Overview
Sixth grade is a time of transition as students move from elementary to middle school. At King, the 6th-grade year is distinguished by several features that help support students during this time of change:
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Students largely stay with the same group of classmates as they move to different core teachers.
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Classrooms are mostly together on the ground floor and in the courtyard; 7th and 8th graders rarely have reason to travel near those classrooms.
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Students have their lunch break at a time different from that of the upper grades.
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Sixth grade students have P.E. every day. They do not need to dress for P.E. but should wear sneakers or other appropriate footwear.
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Students have three teachers in the following areas:
Humanities — English and History
Math and Science
P.E.
Advisory
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Grade 6 students also participate in a Wheel Program of four supplemental classes during one of their six periods of the day. All 6th graders take the Social Smarts class. Some students have a math or reading support class in lieu of the other three Wheel classes.​
See the 6th grade Bell Schedule for details
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For the list of 6th grade teachers please see the Full Staff Directory
6th Grade
Advisory
During Advisory period, students either read independently from a book of their choice or receive extra help in math. This is also when students take Accelerated Reader tests to chart their independent reading.
Students who would are interested in extra help with reading may be paired during this time with a volunteer from the King Readers Program for individual reading support.
School assemblies are usually scheduled during this period.
Humanities
English/Language Arts
In 6th grade English/Language Arts, students continue to practice essential skills in reading and writing. Throughout the school year, students will also be exposed to library skills.
Independent reading is an integral part of the English program in all grades at King Middle School. Students study the elements of literature through stories and poems. Students study root words and their relationships to meaning and spelling. Grammar, including parts of speech and sentence combining, is another thread that runs through the entire school year.
History
The sixth-grade History course begins with the study of early humans and progresses towards a comparative study of ancient civilizations and world geography.
In addition to their regular classroom studies, students may experience history-themed hands-on lessons led by the Edible Schoolyard garden teachers.
Math
Common Core Curriculum
New academic standards were adopted at King beginning school year 2013–14. King, along with all schools throughout California, has adopted the Common Core Curriculum. Learn more at these links:
The Council of the Great City Schools has posted these and other resources to help communicate the CCSS to parents on their Common Core Works website, http://www.commoncoreworks.org/.
Three-Minute Video Explaining the Common Core State Mathematics Standards
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English: http://www.cgcs.org/Page/366
Science
In 6th grade, science students focus on the earth sciences. Students also are exposed to methods of scientific investigation and experimentation.
Physical Education
Sixth grade students have P.E. every day.
They do not need to dress for P.E. but should wear sneakers or other appropriate footwear. These can be kept in their locker if necessary.
Wheel Program
Rather than have electives from which students choose, 6th graders all take four "Wheel" classes, supplemental to their core academic subjects. Students spend an academic quarter in each program, rotating through the following four classes.
What’s On Your Plate?
In this class, students examine the choices we make concerning our food through a variety of activities, films, art, and projects. They learn about nutrition, digestion, and farming. They discuss where our food comes from, comparing sustainable agriculture vs. non-sustainable and organic farming vs. mono-culture farming. Students also examine what is in our food, looking at fat and sugar content as well as processed vs. unprocessed foods.
Social Smarts
Social Smarts aims at teaching students to
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respect differences
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foster empathy for all
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communicate effectively to resolve conflicts
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express their needs and listen to the needs of others
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create a sense of self and cultural understanding
The Social Smarts curriculum focuses on teaching students self-confidence and self-awareness, as well as an awareness of the harmful effects of bullying and how to be an ally. The goal is to create a community that fosters an understanding of differences and empathy for others while learning to take responsibility for personal actions. Working towards this goal, we examine music and literature and film, write poetry, create several art projects, and regularly share perspectives through discussion and journal writing.
Games
The Games Wheel class was designed to give students a chance to learn “classic” games, to actively engage with each other, have fun, and analyze what makes a good game. Many of these “classic” games have their origin in the ancient cultures studied by 6th graders in their history class. Games are important in developing mathematical thinking. While playing games, students learn rules, strategies, and logical reasoning, which are foundations of mathematics. In addition, they learn and practice cooperation, problem solving and many other social skills. For the first six weeks of the games class, students play a variety of “classic” games such as Checkers, Mancala, Chess, Connect Four, Othello, Dominoes, Sorry, Parcheesi, Monopoly, and more. They analyze games for their structure, strategies, and special features that make the games interesting, challenging, and fun to play. For the last three weeks of the quarter students use this knowledge to design their own game and rules. The class culminates with students testing and playing each other’s games.
Computers
More info coming soon!
Edible Schoolyard
Sixth grade students visit the Edible Schoolyard for either Kitchen or Garden. The curriculum is coordinated with the 6th grade educational program. The Edible Schoolyard at King teaches essential life skills and supports academic learning through hands-on classes in a one-acre organic garden and kitchen classroom.
Students come to the garden with their science class. In the garden, they learn the basic tenets of growing food by working with compost, propagating plants in the greenhouse, cultivating beds, and harvesting fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs.
Students come to the kitchen with their humanities class. In the kitchen classroom, students will gain an understanding of the basic tools and techniques of preparing food, how to read and execute a recipe, and how to share food around the table.
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As the Edible Schoolyard is fully integrated in to the academic experience at King, students in the sixth grade also learn about ancient civilizations, trade along the Silk Road, ecology, and life systems.