A Day in Sixth Grade

Posted by Harrell on 27 September 2011 | 0 Comments

Tuesday, 9/27/2011 - I spent the day with the sixth grade today. What a terrific group of forty young people – smart, lively, engaged, enthusiastic! We enjoyed classes with Mr. Durham (art), Mr. Matthews (Health/PE), Mr. Nelson (social studies), Mr. Pease (science), and Ms. Vaughan (music). I hope to return tomorrow for classes with Ms. Barnes (mathematics), Ms. Bruce (Spanish), Ms. Hughes (mathematics), Mr. Jester (English) and Ms. Little (French). It was an amazing day in sixth grade.

Each time I visit a Woods class, I am reminded of how awesome our faculty is. Mr. Nelson wants his students to know, understand, and appreciate the major themes of geography, all of which involve the interactions of human beings with the planet. Today, sixth grade geography students explored the cultures of aboriginal people from four different locations around the world with an eye toward how these people adapted to their environment. Adaptation is a major theme of geography. (Adaptation to the world of middle school, academically and socially, is a major challenge for sixth graders.) Our laptop cart and the Internet put text and photographic resources about these people at our fingertips.

I had very brief opportunities to observe students completing a complicated “metric puzzler” in Ms. Hughes’ class and predicting the weight of a great pumpkin in Ms. Barnes’ class. I’m definitely looking forward to a return visit to learn more. Mr. Matthews was introducing soccer to sixth grade. Have you ever considered how you would “teach soccer” to a group of students, including a student who has been playing for eight years and a student who has never really played? That’s the daily challenge for Mr. Matthews, and he is very adept at sharing big ideas about the game, as well as small tips for playing well, as he uses student expertise to demonstrate ideas. He also encourages students to help each other improve – a great life lesson for all if us – helping those around us get better at things we have mastered without discouraging them.

In music, Ms. Vaughan introduced a number of classic musical themes by the likes of Handel and Copeland. Clearly, Copeland’s “Hoe Down” was a favorite of Ms. Vaughan’s and became a favorite of her students. She adeptly maneuvered her new computer to bring up musical material for identification, and she combined witty banter with the musical selections to help students recognize and remember what they heard. Brava, Ms. Vaughan!

Mr. Durham’s art class is transitioning from Greek art to Roman art. Their excellent and beautifully illustrated “high school level” textbook provides a wealth of information about the nature of art. Mr. Durham uses a combination of lecture/discussion, textbook research, and hands-on artistic creation to introduce important ideas and skills. I enjoyed viewing student art -- Greek masks and “name columns” (Greek columns supported by the letters in a student’s name), as well as “Square 1 art.” The zen of Mr. Durham’s approach to artistic creation is irresistible. (btw - If you want to know the Greek name for “a large storage jar with two handles,” this would be the ideal place to find out about that.)

Speaking of art … who knew that our new science teacher, Mr. Pease, was such an artist? Soil erosion was the topic, and I learned that one or more of four fundamental processes are generally at work when erosion happens – water, wind, gravity, and/or glaciers. Students explored the forces at work in nature while Mr. Pease created illustrations faster than one could blink. He even managed to work in a shark along the way which was a thrill for the class … but is it related to erosion??? … hmmm. Unfortunately, our small hill between elementary parking and bus parking provided an example of erosion at work. (Note to self: we need to do something about that!)

Are you exhilarated? Exhausted? A bit of both? Hey, that’s a day in sixth grade!