In 6th grade ELA with Miss Allen, our Where the Red Fern Grows unit is in full swing! Students recently completed a research project and presentation on life during the Great Depression, strengthening their speaking and listening skills while gaining context for the novel’s setting and characters. This week, they have been working on activities that develop key reading and writing skills: analyzing cause & effect to support comprehension, examining mood & tone to interpret author intent, comparing characters to deepen understanding, and identifying figurative language to enhance literary analysis. In vocabulary, students completed Wordly Wise lessons five and six, and in grammar, they are mastering sentence structure, the four types of sentences, and proper punctuation.
In 6th grade Math with Mr. Pritchett, students completed chapter four and took their unit test covering chapters one through four. In chapter four, students learned the fundamentals of algebra, including how to solve for variables and represent inequalities. To study for the unit test, we took a day to review each chapter that we have learned so far and covered the major themes of each. Some of these concepts included how to work with decimals and fractions, utilizing factors and multiples, using operations on fractions, and the steps of solving equations. In the new term, students are wrapping up chapter five on ratios, rates, and proportions.
In 6th grade Social Studies with Miss Falcone, the students explored Early Humans and the Agricultural Revolution, studying the Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages. They concluded their lesson on the Paleolithic Age with a virtual tour of France’s Lascaux Cave, marveling at its vivid, ancient paintings. Inspired by these artworks, students created their own cave art scenes, drawing on Paleolithic themes to bring history to life. Currently, they are researching the Winter Solstice’s significance in ancient cultures, such as the Romans, Scandinavians, and Celts, uncovering how traditions like feasts, gift-giving, and evergreens influenced modern Christmas practices, connecting ancient rituals to today’s celebrations.
In 6th grade Science with Miss Falcone, the students have been exploring light and its properties, including topics like Light and Color, Reflection and Mirrors, and Refraction and Lenses. They learned how the eyes detect light and color through specialized cells in the retina (rods for dim light and cones for color), how the lens and cornea focus light to create images, and how nearsightedness and farsightedness result from differences in light focusing. Currently, the students are diving into a Christmas-themed research project on Arctic animals often associated with the holiday season, such as reindeer, polar bears, Arctic foxes, and snowy owls. They are investigating how these animals survive in the Arctic’s harsh environment, examining their unique adaptations to extreme cold, limited food, and long periods of darkness.
In 6th Grade Religion with Miss Allen, in our unit on how the Bible is different from other books, we are exploring senses of Scripture. The literal sense focuses on the meaning of the words as understood through study, while the spiritual sense reveals how events in Scripture, like the Flood, are signs of deeper truths of Faith. Students are also learning about typology, which examines how people, places, and events in the Old Testament foreshadow those in the New Testament. This week, we’re discovering how the Old and New Testaments form an organic unity, and how the New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New. We are also discussing and reading about the season of Advent, the Annunciation, and the Nativity as we prepare for Christ's birth at Christmas.
