Rohan Woods School > The School Day

Sixth Grade Weekly Update

This week took us through a review of all types of graphs including line graphs, bar graphs, circle graphs, and step graphs. Following our return from Huntsman Marine Science Center, students will create their own persuasive graph to illustrate their perspective on a given issue. Students will demonstrate their understanding of all graphs on the unit test given the week of September 13th. Everyone has enjoyed using the Math Log to help keep notes and organize information.

Math Games are an integral part of our math curriculum. Students have enjoyed reviewing the concepts of range, mean, median and mode throught the games, Landmark Shark and Up, Over Squares.

Our newest math unit will take us into reading, writing and making calculations with very large numbers. Students will begin the unit with demonstrating their understanding of place value, as well as reading and writing large numbers. The Everyday Math game, Number Top It, gives students the opportunity to work together as they create and read more large numbers. Finally, students will a reference flip book to illustrate the concepts of standard notation, expanded notation, number and word notation, and scientific notation.

Our social studies discussions have focused on the United States’ involvement in World War I. Students have studied propaganda posters and their influence on society. They will begin creating their own propaganda poster, demonstrating one or more of the goals of these posters and including many of the tools specifically used in propaganda. We look forward to sharing these with you soon.

English grammar lessons have posed the question, “Exactly what role does a noun play in the sentence, and how does this affect my writing skills?” Students have been applying their understanding of the many roles of the noun in the sentence as they work to complete their personal narrative. These roles include the subject of a simple sentence, direct and indirect object, subject complement, and object of a prepositional phrase. The students’ writing demonstrates that, even though all of these are nouns, they add great description to a piece of writing. Once students complete their work, we will share these with you before we file them in the classroom binder for safekeeping.

Fifth and Sixth Graders will depart for Huntsman Marine Science Center on the morning of Tuesday, September 7th, bright and early. If you have any questions, please contact science specialist, Mrs. Breckenridge.

Please note that Parent/Student/Teacher conferences are scheduled for Friday, October 1st. If you have not had a chance to sign up for a conference yet, please stop by and choose a time which works in your schedule. Your child will attend the conference for a brief period to share some specific information as well as explain their goals and plans for the upcoming weeks.

Our Innisbrook gift wrap sale kicks off today and continues through Friday, September 17th. Please support your child’s sales and enter their orders on line. If you have any questions, I will be happy to help you with the process. I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend.

Macci Bowers
Sixth Grade Teacher

	Meet Macci Bowers, Sixth Grade Teacher
	Macci Bowers joined the Rohan Woods team in 1982. With more than 30 years of teaching experience, Macci brings an abundance of enthusiam and personalized teaching methods to her classroom, especially in the areas of literature, language arts, and mathematics. In her spare time, Macci enjoys outdoor activities such as gardening and running as well as reading and needlework. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education from Maryville University as well as a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree in Elementary Education from Webster University and an Educational Testing Certification from Washington University. E-Mail Sixth Grade Teacher Macci Bowers

	Sixth Grade Curriculum
	The Reading Program in Sixth Grade is literature based and emphasizes understanding of the standard literary tools of main idea, supporting information, conclusions, inferences, comparison and contrast, plot and character development, and foreshadowing. The books are read both independently and orally as a class. Daily summaries of the readings are written and incorporate some of the Social Studies topics as well as concepts in our Ethics curriculum. Students also participate in a variety of activities and projects through which they demonstrate their understanding of the development of plot, character and themes. The Vocabulary and Spelling Curricula use the Zaner-Bloser approach in which students take ownership of new vocabulary and increase comprehension as they: unlock words in meaningful context process words through skill-based activities, apply words in listening, speaking, reading, and writing review words frequently to reinforce their use and meaning and demonstrate their progress through regular assessment The Language Arts curriculum focuses on the study of grammar and punctuation concepts and each student's ability to apply his or her understanding to given activites and writing assignments. Students learn more about a variety of writing styles and develop their writing skills through a series of lessons and assignments which progress throughout the year. Writing instruction, based on the Six-Trait Writing Curriculum, includes both short- and long-term projects on a variety of topics. Research papers are required using both library- and Internet-based research. The Social Studies curriculum focuses on a variety of topics arising from the economic, political and military landscape of the first half of the twentieth century. As students learn the causes and effects of the World Wars and the worldwide Depression, literature is woven in to present them with narratives of the consequences of these events on the social fabric of the world. Through this lens, students are confronted with many essential social science questions surrounding good and evil, class, race, and right and wrong. Analysis and Probability and more sophisticated problem-solving activities are introduced in Sixth Grade in order to act as a bridge toward preparation for secondary school. Algebra is taught more often through the use of the Everyday Math program, which emphasizes solving and graphing linear equations, and rates of change (simple and compound interest, population growth, etc.). Overall, there is more time spent on data collection, using statistics to make predictions, and constructing mathematical models to solve problems. The Sixth Grade student enjoys exceptional learning experiences such as a week at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in Colorado, gifted education activities, advanced Physical Education with a special day at a local ski hill, and the unique Rohan Woods Leadership Program. Sixth Graders are tasked with researching, defining, executing, and evaluating a yearlong leadership project of their choosing. The projects must have a lasting impact on some level of life at Rohan Woods. We are dedicated to preparing our graduates for success in today’s changing world. Strong, personal relationships are fostered with each student and their family, and with area secondary schools, enabling a smooth transition to the world beyond elementary education.