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The Curriculum of the Steiner School - Class 6

Notes and Lesson Plans

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A Note:

If you can only afford the essentials, these are the two things -- and the only 2 things -- that you need to develop your homeschool curriculum.

Both of these resources cover grades 1 through 12.

(And, don't worry, you can still do a FANTASTIC job!)

AWSNA Curriculum Chart

the WHAT and the WHEN

$8.00
on March 5, 2015

The Educational Tasks & Content of the Steiner Waldorf Curriculum

the HOW and the WHY

$40.00
on March 5, 2015

Geology
updated September 7, 2019


This page has helpful links and LOADS of free resources to help you plan your sixth grade year. Enjoy!


Mission Statement - Consulting Services - Lending Library


Geology Overview (PDF)
for Class 6


Pinterest - Renee Schwartz
My curated collection of visuals! Browse sample main lesson book pages, watercolor paintings, chalkboard drawings, etc. for Geology & Mineralogy.

If you're looking for a Mineral Identification Lab Activity, I recommend this one. It accompanies this Mineral Identification Kit and has a helpful student identification "wheel" in order to decipher each mineral quickly and easily. This is designed to be significantly more user-friendly than the usual mineral properties charts. Also included is a data sheet for students to record their results.


FREE eBooks at the Online Waldorf Library
Excellent resource! Published Waldorf curriculum books provided here in PDF format for you to download, keep, and read... for free!


Sample Lessons and Free Curriculum


Other Helpful Links


Books to Buy

We used the main lesson resource by Charles Kovacs and supplemented it with a book specific to our state, Geology Underfoot in Illinois:


Here are the links for every state's Roadside Geology book (where available):

Recorded here is my own personal collection of articles, resources, favorite links, teaching ideas, and lesson plans. It encompasses many years, from the very beginning of my experience studying and learning about Waldorf to the present time. People from all around the world visit my site and recommend it to others. Welcome!

This site records my journey. I hope my honesty is encouraging and helps break down some barriers that may prevent people from trying Waldorf methods. Because this is an ongoing site documenting my curriculum planning and ideas, some materials are more Waldorf-y than others. Please feel free to take what you like and leave the rest.

I am currently teaching this main lesson block, in January-February 2017. When we are done I will create a blog post with photographs of all of Becca's MLB pages.

Note: I ended up adding an extra week to this main lesson block, so we had plenty of time to explore the topics and add in field trip opportunities. I'm not usually one to spend extra time -- I keep pretty tightly to my schedule and the school year plan -- so this was something special!


Poem

A good poem to memorize for this block is "Flint" by Christina Rossetti, page 2017 of The Hutchinson Treasury of Children's Poetry.


List of Stories

Chapters 1 - 3, Kovacs
The Children of the Earth
The Story that the Mountains Tell
Young and Old Rocks: Granite


Chapter 4, Kovacs
The First Rocks


Chapter 5, Kovacs
Volcanic Rocks


The Salt Pump / The Great Conveyor Belt


Chapter 6, Kovacs
The Restless Earth


Chapters 7 - 8, Kovacs
Some Different Rocks
More About Limestone


The Mosul Dam


Chapter 9, Kovacs
Coal

    first, I gave Becca the colored chalks and had her do a full-size chalkboard drawing of the Carboniferous Period (which she loved) - using the illustration on page 16 of the lovely Giant Golden Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Reptiles

    then we read chapter 9 and looked at samples of coal (carefully wrapped in tissue paper - she was excited to unwrap it)

    I suggest also having charcoal available

    Buried Sunlight: The Story of Coal is also an excellent book (from 1941)


Three Types of Rocks
The Rock Cycle


The Water Cycle

    The Drop in My Drink: The Story of Water on Our Planet by Meredith Hooper is my favorite book for the water cycle (chapter 11)

    field trip #32
    Mississippi River floodplain, good tie-in to water cycle

    I like this freeze/thaw cycle experiment

    Ultimately, we ended up adding the Water Cycle (chapter 11) to the upper part of our tapestry:

    When our tapestry was finally complete (it's a year-long project), we exhibited it at the County Fair.


Chapter 12, Kovacs
Winds

    science experiments from Heat lesson plans on convection -- show how wind is made
    NEED EnergyWorks Student Guide (PDF) from 2015-2016, pp. 18-21

      Exploring Heat in Solids, Liquids, and Gases 1
      Exploring Heat in Solids, Liquids, and Gases 2
      Exploring Heat in Solids, Liquids, and Gases 3

    example of a chalkboard drawing for winds
    this is a PERFECT fit with experiment #2


Chapter 13, Kovacs
Glaciers


Culminating President's Day Weekend Field Trips
from Geology Underfoot in Illinois:

    #32 - A Fault-Seeking Expedition (02/17/17, morning)
    Fountain Bluff to the Pine Hills Escarpment, Jackson County

    #33 - Sandstone Gorges, Rock Shelters, and a Natural Bridge (02/20/17, morning)
    Bell Smith Springs, Pope County


My blog posts from teaching this topic:


February 12, 2017 -- we warped our loom and started a new Earth Science tapestry, inspired by the "landscape framed by a limestone cave entrance" lesson in Painting and Drawing in Waldorf Schools: Classes 1-8 by Thomas Wildgruber (pp.260-261). My children are so excited to begin!!!

November 19, 2017 -- we have learned that stalactites and stalagmites are best made by finger knitting lengths of yarn (preferably cotton), which gives the correct texture, and put in place before the background is woven in. When you are weaving, simply pass behind the existing stalactites and stalagmites. This will make them stick out from the background, adding additional texture.

September 7, 2019 - Weaving Tapestries in Geology
photos of the completed project

my older Rocks and Minerals lesson plans (PDF)



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