6th Grade News 11/20-11/22/17

HUMANITIES

This week in History class, students had the chance to write like Mesopotamian scribes. They flattened clay into small tablets, used wedge-shaped writing tools that resembled reed styluses, and carved sentences using the ancient writing system called Cuneiform. Some chose to paint their tablets in bright colors, too. After this writing exercise, students were better able to imagine the life and work of scribes, who played a valuable role in Mesopotamian society. Here are some photos of the students at work:

In Literature class, we reached the end of our novel The Giver. The occasion sparked strong feelings in many of the students: some appreciated the vague nature of the ending, while others had hoped for something more conclusive. A 1994 Nobel Prize acceptance speech by the book’s author, Lois Lowry, outlined her own perspective on the novel and its ending. Students read and discussed her speech, gaining insight into both the book and their own lives.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday,

Naomi

SCIENCE

Students started to explore how heredity provides traits to offspring. After understanding that we have dominant and recessive traits, students started building genetic smiley faces. They flipped coins in order to randomly create a dominant or recessive trait within the smiley face. Next week we will use Google Draw to bring these traits to life!

Mike Noll

HEBREW

Dear parents, this week students in HaKbatza Aleph have been practicing conversations at the doctor and learning an Israeli song.

HaKbatza Bet has been discussing various schools and their schedules. In addition, we reviewed various Binyanim in the present tense and learned a new song.

I wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving,

Andreea