6th Grade News

In October, the students fill hundreds of Halloween treat bags for the children and families at the Ronald McDonald House. Mary Toomey, a representative for the Ronald McDonald House, visits  Magellan to meet with the students, provide information and answer questions about the Ronald McDonald House. The children learn that the Ronald McDonald House provides a home-away-from-home for families of seriously ill children being treated at Duke Medical Center, and that the treat bags filled with goodies help to spread a little bit of joy to these children and their families during a difficult time.

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Sixth grade at Magellan is a fun-filled year of activities and voyages that relate to the curriculum. The year begins with a day at Lake Crabtree Park working with the park rangers and enjoying games/food with parents. Other trips include a trip to Staunton, Virginia, where the students visit the Frontier Culture Museum, a living history site featuring four reconstructed working farms from Europe, tour the Natural Bridge and the Caverns; a trip to Myrtle Beach with a visit to the Medieval Times Theater; and in 2007-2008, for the first time for sixth graders, a trip to Trinity Center at Atlantic Beach. Day voyages include Chapel Hill for the Planetarium and a visit to an actual college classroom for a talk by an archaeologist, Carrboro Arts Center, the Art Museum, and we finish the year with a day-long, fun picnic. One of the highlights of a sixth grader’s day is enrichment time. During this time the student learns numerous crafts and explores the arts. Examples are: cross-stitching, knitting and dancing. This time allows students to be really creative and have fun, too. When the students finish sixth grade and write their reflections of the year, they seem really sad to see the year end, but all agree they are ready for seventh grade.

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Social Studies

Welcome to sixth grade social studies! Please keep all hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times when we rocket off down history lane for the year opener: the study of ancient Greece. Our sixth graders learn about the food, culture and life of ancient Greeks. We close our unit with Greek Day, when our sixth graders dress up as Greeks and get to act out plays. (The Olympics might even come to Raleigh for this.) As the study of Greece comes to a close, we begin our study of Shakespeare, with a reading of Macbeth, and a trip to the Blackfriar's Playhouse in Staunton, VA. Next comes Rome, our study of how it went from the grandest city in Europe, to a desolate wasteland. This leads to our study of the Middle Ages and our trip to Myrtle Beach, where we visit the Medieval Times Theater. Then comes the study of imperial Russia and Stalin, paired with the study of the Holocaust, which may cause you to break down and cry. Finally, comes our renaissance study to end the year on a happy note. At last, it’s 11:15 on the last day of school, and sixth grade social studies comes to a heartbreaking close. The Social Studies journey is definitely a memory you will cherish forever.

Written by Brett C.

Links:

Social Studies

Learning Europe

Europe Puzzle

Map Geo Quiz

BBC:Ancient Greece

ODYSSEY Online: Greece

Knights

Lonely Planet

CIA World Fact Book

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Language Arts

As fifth graders complete their school year, they look forward to just hanging out with friends, relaxing and….reading? During the summer they are expected to read and summarize two books; however this is only the beginning of the journey. Once a sixth grader walks in the door, the first thing they see is two smiling faces, Mrs. Grant’s and Mrs. Walker’s, that make them feel welcome to their first language arts class in the sixth grade. Beginning with the new school year, 2007-2008, language arts will be shared by Mrs. Walker and Mrs. Pring. After students have been in classes for several weeks and have been writing and reading day after day, classes are side-lined for special days of activities full of fun. One of these days is Greek Day. This day is full of activities; both academic and athletic Olympics take place. However, this is not the only day when exciting things happen, not even close. Medieval day has a king, queen, lords, ladies, and townspeople. All students are involved in the banquet, morality plays, entertainment and knighting. In language arts both Greek myths and fables are written while studying these two periods of history, as well as writing and producing plays. Finally, in the spring, the Holocaust is studied, and students understand this horrible period of history after watching movies and reading novels about the subject. One other aspect of language arts is a vocabulary book, and students learn over 300 words by studying fifteen units of the book. All in all, language arts is challenging but fun with interesting novels to read and many choices of writing to produce.

Written by Charlotte R.

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Math

When students arrive in Mrs. Sutton’s math class with their brand new pencils and paper, they have just arrived from a fun-filled summer. Little do they know, that soon they will be jumping into fractions, probability, percents, ratios, and even pre- algebra.   The school year 2007-2008 is Mrs. Sutton’s first full year at Magellan with sixth grade math. She is a really great teacher, and the kids like her.

Written by Rachel C.

Links:

Math

Factors Game

Roman Numeral Converter

Roman Numeral Challenge Game

Math Homework Center

Flashcards

Simplifying Fractions

Least Common Multiple

Fresh Baked Fractions


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Science

In science we discover and experience things we never would have been able to without going to Magellan. We take a journey through soil and discover how to grow a garden, which we tend to throughout the year. Then we rapidly move into astronomy, and learn about everything from the theory of the Big Bang, to NASA landing on the moon in 1969, and everything in between. Later, we become geologists and dig our way through rocks. While we journey through all this, we are performing exciting hands on experiments as individuals and groups. We make popcorn to convey the process of energy traveling through solids (then eat it), burn different materials to show their composition, we are detectives as we ID rocks and minerals together, draw with soils from different areas to create beautiful art-work, and so much more! During the year we also are able to express our artistic side as we learn useful songs and dances as mnemonics.

Written by Caroline F.

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