Dear Sixth Grade Families,
The Sixth Grade class continued learning about the Middle Ages with a look at the influences of religion during this time period. During our Ancient Rome Block, the students learned about the beginning of Christianity. In the Middle Ages, the Church became increasingly influential both politically and in people’s daily lives. This is also the time period in which Islam began and gained strength as a powerful new religious influence in the region. The students heard about Muhammad and his early life. They learned about the beginning of Islam, how it rapidly spread, and spoke about the Golden Age of Islam. We ended the week with a visit from Ki Fatima, who shared with the class about Ramadan and answered some of the students' many questions. Thank you, Ki Fatima! In addition to this, we finished the story of Eleanor of Aquitaine and began to hear another story about Charlemagne.
Last week, we had our first Literature Circle meeting. Students met in their groups to summarize the chapters they read, discuss any vocabulary words they were unfamiliar with, and write about the book’s protagonist (the subject of last week’s mini-lesson). While the teacher is there to assist and support, the literature circle meetings are student-led.
In a similar vein of building confidence, we will be presenting our juggling skills at Grandfriend’s Day. Some students are feeling very shy about this, and I recommend inviting your child to practice at home and show you what they have been working on. Leading up to Grandfirend’s Day, we’ll be visiting the grades and Kindergarten classes to practice juggling and singing in front of an audience. The students are singing “O Little Red Bird '' while juggling. While it may appear complicated to sing and juggle at the same time, it allows the brain to “switch off” from overthinking the juggling. Again, practice at home creates more success in the classroom.
In our Cyber Civics unit, the class continued the unit about Cyberbullying and Digital Drama. The difference between these two acts was explained and illustrated through several stories. From these stories, we shared discussions about personal experiences with both digital drama and cyberbullying and looked at the criteria for each. We looked at the roles of “target,” “bully,” “bystander,” and the all-important “upstander.” The week ended with the important message that even just one person standing up for someone who is being bullied by supporting and empathizing with the target, confronting the bully (which takes courage and can make you a target as well), or reporting the act or helping the target to report the act, can make all the difference in the world to someone's health and wellbeing.
Announcements and Reminders:
Please remember to help your child practice their typing skills at least 4x a week!
Practice juggling!
Dress for the weather with layers and send in full rain gear daily (raincoat, rain pants, and boots)
If your child is feeling under the weather, please keep them home to help keep our community healthy.
Upcoming Events:
3/27-3/28: School Photos
3/29: Grandfriends Day (12:30 All School Dismissal)
4/1-4/5 Spring Break (No School)
4/23-4/25 5th Grade Pentathlon
4/26 Annual Auction Fundraiser - Half Day
With Gratitude,
Ki Melissa and Ki Lesley
