Welcome to 6th Grade!

It is the start of another school year and you have made it to middle school! We have exciting plans for this coming year. As you have seen, we have very high expectations of you and we will accept nothing less than your best.

What three things have been the most surprising about school so far? Be sure to include many details in order to provide a strong response and justify your answer.

School Year 2010 - 2011

The new school year is in full swing! We are excited to meet our new community and to begin our work together. This blog is a place for us to express our thoughts, share ideas with our community, and reflect on our progress. Check back frequently for new posts and student responses! We look forward to demonstrating what we have learned and reflecting on the process.
We hope to hear from you along the way!

~Ms. McGoldrick

MCAS is Over!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

You have completed all of the sessions of the 6th grade MCAS exams. You should feel very proud of yourself. Your teachers are all very proud of how hard you worked and how prepared you were. We want to take a few minutes to reflect on MCAS and all of your preparation.

Please answer the following questions. As always, make sure your answers represent your best 6th grade work.

1) What was the most helpful thing (or things) you did to successfully prepare for this year's MCAS exams?

2) What will you do differently to prepare for the MCAS?


3) What was the hardest part of the exams? (think of both ELA and Math)


4) What were the easiest parts of the exams? (again, both ELA and Math)


5) What else should your teachers know before we prepare a new group of students to take the MCAS again next year? (What should stay the same, what should be different, what you liked, what you didn't like, etc.)

Science and the Environment

Make sure to answer all questions with AT LEAST one complete 6th grade paragraph.


1) What would you suggest that the scientist do to prevent oil spills from happening in the future?


2) What do we use oil for? What can people do to prevent us from needing so much oil in the future?


3) Why do we need to prevent oil spills from happening in the future? What is the problem with oil spills on the environment?

Science Topics

What 2 or 3 topics in science are most interesting to you? Why? Why do you think these topics should be interesting to others? What information do you think would be most important for people to know about these topics? Use details from the videos you have watched and anything we have discussed this year in any of your classes.

6th Grade Community

This morning we discussed the word entitlement. Recently our community has been abusing our rights. Read OUR Community Creed:

Our community will be right-minded as we are focused throughout our day.
We will always be engaged and mentally active.
We will honor out classmates for being trustworthy and courageous and accepting their responsibilities.
We will work together to build loyal friendships and to ensure that everyone is learning.
Out community will take charge and help each other to make superb decisions.

In an appropriate 6th grade response, reflect on our Community Creed and our discussion about "entitlement". Include anything that you believe your teachers need to know about our community and recent behaviors. Your teachers will be reading your responses but these responses will NOT be viewed by your community unless you give us your permission.

Nutrition Essay

In a five paragraph essay, answer the following question:

Why is it important to choose our food carefully? Explain with specific details.

The Human Body

We are about to begin our second semester of science during which we will be focusing on The Human Body. Before we begin this unit, I want to know what you already know about this topic. Below are five questions to answer. Each answer should be at least a paragraph.

1) When have you already learned about the human body?
2) What do you know about how we digest food?
3) How does blood move through our bodies?
4) How do our muscles and skeleton work?
5) What you still want to know about the human body?

Reflection

After typing your Data Project reflection in a word document, post it to this blog.

In a well-constructed sixth grade essay, you need to reflect on our data project. Below are some good guiding questions to help you formulate your answer.

- After viewing all of the results, what is the typical middle school student?

- How do you compare/contrast from the typical student?

- How did the results compare to your original predictions?

- Is it likely that anyone is truly the “typical” middle school student? Justify your answers with evidence.

- If you were given an opportunity to do this project again, what would you do differently?

- If you had an opportunity to talk with any of the students from Peabody, Ipswich, or Houston, what questions would you like to ask them?