February 10, 2020
2nd Quarter Wrap Up
L/L
For grading this quarter, I looked at the summative assignment and made some adjustments to a "calculated" grade. At the beginning of the quarter, over 75% of students were DP or CP for the 6th grade writing standard for informative essays. Usually, I do a lot of teaching the first two-thirds of the quarter and then students practice their new skills for 3-5 weeks to lead up to the summative. For this quarter, I was teaching new skills all the way up to the summative.
If you would like to understand your student's grade, I would suggest you look over the rubric (on google classroom) for their summative and the 6th grade writing standards (standard W6.2) to get a clear understanding of the academic expectation. In addition, I have provided some student work from this year to give you an idea of proficient or highly proficient work.
I am really proud of the improved writing stamina of students. Their ability to think critically about the themes of their paper. Students showed an immense amount of grit.
2nd Quarter Wrap Up
L/L
For grading this quarter, I looked at the summative assignment and made some adjustments to a "calculated" grade. At the beginning of the quarter, over 75% of students were DP or CP for the 6th grade writing standard for informative essays. Usually, I do a lot of teaching the first two-thirds of the quarter and then students practice their new skills for 3-5 weeks to lead up to the summative. For this quarter, I was teaching new skills all the way up to the summative.
If you would like to understand your student's grade, I would suggest you look over the rubric (on google classroom) for their summative and the 6th grade writing standards (standard W6.2) to get a clear understanding of the academic expectation. In addition, I have provided some student work from this year to give you an idea of proficient or highly proficient work.
I am really proud of the improved writing stamina of students. Their ability to think critically about the themes of their paper. Students showed an immense amount of grit.
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I/S
We had a great quarter in I/S exploring the caste system in the United States. Here is an example of a summative from 2nd quarter! 6A had some additional time and worked on a mini-service learning project where we brainstormed ways social justice warriors are trying to break the various caste systems in the United States. Then students came up with a project. Please look below for some examples.
We had a great quarter in I/S exploring the caste system in the United States. Here is an example of a summative from 2nd quarter! 6A had some additional time and worked on a mini-service learning project where we brainstormed ways social justice warriors are trying to break the various caste systems in the United States. Then students came up with a project. Please look below for some examples.
L/L 3rd Quarter!
Statement of Inquiry: Poets creatively use structure and theme to express themselves while challenging social constructions of reality.
So far this quarter, students have learned about mood, tone, figurative language, and connotative meanings. This week we will be dissecting the theme of poems.
Starting next week students will start Poetry Workshop which will be composed of activities students brainstorm that will give them time to interact with poetry through reading and writing. Each week students will be required to dissect a poem with a social justice theme I have picked and will be doing some comprehension with poetry using an online resource. Those two activities will be how students are graded weekly. For each week's poem, students will be required to state the mood and tone with an explanation, give an example of a connotative meaning and an example of figurative language. We have been doing a lot of examples in class of all these components as a whole group, sharing out individual responses, and group discussions. In addition, we have been looking at the rubric (it's on Google Classroom!) for how they will be graded. Students will have 5 weeks to work towards proficiency.
Students should be writing poems each week. Their summative for this quarter is writing a poem. As I have explained to students numerous times, the more they engage with writing a poem each week, the easier their summative will be at the end of the quarter. All of the class material and resources are posted and will continue to be posted on Google Classroom. Please refer to Google Classroom if you would like to support your student at home. Please check ParentVue as a way to gauge how your student is performing. As always, email me with questions!
I/S:
Statement of Inquiry: The type of government leadership can change the right of it's citizens.
We finished Selma last week! Please check Google Classroom to see an online discussion of what students learned from watching the movie.
This week we are moving into Ancient Greece. We will be studying the geography of Ancient Greece and understanding how it impacted the culture. We will look into the different type of cultures in Athens and Sparta. Then students will delve into the different types of government (democracy, tyranny, oligarchy and monarchy) in Ancient Greece and answer the following questions: Who has power? What were the monetary implications to the community? How was leadership decided? Who was voiceless?
Students will create an online assignment giving a brief overview of each type of government and answer the question "Is the United States truly a democracy?"
