Sixth Grade Humanities
Julie Bowers
Language Arts and Social Studies
julie.bowers@parkdayschool.org
Office Hours: Mondays 3:30-4:00 and 4:00-4:30
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Course Descriptions
Humanities is an integrated social studies and language arts program combining the reading, writing,
listening and speaking skills of language arts with the content of social studies. The course reflects
California sixth grade Common Core Standards for both socials studies and language arts and Park
Day’s commitment to a progressive education that values intellectual pursuit, critical thinking,
creative expression, self-discovery and social justice.
Our course of social studies is guided by the following essential questions:
How does geography shape the formation and development of civilizations?
How are power and resources distributed?
How do we know what we think we know?
Social Studies Throughlines--
Who am I?
What is social structure?
What is culture?
What is civilization?
Language Arts Throughlines--
Who am I?
How can I express myself in a meaningful and
effective way?
What is the writing process?
What are the components of effective text and
literature?
Social Studies
In sixth grade, each student will positively identify as a geographer, historian, cultural
anthropologist, and philosopher. Students will develop an understanding and appreciation of the
complexity of social sciences. They will also be challenged to constantly consider and be mindful of
multiple perspectives and their individual roles in the many communities to which they belong and
contribute.
Social Studies Unit
Understanding Goals
Identity
Archaeology and Early
Humans
Mesopotamia
Ancient China
Who am I? What makes up a culture? How does culture get passed on
to generations? What are similarities across cultures? How do I
identify as a reader? How do I identify as a writer? How do I identify
as a learner?
How do we know about our ancient past? What do archaeologists do?
How and why did humans evolve? What do we know about our first
civilizations?
Literature Focus: A Bone From a Dry Sea by Peter Dickinson
What are the common geographical features in ancient civilizations?
And how do they impact the development of agriculture? What
common factors serve to unite people with different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds?
How do the ideals and values of ancient China affect us in today’s
society? How did Confucianism address the problems that plagued the
Chinese society? Why was the Silk Road so beneficial to the Chinese
Civilization?
Literature Focus: Red Scarf Girl by Ji-li Jiang
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Ancient Egypt
Ancient India
Around the World
Why is the study of Ancient Egypt so enduring? What do we know
about ancient Egyptian society? What were the important and
influential components of Ancient Egyptian culture?
Literature Focus: The Golden Goblet by Jarvis McGraw
What does it mean to be Indian? How has India’s diversity affected its
history and vice versa? What are the similarities and differences
between the religions that originated in ancient India?
What are the world’s continents and where are they located? What are
the major land and water forms on each continent? What does it mean
to be a world traveler? What can we learn from cultures that are
different than ours?
Language Arts
Students will come away with a solid understanding of different genres of expository and creative
writing. They will develop independent research skills and assimilate and apply knowledge gained in
written and oral presentations. Students will also become more adept at recognizing the purpose
and audience of their writing and/or presentations. They will continue to refine their ability to
critically analyze literature. Students will come to understand the importance of engaging in and
utilizing all the steps in the writing process. They will also develop oral skills through presentations,
class discussions and dramatic interpretations.
Language Arts Unit
Identity
Writer’s Workshop
Writing Process
Argument Writing
K-Buddy Story
Travel Writing
(Around the World
Project)
Research Report
Understanding Goals
Who am I? How can we effectively express our individuality through
poetry and personal narrative? Who are we as readers? How can we
use the most effective language to convey our thoughts and ideas?
How do we write a thorough and meaningful literature response? How
do we engage in thought provoking literature discussions?
Writing Focus: Metaphor Poem, Short Memoirs and Personal
Narratives
Reading Focus: Independent Reading Program
How do we identify as writers? Where do we get inspiration for
writing topics? What genres of writing do we enjoy most?
Writing Focus: Independent, personal writing
What makes writing something that you want to keep reading? How
can narrowed ideas make a piece of writing more clear? Why is
organization so important in writing? How can voice
emphasize ideas in a piece of writing? How does word choice make
writing more visual? Why is sentence fluency important? Why are
conventions so important in any type of writing?
