Welcome to 6th Grade at Westland Middle School!

Administrator: Chris Merrill

Counselor:

Maria Kohlerman

Team Leaders: Diana Holmes

and Stephanie Lee

New Middle School Experiences • 7 periods, 7 teachers, 7 classrooms • New friends • A student planner • A locker • Bigger school • Late bells • IB learning environment • Added responsibilities: Checking Edline,

self-advocacy, learning to work with teachers to solve problems

Middle School Instruction • Differentiated across the curriculum. • Addresses the needs of the adolescent learner. • Provides choices. • Makes connections to the real world. • Meets the needs and interests of the students. • Involves critical thinking. • Involves writing across the curriculum. • Meets the standards of an IB school.

Sixth Grade Highlights

• Outdoor Education • After School Clubs • Field Trips (Trout In Classroom) • Interdisciplinary Activities:

– Greco-Roman Day • Student recognition • Introduction to the IB program

All-inclusion model Option to continue with the Diploma

Programme at B-CC Using the Learner Profile Interdisciplinary Connections Global Awareness Student-centered learning Authentic assessment Emphasis on language acquisition

MCPS Essential Questions and Task MYP Unit Questions

What motivates individuals to take on challenges and confront barriers?

Research a challenge that you and others face

Present your findings in a brochure

How do the choices people make influence social change?

Research a person or topic connected to civil rights , either in the U.S. or around the world

Present your findings using Photostory, Glogster, Prezi, Powerpoint, VoiceThread, an audio story, or a piece of art

Physical Education Every student marking periods of PE

Units are designed with lead up activities, skill progression, assessment and game play

These units include:

Softball Volleyball Wt. Training Tennis St. Hockey Basketball Soccer Track & Field

Football Aerobics Ultimate Frisbee Jump Rope Badminton Bowling Table Tennis Polar Bear

Students need to change clothes for PE daily. The uniform consists of:

Shirts – White or Gray Shorts – Blue, Black, or Gray Sweat Clothes – Blue, Black, or Gray Sneakers

Clothing can be purchased throughout the school year.

Intramurals Westland provides many activities for students to

participate in after school. These include:

Tennis Field Hockey Flag Football Wt. Training Conditioning

Yoga Table Tennis Street Hockey Basketball Lacrosse

Health Education – Units Covered

Mental Health Tobacco, Alcohol, & Drugs

(Project TNT) Personal & Consumer Health Safety & Injury Prevention Nutrition/Fitness Disease Prevention & Control Family Life

Health Education – Unit of Focus

Project TNT (Towards no Tobacco Use) Discuss the dangers of tobacco use Define peer pressure and examine how it

can influence unhealthy choices Develop resistance skills to say no to peer

pressure

Health Education – Unit of Focus Safety & Injury Prevention Identify safe rules to prevent

injury and accidents (home, school, vehicle, internet, water)

Demonstrate appropriate responses to situations requiring emergency services

SOCIAL STUDIES (HUMANITIES)

Unit One Patterns of Settlement

In the Ancient and Modern Worlds World Geography Patterns of settlement and trade. Ancient patterns of settlement Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus River

Valley, northern China, and Nubia/Kush

Unit Two Citizenship and Governance:

Classical and Modern Citizenship today Processes of government Ancient and present concepts of citizenship

and government Ancient Greece and Rome

SOCIAL STUDIES (HUMANITIES)

Unit Three The Impact of Economics in Ancient

and Modern China Fundamentals of economics The economic-political system

connection Ancient China through Tang Dynasty

and modern China

SOCIAL STUDIES (HUMANITIES)

Unit Four Cultural Systems Past and Present

Defining culture and religion. Culture’s impact on political and economic

systems Case studies of world cultures around the

first millennium and today.

SOCIAL STUDIES (HUMANITIES)

Registration Information

Materials Distributed

2013-2014 Westland Course Booklet Student registration form Instructions for completing registration

form

Registration Advice Registration forms due by February 8, 2013

Forms are returned to elementary school homeroom teacher.

ENGLISH 6

Overall Theme: Kaleidoscopes Four Units and supporting anchor texts students

may read: Foundations: A Mango-Shaped Space, The View From

Saturday Adventures: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle,

Where the Red Fern Grows Challenges and Barriers: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Choices: Excerpts from various plays by William

Shakespeare

Every English Unit Includes:

Literature Study: Anchor texts, literature circles, Shared

Inquiry, vocabulary in context of literature

Writing Instruction/ Common Tasks Grammar in context of writing

instruction Interdisciplinary connections

ENGLISH 6 Advanced Sequences followed in Advanced

English classes Acceleration: students study at a more rapid pace Enrichment: students study topics in greater depth

On-level students will still access the Advanced curriculum. Teachers may break assignments into more manageable parts and provide more structured directions for each part.

Extension and Enrichment: Shakespearean drama workshop/Poetry Workshop

Sixth Grade Reading

Reading is a required course for 6th graders, but students who are at least two grade levels ahead in reading can consider our foreign language program.

Both on level and Advanced reading classes are offered.

Sixth Grade Reading Units Unit 1 – Foundations Reading Strategies in

Expository Texts Unit 2 – Mythology Greek Myth

Narrative Texts

Unit 3 - Triumphs Biographies and Autobiographies Unit 4 – Newspaper Main ideas, 5 W’s Inferences, Author’s Purpose.

WORLD LANGUAGES

World Languages Curriculum Framework

Comparisons

Connections Communities

Cultures

Communication

Montgomery County Public Schools

Recipe For Languages

• Communication: engage in conversations, express feelings and emotions, exchange opinions; read and write about a variety of topics.

