During the course of the school year, students will be exploring various “coming of age” topics and engaging with different novels and texts. Unit 1 - Developing Resilience: The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963, Unit 2 - Challenging Authority: The Giver, Unit 3 - Finding Connections: The Outsiders, Unit 4 - Fleeing Conflict: Refugee & The Unwanted. In Social Studies, students are studying World Geography and Ancient Civilizations. In Science we will explore the following topics: Unit 1 - Microbiome, Unit 2 - Metabolism, Unit 3 - Traits and Reproduction, Unit 4 - Thermal Energy, Unit 5 - Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate, Unit 6 - Weather Patterns, and Unit 7 - Earth’s Changing Climate. In Math we will be using the Illustrative Math curriculum and will explore the following topics: Unit 1 - Area and Surface Area, Unit 2 - Introducing Ratios, Unit 3 - Unit Rates and Percentages, Unit 4 - Dividing Fractions, Unit 5 - Arithmetic Base Ten, Unit 6 - Expressions and Equations, Unit 7 - Rational Numbers, and Unit 8 - Data Sets and Distributions.
Hi! My name is Melinda Chan and I teach 6th grade English Language Arts and Social Studies. This is my 5th year at the Otis School. Prior to joining BPS, I taught for six years as a Special Education Teacher in Chicago, IL. I was born and raised in Boston and I am so excited to be teaching and working with young students back home. I have taught students across all K-8 grade levels and the best part of my job is witnessing their progress and growth, not only in academics but also in self-awareness and independence. I am excited for the start of a new school year and a new journey with 6th grade!
Hello 6th graders! My name is Mr. Mallios and I will be your Math and Science teacher. This will be my 5th year at the James Otis. I am very excited for this school year and look forward to working on real world problem solving with you. We will be busy this year, but I promise you we will have fun at the same time. When I am not at school I enjoy the outdoors, traveling, and hanging with my 2 dogs and 5 chickens. We are going to have a great school year together!