0 Comments
This week brought some new activities and ended with an enjoyable indoor field day. In Language Arts, sixth graders began the annual Archeological Dig project! They have been divided into four teams: The Crimson Dragon Squad, the Black Panther Crew, the Golden Duck Gang, and the Silver Serpent Squad. Each team randomly selected an ancient civilization to research. They are keeping these civilizations secret from each other; and will be writing research papers and creating artifacts for each. This week, they took turns going to Laguna's library to learn about library research, as well as learning online, textbook, and encyclopedia note-taking. In History class, sixth graders learned about Emperor Qin Shihuangdi, the first emperor of China. Having ruled incredibly harshly and with extreme censorship, he standardized weights and measures and began work on the great wall of china. These controversial choices led to some excellent debate about what makes a ruler effective. In Math class, we wrapped up our chapter on converting between Percents, Decimals, and Fractions. Science class brought the end of a long food-truck unit, and sixth graders celebrated with a sampling of their food on Thursday morning. It was a fun finale! Unfortunately, Friday morning brought more rain so 2018 Field Day turned into 2018 Gym Day. The middle school worked with their Swoop Groups for the first hour of the day, enjoying reading, juggling, boardgames, film-watching, origami, and all other activities depending on their group. We came together for a big dodgeball tournament in the gym, followed by a fun pep-rally and lunch with the lower school. It turned out to be a fun and enjoyable end to the week!
I can't believe the third quarter of sixth grade is already halfway done! This week in Language Arts, students were divided into four different teams to begin the "Archeological Dig" project! Each group selected an ancient civilization that they will be keeping secret from each other. Over the next month, they will research and write a thorough research paper on that civilization before beginning the interactive phase of the "Dig."
In History, sixth graders learned about three key philosophies that arose in ancient China: Confucianism, Daoism (Taoism), and Legalism. They learned about each of these under the conditions that each 'philosophy' encouraged. Ask them how it felt to learn in such different ways! In math, we learned about percents, and percent of change. We'll have a chapter test next week. Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend! What a packed four days! This week was filled with fun holidays and great lessons. In Language Arts, sixth graders revised and submitted their creative mystery stories! We honored the efforts of these rising authors by taking some class time to read excerpts from their stories to each other. One cold morning, we even had hot chocolate and mystery stories! These stories wrapped up our winter Mystery Unit. In History, we moved from Ancient India to Ancient China. We began by making a map of China (each student was assigned a quadrant of a smaller map and had to do their best to translate and recreate their section so we could come together to make a large scale one). From that, we learned about the geography that isolated China for thousands of years in ancient times, as well as the early Shang Dynasty. In Math class, we worked on fraction-decimal-percent conversions and had some fun applying that knowledge to the Olympic medal standings! In PE, sixth graders had a special guest Monday morning! For their rugby unit, Andra Wilson invited England-raised Ty Brandt, who grew up playing rugby for his school and played Fly-Half for the US Pacific Northwest team. Mr. Brandt (or "coach Ty" as the students called him) also happens to be Ms. Armstrong's fiancé. ;) Valentines Day and Chinese New Year brought some fun celebrations to our class! Enjoy the four day weekend! It was a busy week this week! In Language Arts, sixth graders finished reading the class novel The Westing Game in a marathon read-aloud on Wednesday! Ask them about the book, their character, and the resolution! This book enthralled many in the class and they were SO excited to share their theories and predictions! They also continued writing their mystery stories; I'm looking forward to reading final drafts on Wednesday. In Math, we began a unit on converting between decimals, fractions, and percentages. In History, sixth graders learned about the life of Siddhartha Gautama and the core values of Buddhism. Sixth graders completed lotus flower designs, reflecting on choices they'd make if they were practicing Buddhists. On Thursday, we went on a field trip to Arlington Theater as part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival! Filled with kids, the theater laughed and cried along to Coco, this year's highlight Pixar film that is nominated for the Best Animation Oscar. After the film, the students watched an interview with writer and Director Adrian Molina, who answered student questions about animation, the values and memories in Coco, and pursuing their dreams. If you haven't seen Coco, I HIGHLY recommend it as an adult! The story is rich and meaningful, and the animation is breathtaking. Below, you can catch some clips of sixth graders in action during the weekly House Dodgeball tournament as well as Adrian Molina sharing his thoughts with the kids!
