Sixth Grade
WELCOME TO SIXTH GRADE!
The Sixth Grade International Baccalaureate Program of Inquiry
The work of our curriculum revolves around the six transdisciplinary themes and their corresponding central ideas:
1. People take action to achieve a balanced lifestyle.
2. The histories of different people provide insight into culture, family, and change.
3. Humans have evolved globally through different forms of communication.
4. Investigating scientific and technological developments allows us to understand the world.
5. Social, political and economic structures influence and form societies.
6. Conditions, conflicts, or situations may force people to take action, thereby affecting relationships.
Sixth Grade Curriculum
Sixth grade is an exciting time for our Scandia Elementary students! There are many new and exciting opportunities for the students. They are now the leaders of our school. Sixth grade students take part in the drug awareness program (DARE), can start in the band or orchestra program, and are actively involved in many of our student leadership groups. Before you know it, graduation day is here! Your sixth grader will continue to acquire important skills this year, and will move into work that allows for greater application of those skills. Key academic subjects with specific learning areas are outlined below.
Language and Literacy Students will read from and write a variety of materials, including: personal narratives, persuasive pieces, reports, stories and instructions. They will learn and practice comprehension skills such as noting details, predicting outcomes, drawing conclusions, making inferences, comparing and contrasting, sequencing, summarizing, making judgements, and identifying the author's point of view. Specific skills that sixth grade students will study include: Understanding context clues, syllabication, synonyms, multi-meaning words, suffixes, prefixes, sentence structure and parts of speech. While completing the writing process students will learn to proofread and edit their work.
Mathematical Thinking Sixth grade students will learn to: understand 3 dimensional volume, integer usage, pre-algebra concepts, geometric calculations, and data analysis. They will continue to develop proficiency in the area of number sense, problem solving, and computation. Students will study and practice: problem solving strategies, fraction concepts, integers (+/-), percents/whole number/decimal concepts, square and square roots, geometric and probability concepts, collect data and construct, analyze, and interpret graphs.
Health/Nutrition Students will learn about keeping themselves healthy and safe. The sixth grade curriculum promotes healthy decision making skills and strategies through the use of drug awareness prevention programs (DARE) and personal safety education. Students will continue to develop a greater understanding of the human body and how it properly functions.
Media Students will identify and use media resources, with an emphasis on using reference sources for advanced research. Special focus areas will be: electronic, print and online reference tools, and applying proper ethics when doing research.
Music Sixth grade students have three options for music education: general music, orchestra or band. They will register for their choice during Grade 5.
Physical Education Physical Education will be a part of your child's school routine. Students will participate in team, individual, recreational, multi-cultural and cooperative activities which stress sportsmanship and the acceptance of individual abilities. Students are tested annually in the area of personal physical fitness. Sixth graders participate in the district-wide Track & Field Day at the Senior High School as well as a Learn to Ski Day at a nearby ski resort.
Scientific Thinking Students will be able to observe and predict, investigate, explain and form conclusions based on three unique units of study: matter, motion, and energy.
Social Studies The students will take an in-depth look at early civilizations and culture while developing a linear timeline of history. Practicing map skills is also a sixth grade social studies focus.
Visual Arts Within a variety of products and using numerous mediums, students will be exposed to the four disciplines of art: production, criticism, history, and aesthetics.
Technology Students will continue to develop greater computer literacy while improving their keyboarding and word processing skills. Projects using various forms of multimedia are explored. Students will be able to practice these technological skills with laptop computers and SMART Boards.