6th Grade

 

Catholic identity must and does permeate the curriculum guidelines, the instruction, and assessments. Curriculum guidelines provide a template for teachers to provide instruction, and assessments demonstrate that learners have achieved unsurpassed academic success. A process of continuous improvement ensures that curriculum guidelines are regularly examined and updated or revised where needed. For more detailed curriculum information, please visit olsorrows.com or contact Mrs. Andrea Allen, Assistant Principal, [email protected].

 

Students learn about their Christian life of love, the law of God, their human frailty in following that law, and the means that God gives them to follow His law, especially through graces received in the Holy Mass.  By focusing the study of salvation history on typology in the Passover feast and the Last Supper, the students are brought to a deeper understanding of the Eucharist.  The sixth grade concludes with a study of the last things in light of God’s mercy and our hope for heaven.  

 

In the sixth grade, through the FOSS program, students focus on five and eight step labs and experiments within the three units of study. The three units are Earth History, Weather and Water, and Planetary Science. Five step labs ask a question, conduct an investigation, gather data, develop explanations, and communicate discoveries. Eight step labs ask a question, investigate, gather data, develop explanations, think critically, recognize alternatives, communicate discoveries, and use mathematics. 

 

Our sixth grade curriculum, Into Literature, requires students to determine explicit and implicit meaning from text and explore the various genres of literature.  Students also participate in several novel studies throughout the year.  The students work extensively on the Living Wax Museum as they take on the role of a famous male or female throughout history or in present day. 

 

Students learn English grammar through the Voyages in English series.  Students write editorials, travel brochures, skits and commercials, and other creative and informational works.  Sixth graders continue to fine tune their writing through the writing process. Our students also continue to improve their cursive through the Zaner-Bloser handwriting program.

 

Middle School Mathematics:  Our middle school curriculum is differentiated through the Glencoe Math curriculum. Students will be placed in a concepts Math class, on-level Math class, or advanced level.  In sixth through eighth grade our students are placed in the appropriate course based on their standardized test, the previous year test and quiz grades, and end of the year placement test. Our sixth graders cover ratios, proportions, expressions, equations, statistics, and probability. 

 

In sixth grade, the students learn about the Eastern Hemisphere, current events, and major moments in world history. Students study the influence on the culture, food, and customs of the Eastern World. Exploration and study of the geography of the Eastern Hemisphere allows students to create and interpret various visual representations. 

 

The textbooks we use are evaluated on a five year cycle.  We choose books based on curriculum alignment, grade level appropriateness, and overall quality.