Then we will move into the US historical connection of the unit where we will come back around to Selma and complete a "Voting History Inquiry" through online research. We will then answer the question "If everyone in the United States can vote, does that mean that everyone is voting?" We will dissect voting data from the last two elections by gender and race. As a class, we will draw some conclusions about voting and the connection to voter turnout and political parties.
Our final assignment will be to look at Voter Suppression in the United States and what group(s) of people it impacts. Students will have the choice to do a research project on one of the following: Gerrymandering, polling stations, right to vote for felons or Voter ID laws. Their summative will be to advocate for change to increase voter turnout, especially for people of color. They will decide on a political party as an audience and can do one of the following activities: write a letter, make a poster, write a blog post, or create a presentation on Google Slides.
Information will be posted throughout the quarter on Google Classroom.
Statement of Inquiry: Poets creatively use structure and theme to express themselves while challenging social constructions of reality.
So far this quarter, students have learned about mood, tone, figurative language, and connotative meanings. This week we will be dissecting the theme of poems.
Starting next week students will start Poetry Workshop which will be composed of activities students brainstorm that will give them time to interact with poetry through reading and writing. Each week students will be required to dissect a poem with a social justice theme I have picked and will be doing some comprehension with poetry using an online resource. Those two activities will be how students are graded weekly. For each week's poem, students will be required to state the mood and tone with an explanation, give an example of a connotative meaning and an example of figurative language. We have been doing a lot of examples in class of all these components as a whole group, sharing out individual responses, and group discussions. In addition, we have been looking at the rubric (it's on Google Classroom!) for how they will be graded. Students will have 5 weeks to work towards proficiency.
Students should be writing poems each week. Their summative for this quarter is writing a poem. As I have explained to students numerous times, the more they engage with writing a poem each week, the easier their summative will be at the end of the quarter. All of the class material and resources are posted and will continue to be posted on Google Classroom. Please refer to Google Classroom if you would like to support your student at home. Please check ParentVue as a way to gauge how your student is performing. As always, email me with questions!
I/S:
Statement of Inquiry: The type of government leadership can change the right of it's citizens.
We finished Selma last week! Please check Google Classroom to see an online discussion of what students learned from watching the movie.
This week we are moving into Ancient Greece. We will be studying the geography of Ancient Greece and understanding how it impacted the culture. We will look into the different type of cultures in Athens and Sparta. Then students will delve into the different types of government (democracy, tyranny, oligarchy and monarchy) in Ancient Greece and answer the following questions: Who has power? What were the monetary implications to the community? How was leadership decided? Who was voiceless?
Students will create an online assignment giving a brief overview of each type of government and answer the question "Is the United States truly a democracy?"
Then we will move into the US historical connection of the unit where we will come back around to Selma and complete a "Voting History Inquiry" through online research. We will then answer the question "If everyone in the United States can vote, does that mean that everyone is voting?" We will dissect voting data from the last two elections by gender and race. As a class, we will draw some conclusions about voting and the connection to voter turnout and political parties.
Our final assignment will be to look at Voter Suppression in the United States and what group(s) of people it impacts. Students will have the choice to do a research project on one of the following: Gerrymandering, polling stations, right to vote for felons or Voter ID laws. Their summative will be to advocate for change to increase voter turnout, especially for people of color. They will decide on a political party as an audience and can do one of the following activities: write a letter, make a poster, write a blog post, or create a presentation on Google Slides.
Information will be posted throughout the quarter on Google Classroom.
January 9th, 2020
L/L
Writing is one of the most dreaded activities for students, especially nonfiction writing. I have been extremely impressed with student's commitment to become better writers. Their writing has improved so much over the last 4 weeks. There is clear evidence of students absorbing the specific skills I have taught.
This week students used 3 sources to finish their planning document for their 5 paragraph paper. After students completed the document, we edited for "flow". Next week we will learn how to write a thesis statement and a conclusion paragraph. Then we will work on the rough draft and editing. Their final will be typed and available on SeeSaw.
