Grade 6

RELIGION

The Middle School Religion Program educates the students to “learn the Catholic Faith and to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ”.  Students grow spiritually, academically and socially.  They attain the foundation to lead a life of faith, service, and integrity. All Middle School students follow the Liturgical calendar and enter into the prayer life of the Catholic Church. Holy Days of Obligation and other special saint days are celebrated on a monthly basis, as the school community gathers for Mass at St. Pius X Church. During Advent, and at other times through the year, students participate in school-wide prayer service. On a daily basis, students pray in the chapel before each Religion class. Formal prayers are learned and prayed during the school year.  Students in grades 6-8 are required to complete thirty hours of community service each school year. All students learn the virtues and are encouraged to practice them on a daily basis.

Students in Grade 6 Religion class use the textbook published by Sadlier, We Believe: We Are God’s People. The year focuses on God’s self-revelation through his creation, through the Bible, and in his Son, Jesus. In the Old Testament, students learn about the Israelites, their enslavement, and the Exodus.  An understanding of several of the Old Testament Covenants, the message of the prophets and the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises of the Messiah, is the foundation for their understanding of the New Covenant revealed in Jesus.

LANGUAGE ARTS/LITERATURE

The Grade 6 Language Arts/Literature curriculum focuses on the key components of literacy: reading, writing, listening and speaking.   Throughout the year, the students will be reading a variety of selections in both fiction and nonfiction. These selections include chapter books such as Maniac Magee, Crenshaw, In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, Three Times Lucky, Shakespeare’s Secret, Al Capone Does My Shirts, and Esperanza Rising, along with their grade level textbook. Students also complete several book reports during the school year. The reports in fifth grade focus on literary elements, such as character, setting, and plot. Grade 6 reports focus on the study of the different genres of literature. Students write weekly about their reading in their Reader’s Notebooks.

In Language Arts, students will engage in a variety of writing modes throughout the year, which will include narrative, descriptive, persuasive, expository and creative writing. In all writing assignments, students use the writing process where they will plan, draft, edit, revise and publish their written work. Grade 6 continues with the study of proper grammar and mechanics (Grammar Workshop in Grade 5 and Grammar for Writing in Grade 6). Vocabulary study is taught in lessons from Sadlier’s Vocabulary Workshop textbook. Students use cursive on a daily basis.

MATHEMATICS

This course includes instruction based on the Diocese of Fall River and Commonwealth of Massachusetts Standards.  The program cultivates conceptual understanding and procedural fluency.  It provides in-depth instruction in fundamental mathematical concepts, such as place value and the interrelatedness of operations, and in skills such as algorithms.  Fluency with vocabulary and higher-order thinking are emphasized, along with problem-solving strategies.

Curriculum:  Operations with whole numbers, decimals & fractions; expressions & equations; integers; data & statistics; geometry; ratio, proportion & percent; measurement; (customary & metric); concepts of Pre-Algebra.

SCIENCE

In Ms. Down’s Science class, Earth science is the focus of the science curriculum in  Grade6.  Through content reading, observations, predictions, and explorations the students learn about a variety of topics.  Students begin by studying the earth and its layers.  The study of earthquakes, volcanoes, minerals, and rocks follows.

Weather and astronomy complete our earth science unit.  Students work in a myriad of lab situations ranging from excavating minerals from chocolate chip cookies, and examining the impacts of mining on the earth around it, to building structures able to withstand an earthquake.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Building on their learning of world geography from fifth grade, students in Grade 6 Social Studies begin to study ancient civilizations using the Prentice Hall text, World Studies of the Ancient World. The year begins with the study of the beginnings of humankind and continues with the study of ancient China, India, Greece, Rome and the Middle East. The students complete a variety of projects to showcase their learning.

SPANISH

Vocabulary: weather, leisure time and vacation; home – rooms and furniture; health; places and activities in the community; movies and television; foods and ordering in restaurants; the environment

Structures: present tenses of irregular verbs PODER,  QUERER, PENSAR, PONER, HACER, SABER, stem-changing verbs- present tense; preterito tense of AR , ER and IR verbs and the verb IR; possessive adjectives; use of A personal;  direct and indirect object pronouns and uses; familiar affirmative commands.

Culture: vacations and holidays in Spanish speaking countries; housing similarities and differences; health practices; communities in Spanish-speaking countries; entertainment in Spanish speaking countries- television shows, music, movies; foods and meals; environment and endangered species and how to protect them.