Posts in 6th Grade
6th grade - language arts

Language Arts

The Greene School middle school foreign language program exposes students to ample listening and reading opportunities with two required classes each week, and an optional elective offered once per week. Sixth grade Spanish curriculum integrates speaking, reading, writing, and listening, to help students achieve a level of proficiency. Students read more complex novels to promote conversation, pronunciation, reading comprehension, and writing. Sixth graders engage in communicative tasks relevant to their lives. Lessons and activities in grammar, vocabulary, geography, and culture are included in each unit. We highlight the geography and culture of Spanish speaking countries through reading novels set in Spanish speaking countries.

Students acquire language proficiency with visual and interactive support using grade level vocabulary and techniques including:

  • Total Physical Response

  • Collaborative Storytelling

  • MovieTalk

  • Embedded Reading

  • PictureTalk

  • Personalized Questions and Answers

  • Read and Discuss

Sixth grade students use the ¡Qué chévere! and Realidades curriculum textbooks, which integrate the development of language proficiency into cultural understanding, using project-based learning activities, multimedia resources, songs, games, and stories.

  • Students will learn “The Sweet 16 List”: to be (ser), to be (estar), to go, to have, to want, to like, there is\there are, to say, to give, to do, to see, can, to put on, to know, to leave, to come back

  • Students will also learn verbs: to listen, to understand, to practice, to ask questions, to answer, to remember, to think, to speak, to stand-up, to sit down, to look, to be able to, to start, to finish, to close, to open, to write, to read, to draw, to play, to walk, to run, to jump, to dance, to drink, to eat, to attack, to continue, to live, to swim, to notice, to escape, to destroy, exclaim, to talk, to take, to believe, to wait, to call, to take care of, to ride, to spend time, to change, to clean, to wash, to walk, to believe, to think.

  • Students will practice answering question words (what, when, how, how many, who, why, and how many).

  • Students will review greeting, farewell, alphabets, what do I want to be, interests and talents, food and health, clothes, places around me, likes and dislikes, school, family, weather, sports, animals, physical descriptions, personality traits, and chores.

  • Students will learn verb conjugation in relation to all pronouns (I, you, he, she, we, and they).

  • Students will learn the proper grammatical use of subject pronouns, present tense -ar verbs, infinitives, negative sentences, agreement or disagreement, adjectives, definite and indefinite articles, word order, prepositions, singular, and plural.

  • Students will have in-depth practice differentiating between the verbs estar and ser (to be).

  • Students will learn vocabulary through retelling stories and personalized questions and answers.

  • Students will learn through the following topics: food, describing oneself, home and furniture, animals and their habitat, daily routine, shopping, and Spanish speaking countries.

  • Students will read two novels related to the Spanish language.

Technology is used to incorporate independent listening, speaking, and reading. Technology is crucial in our Spanish class to differentiate instruction and to play games. Music, games, stories, and videos engage students on their learning journey. Students watch videos and listen to young Spanish speakers. Students in sixth grade prepare for and take the National Spanish Exam.

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6th grade - science

Science

The Greene School middle school science curriculum is the bridge between elementary concepts and the more in-depth concepts of a high school curriculum.

Throughout middle school, students study:

  • Physical Science

  • Earth and Space Science

  • Life Science

The physical science curriculum includes two components: chemistry and physics. The chemistry topics include the study of the structure and behavior of matter; transformations of matter, such as phase change, dissolution, and reaction; elements; atomic structure; molecules; compounds; energy transfers; and chemical interactions. The physics topics include the study of energy and the different forms it can take; how forces work to change energy from one form to another; how machines reduce the effort force needed to do work; how forces change the motion of objects; electromagnetic force; waves; gravity; and kinetic energy.

Earth and space science topics include energy conservation and natural resources, weather and water, earth history, the rock cycle, earthquakes, volcanism, seasons, moon phases, eclipses, the energy of the sun, and planetary science.

The life science topics that are covered in middle school include diversity of life; reproductive biology and life cycles; human systems interaction; cell division; plant reproduction; population dynamics; specific populations and ecosystems and the interactions within; food webs and energy pyramids; natural selection; heredity and adaptation; and an exploration of microscopic organisms.

Sixth Grade Science Units Include:

  • Weather and Water

  • Diversity of Life

  • Human Systems Interactions

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6th grade - social science

Social Science

The sixth grade social science curriculum is a study of ancient civilizations and early world history. It is designed to help students master geographic, historic, and civic concepts, in order to instill a historical perspective, readying students for more advanced study.

Sixth grade units may include:

  • Introduction to Social Science

  • Maslow’s Hierarchy and the Matrix of Civilization

  • The Golden Age of Ancient Greece

  • Alexander’s Hellenic Empire

  • The Roman Republic

  • The Roman Empire

  • The Han Dynasty (China)

  • The Mauryan and Gupta Empires (India)

Students are assessed throughout project-based learning activities including:

  • Research Papers

  • Team and Individual Projects

  • Quizzes

  • Homework in Online Texts

  • Reflective Journaling

  • In-class discussions

  • One-on-One Check-ins

  • Daily Observations

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6th grade - mathematics

The Greene School’s accelerated and enriched middle school mathematics curriculum provides opportunities for our highly able students to increase the depth and breadth of their learning of mathematics by studying advanced-level concepts and skills. Our curriculum allows students to complete Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry in middle school.

Students are provided opportunities to apply mathematical content to real-life situations. Challenging outside projects and long-term assignments are used as an integral part of the program to enable students to extend and apply the mathematics learned in the classroom. Students are expected to read technical matter on a regular basis, in order to gather information about challenging mathematical concepts. Technology is integrated throughout our math program in order to facilitate students’ problem-solving skills. Students learn to use scientific calculators, graphing calculators, and spreadsheets in their solutions and explanations. Students are assessed using math journals, checklists, informal observations, quizzes, tests, and projects.

Sixth Grade Algebra I Topics and Units Covered Include:

  • Relationships Between Quantities and Reasoning with Equations

  • Linear Relationships

  • Expressions and Equations

  • Functions and Modeling

  • Descriptive Statistics

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6th grade - language arts

Language Arts

Our middle school language arts curriculum utilizes a balanced approach to literacy, including reading, writing, and vocabulary study in an integrated and interrelated manner. Our ELA curriculum deeply engages our thriving learners in the reading, speaking, and writing process through a broad range of instructional devices. In sixth grade, students will interact with more challenging literature, articles, and other sources of information to continue to increase their vocabulary and understanding of the English language. Students participate in project-based learning experiences that weave together student engagement, discourse, and collaboration. Each student’s reading level is individually assessed at various times throughout the year, in order to provide continued differentiated instruction.

  • Students will learn through a study of rich and varied literary and informational text.

  • Students will learn various writing techniques and forms: argumentative, informative/explanatory, narrative, and summary of reading materials.

  • Students will learn language arts skills and strategies.

  • Students will work independently and collaboratively to better understand what they read.

  • Students will learn to evaluate an author’s assumptions and claims.

  • Students will learn to conduct research requiring the analysis of resources and an accurate interpretation of literary and informational text.

  • Students will strategically and capably use technology and digital media to enhance their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language use.

  • Students will focus on fiction writing and narratives.

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