Sixth grade Math - Geometry

Sixth Grade Math - Geometry

If you thought your child knew her shapes already and you were done with teaching about triangles and squares you might not want to read this. In the sixth grade year, your student will explore solid shapes, and polygons. Circumference, area, and volume will also be revisited this year. The late elementary years and middle school years are a time when the basics of geometry are reviewed and cemented in your students memory. In high school, your student will need these basics because there is a whole year of just geometry. One way to pack down the basics of geometry is to hand your student pencil and paper, and let them draw the shapes out. Let her get familiar with using a protractor, and a compass. For some students this will work great. For other students a more visual approach is necessary. They might want to go online and manipulate shapes, angles and line segments in a geometry program. Another thing that happens in sixth grade is making the theoretical learning of geometry match up with real world applications of geometry, for example, what is the surface area of the pool, or the volume of it? Maybe your student can figure the circumference of the trampoline, or its diameter. Geometry can be one of those topics that can be really dry and it sometimes takes extra effort on the part of the teacher to make it more interesting, and more relevant.

Sixth grade Social Studies - Tools of the trade

Sixth Grade Social Studies - Tools of the trade

Sixth grade is a good time to review geography with your student. Give him the tools he needs to sail through a quick study of geography. Make sure he reviews the compass rose, map legends, mapping skills, major land masses. He should probably review the continents, and geography of the United States. Latitude, longitude, time zones, and climate are also good topics to review during this year. Geographic terms like peninsula, isthmus, strait are great words to go over again. Words relating to waterways such as river source, tributaries, confluence, and delta and mouth of a river, as well as flood plains, gulfs, seas, and lakes are important ideas in the review of geography as well. Your student will probably have been exposed to most of this in elementary school. Committing these things to memory are important because of the need to cover so many diverse topics in sixth grade social studies. You might find that once this review is complete, other aspects of the social studies curriculum go more smoothly since your student will understand the meanings of these terms and not have to pause other topics to look them up. The geography portion of sixth grade is a great time to let your students make posters, and other hands on type of projects. Have them draw maps, and let them do exercises where mapping skills are brought to the forefront. Geography can certainly be fun, and learning goes more smoothly when it is fun. Enjoy!