What We Like About Sixth Grade

Here are some of the things our sixth graders are enjoying so far this year:

• We love learning about Egypt.  We also love listening to "The Shadow" (an old radio show) in Performing Arts!

• We like hanging out at recess with our friends.

• I love my new home room teacher.

• We really enjoy religion and social studies.  

• We like meeting new teachers and friends.

• What I like about sixth grade is that all of the teachers are really wonderful and help you a lot.  I like how we go from class to class.  It's really fun because you can move around.  I also really like "the Hive" where you can get food for one dollar.  Also, at recess, there are a lot of friends and all of the toys you can play with.  It's awesome.  All the classes are fun too.

• A new year with new friends!

• What we like about coming back to school is meeting new friends and seeing old ones.

• We really like sixth grade because we love the teachers.  Every year it feels like the kids are getting nicer and nicer.

• I am enjoying sixth grade because I like my new teachers, I like my classes, and it's fun to travel around. 

End of the Year

At the end of the year, the 8th grade English class did a short story writing unit (in a couple of the photos below you'll see them sharing their stories), the 7th grade English class wrote a comparison paper of two artists (see the photo of the student sharing his paper with an accompanying slide show), and the sixth grade social studies class finished up with a unit on the Renaissance.  We completed this unit by holding a Renaissance ball at which all the students played famous Renaissance people (see photos of the ball below).  It was great to finish the year with these units because I was able to see how thoroughly clever and creative our students can be!

Long Lake 2013

Once again, the sixth graders had a wonderful time at Long Lake Conservation Center learning about nature, ecology, and team work.  Have a look at the slideshow to see some highlights of our three day adventure.

What We're Learning Lately 04/12/13

Here's what Ms. Svoboda's classes have been learning lately:

8th Grade English
We recently finished a comparison paper, but we are currently on a grammar unit.  Specifically, we're learning the difference between subjects, direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions.  Below is a picture of an 8th grader demonstrating these parts of speech on the overhead.

7th Grade English
We are currently writing persuasive papers using specific argument forms.  Below are photos of the students composing their papers on their iPads.

6th Grade Social Studies

We are finishing up our Medieval Europe unit by designing castles using a draw program in the computer lab.  Below you can see this in progress.

Sixth Grade: Feudalism Role Play

Kings and queens, ladies and lords, knights and peasants -- for their Medieval Europe unit, our sixth graders recently did a role play which explored the positions of feudal society.  Oaths were taken, peasants oppressed, deals made, power achieved.  Have a look at the photos below.  The miserable “peasants” you'll see weren’t actually in pain, of course; we just have some vivid actors!

8th Grade Research Papers

As has happened for many years, the 8th graders wrote substantial research papers this winter.  It was a complex project involving several months of research and writing.  Below is a photo of those students who wrote the best papers this year and made it onto our "Writers Hall of Fame" board!  Three of their papers were also sent on to the National History Day competition.  If you're interested in having a peek at their hard work, click on the links below the photo.  (The students were asked to put fake names on these three papers for privacy/safety sake).

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwacH4nGemC8OXNYVThEZ0FwVm8/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwacH4nGemC8MzllZHZJOXBMR0E/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwacH4nGemC8ZUxLX0dqVV9vOGM/edit?usp=sharing

Sixth Grade Social Studies: ROME DEBATES

The sixth graders recently debated whether or not the Roman Empire should have expanded.  Expansion would have affected the population of slaves, the distribution of land, trade, military expenditure, relations with neighboring powers, and even women's rights.  The sixth graders had fun dressing up and pretending to be Roman politicians and personalities, and of course they had fun arguing with each other!  Have a look at the video montage below.