I/S
We finished Girl Rising this week. The documentary is so powerful. I asked students, "How did the documentary inspire you?" or "What was a lesson you will take away from the documentary?" There were so many great responses I had a hard time choosing! Here were some of the responses:
Students posted their infographic to their SeeSaw account today. This is the 2nd quarter summative. Once I have those graded, I will post some examples here.
L/L
Writing is one of the most dreaded activities for students, especially nonfiction writing. I have been extremely impressed with student's commitment to become better writers. Their writing has improved so much over the last 4 weeks. There is clear evidence of students absorbing the specific skills I have taught.
This week students used 3 sources to finish their planning document for their 5 paragraph paper. After students completed the document, we edited for "flow". Next week we will learn how to write a thesis statement and a conclusion paragraph. Then we will work on the rough draft and editing. Their final will be typed and available on SeeSaw.
I/S
We finished Girl Rising this week. The documentary is so powerful. I asked students, "How did the documentary inspire you?" or "What was a lesson you will take away from the documentary?" There were so many great responses I had a hard time choosing! Here were some of the responses:
- As a female, it inspired me to really understand that the problems all around the world can change if we all work together and that all of the women have made a sacrifice to help make change. It's really amazing how they pushed through it and to teach us a life lesson.
- As a female, I think the lesson is that if you keep on fighting you can have a better life. Also, think about how it is in other countries and makes me feel lucky that we can go to school for free.
- As a male, it inspired me by helping and not taking away from women, to do more and women are powerful.
- As a non-binary, the thing that inspired me the most is that all of them stood up for themselves for a better life and I think that we should do more.
- As a male, the documentary inspired me by showing me how powerful women can be and how much they can change the world.
- As a male, the lesson that I got was we need to make a lot of changes to how we treat women, including slavery, forced marriage and not giving them an opportunity to go to school.
- As a female, the documentary inspired me because all the girls on there went through rough times in their life. Yet, they were still figuring out a way to stop it. They weren't worrying about themselves the entire time either. They thought about how they could impact other girls going through the same thing or a problem related to it. I love "Girl Rising" because it shows how brave, strong and passionate girls truly are.
- As a male, I would say the message I took away from the documentary is that everyone deserves a chance. It doesn't matter what gender or race you are. Anyone can stand up for what they believe in and stay strong. No one should take that away from them. Also, your beliefs should not disrespect others because they are human, too. They deserve to be treated the same as you. STAY STRONG! STAY YOU!
- As a female, the lesson I took from the documentary was not to stay silent. If you see something wrong, not just stand up for yourself but for others, too.
- As a female, it made me realize that no matter how life is females always find a way to make it better or use our voice to solve a problem.
Students posted their infographic to their SeeSaw account today. This is the 2nd quarter summative. Once I have those graded, I will post some examples here.
I finally added an example of 1st quarter L/L summatives:
Monday, December 9th:
I/S
We have started our summative (more information about summatives below) early and I anticipate us being done before Winter Break. I am hoping it can relieve some stress for students to not have two summatives happening simultaneously. Students have picked a caste system to investigate. Here is an anchor chart to show our understanding of Caste Systems and how we believe people in the United States are put in a Caste:
I/S
We have started our summative (more information about summatives below) early and I anticipate us being done before Winter Break. I am hoping it can relieve some stress for students to not have two summatives happening simultaneously. Students have picked a caste system to investigate. Here is an anchor chart to show our understanding of Caste Systems and how we believe people in the United States are put in a Caste:
L/L
We categorized our notes from the documentary The House We Live In into 3 categories: Institutionalized Racism, Generational Wealth and Housing.
Here are the student generated definitions for each:
Institutionalized Racism: race means nothing unless it's given social meaning through creating laws and policies, benefits white people, represents inequities, social construct of race, advancement of white people in multiple ways.
Generational Wealth: wealth passed down through generations, money grows as it's passed down.
Housing: government made it easier, made more opportunities for white people to buy a house.
Here are the student generated notes from the documentary:
We categorized our notes from the documentary The House We Live In into 3 categories: Institutionalized Racism, Generational Wealth and Housing.
Here are the student generated definitions for each:
Institutionalized Racism: race means nothing unless it's given social meaning through creating laws and policies, benefits white people, represents inequities, social construct of race, advancement of white people in multiple ways.
