Sixth Grade News
By Yvonne Matulka
September 18, 2008
The 6th grade students have been busy getting back into the swing of ECRI. They are doing a nice job with using their Practice Time to ready themselves for Mastery Tests. We have just finished our fifth week of Mastery Tests. So we are off to a good start. Students are required to take one Mastery Test a week. Mastery Tests are to be done before they leave on Thursday. Most of them are in gear and know how to use their time wisely to accomplish this feat; I am starting to have half of the students ready for Mastery Tests on Wednesday…that’s great! The students have taken two assessments in reading including main idea and supporting details. We are just beginning a unit on the different types of "genre." Ask your student what "genre" is...you may be surprised by their answer.
In 6th grade Math, students have finished a unit on collecting, displaying and interpreting data. The students were introduced to different types of graphs, including line plots, line graphs, bar graphs, circle graphs, and step graphs. Besides the different types of displays we have been using different landmarks (minimum, maximum, range, median, and mode) to help us learn how to interpret graphs. They prepared for their first assessment on collecting data, making a circle graph, and writing a summary about what they learned from the experience. We are now working on Unit 2. We are reviewing addition and subtraction of whole numbers and decimals. We will be using different strategies to help us do multiplication and division with decimals. The students will be introduced to converting numbers from standard notation to scientific notation both with a calculator and with pencil and paper. At the end of the unit the students will prepare for an assessment on multiplying and dividing decimal problems and an assessment on solving decimal word problems.
In Language Arts, this first quarter we focus on writing good topic sentences that have clear meaning and adding supporting details that clearly stay on the topic to make well-constructed paragraphs. We have also learned how to write a 5 paragraph essay. At conferences we will have them up and displayed so that parents can see that sixth grade students understand how to do essays. We will be writing essays for social studies and science during the year that will use the 5 paragraph essay format. Soon we will focus on using specific vocabulary in our writing to help paint a picture in our minds. We will work to use more specific verbs and more descriptive adjectives. Each week the students are also asked to do daily language practice activities. These are due each Thursday.
In Social Studies, we have learned how to get information from newspaper or magazine articles by using the 5W’s(Who, What, Where, When and Why). Then we read an article about a speech President Bush gave after 9/11 and answered the 5W’s on an assessment dealing with this skill of reading a current events article. We also learned about primary and secondary sources and took an assessment on that topic. The students will be learning their Social Studies vocabulary through ECRI Reading methods. Knowing content vocabulary increases the likelihood of doing well on assessments. We are presently working on a unit during the time period of the Civil War and the Reconstruction Period following the Civil War and will be taking an assessment on this time period in American History. We are also doing the NewsCurrents Program on current events each Friday.
In Science, we have finished a unit on what it means to be a scientist and to use the process skills that scientists use. Ask your child to name a few of the process skills and what they mean. We took an assessment on this unit the week of September 15th. We are now working on Unit 2 which is about classification of the 5 kingdoms, as well as getting knowledge about the seven groups that help us classify each kingdom.
Every morning the students work on their keyboarding skills using a new keyboarding program. They are really enjoying using it. Ask them about it! We have been using keyboarding skills to write our five paragraph essays as well. Students who want to get more practice in can go the website in their book and practice at home.
As you can see, we have had a busy month!
