SIXTH GRADE DEVELOPMENT 
Sixth grade begins with the history of Rome.   Like the hero Aeneas, the students depart from the ancient world and embark upon a journey in which they have to increasingly rely upon their own perceptions and thinking to arrive at greater understanding. The biographies of the early Romans and the struggles to create workable forms of representative government and the rule of law are of great interest to the pre-adolescent child. The sciences of geology, physics and astronomy help the students to develop exact observation and to develop flexible thinking and living concepts which can expand and deepen as their ability to make connections grows.  In the study of business math and geometry, the students begin to see that there are inner laws which can help us to understand and represent reality, such as with graphs, grids and precisely drawn geometric figures. Like the people in the Middle Ages, the students  in the final history block experience the contrast between the dark forces of feudalism, war, and plague and the preservation of beauty and learning in the monasteries, cathedrals and mosques  of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.  Geography and Language Arts are woven in to support this rich curriculum

 

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SIXTH GRADE CURRICULUM

LANGUAGE ARTS
Writing

• Research, writing, and oral presentation of reports
  
• Students employ creative writing techniques using historical content
  
• Book reports
  
• Children work toward independence in self-editing
  
• Dictations
  
• Begin teaching note-taking skills
  

Reading

• Students will read one book a month as assigned by the teacher
  
• Reading for information in content areas as provided by the teacher
  

Grammar

• Grammar skills are developed in the context of speaking, listening, reading, independent writing, editing and student oral presentations
  
• Review all previously taught skills, especially eight parts of speech and six tenses of verbs
  
• Introduce colons and semi-colons
  
• Introduce direct and indirect objects
  
• Active and passive voice
  
• Homonyms, homophones, antonyms, synonyms
  
• Dictionary skills
  
• Latin roots 
  

Speaking

• Daily speech work
  
• Class play
  

MATHEMATICS

• Computation Skills: Percents and Decimals, Ratios and Proportions, Averages
  
• Pre-Algebra Concepts:  Order of Operations, positive and negative numbers, solving proportions
  
• Business Math: Calculating tax, tip, interest, balancing budgets and checking accounts, graphing data. 
  
• Geometry: Constructions, calculation of perimeter and Area, introduction to parallel lines, angles, parts of triangles. 

SCIENCE
Physics

• Sound, light, heat, magnetism, static electricity
  

Geology

• Physical history of the earth, rocks of which it is composed, and the physical changes which the earth has undergone
  

SOCIAL STUDIES
Geography

• Geography of Africa, South America, or Asia - land configuration, countries, history, and culture
  

History

• Rome
  
• Middle Ages - Christianity and Islam
  
• Biographies of key historical figures
  

ART

• Painting themes come from main lessons such as geology and history
  

Drawing

• Black and white charcoal drawing
  

Modeling

• Children use clay to model in relation to main lesson topics
  

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
SPANISH AND GERMAN

• Continued expansion of material from previous years
  
• Recognize and use grammatical structures and terminology (gerunds, modal verbs, subjunctive and imperative mood, cases, tenses, declinations, irregular verb conjugation)
  
• Explore various texts
  
• Begin simple summaries
  
• Construct letters
  

HANDWORK

• Doll making
  
• Sewing a “Waldorf” doll 
  
• Creating doll clothing
  

ORCHESTRA

• Students have the opportunity to play wind instruments or different string instruments
  
• Rehearse and perform with the advanced string ensemble
  
• More advanced repertoire in a number of musical genres
  
• Third position is emphasized
  
• Advanced music theory
  
• Music history
  

WOODWORKING

• Introduction of basic tools 
  
• Projects include a mallet, spoon and canoe
  

GARDENING

• Six weeks of gardening in the fall and six weeks in the spring 
  
• ·Seed starting and prepping soil for planting in the spring
  
• Harvesting produce and seeds, planting fall crops, and preparing beds for winter
  

GYM

• Continuation of Grade 5 concepts and skills