This was a fun week to be a sixth grader at Laguna! The very first period on Monday, students participated in a Japanese tea ceremony in art class. They had made small ceramic cups with Dug Uyesaka, and Mrs. Yuki Nakamura was kind enough to come and teach the students about the traditions, values, and methods of tea ceremonies. The students enjoyed both matcha and green tea from their handmade cups, as well as several different kinds of Japanese snacks. In Language Arts class, sixth graders practiced "show don't tell" techniques to use in their creative mystery stories. We also flew through more chapters of The Westing Game, all the while learning that things are not as they always seem in this genre of writing. Assumptions about characters are constantly uprooted or confirmed with mystery stories, and with 16 different characters to keep track of, this is a commitment for a reader! In Math this week, sixth graders wrapped up our Chapter 5 unit on Rates. Mrs. Valentine was kind enough to teach the unit and incorporated in several new and fun math activities. TEDxLagunaBlancaSchoolWednesday was an exciting day for our whole middle and upper school! Sixth graders attended two out of three sessions of the first ever TEDxLagunaBlancaSchool! A TEDx event is an independently organized series of "TED" talks that happen within a community, supported and approved by the official TED organization. This all-day festival of talks was hosted in the gym and coordinated by a dedicated group of 21 high school students. Eighth grade English teacher Mrs. Alldredge taught the course, Mrs. Jacobs supported the course, and whenever the sixth graders went to science class, I (Ms. Armstrong) went to assistant teach the program as well. Sixth graders were able to watch ten presentations, on topics ranging from how to foster self-confidence to how technology can save our seas. From adoption to community healing, and from anti-bullying to the recent power of fire and water in our hometown. It was an enlightening, uplifting day for everyone!
It was nice to be together this week as Quarter 2 came to a close. Settling back into the swing of things has been comfortable and reassuring. This week in Language Arts, the sixth graders continued reading The Westing Game and tracking changes in plot and character. In keeping with the mystery theme, they also began writing their own creative writing mystery stories! We spent this week completing a planning frame; so that sixth graders learn how to design a plot, begin with character traits in mind, and are therefore able to build a suspenseful mystery in their writing. In History, after wrapping up geography of India we've studied the foundations and core values of Hinduism. Finally, in math, Mrs. Valentine has supplemented our unit on ratios with several engaging activities and taught the unit with clarity.
These past four days have been busy as we worked to move forward as best as possible. All the students in the sixth grade, and in our whole Laguna community, have been so positive and strong amidst everything. Keeping in mind that everyone was in different places emotionally and physically, we continued forward reading The Westing Game, and practiced summary writing now that we've made our way through the first quarter of the book. In History, we've moved to the Indus River Valley and this week evaluated the geography of the Indian subcontinent for habitability. In Math, we were able to wrap up Chapter 4 and the unit on ratios. On Wednesday, sixth grade finally wrapped up our secret snowflake book exchange! It was very fun to see the excitement at the new books, and why each student had the guesses they did. In a way, it was nice to have a little something to celebrate at this point in the year. In science class this week, sixth graders began a unit on nutrients and calories as a supplement to their anatomy curriculum and Food Truck Projects. On Thursday, students were given different kinds of food to weigh, then burned to measure varying amounts of calories in each. I'm left without further words on the tragedy of this past week. The devastation that our community faced was unlike anything we've encountered before, and coming together on Thursday was difficult but healing. Seeing the students again made me incredibly grateful for our wonderful Laguna community and reassured me that we will support each other in getting through this.
This Friday's open classroom in Performing Arts Foundations allowed the sixth graders to perform their winter showcase pieces to several parents who could make it. They did a wonderful job and it was a nice way to come together for a bit. The secret snowflake gift exchange also brought some joy and energy to an otherwise emotionally heavy week. I realize that we are nowhere near through this, and some of you will be out of your homes for several weeks. We'll continue to do everything we can as a community to make sure you are supported. Laguna Love. Happy New Year, everyone! I have to say I was SO excited to see everyone this week, and hear all about the fun activities and adventures that everyone experienced with their families.
In this first week back, we've picked right up where we left off in some classes, and started fresh in others! In Language Arts, students were introduced to our new class novel, The Westing Game. This Newbury-Award winning classic mystery novel focuses on the reading of a billionaire industrialist's will, and the subsequent "game" that follows. Sixth graders were assigned characters from the novel as a way of engaging with the complex story lines and more readily embracing changes in the many characters' identities. It will be a fun unit! In History class, we continued our study of Judaism by learning the four central teachings and the events that led to the formation of the Jewish diaspora. Sixth graders will have a test next week to wrap up our Judaism unit. In Math, we've worked on representing ratios and writing equivalent ratios. In Art class, sixth graders presented their creations inspired by Alexander Calder's Circus exhibition. All students built a colorful circus piece with moving components that will be displayed in the upper school library for the next month. Next Friday, the sixth graders will perform their songs from the winter showcase in an open classroom at 11:45. We enjoyed celebrating Jonah's and Magdalena's birthdays this week! Looking forward to a great, possibly rainy January! |
ms. Armstrong[email protected] Archives
June 2018
Categories |