Students will apply literacy skills they have acquired in the earlier grades to read and interpret more complex texts. Students will do this on their own and with their peers. They will also improve their ability to analyze different pieces of literature and will formulate opinions based on textual evidence. Throughout the year they will read a variety of texts, including realistic fiction, fantasy and informational. Students will analyze and interpret these texts to not only develop their listening and speaking skills, but to develop their ability to compose written responses.

Students will write in a variety of genres for different audiences and purposes; to inform, persuade, reflect, and synthesize information. In addition, they will be learning basic note-taking skills and how to create useful thinking maps.

Sixth Grade Central Texts:

• The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
• Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
• Flush by Carl Hiaasen
• World Without Fish by Mark Kurlansky

Sixth grade mathematics is about

• connecting ratio and rate to whole number multiplication and division and using concepts of ration and rate to solve problems
• completing understanding of division of fractions and extending the notion of numbers to the system of rational numbers, which includes negative numbers
• writing, interpreting and using expressions and equations
• developing understanding of statistical thinking. (EngageNY.org: summary of the year)

Sequence of Grade 6 Modules Aligned with the Standards:

• Module 1: Ratios and Unit Rates
• Module 2: Arithmetic Operations Including Dividing by a Fraction
• Module 3: Rational Numbers
• Module 4: Expressions and Equations
• Module 5: Area, Surface Area, and Volume Problems Module 6: Statistics

The Math Technology Lab is utilized regularly for review and differentiation.

Sequence of Grade 6 Science Topics Aligned with the Standards

• Cells and Heredity
• Weather and Climate
• Inside the Earth

Science Lab

Hands on investigations, and experiments will allow students to discover and reinforce concepts and skills related to the various topics in physical science, life science, and Earth and space science.

Social Studies provides students with the foundational knowledge and skills that are necessary to understand and ask important questions in an ever changing world. Social Studies can inspire young citizens to deeply engage in their local, national, and global communities as change agents.

Sixth Grade Social Studies focuses on the geography and history of the Eastern Hemisphere, including the development of cultures, civilizations, and empires; interactions between societies; and the comparison of trends in government and economics.

This work begins with an examination of the Eastern Hemisphere, using geographic skills. The students will analyze the roles that geography, culture and politics play in the rise of the first civilizations. Our key units of study include:

• Pre-History: Paleolithic and Neolithic Time Period
• Early River Valley Civilizations in the Eastern Hemisphere
  • Mesopotamia or Ancient Egypt
  • Ancient India or Ancient China
• Ancient Greece
• Ancient Rome