The 6th grade core curriculum is standards based and taught in a three period time block that blends the content of English Language Arts and History-Social Science. The courses are taught by one teacher and provide a transition from elementary to middle school. 

 

English Language Arts (ELA) is taught across two periods and is based on the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project curriculum in combination with supplementary materials.. Through the writing process, students learn explicit strategies to help them find meaningful subjects to write about. In addition, they learn ways to structure their writing, revise, edit and publish.  They also learn spelling strategies and proper conventions. Students discover meaning in literature and history by connecting their reading to personal experiences and prior knowledge. The English Language Arts program includes comprehension strategies in fiction and non-fiction and an exploration of genres. 

 

During the core period of history-social studies, students learn about the lives of the earliest humans, the development of tools, the foraging way of life, the development of agriculture, and the emergence of civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus River Valley, China, Mesoamerica, and the Mediterranean. Students will read written primary sources, investigate visual primary sources, and learn how to analyze multiple points of view, cite evidence from sources, and make claims based on that evidence in writing and speaking. We aim to help students understand the significance of the past and its relevance to the present and future.