Sixth grade is a year of many transitions and challenges, and it has been such a fulfilling experience watching the students transforming into mature, responsible, and independent middle school students. There have been some bumps in the road, but all have proven to be valuable learning experiences.
    The curriculum throughout this school year touches upon the themes of community building, empathy, compassion, and understanding. These are presented through the reading of novels, plays, short stories, and poetry. In addition, like breathing in and breathing out, the students always have writing assignments that are directly related to our readings. They have made many deep connections with the themes, characters, and conflicts and expressed themselves in essays, letters, and poetry. Next, we will be reading novels and viewing films on the Holocaust. It is a joy and honor to teach the sixth graders.

Dear Parents and Families of 6th grade students,         Jan. 2010

Sixth grade is a year of many transitions and challenges, and it has been such a fulfilling experience watching the students transforming into mature, responsible, and independent middle school students. There have been some bumps in the road, but all have proven to be valuable learning experiences.
    The curriculum throughout this school year touches upon the themes of community building, empathy, compassion, and understanding. These are presented through the reading of novels, plays, short stories, and poetry. In addition, like breathing in and breathing out, the students always have writing assignments that are directly related to our readings. They have made many deep connections with the themes, characters, and conflicts and expressed themselves in essays, letters, and poetry. Next, we will be reading novels and viewing films on the Holocaust. It is a joy and honor to teach the sixth graders.

Ms. Schiano
6th and 7th grade ELA teacher
Amigos School

Welcome to Sixth Grade Science!

Dear Students & Families,

Welcome!  I look forward to being your Science teacher for this important year.  Sixth grade is full of changes and growth.  It’s a challenging year. Students will be asked to work more independently; with independence comes not only more freedom, but also more responsibility. They will have up to 20 minutes of homework per subject most nights.  Working on and completing Homework is the key to succeeding this year.

The theme for this first third of the year is Ecosystems, both abiotic and biotic factors.  We have done fieldwork on 5 different ecosystems in the Boston area.  We have mini-eco-columns in the classroom now. 

We have observed that in each ecosystem, the organisms are well adapted to live within the abiotic factors there (temperature, water).
We will be doing or field reports on our fieldtrips by the end of the month.  Check out the Wiki projects from last year. http://amigosfieldwork.wikispaces.com/

This study of producers, consumers and decomposers leads us to learn a bit about photosynthesis and respiration.  We will be using the microscopes more to observe these biotic factors on a cellular level. 

Once we have studied plants cells, we’ll move onto animal cells, which leads to our cells and the cells and systems of the human body. 

We have sixth graders on our Monday afternoon Astronomy Club.  Please check out our wiki for that:
http://amigositest-2009-2010.wikispaces.com/

Please contact me at your convenience.  I look forward to an enjoyable, productive year!

Thanks,
Laurie Ferhani, lferhani@cpsd.us

6th Grade Math
Happy New Year. It is good to be back and doing math with all of the excellent mathematicians in the 6th grade.
We are currently exploring two-dimensional geometry through the Shapes and Designs unit. In this unit we will build on students’ previous exposure to simple shapes by analyzing the properties that make certain shapes special and useful. The goal of Shapes and Designs is to have students discover and analyze many of the key properties of polygonal shapes that make them useful and attractive.
This unit focuses on polygons and develops these two themes:
• How do the measures of angles in a polygon determine its shapes and uses?
• How do the lengths of edges in a polygon determine its shapes and uses?
You can help with homework and encourage sound mathematical habits as your child studies this unit by asking questions such as:
• What kinds of shapes/polygons will cover a flat surface?
• What do these shapes have in common?
• How can angle measures be estimated?
• How can angles be measured with more accuracy?
In your child’s notebook, you can find worked-out examples from problems done in class, and notes on the unit’s mathematics.
You can help your child see how this aspect of geometry is important in everyday life in several ways:
• Look over your child’s homework and make sure all questions are answered and that explanations are clear.
• Whenever you notice an interesting shape in a newspaper or a magazine, discuss with your child whether it is one of the polygons mentioned in the unit.
• Have your child share his or her mathematics notebook with you, showing you what has been recorded about the different shapes being studied. Ask your child to explain why these ideas are important, and try to share ways that shapes help you with work or hobbies.
A few important mathematical ideas that your child will learn in Shapes and Designs are given below. We continue to be impressed by the skills of our 6th graders. We will assign homework at least three times a week. Homework completion continues to be a challenge for some students. If you would like some suggestions on additional strategies for helping you child complete and turn in their math homework, please feel free to email us.
Sincerely,

Ellen Davis
6-7-8 Mathematics
Herb Nipson
Title 1 Mathematics

[PDF] 6th Grade Math