Welcome to 6th grade!
As young adolescents, 6th grade students are beginning the exploration of both how to be true to themselves as well as how to belong to a healthy community.  To this end, we put great intention into creating a safe, vibrant classroom culture, honoring each individual, and recognizing how our collective efforts enhance the world around us.

Beginning of the year

We begin the school year with a day trip to Watson Lake where we participate in community building activities and rock climbing. This experience fosters a strong, trusting classroom community and contributes to the personal growth of our students. ​​

Live Theatre

To further support our students' personal and cultural development, we take field trips to see live theatre in Phoenix.   Shows such as Wicked and Come From Away, which we've seen in past years, present important topics like friendship, community, and following one's authentic path.  We weave the story and music of these shows into our intrapersonal and interpersonal reflections throughout the school year. ​

6th Grade Curriclum

Language Arts
Students utilize new and practiced language arts skills as we weave reading and writing into the rich science and social studies curriculum with mythology, novel, memoir, dramatic vignettes, and informational non-fiction.  They learn spelling and vocabulary related to academic and domain specific words, especially focusing on Greek and Latin affixes.  Conventions of English will be a focus in all academic areas.

Math
6th grade math is a pivotal transition into middle school with the studies of area, parts of a whole, ratios and rates, and beginning algebra. We will begin the year solidifying fact fluency with XtraMath and continue to utilize IXL to augment our math curriculum. 

Science
Students utilize the Amplify Science Curriculum which includes the following units: Earth, Moon, Sun System; Constellations; Thermal Energy; Plate motion; Rock transformation; Geology on Mars; Ocean, Atmosphere, & Climate; and Weather.
We usually take a field trip to Embry Riddle to visit the planetarium and do a workshop that supports our learning content.

Social Studies
Students explore ancient civilizations from around the world and examine common patterns throughout time and place. This will include a unit on geography as well as the study of the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, China, and India.

Specials
All 6th grade students will participate twice a week in Visual Arts  and twice a week in Spanish or PE.