6th Grade Curriculum

The Middle School band puts on two major concerts per year and stages other smaller performances for the student body. A variety of styles, including jazz, classical, popular, and Broadway, are showcased. Students learn how to read music, assemble and produce a characteristic tone on their instrument, and develop finger technique, ensemble balance and dynamics. Band develops lifelong skills that increase brainpower and build discipline, and the course offers a team atmosphere in which students make beautiful music with their friends.

A yearlong course for students who seek to develop their vocal and musical skills. Students learn various types of literature, including but not limited to classical, pop, jazz and Broadway. The primary focus of each class is to learn to read music and then develop those skills in a more refined way. Students also learn to match pitch, develop healthy breathing techniques and improve tone quality. There are numerous opportunities for solos within the choral group, and students perform at concerts, assemblies and various school events throughout the year.

The beginning strings course is offered for students with no prior musical experience and provides opportunities to serve as first chair for those musicians with the strongest musical skills and technique. The strings course in grades six, seven, and eight encourages and develops lifelong skills such as discipline, teamwork and accountability in a fun environment. The Middle School strings ensemble performs on campus throughout the school year and travels in the spring.

Our STEAM elective in the Middle School is a modular track created to expose students to the wide range of STEAM applications. Each year, the track is designed to help students build skills in systems thinking, activism and entrepreneurship, collaboration, research and discovery and project management. 

Teachers on the STEAM track design their courses to cover five areas. Different courses and teachers may emphasize one area over another but each year will touch on all five in some capacity: 

1. Robotics and Programming

2. Engineering and Making

3. Digital Expression

4. Design

5. New Technology Issues and Application

In the sixth-grade STEAM elective, students explore programming and robotics, circuitry and sensors, 3D modeling and printing, digital design platforms, basic hand tools, and building simple machines such as wind turbines, microscopes, and camera obscuras.

Visual art in the Middle School offers a balance between traditional methods of creating both two- and three-dimensional compositions and an exploration of more contemporary, challenging approaches to understanding more abstract, modern art. At all levels, students learn to question very specifically what qualities make a work of art. In sixth grade, art students focus on an exploration of architecture. Students work from observation and also learn to abstract views to create imaginary structures placed in intriguing settings.

In this discovery course, sixth graders learn about email, Internet and computer safety, etiquette and digital responsibility. The course begins with a focus on technology literacy and standards for evaluating web pages. Students then receive hands-on training to learn the functionality and location of different internal computer components, such as the hard drive and CPU. Students are taught basic Excel functionality, including the use of formulas, functions and tables to create spreadsheets. Students also review Word, PowerPoint and Keynote basics.

Drama introduces students to the world of performance and theatre. Students study the basic physical components of theatrical and para-theatrical places, speaking in public, and character development through pantomime, music and improvisation. Students are also taught to be good audience members. Lessons are brought to life through a combination of individual and group performances and are applied to realistic situations.

This foundational course introduces sixth grade students to the overlapping goals of the Diversity & Inclusion, ICGL, and Character Education programs at Pace, and equips them with the knowledge, skills and resources to actively support the dignity and humanity of all people, and engage - as citizens of the world - to bring about racial equity and social justice locally and globally.

This course aims to help students build organizational skills. Skills taught in this course include binder organization, computer keyboarding, note-taking, test-taking strategies, time management and reading strategies.