Here is a link to google classroom for information about assignments. Weekly vocabulary lists are posted on ELA for 6-G.
https://classroom.google.com/u/0/h
*Hello 6th Grade Students and Parents!
My name is Martha Wenzel and I will be teaching a variety of classes to 6th grade students at Corpus Christi Catholic School this year. I am so excited to join the middle school staff as middle school is my true teaching place. I will be teaching religion, scientific literacy, social studies and language arts. I have always wanted to integrate social studies and language arts and am thrilled I will be able to do so this year. I will be teaching science textbook topics that will support Mrs. Trytten’s teaching and will also be working closely with the other middle school staff.
Scroll down for weekly updates-
Week of December 9th-
Religion- We are celebrating Advent each day and it’s a lovely way to start each day. Choir students sing during our celebration and it is quite moving. We also are creating a Jesse Tree with Advent ornaments we will add.
ELA- Monday we are watching a movie version of Hatchet together with the other 6th grade class. We then have MAP testing on Tuesday and Wednesday. In ELA class, we are working on verbs and will continue with some writing time on our stories. They are due next Tuesday, December 17th. Book projects are due Monday, December 16th. I will remind students about the projects.
Science- We created board games using our science vocabulary. We will play the games tomorrow. We are also reviewing topic 3 content and will write newspapers giving information about the content. There will not be a test. We will begin topic 4 after break.
Social Studies- We are finishing up our chapter on Ancient China. We will complete an online activity to review along with a study guide we will complete together. The test will be Friday, December 13th.
Spelling Bee- We will have our class spelling bee on Thursday, December 12th. The school spelling bee will be after break in early January.
Week of December 2nd-
Religion- This week we will be reading Ch.13 and are reading parts of the Bible that correspond with our text. We also begin our school celebration of Advent. We meet every morning in the commons for a prayer and song. It is quite beautiful.
ELA- This week, we will begin to read from our book again. The first piece is called Reading Buddies. We will begin vocabulary again next week. Grammar study, is a unit on verbs and there will be some practice homework on verbs. We also are beginning a writing unit looking at how to begin a writing piece and focused writing.We started a writing project based on Hatchet. It is a survival story. We will work on it in class and also outside of class.This will be due on December 17th.Our second quarter book project is due December 16th. I will be checking in with students about their progress.
MAP testing will be December 9-10th, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
Social Studies- We continue learning about Ancient China. I noticed that there is a new exhibit at Union Station in KC. It is about the life of Ghengis Khan. It looks very interesting and would be a great family field trip over the holidays.https://www.unionstation.org/events/genghis-khan
Science- We are finishing up Topic 3-Energy and will soon be moving to Topic 4. Topic 4 continues a study of energy.
Week of November 25th-
Religion- We are moving on to Ch.12.
ELA- We have worked on our Hatchet projects and will be sharing them tomorrow. We are done with our nouns unit and are moving on to verbs. We will also be working on some writing skills on organization and how to write a focused story or essay.
Science- We have been working on Topic 2 learning about energy. There will not be a test on this topic.
Social Studies- We have gottten access to the online textbook and are using it as we read about Ancient China. I think the class would agree that we prefer this method as it is interactive and offers video and other aids in helping our learning.
We have our “family” activities and lunch on Tuesday as we enjoy our last day together before Thanksgiving break. I wish you all a happy and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday. Know that I am grateful to be able to teach your children at Corpus Christi!
Week of November 18th-
Religion- This week we will be reading and discussing chapter 11. We are enjoying learning the Old Testament lessons.
ELA- We will work on project choices for after reading HATCHET, which we finished last week. All students are completing a digital plot map detailing events from thebook. Then they will choose from activities lists on Google classroom.These projects will be due on Monday, November 25th. We also have completed our study of nouns and have been working on a study guide for our test on Wednesday. I posted the vocabulary list for this week on Friday and students have been studying the words and stems listed. The vocabulary test will be Thursday.
Science- we are getting ready to start on Topic 3 which is a study of energy. We will not have a test over this unit.
Social Studies- We are beginning to learn about Ancient China in social studies. Students have online access to their textbooks and we explored some of the features found there.
Week of November 11th- thank you to all the Vets out there on this Veteran’s Day.
Religion- We will get back to reading in our textbook this week.
ELA- We have been studying nouns and will wrap up this week with a packet of practice sheets. We will do 2 per day and finish on Thursday. We have been enjoying reading Hatchet and are almost done.
Science- We will be finishing Topic 2, Solids, liquids and gases. Students will have a study guide that we will be working on for our test on Friday, November 15th. That test will be open book.
