Sixth Grade

Sixth grade is a year of great opportunity for kids.  This year is naturally filled with inconsistency as a great deal of physical growth (on average 3-4 inches!) and personal discovery is going on.  Sixth graders do not typically self-regulate their sleep schedule, nutrition intake, etc. and often like to debate their needs with adults.  Boys and girls are very peer-approval driven, requiring extra love and affirmation from parents and other loving adults.

Social and emotional strategies/skills include:

  • Understands the many meanings of social groups, group membership, and how groups function
  • Use humor to de-escalate difficult conversations/situations
  • Identifies potential consequences of actions
  • Meets new people more easily and makes friendship choices 

Foundational English Language Acquisition(ELA) Skills include:

  • Finding and citing text evidence explicitly to support analysis and inference from the text
  • Determine the meaning of words and phrases including figurative language and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone
  • Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not
  • Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience
  • Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate

Foundational Math Skills include:

  • Write and interpret numerical expressions - use parentheses, brackets, and braces in numerical expressions
  • Solve word problems by showing the algebraic expressions with the variable
  • Understand the place value system - read, write and compare decimals to thousandths understanding that the value of the digit to the left is 1/10 greater.
  • Understand the relationship between decimals and fractions and be able to find equivalencies
  • Add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions with unlike denominators including in word problems
  • Convert among different-sized standards of measurement.
  • Measure volume by counting unit cubes and using formulas
  • Understand perpendicular number lines & coordinate planes - x/y axis and x/y coordinates
  • Identify and Graph points on a coordinate plane

 

Tips for Parents of 6th Grade Students:

  • Note continuing growth spurts and be patient with physical, social, and emotional changes
  • Assist your child in setting physical and social boundaries and identifying other peoples’ boundaries and abiding by them
  • Help your child note the difference between passive, aggressive, assertive, and passive aggressive behavior and encourage him/her to be assertive when needed
  • Point out opportunities for showing how interdependence between family members and how teamwork keeps things running smoothly
  • Encourage slow thinking for situations that may have consequences 
  • Express patience, love, and trust daily