The Harmony 5th & 6th
grade provides students with the opportunity to further develop leadership,
academic, social, and mediation skills
in preparation for the culminating experience of their elementary
education, the graduation project, and toward the greater goal of
developing lifelong learners. Course work is often designed as a
path to practice the skills of real work that they will do in the
world.
Our class begins and ends the year with a class trip. The fall trip allows the
class to build community and an identity as a group before academic work in the
classroom begins. The spring trip is an opportunity to celebrate our hard work,
our successes over the course of the year, and to acknowledge the contributions
and qualities of character of our class members. Perceived risk activities, such
as high ropes courses, trapeze flying, and caving trips, are an important part
of trips and serve to help students overcome fears and perceived challenges as
they stretch their limitations and boundaries in life.
Each school day begins with Family Meeting, where students take turns serving
as facilitator. Our class members discuss issues that concern us, make decisions,
and conduct business. We also have a venue for making personal announcements
and expressing concerns. Family Meeting provides a valuable opportunity for students
to develop their voice as informed and involved members of the community.
Science and Social Studies are taught in the context of interdisciplinary thematic
units. While honoring the diversity of learning styles, students explore the
curriculum through a wide variety of exercises and activities. Many of our thematic
units are supported by guest speakers, conferencing, field trips, and projects.
Another important part of Theme Time is inquiry projects that we call Kid’s
Query. Research and presentation skills are discussed as a whole group and practiced
in the context of individually chosen topics of interest. As a final stepping
stone to Middle School in the spring of their 6th grade year, students complete
their elementary graduation project relying on the skills developed throughout
their entire elementary school career. The Graduation Project consists of a written
proposal, research, writing, experience, a presentation, mentorship, service
learning or community service, and social responsibility. By the time students
have completed our two year program, they have typically written a minimum of
eight research papers and given over four formal presentations, and quite a few
informal presentations as well. These rich experiences not only provide essential
skills and experiences for students’ future educations, yet also allow
them the opportunity to pursue their own individual topics of interest.
Our Language Arts classes focus primarily on Authoring, Reading, Language Mechanics,
and Verbal and Dramatic Expression. Students make their own independent reading
choices, participate in literature circles, and discuss shared reading that is
often connected to thematic units or current events. Developing our written,
spoken, and expressive voice is core to this class. In authoring, we work through
the steps of the writing process, explore elements of craft and structure in
writing, as well as participate in writing conferences and ‘read-arounds’.
Various hands-on projects provide an additional context for assignments to serve
as real work in the community.
In math, students work on both basic skills and applications. The basic skills
cover decimals, fractions and percents using the Key Curriculum Press texts.
Students also have weekly math maintenance that keeps previously learned material
fresh in their minds. This typically is done as homework and reviewed in class.
Applications include hands-on project work utilizing key concepts using fractions,
decimals and percents as well as measurement, statistics, geometry. Since the
thematic curriculum is integrated, many times math will tie indirectly with the
current theme, for instance reviewing statistics related to a social studies
topic.
Bodyworks is our version of physical education. Outside sports include waffle
ball and kickball in the fall and soccer in the spring. In the winter basketball
and other indoor games are played in the gym. We do offer dance and or activities
as we can. Emphasis is placed on learning games and sportsmanship. In the spring
there is the Soccer Challenge which pits the 5th and 6th against the middle school.
Every student in our program is trained in Conflict Resolution and is expected
to help mediate conflicts between peers and younger students. A month-long training
session is held early every school year and this supplements the training that
students receive in other programs in our school.
The culminating activity of the upper elementary school experience is the Graduation
Project. 6th grade graduates choose a topic of interest, write a proposal, and
present an overview of their plan to the 5th grade class. Besides serving as
mentors to 5th graders who perform an abbreviated version of the projects on
a topic related to their mentor’s, graduates must complete four academic
stages and several other tasks in preparation for graduation. The Stage 1 paper
includes an overview of the project along with background and historical information.
The Stage 2 paper is the main research paper covering the student’s primary
focusing questions. As a documented experience related to the project is also
a required part of the project, the Stage 3 paper describes and reflects upon
this experience, hopefully connecting it to the previous research as well. During
Stage 4, graduates summarize their work and conclude the written component of
the project. Parents and the community are invited to attend the final celebration,
each graduate’s formal presentation. This is the final rite of passage
before we present our upper elementary graduates to the middle school.
The Study Guide is a weekly curriculum tool that lays out all the assignments
and requirements for the week. The study guide helps the students and parents
to organize work and mange time for the week so that assignments are completed
on time. It is sent out electronically to parents so they are informed about
what is due during the week and what is expected as homework.
Clean up is every day from 2:45 to 3:00 and all students participate in keeping
the rooms clean. They are assigned jobs for the semester and are checked at the
end of the day. Clean up time ends with a closing at which time we remind them
of assignments due and other announcements before being dismissed.
An Upward Transition: the 5th & 6th grade marks the transition between
the lower elementary school and middle school. 5th grade is the year
where students learn leadership, social, mediation and academic skills
that they demonstrate in 6th grade as they prepare for elementary school
graduation.