Social Studies- Our ch.3 test over Egypt is Wednesday, November 13th. We have worked on a study guide that students should be studying in preparation. We will review in class also.
Speaking of social studies... Hank Walter and Henry Thompson will be representing 6th grade as winners of the Corpus Christi Geography Bee. Congratulations to them!
Week of November 4th-
Religion- We will have a test over The Ten Commandments on Wednesday, November 6th. We have been working on our study guide and will review tomorrow.
ELA- We will continue to read Hatchet this week. We are also working on plural and possessive nouns.
Science- We are finishing up Topic 2. We will work on a lab showing gas expanding. Both classes will read and answer questions for lesson 2.1. This is due Thursday.
Social Studies- 6th graders will participate in the Geography Bee on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. We have finished our study of Egyptian history. The students studied their gods and goddesses and did a nice job presenting their information to the class. They are so talented with using Google slides!
Week of October 28th-
Religion- We are reading chapter 9 and will follow that with a unit on the Ten Commandments. The students will complete a notetaking sheet which will become a study guide for a test. The test will be next week as we have a short week this week.
ELA- We are continuing reading Hatchet. Most of our work will be done in class with this book. We will have homework as we continue studying nouns. We are working on plural and possessive nouns. Students have a packet of grammar rules to be used as a resource as we continue learning about grammar. We will not have any vocabulary this week.
Science- Sixth grade had a successful science expo last week. The students did a great job as they shared about their projects. We are starting on Topic 2 this week. This topic is on solids, liquids and gasses.
Social Studies- We are working on a project studying Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. They will create an artwork poster, depicting their God or Goddess, make a slide show with information and write a handout to share during their presentation. we will work on these in class this week and share them on Thursday.
Have a Happy Halloween and All Saints day.
Week of October 21st-
Religion- We are reading about The Israelites in chapter 5 and 9. We will also be learning about the Ten Commandments.
ELA- We began reading the book, Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen. This is a book about adventure. We are learning about parts of plot in fiction as we read and will also be writing an adventure story. We continue our grammar work and are studying nouns.
Science- We have worked hard on the Science Expo for the past two weeks. This week we are wrapping up that work and practicing for our presentations on Thursday during the expo. We hope you plan to visit and see all the projects students have worked so hard on.
Social Studies- We are in the midst of studying Egypt and this week are working on life in Egypt. Stay tuned next week for information about a project and test dates.
Conferences- Thank you for coming to conferences so that we could discuss your child’s progress. I look forward to the second quarter and a fresh start!
Week of October 7th-
Religion- We are learning about sin in the world while reading and discussing ch. 4.
Language Arts- Students have a new vocabulary list to study for a quiz on Thursday. We are working on a one page narrative piece of writing about a character we have studied in social studies. The story will be due on Friday. We are also beginning a study of nouns.
Social Studies- We are done with our study of Mesopotamia and are beginning ch. 4 covering Ancient Egypt.
Science- Dr. Trytten and I have been helping students work on their experiments or write out their papers to be displayed with their projects. The Expo will be on Thursday, October 24th. Stay tuned for more information about progress on the projects, boards and papers. Note the slideshow pictures taken of some students as they were working in science this week.
Week of October 4th-
Religion- We have been reading in our book over chapter 3. Each chapter has a review test that students complete. They may use the book to complete the pages. We will continue reading chapter 4 this week.
Language Arts- Last week, we studied theme in fairy tales using the SLIME method. This method will be used to find the theme as we continue reading texts this year. Next, we are doing a mini-unit on point of view in writing. We will also identify pronouns used for differing points of view.
Grammar- We will have a grammar test on Tuesday over subjects, predicates, types of sentences and compound sentences. We will review on Monday. There will not be a vocabulary quiz this week.
We will also start a narrative writing lesson later this week. Students will write a story using a historical figure from our social studies reading. **Due date to be determined.
Reminder- Book projects are due on Monday and will be presented in class.
Social Studies- We have a map quiz over Mesopotamia on Wednesday. Students worked on labeling a blank map with details from a complete map. They should have both of them. We also will finish this chapter this week and will take an open book test on Monday.
Science- We are working on our science expo projects more this week. Students will be typing a paper on what they learned through their research. Once this is done, they will be able to begin their experiments. Dr. Trytten and I are helping the class along with all the pieces of the project.
Week of September 23-
Religion- As we read and discuss chapter 3, we will learn about sin entering the world through humanity. We will also read about being God’s stewards of creation and Original Sin.
Language Arts- We will have a quiz over our grammar study this quarter next Tuesday. Students have a study guide to use and should study a bit each night. We will have study time in class on Monday. We are also studying theme in writing and will be using fairy tales to do so. There will be a reading assignment on Google Classroom that will be due Thursday.
