Questions About the Language Block in 6th Grade

I have a couple of questions about the dictation, vocabulary, and spelling for the 6th grade curriculum…

Q1: So in the writing lesson block it says to continue with dictation from the stories/lessons. Does the student write this dictation straight into their MLB or on a separate piece of paper first so it can be corrected then rewritten in their MLB?

That is a good question. I would recommend the latter for a 6th grade student. So the first dictation on the outside paper could be their ‘draft’ and the final one would be the corrected draft being copied into the MLB.

Q2:In the Waldorf Basics and reference file, in the grammar & spelling sections, it says to write the paragraphs and writings with the noun, verb, and adjectives in different color chalk. Would this be the weekly verse that’s written on the board? And does the student write it with the different colors as well? What if it’s a poem like the Aeneid? It was hard for me to decide which was the noun, verb, and adjective in the verse so I just wrote it all in regular chalk. And at what point do we start writing subjects, objects, predicates, etc. in different color chalk as well?

Another good question! We usually just do that for 3rd and 4th graders so they can get to know the parts of speech. For 5th and 6th graders I would recommend only doing this occasionally and whenever you find an easy short passage to do. The Aeneid would be almost impossible to do in this way as it is verse and takes some liberties with rules of grammar and language usage.

Q3: In the same document from #2 above, it says students should actively work on vocabulary words once a week. Is this done by them copying and creating sentences for at least 15 of the vocabulary words? And do they do this in their MLB or on a separate piece of paper? And is this done at the end of the week?

This can be done in the same way as #1. Also, 15 is a guideline. Some weeks you may only have 5 and other weeks you may have 10. I really depends on the week. You will also have fewer words as you work through the same readings and materials as the words will repeat themselves.

Q4: When I create the the vocabulary word index cards do I also write the definition on the card as well?

The student should create these cards on an ongoing basis (not the teacher) and based on words they like mixed with words they had to ‘look up’ or ‘have explained to them’ each week.