SIXTH GRADE CURRICULUM
MATH: Glencoe/Mcgraw Hill Math Connects
· Students use reasoning about multiplication and division to solve ratio and rate problems about quantities .Students expand the scope of problems for which they can use multiplication and division to solve problems, and they connect ratios and fractions.
· Students use the meaning of fractions, the meanings of multiplication and division, and the relationship between multiplication and division to understand and explain why the procedures for dividing fractions make sense. Students use these operations to solve problems.
· Students extend their previous understandings of number and the ordering of numbers to the full system of rational numbers, which include negative rational numbers and in particular negative integers. They reason about the order and absolute value of rational numbers and about the location of points in all four quadrants of the coordinate plane.
· Students understand the use of variables in mathematical expressions. They write expressions and equations that correspond to given situations, evaluate expressions, and use expressions and formulas to solve problems. Students know that the solutions of an equation are the values idea of maintaining the equality of both sides of an equation to solve simple one-step equations. Students construct and analyze tables, such as tables of quantities that are in equivalent ratios, and they use equations to describe relationships between quantities.
· Students recognize that a data distribution may not have a definite center and that different ways to ensure center yield different values. Students learn the difference between mean, median and mode. Students learn to identify clusters, peaks, gaps, and symmetry, considering in the context in which the data were collected.
· Students reason about relationships among shapes to determine area, surface area, and volume. They find areas of right triangles, other triangles, and special quadrilaterals by decomposing these shapes, rearranging or removing pieces and relating the shapes to rectangles.
SCIENCE: Prentice Hall –Science Explorers
· Develop an understanding that scientific inquiry and reasoning involves observing, questioning, investigating, recording and developing solutions to problems.
· Physical Science: Students deepen their understanding of energy through investigations into kinetic and potential energy and the demonstration of the transformation of kinetic energy. Through the investigation of energy transfer by radiation, conduction, or convection, students are introduced to the concept that energy can be transferred while no energy is lost or gained.
· Life Science: Sixth grade students build on their prior knowledge by exploring classifications of organisms based on their source of energy (producers, consumers and decomposers) and distinguish between ways in which organisms obtain energy. This also includes the interactions of organisms within populations, communities and ecosystems. They explore how populations can be mutually beneficial and how that relationship can lead to interdependence. The final course of study in ecosystems includes biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem that influence change. Included is the consequence of overpopulations of a species including humans. Students explore how humans affect change. Purposefully and accidentally and recognize possible consequences for activity and development.
· Earth Science: Sixth grade students develop a deeper understanding of the Earth through the exploration of the rock cycle, phenomena that shape the Earth and Earth’s history. In the elementary curriculum, students observe a variety of Earth materials and identify properties that help sustain life. Students explore the formation and weathering of rocks and how different soil types are formed. Their knowledge continues through the study of movement of lithospheric plates, major geological events and layers of the Earth. Students look at rocks, rock layers and fossils.
Language Arts: English- Houghlin Mifflin and Vocabulary-Sadler
· Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 6 reading and content.
· Parts of Speech: a word’s position or function in a sentence
· Use common grade appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word
· Demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or expression.
Religion: Blest Are We-RCL Benziger
· The Sacraments: God’s Gifts of Life
· Baptism and Confirmation
· The Eucharist
· Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick
· Holy Orders and Matrimony
· We Answer God’s Call
· God Saves and Delivers Us
· God invites us into his Kingdom
· God reminds us to do his will
· God Promises Everlasting Life
Literature: Glencoe – Reading With Purpose
· Informational Media- Students will learn how informational media is any form of media that is used to communicate with large groups and the various forms of it. Through the study of this genre, students will develop these reading skills:
o Setting a purpose for reading
o Skimming and Scanning
o Understanding Graphics
o Identifying Main Idea and Supporting Details
o Author’s Purpose
· Biography and Autobiography- Students will study biographies, the story of a person’s life written by another person, and autobiographies, in which the author tells his or her own story. Through the study of this genre, students will develop these reading skills:
o Activating Prior Knowledge
o Connecting
o Predicting
o Questioning
o Characterization
· Persuasive Writing- Students will study persuasive writing, in which a writer tries to persuade the reader to share a certain point of view or take a particular action. Persuasive writing can take many forms including speeches, editorials, billboards, and advertisements. Through the study of this genre, students will develop these reading skills:
o Distinguishing Fact and Opinion
o Clarifying
o Inferring
o Identifying Problem and Solution
o Tone and Mood
· Poetry- Students will study the various forms of poetry as well as the elements of poetry including alliteration, end rhyme, internal rhyme, etc. Through the study of this genre, students will develop these reading skills:
o Visualizing
o Responding
o Interpreting
o Figurative Language
· Folktale/Fantasy/Myth – Students will read and study folktales from various cultures and Greek mythology. They will study how they usually answer large questions like the origin of the earth, the sea, and the seasons. Through the study of this genre, students will develop these reading skills:
o Activating Prior Knowledge
o Clarifying
o Comparing and Contrasting
o Predicting
· Novel Studies:
o The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
o Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
o Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
· Writer’s Workshop: Students will go through the writing process of prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and publishing with these writing genres:
o Summaries
o Personal Narratives
o Creative Writing
o Persuasive Writing
o Poetry
Social Studies- Prentice Hall: World Studies Western Hemisphere
· The World of Geography
o The Five Themes of Geography
o The Geographer’s Tools
· Earth’s Physical Geography
o Forces shaping the Earth
o Climate and Weather
o How Climate Affects Vegetation
· Earth’s Human Geography
o Population
o Migration
o Economic Systems
o Political Systems
· Cultures of the World
o Understanding Culture
o Culture and Society
o Cultural Change
· Interacting With Our Environment
o Natural Resources
o Land Use
o People’s Effect on the Environment
We study the entirety of the Western Hemisphere, as broken up in these regions:
· The United States
· Canada
· Mexico and Central America
· The Caribbean
· South America
In each region we study the following elements:
· Land and Water
· Climate and Vegetation
· Resources and Land Use
· History
· Cultures
· Geography
Specials
· Art
· Music
· Spanish
· Computers
· Physical Education
· Library/Media