• Cultures: understand the perspectives and value systems of another culture

• Connections: connect to world studies, science, math, English and the arts through your world language

• Comparisons: develop insights into the nature of language and culture

• Communities: discover how to participate in multilingual communities at home, in your community and around the world.

Recipe For Languages: Topics Welcome to your World Language Class: • The Basics • New Friends: Pastimes and Weather • Getting Acquainted: Descriptions • School Life • Family Life: Family, Clothing, Food • Out on the Town: Community, Travel • My Life: Occupations, Pastimes, School • Restaurants, Shopping, Vacations

Westland Middle School Foreign Language Progression

(French/Spanish/Chinese)

NOTES-Foreign languages are semesterized. “A” designates first semester; “B” is second semester. * Eighth graders will be considered for this course under special circumstances.

Beg

inni

ng L

evel

6 7 8 9

4A/4B Honors

*

3A/3B Honors

4A/4B Honors

3A/3B

2A/2B

1A/1B

1A 1B

1A/1B

1A/1B

2A/2B

2A/2B 3A/3B Honors

Spanish Immersion 6

Spanish Immersion 7

Spanish Immersion 8

READING OR WORLD LANGUAGE

To take a World Language the student: • Must be at an advanced level in reading

as demonstrated by MSA and MAP-R scores; Guidelines provided on the MCPS Decision Trees;

• Must have a strong recommendation from the 5th grade teacher;

• Must be ready for the rigors of an academic course re homework and study.

Electives

Students in 6th grade may choose from:

2 FULL YEAR

COURSES - • Band/Strings • Chorus

ELECTIVES by Quarterly Rotation

• Art • “Imagineering”

Technology– Exploring the Inventive Process

• Orientation to Languages

• Intro to Computers

Special Education Services Westland Middle School School Year 2013-2014

Special Education Services

• Most students who receive special education services are currently working towards obtaining a high school diploma

• Classes students are enrolled in are determined by the students Individualized Education Plan – Offer classes determined based on student performance,

teacher recommendations, and needs – Offer co-taught, supported and self-contained classes – Offer remedial reading, organization, and math supports as

appropriate

Contact Information

• If you have questions about your child’s program of study for next fall, please contact Rachel Maturana – Phone number (301) 320-6515 – Email Rachel_C_Maturana@mcpsmd.org

Three major takeaways from tonight...

Disclaimer -Most are in the correct placement. -Every child is different. -Parent converstation from the summer.

Impact from 2.0 • Being at the cusp will not effect the students as long as we

continue to not jump over classes unless students have already mastered the content of the next class.

“…(2.0) will eliminate grade skipping. “ They saw it as a detrimental practice that left gaps since it was a spiraling curriculum. When students jump over classes, they only see something for a couple days. Student will be well prepared for Algebra if they were successful in the classes leading up to it.

Math 5, 6, 7, and IM are KEY • While Algebra is key for later high school classes, future

conceptual understanding in later classes really comes from how well you in the middle school classes. Don’t rush them through it.

• There is a BIG difference in earning an A in Algebra and earning a B. Taking your time to get there will help you earn that A.

Small example.

Math 6 •

Math 7

IM

When making decisions… • Remember, and A in a course means they are doing well with

those specific concepts. • We want students to go beyond just understanding “how” to

do problems into “why.” Some middle school students who do well in Algebra sometimes memorize procedures. We see a big difference in students when they take Algebra (even among the A students).

• It gets very hard, very quickly after Algebra. We want students to be prepared and to go through these classes without tutors.

• Honors Algebra 2/Honors Geometry is where you would see the “holes” not in Algebra.

To think about… • You can still take an AP class (AP STATS) even if you don’t take

Algebra by 8th grade. • Conversations with BCC: students lacking number sense in

Algebra 2. • SATs haven’t changed that much: Algebra 1, Geometry, some

Algebra 2

Math 6 ( A)

Graphing Data and Analyzing Statistic Fractions, Decimals, and Percents Geometry Algebra, Patterns, and Functions Probability

Math 7 (B)

Statistics Rational Numbers Algebraic Relationships Proportions and Percent Geometry and Measurement Probability and Odds

Investigations Into Mathematics

Statistical Applications and Set Theory Real Number Systems Investigation of Geometry Patterns, Relations and Functions The Language of Algebra Other Operational Systems Probability

Algebra

Equations and Inequalities in a Single Variable Introduction to Functions Linear Equations and Inequalities in Two Variables Systems of Equations and Inequalities Data Analysis and Probability Exponents and Polynomials Quadratic and Exponential Functions

Investigations in Science 6

•Project Based

•Each unit designed around a real life problem to be solved using STEM approach

Sudden Impact

Scientific Processes Describing Motion Forces and Newton’s Laws Energy and Work Technology, Engineering and Design

Design a front bumper system

to maximize safety and

minimize impact.

Butterfly Habitat/Habitat Interactions

Ecology Diversity of Life Change Over Time Flow of Matter and Energy TROUT IN THE

CLASSROOMS!

Going Green

Natural Resources and Human Needs Environmental Issues Environmental Change Natural Resource Use

Model a solution to a variety of environmental problems created from natural resource use.

Alternative Energy

Electricity and Magnetism Energy Summit Wave Interactions

Design and build a solar collector

Thank you very much for coming!

We look forward to working with you next year!

Contact Information Stephanie_Lee@mcpsmd.org Diana_J_Holmes@mcpsmd.org Christopher W Merrill@mcpsmd.org Maria F Kohlerman@mcpsmd.org