Grade 6

Students apply skills they learned in earlier grades to make sense of longer, more challenging books and articles. They are able to better understand how authors try to influence readers and find reasons to support their ideas. By focusing on how authors make their points and support their arguments with evidence and reasoning, students will sharpen their ability to write and speak with more clarity and coherence. They will expand their vocabularies and use new words in their stories, reports and essays.

Examples of Your Child’s Work at School:

• Analyze how chapters of a book, scenes of a play or stanzas of a poem fit into the overall structure of the piece and contribute to the development of ideas or themes.

• Gain knowledge from materials that make extensive use of elaborate diagrams and data to convey information and illustrate concepts.

• Evaluate the argument and specific claims in written materials or a speech, and distinguish claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not.

•  Present claims and findings to others orally, by sequencing ideas logically and by accentuating main ideas or themes.

• Write arguments that provide clear reasons, relevant evidence and use credible sources.

• Determine the correct meaning of a word based on the context in which it is used (e.g., the rest of the sentence or paragraph; a word’s position or function in a sentence).

How to Help Your Child at Home:

• Listen with your child to a television reporter, politician, or other speaker. Ask your child to tell you the speaker’s main points (e.g., was the speaker trying to convince the audience of something? How?).

• Visit a library or book store together and ask the librarian or bookseller to recommend young adult books.

• Invite your child to participate in an adult gathering, such as a meal with friends, to practice his or her listening skills and to make conversation.

•  Encourage your child to learn at the library or on the Internet what life in your community was like 100 years ago. Have your child write a story, poem, or play about that time.

The skills and understanding your child will gain are among the most important foundations for college and career readiness. These include working with ratios and rates, and variables and variable expressions, which are the building blocks of algebra. Many of this year’s topics will remain a major emphasis throughout middle school and into high school.

Examples of Your Child’s Work at School:

• Understand ratios and rates and solve problems that involve proportional relationships (e.g., if it took seven hours to mow four lawns, then at that rate how many lawns could be mowed in 35 hours? At what hourly rate were lawns being mowed?).

• Divide fractions and solve related word problems (e.g., how wide is a rectangular strip of land with a length of ¾ mile and an area of ½ square mile?).

• Work with variables and expressions by generalizing the way numbers work (e.g., when adding numbers, the order doesn’t matter, so x + y = y + x; likewise, properties of addition and multiplication can be used to rewrite 24x + 18y as 6(4x + 3y), or y + y + y as 3y).

•  Understand the process of solving simple equations. • Write equations to solve word problems and describe relationships between quantities (e.g., the distance D traveled by a train in time T might be expressed by an equation D = 85T, where D is in miles and T is in hours).

• Reason about relationships between shapes to determine area, surface area and volume.

How to Help Your Child at Home:

• Look for “word problems” in real life. Some 6th grade examples might include:                                                                                                                     ○     Determine the average speed of a family trip, based on the distance traveled and the time taken; or estimate the time that a trip will take, given the distance and an estimate of the average speed.  Use examples from the news -- for example, a swimmer crossing the English Channel or a space probe traveling to another planet.            ○  Find the surface area of the walls and ceiling in a room to determine the cost of painting the room.

In 6th grade students engage in the core science ideas of Structure of matter and chemical reactions, Structure and function of living things, Earth materials and systems, and Engineering Design.  Activities include, but are not limited to, using models, providing arguments with evidence, obtaining and analyzing data about relationships and interactions among observable components of different systems.

Examples of Your Child’s Work at School:

• Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances.

• Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives this process.

• Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.

•  Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem to ensure a successful solution.

How to Help Your Child at Home:

• Encourage finding answers to questions through research and experimentation.

• Join a club or group that offers activities like robotics or computer programming.

• Provide opportunities to observe and talk about changes in matter related to cooking.

• Visit local observatories and planetariums with your child.

• Encourage the playing of “maker” games or apps such as Minecraft that develop engineering and collaboration skills.

In sixth grade, students will learn about geography, history and culture in global regions. Students will analyze regional, physical and cultural characteristics of places to determine how those factors influenced, and continue to influence, people who live there.

Examples of Your Child’s Work at School:

• Research disciplinary questions using primary and secondary sources that are credible and draw from multiple perspectives.

• Develop claims and arguments based on research and support those claims using evidence.

• Create geographical representations to illustrate how cultural and environmental characteristics of a region impact history.

• Explain multiple causes and effects of events and developments in the past.

• Identify what makes up culture and examine how people acquire their cultural beliefs and value systems. 

• Identify the advantages and disadvantages of various financial tools.

How to Help Your Child at Home:

• Work with your child to do authentic research in the field of social studies.  Work to ensure resources are credible and students are able to formulate an argument based off evidence from research. 

• Visit local museums and cultural institutions and discuss the cause and effect of historical issues and events, from local, state, national, and international perspectives. 

• Use a variety of news sources, both print and digital, to discuss current global issues with your child.  Discuss how these global issues might have an impact at the state and local level.

• Encourage your child to participate in social studies programs such as National History Day, mock trial, We the People, etc.

What Are 21st Century Skills?
21st-century skills are essential knowledge, life abilities, career aptitudes, habits, and traits crucial for student success in the modern world. WDMCS creates age-appropriate learning opportunities to grow these skills in all students.

Your child will apply literacy and critical-thinking skills to interpret and understand health, financial and technology concepts. Students will practice career-readiness skills necessary for success in every job; refine their written/ oral communication skills; and choose from a variety of exploratory courses to broaden their life skill experiences. They will have opportunities to volunteer within their schools and in the community.

Examples of Your Child’s Work at School:

• Understand how volunteerism contributes to the good of society.

• Demonstrate legal and ethical use of technology and copyrighted material, and an understanding of how disregard for this responsibility affects others.

• Explore employability skills by creating a list based on current research from websites and/or interviews, and write and publish an article about the findings.

• Explain the difference between saving and investing money.

How to Help Your Child at Home:

•  Visit www.stopbullying.gov.
• Help your child develop a personal spending plan for money he or she receives through gifts, allowance or work.
• Include your child in lifelong activities you enjoy, such as golf, handball, running, or tennis.