Bible
We begin with an Old Testament review focused on the need for and plan of salvation. Students then draw connections between the Old Testament and New Testament through a detailed study of Jesus’ ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension. Students also take a closer look at Paul’s missionary journeys, learning how God’s gift of salvation was extended to the Gentiles and spread throughout the world.
Language Arts
We continue to build on student’s skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Students enjoy reading books in small group and whole class settings. Our reading units explore novels in the genres of Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction and Poetry. Students also read current event articles and nonfiction texts in order to build background knowledge. Our writing units include narrative poetry, argument paragraphs and an informational research paper. We practice our speech and language skills through debates and presentations. Common core grammar standards focus on sentence structure, pronoun usage, and understanding figurative language. Throughout the year, we are reminded that language is God’s unique gift to us.
Math
The Big Ideas curriculum develops the understanding of and critical thinking about various math concepts. Using common core standards, we study factors and multiples; connections among fractions, decimals, and percents; operations with mixed numbers and decimals; geometry; and pre-algebra. We admire the order, absoluteness, and creativity of our Great God that is so obvious in the examination of math concepts!
Science
Students learn first and foremost that Science is “God’s subject!” In 6th grade science, we learn about God’s creation through the units of Planetary Science, Weather and Water, and Populations and Ecosystems. Through the study of these topics, the students come to understand the processes and concepts of this marvelous creation!
Social Studies
Students will explore the tools used by geographers as they study world geography. Civics, government, and economics content is integrated into their studies. They are learning those skills as they begin their study of the physical and human geography in Canada and the United States. We then “travel” to Latin America and learn about its rich culture and land management. We explore Europe and Russia as they adapt to cultural and economic changes. In the unit on Africa, we study landforms such as the Nile River and the Sahara Desert regions. We learn about the many cultural regions of Asia. The 6th graders study Oceania, including Antarctica and the Pacific Islands. Our focus is on God the creator of this amazing world. We have the mandate to be caretakers and good citizens that glorify God as we live our lives here on Earth.
Art
The purpose is to joyfully express individuality, foster critical thinking, and build confidence through the application of fine art media. We keep a weekly art sketchbook with warm-ups for techniques like blending and pressure control, as well as preliminary thumbnail sketches. We solve design problems, using color relationships selected from the color wheel. Using the newly introduced principles of design, including proportion, rhythm, balance, emphasis, variety, and unity, we express ideas and create images from observation and imagination. We use one-point perspective to create the illusion of depth in a two-dimensional drawing and depict the proportional relationships among the parts of the human figure. We emphasize personal identity and the choice and use of appropriate art media and techniques to create both visual and tactile textures in works of art. Touching on art history, we identify the components of an artist’s style, including materials, design, technique and subject matter. We look at a variety of works and discuss the ways that art can be persuasive. We respond to works of art by self-evaluating, composing artist statements and participating in peer critiques.
Music
The Sixth Grade Band further develops tone, range, and technique through a rigorous curriculum that includes level 1.5 to 2 performance repertoire. The Sixth Grade Choir is devoted to the development of good choral technique and independent sight-reading. Each year the sixth grade begins with an introduction to Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music that lays the foundation for musical understanding in later music classes. Students also have the opportunity to participate in Jazz Band and Honors Choir.
Physical Education
Students participate in full game-related units in PE. We play many of the traditional “varsity sports” but also include invasion games (capture the flag, ultimate frisbee, team handball, speedball), and net and wall games (pickleball, badminton, table tennis, eclipse ball). Many of these games overlap in strategies and the types of rules associated in gameplay. We also take quizzes to test their knowledge on certain rules or strategies in addition to them being assessed in their physical skill and sportsmanship. By performing in a variety of sports and games, we hope to create an enjoyment for movement and skills that will make our students competent to be life-long physically active individuals.
Spanish
Our year in sixth grade starts off with learning clothing items and how to describe them using adjectives. We talked about the European currency (the euro €) and how it compares to the US Dollar. Our unit ends with an online shopping project in a Spanish department store, El Corte Inglés. After our shopping unit, we move onto discussing our family members, asking/telling ages, and expressing possession. Our unit ends a mini quiz on family and with a Family Tree project and presentation. After our family unit, we move onto discussing our classes and classroom objects. We use many verbs to describe what we do in the present tense in our classes, words of frequency to say how often we do things, and we discuss our obligations. Our unit ends with a scavenger hunt around the school.
