Reading
We start the year by reading Maniac Magee. We will work on comprehension questions as we read this book. We will also will also have great discussions on the many wonderful topics that this book has for us to explore. When we complete the book we will work
on a Maniac Magee WebQuest and we will create a Maniac Magee Journal.
The next book we will read is The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. This book is a great realistic fiction with an air of mystery. The book was written in the late 
60′s so we
will be comparing what the children in the story do to what would happen if they tried those things now! As always, we will be working on comprehension questions, both concrete and inferential. When we complete the book, the students will see the movie version of the story and will complete a Compare/Contrast essay comparing the book and the movie.
Mythology
Next we will complete a unit on Mythology. The students will be learning what a myth is and will focus on the Greek gods and the myths focused around those gods. Students will read several myths before having the opportunity to write their own myth.
During the first part of third quarter we read Tuck Everlasting. This is a wonderful
fantasy book about a young girl who discovers an amazing secret about a very
special family. When we read this book we are able to have great class discussions about the topics and themes in this book. We also complete various comprehension activities. At the end of the book, students work on their predictions skills by writing the next chapter of the book. Finally, we will watch two movie versions of this story to prepare for writing a compare and contrast essay that makes a three way comparison between the three versions of this story.
Biography
Students will complete a unit on Biographies. They will read several short Biographies in
class. They will also choose a Biography book about someone that is of interest to them. They will read the book then complete a study of this person’s life. The culminating activity will be the “Biography Wax Museum.” For this, students will become the person they have been learning about in the form of a “wax statue.” They will dress as this person and write about the person’s life as if they are that person. They will present this information to people who come to our Wax Museum!
Grammar and Writing
In Grammar we will learn about sentences and sentence structure. Then we will move onto punctuation and capitalization. As we move through the various mechanics of
writing, I will be looking for the students to apply these skills to their writing. We will also explore the 4 parts of speech, nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Students will also be required to show their understanding of these types of words in their writing.
Writing takes many forms in 6th grade. Along with the basic everyday writing that students do, we will be doing writing prompts a few mornings each week and we will also be working on various writing projects throughout the year.
Writing prompts consist of various questions that are answered in short well written paragraphs that allow students to express their ideas about some rather interesting and
thought provoking topics. Some of the writing project forms we will focus on include: Personal Narrative, Compare/Contrast, Descriptive Writing from a picture, How-To Paragraphs, Biography, Persuasive Letter, Friendly Letter,and a Research Report. When students work on these projects they will follow the writing process from brainstorm to publishing, including peer conferencing with other students in the class.
Math
This year we will explore many topics in Math. We will begin by reviewing the four
operations with decimals along with rounding, estimation and place value. We will explore fractions decimals and percents together as well as the four operations with fractions. The students will also be introduced to some basic pre-algebra skills. Other concepts will be intermixed along the way.
Social Studies
6th grade Social Studies is very exciting! We will be traveling back in time to study
many different ancient civilizations. Some of these will include Ancient Egypt,Greece, and Rome. We will explore the fall of Rome as well as the Renaissance and the Middle Ages. We also complete a unit on Grograpy focusing on the continents and oceans. During this unit, students will also write a Country Report.
Religion
This year we focus on the Bible. We will be taking a closer look at each book of the Old Testament. We will learn about our ancestors in faith and will become closer to God through the many people he touched along out ancestor’s journey.
Spelling and Vocabulary
Spelling and Vocabulary go hand and hand in 6th grade. Our spelling words and our vocabulary word are both found in our Vocabulary book. Each unit runs on a two week
rotation. The first week focuses on Spelling. On Monday we will have a spelling pretest. Students will be asked to correct the pretest for homework and write any words they get wrong 3 times each. Students will be provided with 2 copies of the word list that they can keep at home or in their homework folder. They may also use one of these lists to help complete the vocabulary homework since they can not write in the book.
During week one, students will comlete the synonyms/antonyms section. This will be completed on the vocabulary answer sheet. Students should be spending time studying the words they spelled wrong on the pretest at home throughout the week and should begin learning the meanings of the words. On Friday, we will have a Spelling Test. If there is a holiday during the week, we will adjust the schedule accordingly. During the second week, we will work on the remaining vocabulary activities in class and as homework. Students should be focusing on learning the meanings of the words for the Vocabulary test on Friday. A great strategy for this is flash cards!
