Class: Humanities
Grade: 6th
Teacher: Jon Greenberg
As part of their exploration of Islam, students in 6th-grade Humanities read the novel The Breadwinner, where they learned about the basic tenets of the Muslim faith.
To show their understanding, students were asked to design a physical representation of the Five Pillars of Islam that could be used as an educational tool to teach others about the religion. They worked on the Design Level with R+D Center team member Karen Jiang and used software like Onshape to make their creations—3D printing, laser cutting, and using materials from the Materials Library.
The goal of this project is to make the five pillars of Islam come to life for these students. — Jon Greenberg
Some works in progress:
More about 6th-grade Humanities: Identity & Change
Sixth-grade Humanities (Language Arts and Social Studies are combined) focuses on the elements of culture by studying societies within the United States and across the globe. This class studies the geographical, economical, and cultural influences within a society and looks at the impact of change on a society. Students first look at themselves to help them identify specific aspects that are common to all cultures before making comparisons between people from different cultural backgrounds. As budding anthropologists, students explore the concept of multiple perspectives as they turn their attention to cultures outside of the United States. Embedded in the curriculum are the five major concepts of geography: location, place, human/environment interactions, movement, and regions. Using a thematic approach, students learn how people’s identities can be positively and negatively influenced by a society’s beliefs and its laws as well as how individuals who challenge and organize against unjust actions become upstanders in their community.