Generational Wealth: wealth passed down through generations, money grows as it's passed down.
Housing: government made it easier, made more opportunities for white people to buy a house.
Here are the student generated notes from the documentary:
house_we_live_in_notes.pdf |
We will be editing student work (I have asked for permission to use student work for whole class editing through a google form.) to help us understand the power of editing and to help us analyze writing.
This week we will practice the skill of explanatory writing by writing a paragraph on one of the main topics from above. We will spend multiple days with our writing by meeting with peers and rereading our work. I will be teaching a mini-lesson on the use of their, they're and there. Plus, a mini-lesson on topic and conclusion sentences.
Later in the week, I will introduce an article as a second source for gentrification. Students will Close read the article, write a paragraph to summarize it, and edit it. We will complete this cycle 3 times before planning for our summative. During each cycle, I will be teaching writing mini-lessons, requiring students to edit their work, and will continue to share student work.
I have graded a piece of writing as a formative assessment. This gave me information of how to group students based on writing skill and locate specific skills for students to work on. The grade is in ParentVue. This assignment does not impact their grade as it is a formative assessment.
Finally, there is a great discussion on Google Classroom Stream about the documentary, if you are interested!
Social/Emotional Check-In
There seems to be quite a bit of "dating" happening in 6th grade. I would just ask families to talk with their student about the importance of focusing on academics while in the classroom and leaving the "dating stuff" for outside the classroom like during lunch and/or recess, before or after school and outside of school. I know there has been some "kissing" or, at the minimum, some encouragement from peers for people to meet up to display some physical affection. It might be a good time to talk with your child about the parameters that feel good to your family values in regards to dating.
This week we will practice the skill of explanatory writing by writing a paragraph on one of the main topics from above. We will spend multiple days with our writing by meeting with peers and rereading our work. I will be teaching a mini-lesson on the use of their, they're and there. Plus, a mini-lesson on topic and conclusion sentences.
Later in the week, I will introduce an article as a second source for gentrification. Students will Close read the article, write a paragraph to summarize it, and edit it. We will complete this cycle 3 times before planning for our summative. During each cycle, I will be teaching writing mini-lessons, requiring students to edit their work, and will continue to share student work.
I have graded a piece of writing as a formative assessment. This gave me information of how to group students based on writing skill and locate specific skills for students to work on. The grade is in ParentVue. This assignment does not impact their grade as it is a formative assessment.
Finally, there is a great discussion on Google Classroom Stream about the documentary, if you are interested!
Social/Emotional Check-In
There seems to be quite a bit of "dating" happening in 6th grade. I would just ask families to talk with their student about the importance of focusing on academics while in the classroom and leaving the "dating stuff" for outside the classroom like during lunch and/or recess, before or after school and outside of school. I know there has been some "kissing" or, at the minimum, some encouragement from peers for people to meet up to display some physical affection. It might be a good time to talk with your child about the parameters that feel good to your family values in regards to dating.
Quarter 2
Before we talk about Quarter 2, I would like to reflect with you on Quarter 1.
Positives:
- Students read a chapter book in 3 weeks!
- Book discussions with peers were productive and meaningful
- Several students in their reflection noted learning some new information about theme and plot development
- Most students can articulate how a character changes over time in a book or story
- Students used strong technology integration to produce summatives
- For I/S, we started honing our research skills
- Students were engaged with the work, especially in I/S
- Organization- there was a lot of moving parts for the L/L summative and most students navigated it well
Areas to work on:
- GRIT- students need to continue improving pushing forward when things feel tough
- Independence- students would benefit from practicing independent problem solving versus asking the teacher, especially when answers were given during instructions
- Understanding every week works up to a summative: working hard on the little assignments will make the summative much easier
- Overall, understanding the importance of academic success is largely based on them! I am a coach to their learning but the work must come from them. The way I explain it is " When it comes to you getting your academic work accomplished, I will always work as hard as you but I will never work harder than you. My hard work is in the planning and execution of the learning." It would benefit students to monitor self awareness around success in school.
Now on to quarter 2...
L/L:
Our statement of inquiry is: Reading with a purpose can help us make connections to inequality, difference and inclusion.
