Language Arts Grade 6

The sixth grade language arts curriculum concentrates on reading, grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and writing in an eighty-minute block period each day.  We use a novel-based approach.  There is a writing assignment for each novel we read.  We explore expository, compare/contrast, persuasive, poetry, research, and creative writing forms, using a different type for each book we read.  We also work on creative writing in our journals, along with essay writing and note taking skills.

We use Wordskills to cover the vocabulary for sixth grade, as well as studying the vocabulary in each of the novels.  The vocabulary books double as our spelling books, too.  The Write Source is a handbook we use for everything from grammar to parts of speech to the different forms of writing.  The theme we use for the year in our novels is “coming of age”.  Each of the main characters in the novels are about the age of the students and all face circumstances that cause them to look at life more like an adult, similar to what the students at this level are experiencing now. 

Current Events

Greek Day

Junior High Language Arts teacher, Mrs. Eileen Lippi leads the sixth graders in celebrating 'Greek Day.' Each year the sixth grade spends much time preparing for Greek Day -- the culmination of their language arts curriculum. The Class of 2011 (sixth grade) presented their version of Greek Day on May 15, 2009.  This special day has become a rite of spring and a wrap up of the language arts class work on Greek myth and culture.  A reception featuring Greek food is always part of the festivities. Other assignments during Greek study are the production of a diorama depicting a story from Greek mythology and a term paper about a Greek hero.