Welcome to 6th Grade Social Studies!
What is 6th Grade Social Studies all about?
In 6th grade social studies, you’ll become historians. The word history comes from the Greek word historia, which has been borrowed by different languages and can mean investigation, inquiry, research, account, description, recorded knowledge of past events, or story. If history is a story of the past, who wrote it?
In our Social Studies class we’ll understand history as a collection of many stories told and retold by different people with different perspectives. This year we’ll study the history of the country we live in: the United States. While we’ll focus on time periods in the past, we will be guided by questions and ideas that connect to the present, too.
We’ll use our historical knowledge to figure out how WE can be active community members of our school, neighborhoods, state, country, and world. This means we’ll have to ask questions about what is just and unjust in our world today and take a stand to make things better. Who knows, maybe the social action we take together in sixth grade will one day be written down as history for others to learn about!
OUR ESSENTIAL QUESTION ACROSS 6th-8th GRADES:
How did our world get to be unequal?
OUR ESSENTIAL QUESTION ACROSS 6th GRADE:
Who has voice? Whose voices get heard within a country? How do people and groups get their voices heard?
What assignments will I be expected to complete in Social Studies?
How will my work and participation in Social Studies be graded?
Each of the following areas of your work counts toward your grade in our class. Throughout the year, you and I will use the rubrics attached to your class handbook assess your work and work habits.
Notebook: 30%
Performance Tasks & Projects: 30%
Work Habits & Participation: 30%
Quizzes: 10%
What important work habits and skills will I practice in Social Studies?
In addition to becoming strong historians, you’ll grow stronger at these skills:
Contact Information
Please contact Ms. Okun with any question, concern, or idea you would like to share!
Email Ms. Okun: ada@thelearningcommunity.com
Call Ms. Okun: 401-454-9399
Call the school: 401-722-9998
Stop by room 426 before or after school and schedule a meeting.
Por favor póngase en contacto con Ms. Okun con cualquier pregunta, preocupación, or idea que le gustaría compartir!
Correo electrónico de Ms. Okun: ada@thelearningcommunity.com
Número de teléfono de Ms. Okun: 401-454-9399
Número de teléfono de la escuela: 401-722-9998
Pase por la salón 426 antes or después de la escuela para hacer una cita.
In 6th grade social studies, you’ll become historians. The word history comes from the Greek word historia, which has been borrowed by different languages and can mean investigation, inquiry, research, account, description, recorded knowledge of past events, or story. If history is a story of the past, who wrote it?
In our Social Studies class we’ll understand history as a collection of many stories told and retold by different people with different perspectives. This year we’ll study the history of the country we live in: the United States. While we’ll focus on time periods in the past, we will be guided by questions and ideas that connect to the present, too.
We’ll use our historical knowledge to figure out how WE can be active community members of our school, neighborhoods, state, country, and world. This means we’ll have to ask questions about what is just and unjust in our world today and take a stand to make things better. Who knows, maybe the social action we take together in sixth grade will one day be written down as history for others to learn about!
OUR ESSENTIAL QUESTION ACROSS 6th-8th GRADES:
How did our world get to be unequal?
OUR ESSENTIAL QUESTION ACROSS 6th GRADE:
Who has voice? Whose voices get heard within a country? How do people and groups get their voices heard?
What assignments will I be expected to complete in Social Studies?
- Homework: You will not have social studies homework every day. Occasionally, you will have a short reading or writing assignment to do at home, but most of your assignments will be given in class and you will have class time to work on them. You will know the due date ahead of time, and whatever you do not finish in class by the due date will become your homework.
- Research Notebook: You will do most of your classwork in your social studies notebook. This notebook will hold your research notes, your thinking about those notes, and class notes we write together. Ms. Okun will do Notebook Checks once or twice every unit. You will know the date of notebook checks ahead of time, and you may take home your notebook any time before that date to make it your best.
- Quizzes: You will not have tests in 6th grade social studies, but there will occasionally be short quizzes to check in about important ideas and information we have discussed as a class. You will always know ahead of time when a quiz is coming up. We will get ready for quizzes together in class and prepare study guides for you to use at home.
- Performance Tasks: These assignments ask you to put together information you have learned during a unit. Performance tasks are usually creative in some way and take between 2-5 class periods to complete. Examples include: writing a diary entry from the perspective of a person from history, creating an informational chart to teach others about a topic, making a collage that shows important images and ideas about a topic, and participating in a debate.
- Projects: Some of our units will end in a bigger final project. Our class will represent what we’ve learned during the unit and present to an audience. You will have a lot of choice about what your final project looks like, but it will have to fit with our class’s presentation. Projects take several weeks to complete. Examples include: creating a museum, holding a convention, and taking some kind of action to affect change in your community.
How will my work and participation in Social Studies be graded?
Each of the following areas of your work counts toward your grade in our class. Throughout the year, you and I will use the rubrics attached to your class handbook assess your work and work habits.
Notebook: 30%
Performance Tasks & Projects: 30%
Work Habits & Participation: 30%
Quizzes: 10%
What important work habits and skills will I practice in Social Studies?
In addition to becoming strong historians, you’ll grow stronger at these skills:
- Keep my materials organized and cared for across spaces (classrooms, locker, backpack, home).
- Arrive on time for every class, ready to focus on learning.
- Come to every class prepared with the expected materials and assignments.
- Plan ahead about when I will work on different parts of my assignments.
- Complete assignments by their due dates.
- Do assignments in a way that shows I took my time, thought deeply, and pushed myself.
- Participate with an active and open mind.
- Work cooperatively with others.
- Take responsibility for my mistakes and make up for them.
- Ask for help when I need it.
Contact Information
Please contact Ms. Okun with any question, concern, or idea you would like to share!
Email Ms. Okun: ada@thelearningcommunity.com
Call Ms. Okun: 401-454-9399
Call the school: 401-722-9998
Stop by room 426 before or after school and schedule a meeting.
Por favor póngase en contacto con Ms. Okun con cualquier pregunta, preocupación, or idea que le gustaría compartir!
Correo electrónico de Ms. Okun: ada@thelearningcommunity.com
Número de teléfono de Ms. Okun: 401-454-9399
Número de teléfono de la escuela: 401-722-9998
Pase por la salón 426 antes or después de la escuela para hacer una cita.