We will be focusing on reading and understanding nonfiction text through the study of housing laws, generational wealth and gentrification. Students will be learning how to take notes while reading and watching a documentary. After each article and documentary, we will practice writing summaries free from personal opinions, integrating research and data into our writing, developing a thesis and how to site our sources. Their summative will be to compile all their relevant research into a 5 paragraph informative paper on gentrification and housing segregation. If you are interested in the daily content of this unit, please look at Google Classroom!
I/S:
Our statement of inquiry is: Systems create equity and power through fairness and development.
We will be understanding Ancient India by focusing on the influence of Buddhism and Hinduism. Students will dissect the caste system in India while weighing the pros and cons of a caste system. Finally, we will answer the question, "Does the United States have a caste system?". (Last year students gave a resounding yes and impressed me greatly with all the ways they felt the United States has examples of hierarchy.) Students will pick two or more groups to compare in looking at data in the following categories: hate crimes, voting access, income, representation in political system, representation in arts/awards, representation in high ranking jobs or STEM jobs, etc. For example, a student could hypothesis there is a Caste system between Black Trans Women and Cis White women by finding data in 4 of the categories. They would then use their data to create an infograph. Here is an example from last year. Students loved this unit last year!
Almost everyone in 6A and 6B have a book checked out from the public library through my education account to read in class. Since we will be focused on nonfiction text this quarter, students will be reading independently from a book of their choice and level. Research shows the most powerful tool to being a better reading is simply reading. Plus, we definitely can work on our stamina when it comes to focusing on an academic task.
Working on Summatives at Home
There is a lot of eagerness and engagement surrounding completion of summatives. I have received a lot of requests to work from home. Normally, I do not let students work on summatives at home because it is the end of the unit/quarter "test". In addition, it doesn't support equity in access as not everyone has a computer to work from at home. However, this year I don't have an extra prep time to allow a study hall. Also, we are working against the clock with a science field trip this week and Outdoor School. For those reasons, I will let students work on their summatives at home for this quarter only. It is extremely important that you do not interfere or add to the learning process. Instead, relish in the opportunity to provide your student confidence by not providing help but rather sending the message "I trust you to do your best on your own".
I have given many ways for students to feel supported in the process. Their weekly reading work included components of their summative. We have post it notes in class that represent all 6th grade thinking and reflection on the books where they can find information to help complete their summative. I have created online discussions through Google classroom focusing on the learning needed for their summatives. I am able to comment on their individual work through Google classroom to offer extensions and guidance. On Google classroom, there are numerous resources for them to refer back to as they need it. I have created planning documents that give step by step directions for how to complete the summatives. Finally, I start everyday with a mini-lesson to reinforce the assignments. Your child has had many opportunities to get support. If they are working from home and come across a question, encourage them to look through Google classroom to find the support they need. Please do not email me questions your child has about the summative.
Just to reiterate, for this unit only students may work on their summative at home with a commitment from families that there will be no interference or parent voice in completing the work.
Starting Monday I will give my lunch time (M-F) as an option for students who need to complete work.
There is a lot of eagerness and engagement surrounding completion of summatives. I have received a lot of requests to work from home. Normally, I do not let students work on summatives at home because it is the end of the unit/quarter "test". In addition, it doesn't support equity in access as not everyone has a computer to work from at home. However, this year I don't have an extra prep time to allow a study hall. Also, we are working against the clock with a science field trip this week and Outdoor School. For those reasons, I will let students work on their summatives at home for this quarter only. It is extremely important that you do not interfere or add to the learning process. Instead, relish in the opportunity to provide your student confidence by not providing help but rather sending the message "I trust you to do your best on your own".
I have given many ways for students to feel supported in the process. Their weekly reading work included components of their summative. We have post it notes in class that represent all 6th grade thinking and reflection on the books where they can find information to help complete their summative. I have created online discussions through Google classroom focusing on the learning needed for their summatives. I am able to comment on their individual work through Google classroom to offer extensions and guidance. On Google classroom, there are numerous resources for them to refer back to as they need it. I have created planning documents that give step by step directions for how to complete the summatives. Finally, I start everyday with a mini-lesson to reinforce the assignments. Your child has had many opportunities to get support. If they are working from home and come across a question, encourage them to look through Google classroom to find the support they need. Please do not email me questions your child has about the summative.
