Math & Science Update

I'd like to provide you with a brief update of our curriculum for the remainder of the school year.

In Math, students finished their MCAS testing on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I saw many students making use of effective strategies while testing!  Before MCAS, students had been working on expressions and equations.  We will be continuing our work with expressions and equations into early June.  Students should be able to express various situations with an equation and solve those equations using different strategies.  Those strategies include using back tracking, a tape diagram, or algebra.  When we finish our unit on expressions and equations, we will do some more work on data and probability.

In Science, students recently finished our major unit on cells and body systems.  The culminating task required students to create a comic book which highlighted the journey of a food, oxygen, or water molecule's journey through at least two body systems.  In addition, students were asked to describe what happens at a cellular level.  We have moved on to our unit on fossils and evolution.  Students are learning how the fossil record gives us information about ancient organisms, their environments, extinctions, and how life forms have changed throughout Earth's history.  Additionally, students are learning how anatomical structures can show us relationships between and among ancient organisms and modern organisms.

When we complete our unit on fossils and evolution, we will be completing our final unit for the year which will cover waves and their properties.  Students will learn the various properties of waves and how light, sound, and electromagnetic waves behave.  Additionally, they will be learning about digital waves.

May ELA and Social Studies Curriculum Update

     In ELA the Essential Question is: What is my place in this world?  We have been busy reading the novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor. Along with learning about segregation in the 1930's in the South, students are also working on looking at main ideas and details, using two-column notes in order to better understand the story. In addition, students continue to work on their ability to respond to text by synthesizing ideas from multiple sources. Students will work on an engaging and fun culminating activity of the Roll of Thunder Trial. Students will simulate what a real court of law is like, while looking at the trial through various characters' perspectives.  As May comes to a close, students will be working on a Research project that will be further explained then!

     In Social Studies, student are learning about Ancient Rome. The Essential Question is How is the ancient Roman influence seen today? Also, how does geography impact the  growth of a civilization? Some of the objectives students will meet are the ability to describe how the Etruscans and Greeks had a major influence on Roman culture. Also they will be able to describe the Roman government systems and differentiate between the patricians and plebeians in the Roman Republic. They will study and learn about how Rome expanded from a republic and grew into a vast empire. They will be able to make connections between ancient Rome and our modern world today. They will study the internal weaknesses of the Roman Empire and identify and analyze the reasons that fall of Rome. Finally, students will be able to describe the legacy of ancient Rome as seen in art, science, technology, architecture and engineering. 

May Newsletter

Team Taylor May Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

April went by in a flash! We are thankful that the cold weather is hopefully behind us!

The sixth grade teachers enjoyed meeting the parents of our incoming 5th graders on

April 26th, it seems like it was not so long ago that we met with you!

April was a busy month for us in sixth grade! Students have been working diligently

in all academic classes. Along with all our hard work students will be taking the

Math MCAS exam on May 15th and 16th. Students have been focused on learning

strategies in their math classes all year and are prepared to show what they know!

They have been embracing the strategies they are learning at school and should be

proud of all of their efforts. In order to ensure that students are able to do their best

on exam days, we are asking you at home to encourage them to get a good night’s

sleep and eat a healthy breakfast on exam days. Students should also come to school

with a water bottle, snack, and independent reading book on testing days. No electronic

readers are allowed on these days during the test times.

As the weather begins to warm up, we encourage students to remain focused on their

school work. We still have a solid amount of curriculum to cover.  We expect students

to begin taking more responsibility for their own learning and advocating for themselves

if they need help in any areas of the curriculum. We also encourage them to use class

and Flex time wisely to see teachers for extra help as needed. We will continue to

support them and help foster this independence to help them become ready to be 7th graders.

As a part of our Admirable Attributes program, Team Taylor recognizes two students

each month who exemplify attributes of the authors we read in 6th grade.  The

Admirable Attribute for the month of April was Independent. We want to encourage

students to be thinking of others this month and finding ways to show that they care.

We truly feel that the success of our students depends on clear communication between

school and home. Please feel free to contact us if you have any concerns or questions

about your child's progress. Email is the best method to reach us. Our email addresses

available on the ASMS web page. You can also find a link to the Team Taylor Blog

on this site. If you haven’t been on it, it’s a valuable page we use to communicate

about our team news and curriculum.

Warm Regards,

Team Taylor Teachers

Important Dates This Month:

May 4th - Professional Development Day ½ Day Students

May 15th & 16th Math MCAS

May 28th - Memorial Day No School

Team Taylor Admirable Attribute Recipients:

September - Optimistic - Ben P. & Hannah M.

October - Curious - Ryan P. & Sabrina T.

November - Respectful - Nicolas A. & Sammy B.

December - Perseverance - Ahan S. & Maya A.

January - Generous - Brian A. & Alex B.

February - Creative - Ashley D. & Maria Z.

March - Compassionate - Victoria O. & Mason S.

April - Independent - To be announced

May- Flexible -

June - Responsible -