*Students should be reading their book for the book project that is due October 7th.
Scientific Literacy- We will begin our work on science projects for the upcoming Science Expo. Students will firm up their project topics and begin working on some research this week. Projects are due October 22nd. The Expo is the evening of October 25th. Students will attend and show their projects.
Social Studies- We continue with our learning about Mesopotamia as we read chapter 3 in our textbook. Students will be completing a map of Mesopotamia with labels of city/states and countries. They will copy from a labeled map to a blank map. Next Wednesday, they will take a map quiz by labeling a blank map.
eek of September 16th-
Religion- We are working on Ch.1 and 2 this week, studying the Bible sections.
Language Arts- We will not have vocabulary this week as we do not have school on Friday. We have been studying inference skills and theme in a story.
Science- We have worked on Topic 1 and have worked on a study guide for our test on Tuesday. We will review again on Monday.
Social Studies- We have started chapter 2 which is a study of Mesopotamia.
Reminder- Students should be working on reading a book for our book project. The project is due Monday, October 7th.
Week of September 9th-
Map Testing- Math MAP testing will be Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning if needed.
Religion- We are reading chapter 1 in our textbook which tells us about God's Revelation.
Language Arts- We will be analyzing a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip this week in our text. We will also be studying inferencing and learning some media vocabulary. Posted on google classroom is this week's vocabulary list. Some students have a paper copy to complete. These need to be done by Wednesday so that we can review them together and be prepared for our test on Thursday.
Students should be reading their book report books. They will read and complete a project by October 7th. I will post this on google classroom as a reference.
Science- We are working through Topic 1 (chapter 1). We will most likely finish up this chapter by the end of this week and will have a test sometime the week of September 16th. We tend to do most of our work in class but may, at times, have some to finish as homework. This should be written in planners. Prior to the test, students will have study materials to use to prepare.
Social Studies- We have finished our study of ancient history and will be completing our study guide on Monday. We will have a group review on Wednesday with a test on Thursday. Students should be studying this week. I will post a completed study guide on google classroom this week, for reference.
**** Study Guide is posted!
Week of September 3-6th-
Religion- This short week we are learning about Ordinary Time in the church while reading and discussing chapter 7. Most work will be done in class. We will have a quiz over ch. 6-7 on Friday. We will review on Wednesday.
ELA- Wednesday we will be taking Reading MAP tests. Some students may also be working on finishing their tests on Thursday.. Therefore, we won’t have any vocabulary list or test this week. We finally got the google page to work and took the test on google forms which was successful. We will be learning about different types of text structures such as cause and effect and description in nonfiction text.There will be a grammar and reading assignment we will work on and then it will be homework. These will be posted in google classroom.I will post them on Tuesday.
Scientific Literacy- We are into Topic 1 of our textbook. A topic is the same as a chapter. We have been working on vocabulary that goes along with the module. Students may have some homework answering questions in their text if not finished in class.
Social Studies- We will continue learning about the Stone Ages and Early Peoples. Homework will be written in planners and will consist of work we didn’t get done in class.
Week of August 26 - 30
Retreat Information- 6th grade students will be going on a retreat on Friday, August 30. I had planned on going until my knee injury. Mrs. Wondra will be attending instead. You should have received an email with information about this fun trip.
Religion- We have finished reading chapter 26 which covered the Four Marks of the Church. We will begin chapter 6 and 7 next.
ELA- I posted the first weekly vocabulary list on Google Classroom. Students will want to make a study tool such as flashcards in order to study the words. The quiz will be on Thursday, August 29th. There is also grammar homework for the week that is due on August 29th. It is on Google Classroom as well. On Monday, I will pass out book project information. Each quarter, 6th grade ELA students will read a book and complete a project of their choice.
Social Studies- We are beginning module 2 on Monday. The module begins with the Stone Age peoples. Work will be done in class as we read the module this week.
Science- We have been learning about the scientific method and will finish the lessons on Tuesday, August 27th with a review using our notes. We will use this information when we work on our science expo projects.
Week of August 19-23
Religion- We are reading and discussing chapter 26. All work will be done in class this week. We are filling out a chapter test together as we read.
ELA- We started on our first story. We will work together in class to annotate and discuss the writings.
Social Studies- We are working on general history and geography information and will start module 2 next week.
Science Lit- We are studying the Scientific Method as we work towards our science expo project
Note:
Reading- Method for learning vocabulary words from 6th grade textbook -Write word, draw a picture of the word/meaning, quote word from text, example- " No soft squish of pine." ( Woodson, pg. 13), then write a new sentence using the word.