6th Grade Syllabus

Back-To-School

September 4 @ 6 pm

8:45-8:50 Opening

Attendance, lunch count.

8:50-9:00 Morning Question?

Student check-in: “Would you rather…” or “If…”

9:00-9:30 BrainPop! / Big Ideas / Silent Reading for Accelerated Reader

Educational video on all kinds of topics used for discussion.

9:30-10:55 Mathematics

Students focus on key areas such as ratios, the number system (including fractions, decimals, and negative numbers), expressions/equations, geometry, statistics and probability. They learn to understand and solve problems involving ratios, rates, and proportions, develop fluency with multi-digit arithmetic, and begin working with algebraic expressions. Additionally, students explore geometric concepts like area/volume, engage in statistical thinking by analyzing data and understanding variability. These objectives aim to build a strong mathematical foundation, preparing students for more advanced math in the future.

11:00-11:15 RECESS

11:20–12:30 Language Arts (reading, writing, speaking, listening, collaborating)

Goals are to encourage small group communication & collaboration, analyze text, written response, public speaking, etc. Some of the books we’ll be reading are The Black Pearl and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry!, we’ll also be reading informational, complex narrative and expository texts. Objectives for writing will be to inform, entertain, persuade. Students will also be using BookCreator, a web-based writing/illustrating platform to finalize some of their writing prompts, projects along with illustrations.

12:30-1:00 Castilian Spanish / Engineering / Little Buddies: Kindergarten

An introduction to Spanish will be presented approximately 25 minutes per week. Students will learn basic vocabulary & introductory conversational Spanish. There will be quizzes throughout the year and a final review in June.

1:00-1:40 LUNCH

1:45-2:45 Social Studies / Science / Physical Education

Students will be learning about World History and Ancient Civilizations. The NGSS standards are three main areas: Earth and Space Sciences, Life Sciences, and Physical Sciences. Additionally, students engage in the engineering design process, applying scientific principles to solve real-world problems. Physical Education standards develop students' physical fitness, motor skills, and understanding of health-related fitness concepts.

2:45 - 2:55 Closing

Homework (reading, unfinished school work, math and/or projects that have a DUE date in the future) are written down and reviewed each day. Visit our class website weekly to see what we're doing in class and things you can help your child with.

School Programs

P.E. Mon./Wed. 11:45 - 12:35

Library/Computers Thursdays 11:20 - 12:10

Band / Strings TBD Strings at CHS this year!!

Field Trips

Walk Through Ancient Civilizations, TBD

Grading Policy

Quizzes & tests will be graded on a percentage as follows:

90 - 100% A- to A+ 

80 - 89% B- to B+

70 - 79% C- to C+

60 - 69% D- to D+

59% and lower F

 

Classwork Grades:

√+ = Outstanding (100%)

√  = Acceptable (80%)

√-  = Poor (60%)

L = Late (50%)

Inc / Mi = Incomplete (0%)

Discipline Plan

Students earn five (5) Water Passes/week for being at school and turning in work on-time, participating in classroom activities, etc. They can use this money to purchase things like Jamba Juice smoothies, lunch with friends, and “Teacher for the Day”. Incomplete/missing classwork/homework, multiple warnings, etc. will negatively affect their Class Dojo points balance (behavior percentage) which will leave them with less classroom currency to spend.

WARNINGs during a school day:

1st - Nothing but a warning.

2nd - Loss of 2 Class Dojo pts., detention cleaning tables/sweeping.

3rd - Same as above and parent contact from me/student.

CLASSWORK and HOMEWORK

The quality of your child’s education is determined by the effectiveness of the partnership between home and myself. A vital aspect of this partnership is in assisting your child in making sure they've finished class work for the day. Use my website which is updated daily and the student agenda to help! Class work assignments will strengthen your child’s academic skills, grow understanding of concepts, increase responsibility, and have them look at new ways of doing things.

Reading is also an essential part of school and therefore I expect students to be reading at home for approximately 25 minutes per day, Monday - Thursday or 100 minutes a week (additional reading can be done as well). I'm not sending home a reading log unless a student falls behind greatly with Accelerated Reading expectations, which are to successfully complete 500+ pages of reading during a trimester.

When class work is finished, either at school or home, students should also be also be getting ready for other upcoming assignments in class like:

 

*writing assignments with due dates 

*studying for history, science quizzes, and vocabulary tests (Quizlet)

*working on assigned projects like Building Bridge, Alien Project, Egg Drop and G.A.T.E. projects too if participating.

 

It's important for students to be writing in their agenda any work that needs to be finished at home, plus upcoming quizzes, tests, and/or deadlines they need to be getting ready for. I will be posting these things on our website as well, so, hopefully making it easier for you to be seeing what's happening in our classroom each week, and helping them to be successful.

Finally, I hope this different perspective on finishing work in school and at home, while getting rid of the "busy" work that can be assigned for students to complete, will allow your child to be a happier & healthier kid who'll have more time to spend with family and friends.

I'm looking forward to this exciting school year where we can build a partnership in education together.

Sincerely,

Mr. Arntson “A”

 

EXTRA ITEMS

Dramatic Arts: Each year my class puts on a play for parents, students, and staff. Fortunately, each year we’ve been able to do this successfully. I don’t guarantee we’ll present a play this year, but we’ll definitely try (students must do a lot for it to happen).

Classroom Businesses: Students will be given the opportunity to create and run their own business. Students make things at home and bring them to school to sell for Water Passes. In order to have a business, students will have to deposit money into a classroom “checking account/bank”, learn how to write a check, and see what happens when you do.

Egg Drop: Students build their own egg drop capsule from assigned materials to see if it can survive the flight to Mars and land without breaking…hahaha. We do talk about how the Mars Rover landed on Mars and what had to happen in order for it to be successful.

Minecraft Education Edition: I’ve led the implementation for Minecraft EDU in school for BOUSD, and we’ll be doing some pretty amazing things like creating ancient civilizations that students research, then build what a typical city might have looked like.

Marble Parties: The class will earn parties throughout the year for outstanding participation, excellent listening, and overall great behavior. In the past we've had reading parties, cultural food festivals, and GLOW parties! ☺

CLASSROOM DONATIONS

1. Tissue
2. Colored Paper
3. White card stock paper