Grade 6

Our March Focus of the Month is Self-Care. Self-care means taking time to care for your mental, emotional, and physical well-being by doing activities that help you relax, recharge, and feel your best. We kicked off this focus during Clubs this past Friday, when students had the opportunity to choose four different activities throughout the day. Options included bracelet making, arts and crafts, trivia, and even some “Pi” making in celebration of the day. These activities encouraged students to try something new, build a skill, and spend time doing things they enjoy. It was a great way to practice self-care while having fun, connecting with others, and making it a great day all around.

Our BMS Academic Showcase is just around the corner! Each Tiger Time group selected a country to study and has spent the last month and a half learning about its geography, culture, traditions, and important features. Students then designed creative ways to showcase what they learned.

Projects include building models connected to their country, creating posters and visual displays, and designing other informative presentations. Students have worked hard researching, collaborating, and bringing their ideas to life.

The BMS community is invited to view these projects on March 18, and students are excited to share everything they have learned!

What a wild end to our weather unit! All of those snow storms gave students a great opportunity to practice their newfound meteorological skills!

In the last few weeks, we have spent some time honing in on measurement, data observation and data collection. These are life-long skills that will be especially applicable in our new unit titled "Energy for Life". This unit will encourage students to ask questions about where the food that they eat actually comes from and trace this evidence all the way back to the role that plants play in our lives.

Please stay tuned for important information regarding our upcoming field trip to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute!

Grade 6 recently finished Unit 4 which consisted of working with ratios, equivalent ratios, and real-world problems consisting of ratios. Students explored writing and comparing ratios using concrete, pictorial, and abstract strategies. They used many types of manipulatives and bar models to represent what they learned throughout the unit. They extended concepts learned with fractions to solve many types or ratio problems.

6th grade is currently working on operations with decimals including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. This unit teaches students how to perform the four basic operations with decimal numbers: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Students learn how decimals represent parts of a whole, similar to fractions, and a review of how place value works (tenths, hundredths, thousandths).

As always students continue to revisit past lessons and concepts to continue to build on the skills learned from previous units and grades.

Sixth grade writing classes are currently studying Ancient Egypt as part of the State of Maine Learning Results standards. Students are learning about the region’s geography, important historical achievements, economic systems, and social structure while building their writing skills.

Students have begun reading books from the popular I Survived series by Lauren Tarshis in small group book clubs! These exciting historical fiction stories allow students to experience important moments in history through the eyes of young characters who live through dramatic events. As they read, students are not only learning about real historical events, but also thinking about how people might have felt and responded in those moments.

Students have been working closely with their group members to discuss the story, ask questions, and share their ideas. These conversations help them practice strong speaking and listening skills while digging deeper into the themes and challenges the characters face. We’ve been hearing some thoughtful insights and great connections!