Sixth Grade
Middle School Faculty
Mr. Anderson - Social Studies
Ms. Lowrie - Science, Spelling/Vocabulary
Mrs. Tice - Religion, Grammar
Mrs. Welcher - Math
Mr. Wilburn - Literature, Writing
Curriculum
Reading/Literature
Text: Mirrors and Windows; EMC Publishing, 2012
Primary units: Short stories; Novel Studies (Newbery Winners); Reading Non-Fiction; Folk Literature / Author Study: Lois Lowry; Historical Fiction; Science Fiction.
Skills taught: inference, sequence, genre, cause/effect, story mapping; plot diagrams; story elements; characters; theme; point of view; non-fiction reading model; public speaking.
Teaching methods and resources used: basal reader, novels, short stories, newspaper/magazine articles, story telling, group reading, silent reading, cooperative learning, projects, Accelerated Reader Program, teacher read alouds, shared literature, Literature Circles.
Language Arts
Text: Writing and Grammar Copper Level Prentice Hall.
Primary units:
Grammar: Parts of sentences, Nouns, Verbs, Pronouns, Adverbs, Prepositions and conjunctions, Sentence and paragraph structure
Writing: 6+1 Traits of Writing, Narrative, Informative, Descriptive, Short story
Skills taught: capitalization and punctuation, word usage, vocabulary, sentence combining, writing process, study skills, dialogue and quotations, possessives, connotations, antonyms, synonyms, paraphrasing and note taking, fact and opinion, research and library skills, homophones and homographs.
Teaching methods and resources used: lecture, class discussion, oral drills, journals, peer tutoring, tests, skits, art projects charts. bulletin boards, computers, language games, workbooks, dictionaries, thesaurus, letter writing
Spelling
Text: Vocabulary in Action Level G
Skills taught: word meaning; pronunciation; prefixes; suffixes; synonyms; antonyms; words in context.
Teaching methods and resources used: weekly word list; creating sentences with spelling words; tests; study; dictation sentences; teacher dictated sentences and Spelling Bees.
Mathematics
Text: Prentice Hall, Course 2
Primary units: Applications of decimals - add, subtract, multiply, divide, round, compare; Order of operations; Variable expressions and equations- evaluate, write, solve; Integers – add, subtract, multiply, and divide; Investigating fractions/mixed numbers- equivalent, improper, simplifying; Using fractions/mixed numbers – add, subtract, multiply, divide; Ratios, Proportions, Percents, similar figures, and scale drawings; Geometry – angles, lines, triangles, polygons; Area, surface area, and volume
Skills taught: multiplying, dividing, adding and subtracting fractions; mixed numbers; ratios; percents and decimals; finding area, volume of shapes.
Teaching methods and resources used: Lecture, notes, partner work and games, class games, teacher generated worksheets, teacher generated tests, workbooks that comes with the series, calculators, individual dry erase boards.
Social Studies
Text: The United States: Civil War to Present Harcourt
Primary units: Democratic Revolution; Industrial Revolution; Nationalism and Imperialism; World War I and the Great Depression; World War II and the Cold War; Current World Issues
Skills taught: current events, elections, citizenship, leadership, economic theory, the role of the Roman Catholic Church during relevant periods of history, maps, time lines, graph and chart skills, world geography and climate, identifying resources, predicting outcomes, decision making; discussion and writing as a fundamental method of learning.
Teaching methods and resources used: lecture, class discussion, assignments from text, group projects, peer tutoring, tests, research reports, guest speakers, field trips, videos, music tapes, art projects, maps, charts, bulletin boards, newspapers and periodicals, computer resources, geography games, teacher generated materials, student taught lessons
Science
Text: MacMillan McGraw Hill Science 2005
Primary Units: Scientific measurements using the metric system; Chemical and physical properties and changes of matter; Atomic structure; Classification of Elements; Laws applying to motion and forces; Uses of simple machines; Electricity and magnetism; Relationship between waves, energy and matter; Space exploration; Earth’s place in space; Compare and contrast other planets.; Star formation; Cell structure and organelle functions.
Skills taught: Use of microscopes; time scales; identifying, classifying; observing materials; measuring using the metric system; collecting and interpreting data; predicting outcomes; decision making and science fair
Teaching methods and resources used: Class discussion, group projects, guest speakers, field trips, computer lab, videos, experiments, art projects, teacher generated materials, lecture.
Religion
Text: Faith First. Legacy Edition. RCL Benziger: 2010.
Primary units: We Believe: Faith, Mystery of God, Salvation and Scripture. We Worship: Liturgy, Sacraments; We Live: Virtues, Morals, Commandments; We Pray: Prayer.