Just to reiterate, for this unit only students may work on their summative at home with a commitment from families that there will be no interference or parent voice in completing the work.
Starting Monday I will give my lunch time (M-F) as an option for students who need to complete work.
Summatives, Pencils and Proficiency Grading
We are starting summatives next week! Summatives need to be done before students leave for Outdoor School. In full transparency, I will do a check in with students at the beginning of next week. If it feels like trying to get summatives done before Outdoor School is too stressful, I will move back the date. This just means students will have two summatives on their 2nd quarter grade versus one summative. Obviously, for me to move back the due date students would have to show a certain level of work ethic. That being said, I am not in the business of stressing children out!
For L/L, students are finishing their book. We had 4 different books being read in class. Students read (everyone has to finish their book in 3 weeks!) and work on a weekly reading assignment Monday-Thursday. On Friday, students meet with their reading group to discuss the book. This week is our 3rd and final week. You can see all the work they were expected to complete on Google classroom. You can see their grades (for the weekly response) on ParentVue. Work can't be sent home until the end of the quarter because they will need their notes for their Summative. On Google classroom, there is a material post for Summative work. The assignment details, pictures of examples and the scoring rubric are on that post.
For I/S, students are working on their independent inquiry into a Chinese Philosophy (Legalism, Confucianism, and Daoism). Students will research an event that shows dehumanization (Atatiana Koquice Jefferson being shot by the police while in her home) and humanization (DeAnglo William sponsering 500 monograms). This week they will examine Obama and Trump's Twitter page to see how Twitter can be used by leaders in government. Then they will make a faux Twitter page from the perspective of their Chinese philosophy. We need some help thinking of EVENTS where citizens in the United States were dehumanized or humanized. If you can think of something, please add it to this google FORM.
Can you please make sure your student has pencils? 6th grade has a pencil epidemic. The epidemic is a large amount of students come to class without a pencil.
One final note about grades. There is a big difference in middle school with grades. In my opinion, K-5 students often get graded on work effort. Not skill. I have students asking me how to improve their grades. Because I do proficiency grading, improving their grade might not be an option. They are getting the grade that matches their skill level while tackling 6th grade standards. Can you please talk with your student about how getting a CP doesn't mean they are a bad student? It means they are close to proficient in MASTERING 6th grade standards. It's not always a matter of working harder.
We are starting summatives next week! Summatives need to be done before students leave for Outdoor School. In full transparency, I will do a check in with students at the beginning of next week. If it feels like trying to get summatives done before Outdoor School is too stressful, I will move back the date. This just means students will have two summatives on their 2nd quarter grade versus one summative. Obviously, for me to move back the due date students would have to show a certain level of work ethic. That being said, I am not in the business of stressing children out!
For L/L, students are finishing their book. We had 4 different books being read in class. Students read (everyone has to finish their book in 3 weeks!) and work on a weekly reading assignment Monday-Thursday. On Friday, students meet with their reading group to discuss the book. This week is our 3rd and final week. You can see all the work they were expected to complete on Google classroom. You can see their grades (for the weekly response) on ParentVue. Work can't be sent home until the end of the quarter because they will need their notes for their Summative. On Google classroom, there is a material post for Summative work. The assignment details, pictures of examples and the scoring rubric are on that post.
For I/S, students are working on their independent inquiry into a Chinese Philosophy (Legalism, Confucianism, and Daoism). Students will research an event that shows dehumanization (Atatiana Koquice Jefferson being shot by the police while in her home) and humanization (DeAnglo William sponsering 500 monograms). This week they will examine Obama and Trump's Twitter page to see how Twitter can be used by leaders in government. Then they will make a faux Twitter page from the perspective of their Chinese philosophy. We need some help thinking of EVENTS where citizens in the United States were dehumanized or humanized. If you can think of something, please add it to this google FORM.
Can you please make sure your student has pencils? 6th grade has a pencil epidemic. The epidemic is a large amount of students come to class without a pencil.
