Academy School: Where learners are launched. Discovery through curiosity, creativity and intellect.
Sixth Grade Team
Welcome to the 6th grade page! The sixth grade is a transitional year as students finish up their elementary school and prepare to make the leap to the middle school. We will do our very best to prepare and support your students as they move towards the culmination of their elementary school years.
Our learning community is one that believes that every student can be successful! We believe that intelligence is something that can be developed and that persistence and challenging work are the best ways to build synaptic connections and intelligence.
We will be using the Engage NY curriculum to deliver Common Core math instruction. Concepts we study in class can be accessed on their website at www.engageny.org. Please feel free to access the website on your own, or contact us if you have specific questions. This curriculum is highly praised for accessing higher math thinking, problem solving strategies, and furthering the development of mathematical reasoning
In literacy, we will work thematically to enrich and integrate our social studies curriculum while building comprehension, reading fluency, and vocabulary development. Working conditions throughout history, and globally will be a focus of our current units..
Throughout these units we will be analyzing the structure, elements, and most effective traits of historical fiction, speeches, and news articles. We will be focusing on persuasive devices, descriptive language, and source evaluation . We will then be moving into other novels that will integrate with other social studies content.
For our process writing instruction, our first learning targets include developing descriptive language, figurative language and the structure of personal narratives for writing memoirs. Later in the year, we will focus on source evaluation, citing specific evidence, and constructing counter-arguments in persuasive writing.
Social studies units include presenting students with a basis for understanding the structure of our government, the events and historical contexts that led to the Civil War, and additionally, slavery and abolition. The five themes of Geography are also a focus of our 6th grade social studies curriculum. We hope that with these tools, students will better understand the world in which they live.
Our science instruction includes unit studies in cell biology, geology, and the structure of matter. We also will consistently be facilitating student’s development of inquiry based approaches in science. As STEM becomes a larger player in our society and world, we want students to be prepared and creative questioners, observers, and problem solvers.
Sixth grade is a year where students really make a leap between concrete and abstract thinking. A year where they move from being children to adolescents, and a year that is full of grappling and growth. We fully believe in your children and strive for them to have an enriching, challenging, and successful 6th grade year!
Sarah Morse
Sarah graduated from Catawba College with an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education in 2012. After graduating, Sarah joined the Peace Corps and taught for two years in the Federated States of Micronesia. Sarah graduated in May from SIT with a Master's in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Students in Sarah's classes are always connecting the material back to the wider world. When not at school, you might find Sarah hiking in the local woods, taking classes at NECCA, or in the trees of Windsor Mountain International.
smorse@wsesu.org
Mr. Hoard
Kyle has been a member of the 6th Grade team at Academy school for four years now. He graduated from Keene State College in 2008 with a degree in both Elementary Education and Geography. He enjoys bringing his love for teaching into the classroom, with a fun an engaging atmosphere, where everyone who enters feels like they can and will learn.
Eric Cummings
Eric graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1995 with a degree in Marine and Freshwater Biology. In 2001, he earned his Masters in Environmental Science from Antioch New England. In between, he worked at environmental education camps up and down the east coast. In 2015, he received his Masters in Mathematics from the University of Vermont. He taught fourth grade at Academy for seven years before moving to sixth grade at the beginning of the 2014 school year. Eric likes to infuse humor into his classroom and point out connections throughout the curriculum. He enjoys spending his free time outdoors with his family or reading.
Rachel Glickman
Rachel Glickman is currently providing academic support to sixth graders at Academy School. She had been teaching at international schools in Mexico and England before returning home to Vermont in 2015. Prior to becoming a licensed educator, Rachel worked in international and early childhood education. Rachel received her BA in Sociology and Psychology from Wesleyan University and MA in Public Policy and Administration from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands. She believes children learn best through multi-sensory activities while also making links across content areas. Her lessons combine both literacy and numeracy skills and challenge students to broaden their thinking beyond the classroom to the larger world context.
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John Callahan
John is from Stamford, Connecticut but spent his educational career in many different places. A former Division 1 football player at Northwestern University, he has a B.S. degree from Western Illinois University, a M.S. degree from Louisiana State University and a Ed.S. degree from The College of William and Mary.. He is known by the students and staff as "coach".
jcallahan@wsesu.org