Dear parents

Dear parents,

Welcome to the 2010-2011 academic year at Sonoran Sky. My name is Miss Froehlich and I will be working with your child in the area of social studies this year. Sixth grade history is a wonderful journey into different world civilizations, cultures, governments, and geography, from ancient times to the present. It is about people and their problems, struggles, solutions, failures and successes. We will be answering questions that focus on the historical significance of the era/topic we are discussing. To accomplish this goal, students will learn and incorporate the seven Habits of Mind and six overarching themes to develop a greater understanding of global processes and contacts. The Habits of Mind they will learn to apply include:

How do I use evidence to develop and evaluate arguments?

How do I use point of view, context, and bias to analyze different interpretations?

How can I interpret and understand information?

As I look at history, I do I evaluate the changes as well as continuity over time?

What is the relationship between local and global developments?

What method can I use to compare societies, both among the same society and different groups?

The Themes:

Why do societies interact? What happens when societies interact with each other?

What is change? What is continuity? How are change and continuity related?

How do people interact (technology) with and change the environment?

How is the function of the state changed?

Why do societies develop different social and political structures?

What cultural and intellectual developments have shaped history? The following represents the Arizona standards of learning for world history in sixth grade. It represents a general description of the world history content that your student will experience this year.

Interactive Notebook REQUIREMENTS:

Interactive notebooks are a learning tool that students use to help them develop study skills, apply new concepts, think and analyze, and create. The 5-subject, wide lined spiral notebook that your child must bring will be used all year. The notebooks are not to leave the classroom until the last day of school. Each learning objective and State standard will be listed on the designated page. Students will be able to use their interactive notebook to review their learning as well as refer to prior learning concepts linking these to new concepts. As they work with this notebook, students will develop the following skills:

Take notes from a lesson

Develop thinking skills (thinking maps, foldable, analysis, etc) that demonstrate application and comprehension of the target concept(s).

Keep copies of their assessments, record their progress, record assignments, and important papers from class (maps, pictures, graphic organizers, etc.) and feedback from peers and teacher.

Daily writing assignments that may include a summary or journal response, predicting, inferencing, or analyzing primary and secondary documents and/or the learning objectives for the day.

Keep a record of topics of study for the year (syllabus), grading rubric, and project requirements

Keep home-school communication.

Daily warm ups (bell work)

Demonstrate creativity in showing evidence of understanding the skill, objective, and/or concept.

INTERACTIVE NOTEBOOK GRADING:

Notebooks will be graded! The interactive notebook will be graded on a rubric scale (1-4) with each assignment worth points. To achieve a grade of "4", exceeding the standard expected, students must demonstrate that they exceed the standard. A sample of a rubric that will be used to score their notebook is provided for your review. Students need to apply their skills in a productive manner as well as maintain an organized and creative work product. During the first week of school during class, students will receive step-by-step instruction in setting up their notebooks for the year. Students will turn in notebooks once a month, but they will also have weekly notebook checks. Notebooks that are not complete will receive a "needs improvement" note. They will have an opportunity to complete missing notebook activities and assignments before the end of the month. I keep a CLASSROOM MODEL NOTEBOOK for students to review and refer to as they are working on their assignments. Students who are absent for an assignment, may refer to this notebook listing assignments and complete the requirements upon their return to school. It is the student’s responsibility to be an active learner and complete the notes, graphic organizers, thinking map and other activity that is required for the lesson. For further information, you may visit my web site at: http://www.primaryteachers.org/interactive_notebooks.htm

SOCIAL STUDIES GENERAL SYLLABUS OF STANDARDS 6^TH GRADE

Strand 1 American History	Strand 2 World History	Strand 3 Civics/Government	Strand 4 Geography	Strand 5 Economics
Research skills, charts graphs, primary and secondary resources 2. Early civilizations Native Americans 3. Mayan, Aztec and Inca Civilizations 3. Current events	Research skills, charts graphs, primary and secondary resources 2. Early Civilizations (Mesopotamia, Egypt,) 3. River Valley cultures 4. impact of government 5. Religious traditions 6. Scientific and cultural contributions 7. Government in Rome and Ancient Greece 8. Transition to byzantine Empire 9. Middle Ages 10. Renaissance and Reformation 11. Encounters and exchange	1.Describe the ideas of the Enlightenment 2. Laws of Hammurabi 3. Greek democracy 4. Roman Republic 5. Rights and responsibilities/roles of citizenship 6. Character traits 7. Roles of citizens in a democratic society 8. Types of governments 9 Function of government * Documents of Government (U.S.) and other political systems	Construct maps, charts and graphs, identify differences in maps, interpret and locate physical and human features 2. Identify places and regions 3. Physical systems 4. Changes in environment- human dependence	Identify resources as affecting wants and needs. Scarcity, opportunity costs; Money and how used Trade promotes economic growth Personal finance Global Microeconomics Macroeconomics

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