6th Grade MP3 Campus

School Data is open on the 1st for parent reviews. These are due by the 5th. We hope the cut and paste grade level newsletter will be helpful to supplement your remote learning plan reviews. Thank you for submitting in a timely manner and if you need help, please reach out to your SLPC.

Topics: Number Sense

Activities: For September, students completed their iReady diagnostic assessment for Fall, and we started our first unit. Students were introduced to the concept of negative numbers. We have been practicing how to order positive and negative numbers from least to greatest and finding negative numbers on a number line. We ended the month looking at absolute value and opposite value numbers, which we will continue practicing with next month.

Teacher Tip: Have students practice budgeting for a shopping trip, thinking about purchases as a negative number and their starting balance as a positive number.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Alexander, halexander@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: About Me, Dear Mrs. Oscarson, Acrostic Poetry, Fall Haiku Poetry, Ten Things I Did NOT Do This Summer, iReady Testing

Activities: Writing classes are off to a great start at MP3! We spent our first day talking about classroom routines - emphasizing our overarching goals for the year to BE BRAVE and BE KIND. We dove right into our first writing project called About Me. This provided an opportunity for students to write about themselves and learn about the people they share tables with. Then to practice our letter-writing skills, we replied to an introductory letter from Mrs. Oscarson. Next, we created acrostic poem banners with our names as the anchor word to describe ourselves and brighten the room. An important part of narrative writing is brainstorming ideas so we practiced by making a list of ‘Ten Things I Did NOT Do This Summer’. The results were very funny and students were eager to share with one another. Haiku poetry that focuses on autumn was a fun way to practice using descriptive writing and following a poem pattern. Students drafted 2-3 examples in their notebooks and then picked their favorite to share on the poetry wall. Two days were spent on the iReady diagnostic test. Students worked hard and now their iReady lessons contain personalized instruction that focuses on the specific skills they need to learn. Adding these lessons to your at-home practice can be a great way for students to concentrate on particular areas of need.

I am thrilled to partner with you in your child’s learning. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!

Teacher info: Mrs. Oscarson, roscarson@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Voting rights over time, being informed about community issues, voting simulation

Activities: This month in our 6th grade Civics class, we began by using a .ppt and an excellent resource from iCivics to examine how voting rights have expanded over the years in the US. The right to vote is one of the most important rights one can have in a democracy and the question of who should be allowed to vote has been a tricky one over the years. Students learned that voting rights were limited, especially in the earliest years of our country, but have been expanded over time. Students recognized that people without the right to vote are people without a voice, without power. Next, we had some good discussions around the importance of being informed as voters. Knowing how to source reliable information allows you to become a more responsible voter. Students did an exercise to see how information can influence your vote. We voted on topics like school work, recess, snacks, etc, but students got two opportunities to vote. The first time, they voted having not really been given sufficient information. The second time, they were informed. Through this simple voting activity, we saw how more information can lead to very different election outcomes. Students tallied classroom election results and compared the results between more informed and less informed voters. Next, we spent a few days working on a voting simulation game for the fictional town of "Isley." Students read about the town, looked at some demographic information and we did an analysis of some of the issues Isley faced. Again, we used a resource from iCivics called "Cast Your Vote" to learn how to be a thoughtful participant in an election. Students were given the opportunity to evaluate candidates based on a variety of factors, examine candidates' positions on various issues and recognize that solving complex community problems can be a real challenge.

My goal in this Civics class is to help students recognize why it is important to become familiar with their communities and how they can use their power to make their communities more welcoming and more equitable places. Learning to be a good citizen starts close to home. The skills our students develop now will be refined and applied in a variety of situations as they get older. I have told these students that one simple goal I am most hopeful they will all achieve is to some day be good neighbors. I know it's achievable, especially if they understand their communities and take steps to "leave it better than they found it."

Teacher Tip: Please follow along in our Google Classroom to see the work we are doing on campus.

Teacher Info: Let me know if you have any questions!

Mr. Caraco, jcaraco@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Our learning objectives for this month were the following: *Discover that a mixture is a combination of two or more materials that retain their own properties.

*A solution is a mixture in which one material seems to disappear in another.

*A crystal is the solid phase of a material that forms in an identifiable shaper or pattern.

*When a solid dissolves in a liquid, the solid seems to disappear but can be observed again once the liquid evaporates.

*Evaporation can separate a liquid from a solid in a solution.

*liquids evaporate (they change into gas and disperse into the air).

Activities: Students made mixtures and solutions with different solid materials and water. They separated mixtures and solutions using screens, filters, and evaporation. They measured solids and liquids. Students compared the mass of a mixture to the mass of its parts. Students discovered that when they added salt to a solution it appeared to disappear, but through evaporation were able to see the salt again. They were also able to observe that once the salt molecule had been separated by water it reformed in a crystal or lattice formation which they were able to observe with their eyes and under a microscope.

Vocabulary: property, mixture, solution, and dissolving.

Teacher Info: Mrs. DeWaard, hdewaard@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Classroom routines, group work, simple machines, Space Adventure

Activities: Students started this year discussing how we will be safe, respectful, and responsible in our classroom. Students are learning how to work respectfully in groups by listening to one another, taking turns, sharing materials, and solving problems together. Students are exploring the roles and responsibilities of a group leader while working in teams of two or three. The group leader role rotates each week, giving every student an opportunity to lead. Students learned that simple machines make work easier and studied the six types: levers, wheels and axles, pulleys, inclined planes, wedges, and screws. They constructed a pulley and discussed how it can help lift or move objects. We started a Space Adventure Activity Series. Students will explore basic engineering techniques to design and build a moonbase, buggy, ramp, pulley system, and a motorized rover to help astronauts in their missions on the Moon. Students will share their designs with the class.

Reflection Questions: What robots do you see in your daily life? How do these robots help people? If you could design a robot to help at school, what would it do?

Teacher Info: Mrs. Graham, bngraham@meridian.wednet.edu