One final note about grades. There is a big difference in middle school with grades. In my opinion, K-5 students often get graded on work effort. Not skill. I have students asking me how to improve their grades. Because I do proficiency grading, improving their grade might not be an option. They are getting the grade that matches their skill level while tackling 6th grade standards. Can you please talk with your student about how getting a CP doesn't mean they are a bad student? It means they are close to proficient in MASTERING 6th grade standards. It's not always a matter of working harder.
proficiency_faq_for_parents_and_students.pdf |
Syllabus!
Communication
Email works best for me. If a phone conversation would be better, please email me and let me know. I will set up a time we can talk. My days are very busy. When I am at Vernon, I am either working with students or getting my teaching content ready. For that reason, it works better for an appointment to be made versus a drop in. Thank you for respecting that my students are my number one priority when I’m at school!
Curriculum
For Individuals and Societies, we will focus on Ancient World history which is the 6th grade social studies curriculum. To make Ancient World History more "IB" and engaging for all students, I will connect the subject matter to a current event. We will have 4 big units for the year.
The following are the units:
Grading
I use proficiency grading. Proficiency grading is really just what it sounds like. Grades for students are based on students demonstrating knowledge and skills to a level of proficiency in a content standard or area of study. The way a student behaves in class, positively or negatively, does not impact their academic grade. A student’s grade truly reflects what a student knows or is able to do for each content area.
Formative Assessments (classwork) make up less than half of the student's grades. Formative assessments are any avenue used to give feedback to students about where they currently are on the proficiency continuum for any learning target. The key to effective formative assessments is feedback. Students often underestimate or have an inflated sense of what they know, and they may not see the value of assessments unless they are given timely feedback and specific direction on how they may improve.
The majority of student’s grades will come from Summative Assessments. Summative assessments are given to allow students to demonstrate their knowledge of the learning targets or standards. Summative assessments should only be given once students have received ample feedback on formative assessments. Based on this feedback, both the student and the teacher should have a good idea of how a student will perform on a summative assessment. This feedback process will alleviate the students’ use of the first attempt at a summative assessment as a “trial run” to see what is being covered.
I will have grades done on the day before the end of the term so students can see their grades before report cards. The last day of the term they will have the opportunity to redo one assignment for each class and turn in missing work.
Unlike elementary school, grades can go up and down for my classes. Each unit or quarter or grading period students are being assessed on different standards. For example, first quarter is the only fiction reading being done for a grade. Some students may get “high proficiency” for that unit/quarter. Then 2nd quarter is on research skills which is a different skill set. Students may get “close to proficiency” for that unit/quarter. All that means is their reading skills are different for nonfiction reading versus fiction reading which is typical, especially since there is less exposure to reading for information in the lower grades.
Homework
If you would like your student to have homework, please fill out the google form.
Communication
Email works best for me. If a phone conversation would be better, please email me and let me know. I will set up a time we can talk. My days are very busy. When I am at Vernon, I am either working with students or getting my teaching content ready. For that reason, it works better for an appointment to be made versus a drop in. Thank you for respecting that my students are my number one priority when I’m at school!
Curriculum
For Individuals and Societies, we will focus on Ancient World history which is the 6th grade social studies curriculum. To make Ancient World History more "IB" and engaging for all students, I will connect the subject matter to a current event. We will have 4 big units for the year.
