Sixth Grade - Gilmour Academy Lower School

SIXTH GRADE-COLOR

10/6/09

9:06 AM

Page 1

GILMOUR ACADEMY LOWER SCHOOL C U R R I C U L U M S P E C T RU M SIXTH GRADE

Educating the Mind and Heart Gilmour Academy 34001 Cedar Road Gates Mills, Ohio 44040 (440) 473-8160 PHONE (440) 473-8157 FAX

Brother Robert Lavelle, C.S.C. Headmaster Dr. Monica M. Veto Director of Lower School and Montessori Preschool Program

MATH Sixth-grade math includes several fun projects and the opportunity to explore math in topics that interest students. Throughout the year, they apply the last six years of math classes to bridge the gateway to algebra.

Students also apply all the concepts and skills they have learned to create and solve not just math problems, but to make better decisions in life. The curriculum includes working with fractions, decimals, and percents. Students analyze algorithms for computations, interpret statistical data and graphs, and develop strategies and apply formulas to solve ratios, proportions, and geometry problems. Pre-algebra skills include integer operations, one- and two-step linear equations, inequalities, and plotting of equations.

SCIENCE Students begin the year with an introduction to atoms, molecules, and the elements. They will investigate the concepts of mass, volume, and density, and develop basic lab skills including systems of classification, which allow for analysis of data gathered in the lab.

The remainder of the year is spent investigating fundamental concepts of physics. Topics may include mechanics, light and optics, electricity, magnetism, sound, or thermodynamics. During “Demonstrations of the Week,” students take notes about what happened, illustrate equipment used, and explain in writing why things behaved as they did during the demonstration.

The class investigates the structure and function of the human body with emphasis on the nervous system, reproduction, and the short- and long-term effects of drug and alcohol addiction. Sixth-grade science focuses on the development of skills and understanding. We emphasize hands-on discovery learning, cooperative group work, interpretation of data, teacher-led

Megan Marrie Director of Lower School Admissions (440) 473-8165

discussions, and problem solving. Other basic skills learned include reading, writing, basic mathematics proficiency, and effective questioning, discussing, and listening. Students are expected to increase their ability to construct scientific arguments from data to conclusions.

LANGUAGE ARTS The reading and writing workshop model, as well as the Six Trait + 1 writing program, provide the framework for the Language Arts curriculum. The Six Trait + 1 writing program, which consists of ideas, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, voice, conventions, plus presentation is used throughout the year to develop writing skills. Because children learn by observing others and by trying things for themselves, the sixth grade focuses on allowing them choices in the books they read, the genre form for creative writing pieces, the extensiveness they take to research a topic through the use of technology, and the historical concept they research for their National History Day project.

Authentic, integrated learning experiences guide students and provide a print-rich environment that is meaningful and useful, while supplying them with the technological tools to take full advantage of opportunities to focus on particular aspects of a topic.

SOCIAL STUDIES In sixth grade, students look at the world through the eyes of a geographer. They learn to identify and understand the interaction of the diverse physical, biological, and cultural features of the earth’s surface to comprehend their influence on history. They investigate the reasoning methods of archaeologists and gain insight about a culture by making their own inferences about the people who occupied an archaeology site.

Respect and appreciation for diverse societies and the

SIXTH GRADE-COLOR

10/6/09

9:06 AM

Page 2

LOWER SCHOOL CURRICULUM SPECTRUM • SIXTH GRADE achievements of the various cultures come from experience and knowledge. Authentic, integrated learning experiences guide students and provide a print-rich environment that is meaningful and useful, while encouraging students to take full advantage of opportunities to focus on particular aspects of a topic.

MUSIC The sixth graders perform on percussion, woodwind, or brass band instruments employing increasingly complex rhythms and melodic phrases. They also learn to distinguish the characteristics of a wide variety of music forms, and must identify and be able to perform with correct key signatures the concert Bb, Eb and F scales.

They are required to perform with attention to dynamics, meter, tempo, and tonality in various pieces of music.

The class attends a Cleveland Orchestra concert to study audience behavior appropriate for the context and style of the music played. By performing in two concerts, students learn to respond to the conductor’s cues, listen, and blend with the group. They also must compose a sequenced piece of music with up to five tracks at the keyboard that demonstrates a specific form.

ART The final year of the Lower School program is dedicated to the discussion of influence and the continuum of art history. Students examine in detail a crucial 130-year period in European painting between approximately 1800 and 1930. They examine the course this particular mode of expression took in response to the events taking place in the world around it. Students then use some of the influential material identified to create their own painting, creating it from the frame out in acrylic on canvas. This work is eligible for the annual Gilmour Academy Lower School Purchase Award. The recipient is determined by a vote of Lower School students and faculty based on criteria determined by the artists themselves. The award-winning work remains on permanent display at the Academy.

RELIGION Students explore the founding stories of our faith as recorded in the “Old Testament.” In doing so, they are able to gain an understanding of God’s great love for His people and His action in their lives throughout history. They contemplate such questions as “Who is God? Where do I see God in my life? How do people experience God?” Throughout the year, students experience the meaning and importance of the different Liturgical seasons through daily prayer, reflective thinking, and celebrations of the Liturgy. Students continue to become familiar with other religions.

SPANISH Students learn to talk about themselves and what they like to do in school and during after school activities. They also become skilled at writing what they speak. In the computer lab, they learn how to make Spanish accent marks using the computer and learn punctuation specific to the Spanish language.

After having participated in the symbolic migration of the Monarch butterfly sponsored by the Journey North Program, the sixth graders present mini-science lessons in Spanish dealing with weather, seasons, or migration.

Focus is on pronunciation, content, and grammar.

Students also become attuned to listening for correct pronunciation and grammar through audio peer editing.

In the spring, all levels of Spanish compete in a foreign language poster contest whose theme is determined by the Upper School.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION In grades 5 and 6, students participate in four 30-minute periods plus two 25-minute recess exercise periods per week where they engage in team games and physical activities, and in one 90-minute physical education class.

Phys Ed rotates among sports, strength and conditioning exercises, swimming, and ice skating each for one quarter during the school year. Students develop skills in volleyball, basketball, floor hockey, lacrosse, T-ball, and baseball. In their strength and conditioning program, students work at stations using equipment such as run out bands, rock and flex, and others.

These activities improve agility, speed, endurance, balance, hand-eye coordination, and upper and lower body strength. Their progress is documented and analyzed. In ice skating, students progress to more advanced techniques including methods for power skating and hockey. Some of the skills taught include the hockey stop, moving backward to forward on a two-foot turn on a circle clockwise and counterclockwise, the T-stop, bunny hop, forward spiral and forward lunge, and a one-foot upright spin. They are taught to develop proper technique that will, hopefully, lead to a lifetime interest in skating. At the end of the skating unit, students complete a short program that encourages creativity, self-expression, and skill performance.

Sixth-grade swimmers focus on stroke refinement and endurance. By the time they complete Lower School, students will be able to swim freestyle and backstroke for a minimum of 100 yards, breaststroke for a minimum of 50 yards, and tread water for 10 minutes without resting.