What is assertive argument? What are the different kinds of
supporting evidence? Why is audience important when writing
argument essays?
What is an effective short story? How can we capture our kindergarten
buddies in hero short stories? How can we show instead of tell through
our writing?
What is travel writing? How can we create an accurate, engaging and
descriptive travel account?
How do we formulate manageable research topics? How do we create
effective guiding research questions? Why is effective note taking
important? How does an outline help organize our writing? What is
the importance of drawing on varied sources and citing them
accurately?
Understanding Goals are similar to those of Research Report.
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I Search Project
Additionally, how do we attain information from interviews and
observations for research purposes? How do we examine our research
experience metacognitively? How do we present our research findings
by producing something and creating an engaging presentation?
Expectations for Humanities
Note Taking and Making Thinking Visible
Note taking is explicitly taught to develop important skills. Its purpose is also to provide the students
with a record of their learning as new concepts are taught and/or new information is added to
previously learned concepts. Making thinking visible is an ongoing process in which students are
expected to show their understanding of key ideas and “take-aways” from learning experiences in the
classroom.
Humanities Homework
Homework will be given in humanities class. Each student will have a planner to record the
work. The goal of the planners is to help students learn to plan their workload
independently. Planners will be used throughout middle school in 7/8th grades too.
Assignments will also be posted on the sixth grade website.
The goal of homework is mostly to review and cement skills and concepts. It may also serve
as time to read a passage, finish a writing piece, interview a parent, or interview an expert
for research purposes.
Students will make up late or missing assignments and points will be deducted for late
work. Students who come unprepared for a class will be expected to work during recess.
Homework excuse notes must be hand-written (not emailed) and signed by a parent. With a
note, no points will be deducted and a new due date will be negotiated between the student
and the teacher.
Tardy and Absence Policy
Please report all absences and tardies to Cassandra at our front office
cassandra.mccraw@parkdayschool.org
See Middle School handbook for more details.
Typed Work
If possible, we would like essays and reports typed, edited and printed at home.
Students who need to print at school, must use recess time, not class time to do so.
How Students Can Get Extra Help
Homework should be done independently unless a tutor or parent usually works with the
student. If your child asks you for help, please ask them if they’ve already asked the teacher
for help. If they haven’t yet asked us for help, please redirect them to do so. If you write a
quick note telling us that your child needs extra help, it will cover for them not completing
that night’s homework.
It’s imperative that students get in the habit of seeking help from their teachers. We will
give work time at school so that students have access to us.
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Humanities materials to bring every day
 Pencils and Pens
 Assigned class book (if applicable)
 Home Learning Binder aka “Zippy Friend”
 Writers’ Notebook
Scoring and Assessing Will Consider:
Home Learning
-quality and promptness
Participation
-doing what is required at any given time
Projects
-meeting criteria and conveying accuracy
Tests
Quizzes
Assessment of Student Performance:
 A portfolio of written work will be maintained in the class throughout the year.
 Final writing assignments will be assessed using rubrics specific to the assignments.
 Unit projects will be assessed using rubrics specific to the assignments.
 Tests and quizzes will be given on major history units, grammar, and reading.
On tests and quizzes, students will earn a percentage score based on a straight curve. These
scores will be communicated to each student and his/her guardians. Tests and quizzes will
be used as learning tools in that students will correct mistakes and reflect back on their
learning and overall understanding of the concepts.
Meeting the needs of the different learning styles in the classroom
Our goal is to support each student as a successful and confident learner. We also want each
student to know about, understand, and self advocate for their learning needs.
As a larger middle school staff we communicate about each student’s social and academic
needs all throughout the school year. We also have a learning specialist who will keep
records of testing, resource specialists, tutors or other pertinent information about each
student. If learning becomes a consistently negative experience, we will make
accommodations and seek ways for each student to feel great about school.
Please detach and return to Julie by Tuesday, September 9th
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I have shared this course description with my parent/guardian(s) and have all the supplies I need!
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Student Signature
Date
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Parent Signature
Date
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