6th Grade

In sixth grade, each student is provided with many opportunities to use a variety of skills to learn concepts and objectives throughout the year. Literature is used to augment and support the social studies curriculum. The students create Greek temples in support of their mythology projects during the third trimester. Also, they will plan, plant and care for the garden as part of their science curriculum. Older science students build cell models, create pedigrees of genetic traits and build simple machines that reflect the movement of the body.

Service to the community is an important aspect of our class and helps the students learn stewardship for society. Our class, with the seventh grade, will plan and run the Mission Carnival, a school wide event that benefits Catholic Charities. In addition, our class will participate in the Canned Food Drive, Coats for Kids, Toys for Tots and Operation Rice Bowl.

Field trips are an important part of our classroom curriculum. Trips planned for this year include: San Jose Tech Museum, Rancho El Chorro, Hearst Castle and J. Paul Getty Museum. Chaperones are needed for all field trips. Please watch for additional information.

Curriculum Overview

Grammar: Sentence structure, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, noun-verb identification. Students use their knowledge of word origins and word relationships, as well as historical and literary context clues, to determine the meaning of specialized vocabulary and to understand the precise meaning of grade-level-appropriate words.

Vocabulary: Vocabulary Book Name, Level A; Greek, Roman and Anglo-Saxon roots
Social Studies: Ancient Civilizations: Ice Age Man, Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, Greece, Rome, and Meso-America

Literature:Students read and understand grade-level-appropriate material. They describe and connect the essential ideas, arguments, and perspectives of the text by using their knowledge of text structure, organization, and purpose. The selections in Recommended Readings in Literature, Kindergarten Through Grade Eight illustrate the quality and complexity of the materials to be read by students. In addition to reading shorts stories, poetry and mythology, students will read at least three novels this year:  Zlata's Diary (during the summer), A Wrinkle in Time, and Roll of Thunder:  Hear My Cry. 

Writing: Students write clear, coherent, and focused essays. The writing exhibits students’awareness of the audience and purpose. Essays contain formal introductions, supporting evidence, and conclusions. Students progress through the stages of the writing process as needed. Students write narrative, expository, persuasive, and descriptive texts of at least 500 to 700 words in each genre. Student writing demonstrates a command of standard American English and the research, organizational, and drafting strategies outlined in Writing Standard 1.0.

Art: Students study a wide variety of artists, composers and historical figures. Students perceive and respond to works of art,objects in nature,events,and the environment.They also use the vocabulary of the visual arts to express their observations. Students apply artistic processes and skills,using a variety of media to communicate meaning and intent in original works of art. Students analyze the role and development of the visual arts in past and present cultures throughout the world,noting human diversity as it relates to the visual arts and artists. Students analyze,assess,and derive meaning from works of art,including their own, according to the elements of art,the principles of design,and aesthetic qualities. Students apply what they learned in the visual arts across subject areas.They develop competencies and creative skills in problem solving, communication, and management of time and resources that contribute to lifelong learning and career skills. They also learn about careers in and related to the visual arts.

Mathematics: By the end of grade six, students have mastered the four arithmetic operations with whole numbers, positive fractions, positive decimals, and positive and
negative integers; they accurately compute and solve problems. They apply their
knowledge to statistics and probability. Students understand the concepts of
mean, median, and mode of data sets and how to calculate the range. They
analyze data and sampling processes for possible bias and misleading conclusions;
they use addition and multiplication of fractions routinely to calculate the
probabilities for compound events. Students conceptually understand and work
with ratios and proportions; they compute percentages (e.g., tax, tips, interest).
Students know about p and the formulas for the circumference and area of a
circle. They use letters for numbers in formulas involving geometric shapes and
in ratios to represent an unknown part of an expression. They solve one-step
linear equations.

Religion: Old Testament, Ancient Religions and integrations with social studies are taught in the sixth grade.

Science: Plate Tectonics and Earth’s Structure, Shaping Earth’s Surface, Heat (Thermal Energy) (Physical Science), Energy in the Earth System, Ecology (Life Science), Resources, Investigation and Experimentation are taught.

Computers: Applications, basic programs, Power Point Presentations, basic Word Processing, basic skills games are taught.

Physical Education: Basic body conditioning, game strategy, and sportsmanship are taught in the sixth grade.