As part of our study of the American Revolution, 6th Graders worked in groups to research one of the causes of the American Revolution. Each group then put together a dramatic “Town Crier Announcement” in which they explained what happened and why. Check out their videos below!

The Boston Massacre
Luka & Veda Ruth

The Stamp Act
Ben & Tanner

The Boston Tea Party
Geir, Griffin & Dara

The Intolerable Acts
Ella & Devon

The Townshend Acts
Come into the classroom if you’d like to see this video!

On Thursday, March 10th, students presented the original works of art they created based on the novels they read independently this month.  We had a wonderful audience who came to view the art and hear the artists’ presentations.  We also enjoyed cookies and lemonade!

Here is a copy of their assignment:

Project: Art Gallery Opening

The Leverett Elementary School Library is hosting an Art Show and is seeking submissions of art inspired by books.  Any medium of art is acceptable.  Some ideas include a watercolor painting, a sculpture, a 3D collage, a realistic pen and ink sketch, a photo exhibit, or a mixed medium project.  All projects must have a title and must state what book and author inspired the work.  Additionally, each project needs to have an artist’s statement that clearly explains the piece and how the art is related to the book.  Each artist will give a brief (1-2 minute) introduction to his/her work of art before patrons will be allowed to peruse the gallery.

The 6th grade had a great time creating a fruit salad for our Valentine’s Day celebration on Friday, February 12th.  Students brought in different fruit, prepared the fruit, set all the fruit out on the table and built individual fruit salads!  The room was very colorful and smelled delicious!  What a great celebration of friendship the afternoon before vacation!

This week in sixth grade we are continuing our fantasy reading unit. In class we are reading the fantasy book The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.  The first week in library class we chose our fantasy books to read independently in class.  Some of the books we are reading include the Redwall Series, The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Striker, I am Number 4, and many more!

At the beginning of our reading period Ms. Bull tells us to write down thoughts on our reading. We have learned about the different settings in fantasy (medieval, futuristic, or everyday world with fantasy elements) and different plot lines.   We have learned to pay attention when the character is learning about the fantasy world and that sometimes we need to learn alongside the character about the magical elements in our books.

So far this year we have read 13,733 pages and have read for 158 hours and 33 minutes.  That is the equivalent of 6.5 days!

We tallied our individual pages read and then added them up to get a class total!

By Ethan and Grant

By Noah and Ruby

This year we have been playing lots of games in between long hours of working on subjects like math and writing. One game we like to play is Dinner Party.

In Dinner Party, everybody closes their eyes and one person is chosen. That person is

the MURDERER. You go around shaking peoples hands and saying “nice to meet you” in a fancy accent. The murderer tickles peoples hands while shaking them, and that person shakes three other hands before dropping dead! Any person can J’accuse anyone at any time as long as they haven’t been tickled. If the person that they J’accuse is the murderer, then the game ends. But if he/she isn’t, then the person who J’accused him/her is dead, DON, DON, DON…. The game continues untill the murderer kills everybody or someone J’accuses the murderer.

Shaking hands during Dinner Party. Could it be the murderer?

See the discrete tickle? That index finger is tickling the other person’s hand indicating they have been poisoned!

We have been busy, busy, busy in 6th grade since the Fall.  So busy, I haven’t had time to keep up with the posts!  In this post, I will take you through the highlights of the past few months.

October: Book Contract Talk Show

Our October Book Contract was Prudence Pringle’s Talk Show.  On Halloween, students came to school dressed as a character from their books and participated in a talk show hosted by Prudence Pringle herself (our wonderful librarian, Susan Wells!!).

Prudence Pringle herself!

Quite the cast of characters!

November: Leverett 4H Trails Poetry and Lexington Field Trip

Early in November, before it got too cold, the 5th and 6th grades travelled to the Leverett 4H trails to explore and get inspiration for writing poetry. This is the second time the 6th graders have gone to the trails, as they went last spring as 5th graders.  Students spent time exploring the wooded trails, the large field, the beaver dam, the llamas and sheep.  They found an old hidden boat and walked through the blueberry patch, over the covered bridge, and through the Christmas tree lot.  When they returned to school, they wrote poetry and were visited by a local poet who helped them improve their writing.  The poetry is now displayed in poetry boxes on the 4H trails.

Later in the month, we travelled to Lexington, MA to learn about the important battle that took place there at the very beginning of the American Revolution.  Students examined primary sources that recounted the day of the battle to try to determine who fired the first shot.  Then they toured a tavern.

December: Crepe Day Party

Students building their crepes.

After successfully making it through 30 school days using only school appropriate language, we celebrated with a Crepe Party!  Thanks to everyone who brought in toppings and especially to Mr. Stewart’s son Robin, and Henry’s mom, Phyllis, who made the crepes!!

Yummy crepes!

January: Non-Fiction Picture Book Projects

This was such an important project, I feel it deserves its own post!  Stay tuned for a long post on the Non-Fiction Picture Book Publishing Project!

February: Valentine’s Day Fruit Salad

Preparing the fruit

Our Valentine’s Day fruit salad was a huge hit! Everyone brought in some fruit to share, and then the students washed, cut, and prepared it.  The fruit then went on a long buffet and everyone could build their own fruit salad.   It was a fun and healthy way to spend time celebrating Valentine’s Day!

The Fruit Bar

On Saturday, October 13th, the 6th graders held a pasta dinner to raise money for the 6th grade field trips.

Pasta, Pasta Yum was a very classy and efficiently run restaurant.  Every detail was so well thought out, from the decorations as you walked in to the “host” station,

to the innovative flower vases on the table (my table had a ginger brew bottle, which just happens to be one of my favorite sodas!),

to the mints and thank you notes upon finishing the meal.

All of the servers were so well prepared and professional, and the service was wonderful. I never had to worry my glass would need more water, and I don’t think I have ever been served a meal so quickly.

The food was delicious, and what’s more, everyone appeared so calm!

Overall the night was a HUGE success!  Thank you to everyone who donated food, supported the 6th grade, and worked so hard to put on such an amazing feast!

No Farms, No Food! On Monday, September 24th, when I asked the 6th graders what bumper stickers they had seen around and could remember, that was the first one they mentioned.  For our second Steps to Respect lesson of the year, students were given the following challenge:

The Steps to Respect company is looking for ways to get their important messages across to their students as well as the public.  They have decided to start a bumper sticker division of the company, and they have hired YOU!

The first bumper sticker they would like you to design is on the theme: “Keeping Friends.”  They are looking for a bumper sticker that would appeal to students in grades 4-6, that is catchy, colorful, and includes helpful tips that they could use.

Well the school year is off to a great start!  The first two weeks of school we focused on creating a classroom community and establishing contracts about how we want to work with one another this year.

In Reading we’ve been thinking about how we can make reading the BEST it can be for us. We have also been practicing reading faster, longer, and stronger and not reading on autopilot.

Last week, we began our study of Colonial America with a prior knowledge challenge.  Working in small groups of 2-3, students were asked to create a graphic representation of what they knew about Colonial America.  They had only about 25 minutes to complete the task before their classmates took a look and offered feedback.

Stay tuned for more updates!