The following are the units:
- Ancient China- understanding the 3 Chinese philosophies and how they impacted Chinese citizens
- Connection- the governments dehumanization or humanization of citizens (particularly those oppressed) throughout our history and currently; looking at how Twitter is used by people in power to humanize or dehumanize citizens
- Summative: Create a twitter page from the perspective of a Chinese philosophy
- Connection- the governments dehumanization or humanization of citizens (particularly those oppressed) throughout our history and currently; looking at how Twitter is used by people in power to humanize or dehumanize citizens
- Ancient India- understanding the Caste system
- Connection- Analyze if there is a caste system in the United States; how do we prove it with data
- Summative: Create an online infographic with evidence or data to support a caste system in the United States
- Connection- Analyze if there is a caste system in the United States; how do we prove it with data
- Ancient Greece- understanding the evolution of different forms of government and its impact on all citizens
- Connection- dissect voter demographics for the last 3 elections by race and gender; understand the history of voter suppression for Latinos, Women, Native Americans, and Black citizens past and current
- Summative: complete an inquiry into one of the three topics: gerrymandering, voting rights for felons; polling stations in Black, Latino or Native communities
- Connection- dissect voter demographics for the last 3 elections by race and gender; understand the history of voter suppression for Latinos, Women, Native Americans, and Black citizens past and current
- Ancient Egypt- Understand how environmental factors influenced human settlement and study Ancient Egyptian Monuments
- Connection- development of infrastructure in neighborhoods and impact of natural disasters; government response to natural disasters, particularly for people of color; inquiry into Vanport, Hurricane Katrina, and Puerto Rico (full transparency- last year we weren’t able to get to the connection for this unit due to the testing schedule and its impact on computer access)
- Character Analysis- book groups, each book will highlight a main character who has positively impacted their community; look at locating text evidence; understanding plot; comparing two pieces of literature
- Summative: students will write a paper dissecting the plot and how the character changes as the plot progresses
- Research Skills- research gentrification, generational wealth and housing laws and its impact on the Black community; summarizing articles without personal opinions
- Summative: write a thesis statement, generate a research paper with relevant facts and examples using multiple sources
- Poetry Unit: Understand denotation, connotation; understand how people who have experienced oppression use poetry to find voice or advocacy; look at mood and tone of poems
- Summative: Write a poem
- Research Skills- research and understand climate change; complete an inquiry into how people in power have created laws to combat or ignore climate change; understand the influence of money over politicians; make claims and provide justifications
- Summative: Argumentative Speech; answer the question “Should the government be held accountable for the impact of climate change on future generations?”; evidence for both sides; use an online presentation tool
Grading
I use proficiency grading. Proficiency grading is really just what it sounds like. Grades for students are based on students demonstrating knowledge and skills to a level of proficiency in a content standard or area of study. The way a student behaves in class, positively or negatively, does not impact their academic grade. A student’s grade truly reflects what a student knows or is able to do for each content area.
Formative Assessments (classwork) make up less than half of the student's grades. Formative assessments are any avenue used to give feedback to students about where they currently are on the proficiency continuum for any learning target. The key to effective formative assessments is feedback. Students often underestimate or have an inflated sense of what they know, and they may not see the value of assessments unless they are given timely feedback and specific direction on how they may improve.
The majority of student’s grades will come from Summative Assessments. Summative assessments are given to allow students to demonstrate their knowledge of the learning targets or standards. Summative assessments should only be given once students have received ample feedback on formative assessments. Based on this feedback, both the student and the teacher should have a good idea of how a student will perform on a summative assessment. This feedback process will alleviate the students’ use of the first attempt at a summative assessment as a “trial run” to see what is being covered.
I will have grades done on the day before the end of the term so students can see their grades before report cards. The last day of the term they will have the opportunity to redo one assignment for each class and turn in missing work.
Unlike elementary school, grades can go up and down for my classes. Each unit or quarter or grading period students are being assessed on different standards. For example, first quarter is the only fiction reading being done for a grade. Some students may get “high proficiency” for that unit/quarter. Then 2nd quarter is on research skills which is a different skill set. Students may get “close to proficiency” for that unit/quarter. All that means is their reading skills are different for nonfiction reading versus fiction reading which is typical, especially since there is less exposure to reading for information in the lower grades.
Homework
If you would like your student to have homework, please fill out the google form.
Invitation Code for SeeSaw.
If you follow the instructions on the website, I will approve access for you to see your student's online portfolio. Most work for my classes are completed on the computer. They post their assignment in their SeeSaw account. Other students can view and like or comment on their assignments. You will only have permission to look at your student's work.
6A Invite
6B Invite
6C Invite
If you follow the instructions on the website, I will approve access for you to see your student's online portfolio. Most work for my classes are completed on the computer. They post their assignment in their SeeSaw account. Other students can view and like or comment on their assignments. You will only have permission to look at your student's work.
6A Invite
6B Invite
6C Invite