I hope you had a great Eid holiday. Grade 6 has been hard at work, and the break was well earned.

Here’s a preview what’s coming up after the break.

We will begin our second Unit of Inquiry under the Transdisciplinary Theme of How We Organize Ourselves. The Central Idea that will guide our inquiry is….

Settlements develop as humans create increasingly complex systems to meet community needs

Over the course of the unit, we will look at how early humans transitioned from hunter-gatherer societies to establishing permanent settlements. We will begin our journey through time with an online tour of the Lascaux Caves in France, home to an amazing display of early Art. We will then investigate the lands known as the Fertile Crescent, the cradle of civilization. Our journey will end in Catalhuyuk, the remains of one of the first examples of a complex village.

In Reader’s Workshop, we will be participating in Literature Circles for our shared reading of The City of Ember. More will be coming home on Sunday regarding literature circles, on an information sheet that will need to be signed and returned.

I sent a message to the students to remind them that they should bring a hat to school each day. While it hasn’t been officially announced yet, it is my understanding that the playground will be open for business starting next week. Additionally, students should probably be coming to school with sunscreen as well.

Finally, a small request. In a few weeks grade 6 will be working on an activity that will require some common household items. If you could be so kind as to save and send into the classroom the following items it would be greatly appreciated:

-Empty cereal boxes or like cardboard food containers
-Empty plastic drink containers
-Toilet paper/paper towel rolls
-Bits of string or thread

We are going to be doing some construction with these materials, so if there is anything else you think might be useful, please send it in and if we do not get the opportunity to use it we will pass it along to the eco-club who will most certainly find a purpose for it.