Two essential questions of the sixth grade year are: where do stories come from, and why do we tell stories? Throughout the year, sixth-graders explore how stories function on the page, but they also consider the importance of stories within their lives. They come to realize that stories not only follow specific patterns, but can also help explain the unexplainable. 

Recently, sixth-graders finished Rebecca Stead’s Newbury Medal-winner, When You Reach Me which blends genres such as historical fiction, science fiction, & mystery. Students read the book in class and examined how the elements of story worked together to create a seamless & intricately woven plot. Without giving away any spoilers, much of When You Reach Me is about the stories we tell ourselves about what is possible & what we believe to be true, even about the concept of the universe!

In that spirit, students visited the Boston Museum of Science to not only explore the museum but also to celebrate their Cosmos project, a final assignment that blends both poetry & astronomy. Students visited the planetarium where they not only got to visit faraway planets & worlds but also were whisked through time and space to the edge of the universe.  Inspired by the images in the planetarium, students will complete their Cosmos projects the week they return from break. At the completion of their project gallery, they will randomly pick their Greek God personas and explore one of the original story tellers of the stars & cosmos.