6th Grade MP3 Campus

School Data is open on the 1st for parent reviews. These are due by the 5th. We hope the cut and paste grade level newsletter will be helpful to supplement your remote learning plan reviews. Thank you for submitting in a timely manner and if you need help please reach out to your SLPC.

Topics: Positive and Negative Numbers

Activities: With the couple of classes we have had this month with all of our snow days and breaks, we have been working through and reviewing how to add and subtract with positive and negative numbers. Students have started this week on their final unit project - to balance a bank account! They may grow up in a time of online apps that do this for them, but being able to balance a checkbook helps students really get a feel for how quickly money can disappear. Students will add deposits (positive numbers) with purchases and fees (negative numbers). If the bank account ever falls into the negatives, they will have to add an additional fee for the overdraft. I'm sure this will create fun discussions about spending and the need to watch one's bank account once we finish. Students have already started making up stories behind purchases and the costs of things!

Teacher Tip: Have your student create a budget out of an average salary or income of a given job of their choice (will require some research). Then, if you feel comfortable, show them your monthly bills and have them start with one month's pay from their "job" to see if they could pay the bills and have money left over for food and transportation. This will open their eyes to how much is left or needed to purchase extra items, like clothes and entertainment.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Alexander - halexander@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Figurative Language, Winter Haiku, iReady Testing, Argument Essays

Activities: We kicked off the new year by writing figurative language about winter and transferring it to snowflakes to put on the wall. Then we moved into poetry writing and constructed Haiku poetry - also about winter. (Are you sensing a pattern here? 😉) Students wrote several examples and were careful to follow the line and syllable pattern of Haikus. They even included figurative language! We peer-edited our poems and then picked the strongest one to be displayed. One class day was spent on iReady testing and then we moved on to the preliminary work of writing argument essays. We learned that argument essays are not just opinion pieces - they need to include sound reasons and evidence. We practiced searching for evidence on both sides of an issue before making a claim about it. Then we rehearsed our claims out loud. Next we moved on to annotating an argument essay. We carefully identified the hook, claim, evidence, reasons and conclusion in the paper. To wrap up the month we began the planning process for our own argument papers.

Teacher Tip: Our next round of book projects will be due on Wednesday, February 21. Feel free to reach out if you or your students have any questions!

Teacher info: Rachel Oscarson - roscarson@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Vascular plants, heart and digestive system review

Activities: We conducted a celery experiment to learn about vascular plants. Each team had two stalks with leaves and two without leaves. We determined the mass of each celery stalk as well as the volume of water in each vial. We also had four leaved stalks in colored water in the front of the room. We had a “control” vial of water to account for evaporation. Students learned that vascular plants have two systems that act as their “veins.” The xylem brings nutrients and water from the soil, via the roots, and then to the rest of the plant. The phloem takes the sugar manufactured through photosynthesis from the cells in the leaves to the rest of the plant. Students determined after weighing each stalk and comparing the remaining volume of water that the leaved stalks used more water than the non-leaved stalks. Unused water taken into the plant evaporated through pores in the leaves into the air. They were also able to visibly see the vascular bundles in the celery that was in the colored water. A cross section was cut and each student was able to observe it with their eyes and then under the microscope. We read about vascular plants in our textbook.

Teacher Info: Mrs DeWaard, hdewaard@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Engineering and Design: Students create programmable models to demonstrate the knowledge and operation of digital tools and technological systems. Investigate balance and stability, effects of change in position on model’s movement, how force affects the motion of objects, modify an existing model or program to solve a problem. Observe and measure accurately to answer questions. completion criteria and constraints, balance and stability, investigated model design components and if they provided an advantage, gear ratios for speed, and modified an existing model or program to solve a problem. Programming sequences to complete a task or specific movement: drive forward/reverse, pivot turns, smooth turns (curves) and 360 degrees turns.

Activities: Specific Builds: Industrial simulated Robots Collaborating with a partner, students designed, built, and programed a model to complete a set of performance tasks with predictable movements, move forward/ reverse for specific distances and time, navigate a course that includes pivot turns, curved movement and movement forward and reverse for specific distances.

Gyro Boy: Students collaborated with their partners to build and program a two-wheeled upright balancing robot. The inspiration for Gyro Boy is the Segway robot. Gyro Boy uses a combination of the Motor Rotation sensors working with the Gyro Sensor to balance upright. The robot also responds to commands and feedback from the Color Sensor and the Ultrasonic Sensor. This model is an amazing example of what we can build with the LEGO MINDSTORMS kit. The LEGO supplied program is a complex set of algorithms that challenged student teams in multiple ways. This build is one that students will revisit to work towards mastering.

Challenge Project: Roller Coaster continued- Student teams continue to redesign their roller coasters to include more complex travel lines such as 180-degree revolutions, corkscrews, free fall drops. Student teams collaborated to problem solve issues and create the most creative and successful roller coasters. STEM projects provide hands-on l learning. Curiosity is piqued and students investigate many workable solutions using critical thinking skills and explore by manipulating materials to design or solve a problem. STEM projects present opportunities to develop a mindset and a lifelong set of practices for asking questions, designing solutions, and communicating results. The roller coaster challenge is a multiple day activity.

Teacher Tip: Include Robotics, Engineering and Design Topics and activities in your independent Science Class review.

Teacher Info: Mrs. Brannen - lbrannen@meridian.wednet.edu

Topics: Analyzing poll data, demographics, bill signing

Activities: In our final month of We The Kids, students developed a deeper understanding of the relationship between lawmakers and the people they represent. In addition to polling classmates, students played an interesting game on iCivics called Lawcraft. In this simulation, we learned how lawmakers must stay aware of the wants and needs of the voters. We talked about terms like demographics and constituents and how characteristics like age, income and geographic setting (urban, suburban and rural) influence the bills voters support.

With all of this taken into consideration, the final draft of our bill will now be sent to Mrs. Siadal for consideration and we will eagerly await her decision.

It was a joy working with this civic minded group of students for the semester. Thanks for your hard work!

Teacher Tip: Looking forward to seeing you for US History in the second semester

Teacher Info: Let me know if you have any questions!

Jeff Caraco, jcaraco@meridian.wednet.edu