The weeks are really flying by now in Grade 6 as we all start to find our groove and really push on in multiple curriculum areas….
Unit of Inquiry: In our ‘Who We Are in Place and Time’ unit of inquiry we have been looking at ‘Reasons for migration over time’. To do this we started with a visible thinking routine to unpack some of the reasons people may choose or be forced into migration. We then created a Human Migration wall and looked at it through the conceptual lens of causation. Further to this, we looked at creating headlines to unpack and summarize some migration images. We have also defined many new key vocabulary words to do with migration and starting to look at the pathways, movement and reasons for significant human migration over the last 200,000 years or so.
Mathematics: We have been really focused on looking at mental and written strategies for subtraction, multiplying and dividing 2 digit numbers. This was a gap in knowledge for many students, and a really important one for students to fill, as these fundamentals are needed to be secure prior to adding more advanced mathematical layers. This will be an ongoing focus that we will continue to work on going forwards.
Literacy: We have been drafting, revising, editing and (most of us) publishing our ‘I am…’ paragraphs showcasing many of our new figurative language and sentence extension ideas. Please look at this week’s Seesaw to see your child’s awesome paragraph.
Sorting and finding key migration vocabulary
Looking at Migration data
‘See – Think – Wonder’ visible thinking routine.
Using real migration photos to build empathy and compassion
Timeline of human migration (starting 200,000 years ago)
Plotting human migrations on our map
Next Week
Unit of Inquiry: We will be looking towards our second line of inquiry ‘Impacts of migration on individuals, communities, and societies.’
Literacy: We will be starting a new personal narrative writing unit with the central idea of ‘“Personal narratives allow us to express and understand identities and experiences through storytelling.” This stand alone writing unit will run for the next few weeks and allow the students to hone their story writing skills; including hooking the audience, using time connectives, pacing of a story, building suspension and connecting with an audience.
Math: We will be starting the week by looking at decimals numbers and their role alongside whole numbers and function, as well as how to say, order and compare them. We will then progress to starting our stand alone math inquiry into fractions, starting with the first line of inquiry ‘Exploring fractions in everyday life.’
Reminder – Next Thursday (3rd October) is a Professional Development day for teachers, so there will be no school for students.
Have a great weekend,
Matt