April: What is Grade 6 Studying?

ELA

Module 3: American Indian Boarding Schools

For the month of April 6^th grade scholars will continue discovering the many ideas representing the subject matter of American Boarding Schools. Several texts and artifacts will be analyzed while exploring several themes that are presented in the featured novel Two Roads by, Joseph Bruchac.  The EL Education curriculum will cover several skills throughout Module #3 Unit 1 & Unit #2. Students will learn how to determine the author's point of view in a text and the way point of view contributes to the development of central ideas presented in various texts. Language and its usage will be a key part of this unit of study; which will entail identifying connotative meaning, vocabulary in context, and figurative language.  Students will practice the skill of paraphrasing as an additional strategy for language acquisition. The integration of related text will be used to foster critical thinking and promote thought provoking discussions among students. Assessments will be administered throughout the unit of study as students move towards mastering each skill presented in Module 3. 

Math:

Illustrative Math: Unit 7:  Rational Numbers

In this unit, students interpret signed numbers and contents. For example, temperature, elevation, deposit and withdrawal, position, direction, speed  and velocity, percent change. Together with their sums, differences, products, and quotients. (“Signed numbers” include all rational numbers, written as decimals or in the form a/b). They understand and use the terms positive number, negative number, rational number opposite, sign, absolute value, less than greater than and the corresponding symbols.  They plot points with signed rational number coordinates on the number line, and recognize and use the connection between the relative position of two points on the number line and inequalities involving the coordinates of the points. They understand and use absolute value notation, understanding that the absolute value of a number as its distance from 0 on the number line.

Science: Weather and Climate

Weather is a complex system that affects our daily lives. Understanding how weather events, such as severe rainstorms, take place is important for students to conceptualize weather events in their own community. In the role of student forensic meteorologists, your students will investigate severe rainstorms in a fictional town called Galetown, which serves as the anchor phenomenon for the unit. They investigate how water vapor, temperature, energy transfer, and wind influence local weather patterns and how these factors can lead to severe rainstorms. Using physical models, a digital simulation, and hands-on activities as well as information gathered from data and science texts, students will investigate the mechanisms by which a warm weather rainstorm can be generated, through the lens of energy transfer. Building on their understanding of the sun as a source of energy, coupled with their knowledge of evaporation and condensation as mechanisms by which water transfers energy to the atmosphere, students will investigate multiple variables that contribute to rainstorm severity. From their investigations, students will learn about how differences in the amount of water vapor, temperature, and air pressure can affect the amount of rain. The unit concludes with a Science Seminar, in which students use what they have learned in the unit to analyze evidence and participate in a discussion about whether one large rainstorm or several moderate-sized rainstorms are responsible for the damage done to the fictional Carson Wilderness Education Center.

Social Studies: 

Comparative World Religions

Embark on a global journey of understanding with 'Comparative World Religions Passport,' your guide to exploring the key beliefs, practices, and historical contexts of major world religions, allowing you to compare and contrast their similarities and differences while gaining a deeper appreciation for diverse faith traditions across the globe.