needs in those areas.  Recommendation for placement in these courses is by the 5th grade classroom teacher in consultation with specialists, the school  counselor, and the parents.

SCIENCE  

023 SCIENCE 6

SIX BLOCKS PER CYCLE

What is Earth’s place in the universe? What exactly is gravity and why does it matter? What do motion and forces have to do with electricity and magnetism? What is energy and how is it transferred?

Sixth grade science students use science practice skills as they engage in teacher-led inquiry and project-based learning to answer some big questions from astronomy and physics. Using the cross-cutting concept of forces and motion, students explore the interconnectedness of matter and energy from large to small scales. Students use engineering practices to solve problems such as how to slow down the fall of a whirligig and to build a complicated contraption that completes a simple action (the Rube Goldberg project). 

By the end of the year, students will be well on their way as skillful science writers, nonfiction readers, critical thinkers, and creative problem solvers.

SOCIAL STUDIES

019 SOCIAL STUDIES 6

SIX BLOCKS PER CYCLE

Early Civilizations, Modern Connections, Part 1: We have three goals for students in the grade six social studies curriculum. First, students  should consider how societies from the past have shaped our own lives. Second, students should recognize the important role religious ideas have played in the past and in the present. Third, students should improve their reading, writing, research, thinking, and presentation skills so they can reach their full potential. 

Students will examine key characteristics of  ancient civilizations via the GRAPES acronym ( Geography, Religion, Accomplishments, Politics, and Economics.) The course starts with a unit on Ancient Egypt, looking at why a civilization developed there and how it influenced societies at the time and beyond. In the next part of the year, the course focuses more specifically on teaching students basic information about religions which are prevalent today in the United States and in the world. These include  units on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Each unit will start with how/where the religions began historically, then look at different characteristics such as key beliefs, important people/places, and  key traditions. The course ends with a unit on Ancient India and an examination of Hinduism. 

Geography, research, reading, writing and presentation skills are infused within the classroom teaching and assignments. Whenever possible, students will be asked to compare challenges from the past to issues we are wrestling with in the present. Students should leave this course with a rich understanding of how the ideas from the past shape our societies and with an appreciation for the variety of human beliefs in our world.

FITNESS & HEALTH

001 FITNESS 6

THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE 

YEAR COURSE 

The sixth-grade curriculum expands the movement skills taught in the Wellesley Elementary Fitness and Health curriculum. Particular emphasis will be placed on the learning of fitness terminology and how it applies to personal performance and physical activity. Introduction to the middle school fitness center provides students an opportunity to understand strength-training concepts and to work out pursuing individual fitness goals. Students will gain an understanding of the benefits of regular physical activity by experiencing instruction in fitness activities, small group games, cooperative activities and lifetime activities. 

034 WORKING ON WELLNESS 6

THREE BLOCKS PER CYCLE 

SEMESTER COURSE

This core course is a semester long class that comprises three units aimed at promoting wellness, independence, responsibility for self and others, and healthy decision-making.  The units included are: “Introduction to Wellness,” “Nutrition and Food Preparation,” and “Sexuality Education.”