6th Grade St. Mary's Sixth Grade homeroom is supervised by Marta Mason.
Please review how the following topics have been prepared for the Sixth Grade school year.
RELIGION
Sixth Grade religion class is taught by Martha Hillmer.
The first unit of study in sixth grade religion deals with the creed- what we believe as Catholic Christians. Unit two focuses on the liturgy and sacraments. The Mass is examined in detail, as well as the importance of tradition and the role it plays in our Catholic Church. What it means to be holy, and the study of the Ten Commandments is the content of unit three. Unit four teaches students about prayers and how to pray. The final chapters of our Faith First series text presents the liturgical seasons:
- Ordinary Time,
- Advent,
- the season of Christmas,
- the season of Lent,
- Holy Week, and
- the season of Easter
LANGUAGE ARTS/READING Sixth Grade language arts/reading classes are taught by Martha Hillmer.
The Sixth Grade Language Arts curriculum encompasses reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary, and grammar skills. The primary grade reading series continues in Sixth Grade with a focus on reading comprehension skills along with vocabulary in context, and spelling and grammar related to the literature. Students will learn about a variety of authors, and read various types of high interest literature such as narratives, descriptive pieces, fact and opinion articles, reports, stories, book reports, business and social letters, and journal writing. They will learn about developing a paragraph using beginning, supporting, and ending sentences. They will learn about all stages of the writing process and improve their grammar skills in relation to writing.
SCIENCE Sixth Grade science class is taught by Donna Zvonar. Students will continue to use basic science equipment, process skills and the scientific method to solve problems. Units of study include: magnetism and electricity; energy, motion, gravity and other forces; biomes, food chains and food webs, focusing on birds of prey and dissecting owl pellets; and the ocean as a special biome. Every other year, they will also write a research paper and participate in the school science fair and prepare for a mission to the Challenger Learning Center. 
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SOCIAL STUDIES Sixth Grade social studies class is taught by Marta Mason.
Sixth grade Social Studies is the second year of a two-year program. Students will learn about United States history starting at the post Civil War era. Units include the study of the Industrial Revolution and how it changed the lives of the citizens of the United States. Life on the range including cowboys and homesteaders; the rise of big business in the 1920's including famous inventors, industrial giants, and the importance of the labor movement; the impact that immigration had on America; the Spanish-American War and its influence on the growth of the U.S. Theodore Roosevelt and his influence on the growth of America through the Panama Canal; World War I and how the conflict changed America and the rest of the world. World War II and how it changed and continues to change America and the rest of the world today; government at the local, state, and national levels; the economy and the ways that it affects our lives on a daily basis. Art St. Mary's Art is taught by Carrie Jimenez. Students will apply the elements of visual art to create and construct their own art work. Students will explore the different areas of art through drawing, painting, collage, and sculpture. Students will be able to understand how the choice of tools or media is used to create certain features in a work of art. MUSIC St. Mary's Music is taught by April Myers. In sixth grade, students are introduced to a unit of music from other cultures, along with making African rainsticks. The concepts of steady beat, instruments, rhythm patterns, and music reading continue to be reinforced. PHYSICAL EDUCATION St. Mary's physical education is taught by Susan Bassie. The physical education curriculum has four focus areas: manipulative skills, physical fitness, cooperative learning, and sport skills/rules. Students work on their coordination and practice skills like shooting a basketball, passing/setting a volleyball, and hitting/fielding a baseball. Movement and fitness principles are taught through lessons and practiced with daily cardiovascular, strength, and stretching routines. Good sportsmanship, and safety practices are expected. Health is also addressed in the classroom once a week with topics such as: personal hygiene, nutrition, disease prevention, anatomy, physical fitness, conflict resolution, and chastity education are addressed. COMPUTERS/TECHNOLOGY St. Mary's computers/technology is
taught by Jamie Hartrich. The sixth grade computer/technology curriculum focuses on expanding and building upon computer/technology terminology and age-appropriate software. Sixth graders build upon their keyboarding accuracy and speed and will type 15-20 words per minute with 90% accuracy. Students will build upon their word processing skills by learning how to format pages, use indents, add page breaks, and add headers and footers. Sixth graders will build and expand upon spreadsheet concepts and learn how to write more advanced formulas. Students will build and expand on presentation design and presenting to an audience. Sixth graders will add music and develop more advanced presentations using presentation software. The students will build and expand upon web design concepts and learn how to use Netscape Composer to create a web page. back to top |
