Grade 6 Curriculum

Grade 6 Curriculum Overview

Religion

Sixth grade students study the scripture with a focus on the Old Testament, age appropriate doctrine and dogma, scripture, prayer, saints, ministries and Principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Students are provided opportunities to practice their faith by celebrating Eucharist on first Fridays and Holy Days, receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation, monthly Adoration and participating in community service opportunities offered. Learning is enhanced where appropriate with music, art, and technology.

Students study includes:

  • Historical, Religious, Scientific Truths

  • Types of Covenant in Old Testament

  • Cultures of Old Testament

  • Geography of Old Testament Cultures

  • Patriarchs- Abraham, Isaac, Jacob

  • Women of the Old Testament

  • Exodus, Moses, Joshua, Promised Land

  • Kings of Old Testament

  • Prophets of Old Testament

  • Babylonian Exile, diaspora, remnant

  • Psalms, Proverbs

  • Liturgical Year, Passover, Paschal Mystery

  • Faith in Action Ministries

  • Study of Saints

  • Precepts of the Church

  • Theological Virtues

  • Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy

In sixth grade, a variety of individual, group, and whole class assignments are used. Tasks become more challenging. Technology is often used to enhance learning and teach new skills. The students’ multicultural projects, presented during Catholic Schools’ Week, highlight their ability to work independently and to use technology to share their knowledge with others.

The following is a brief overview of academic topics covered in sixth grade:

Math:

  • Whole numbers, decimals, fractions and integers: All operations

  • Solving equations

  • Ratios, rates, proportions, and percent

  • Solving multiple step problems

  • Data and Graphs

  • Geometry

  • Measurement

  • Statistics

Language Arts: There are three major components to the sixth grade language arts block: Literature, Language (grammar and writing), and Vocabulary. The following skills are taught during this block:

Literature: Through reading short stories from our Anthology book, novels, both fiction and nonfiction, and poetry, the students develop skills in:

Fluency

Making predictions

Fact and Opinion

Making inferences

Drawing conclusions

Point of view

Author’s purpose

Poetic elements

Language: The students focus on writing with clarity by using correct mechanics: spelling, grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and sentence structure. They write a variety of essays including:

Narrative

Persuasive

Compare and Contrast

Informational

They also write journal responses to literature and write original poems using the poetic elements.

Vocabulary: Through the use of our Vocabulary Workshop book by Sadlier, new words encountered in reading, social studies, science, religion, and math, the students develop their vocabulary and determine or clarify the meanings of unknown and multiple-meaning words.

Social Studies: The students explore the ancient cultures of the world. They learn about how geography has influenced development of civilization and cultures. They interpret data, charts, and graphs and draw conclusions about events impacting our world. Using the text: Social Studies The World by Scott Foresman as well as digital resources the students compare and contrast the following early people and cultures:

Stone Age

Mesopotamia

Ancient Egypt

Ancient China

Ancient India

Ancient Rome

Ancient Greece

At our weekly Morning Meetings, students learn to discuss issues with their classmates in a respectful manner. They are given an opportunity to share their thoughts and concerns in a relaxed, enjoyable, and non-threatening atmosphere. Students are able to gain the confidence needed to meet the challenges of the higher grades to come.

Science

  • Human Body Systems in Depth

  • Solar System, Planets

  • Galaxies and the Universe

  • Space Travel

  • Environmental Science

  • Biomes

  • Food chains and food webs

  • Resources, renewable and non-renewable

  • Science Fair Projects in the Spring of the year

Projects associated with this curriculum include but aren’t limited to:

Drawing “orbits” with chalk on the playground to compare how fast the planets orbit the sun compared with each other.

Making models of comets.

Acrostic poems about each planet.

Introducing bacteria to intact and damaged apple skins to show how or skin protects us

Terrarium Biomes

Food Web posters

Growing plants in a box with a top hole to show how plants bend toward the light.

Metric system is covered