6th Grade Newsletter
We had a fantastic week in ELA as students presented their Compare and Contrast Projects! It was such a joy to see the creativity and effort our 6th graders put into their work — from visuals to written analysis, they showcased their skills in so many unique ways.
To wrap up the week, students read “The Magic Marker Mystery” and explored dramatic elements through a fun Reader’s Theater activity. This gave students the chance to bring the story to life and practice fluency, expression, and teamwork.
Ask your child what character they played!
Looking Ahead: Next Week in ELA
Next week, students will be digging deeper into plot structure by working with plot diagrams to map out key story elements like exposition, rising action, climax, and resolution.
From there, they’ll take their plot maps and begin working on “showing, not telling” — using descriptive language and vivid details to bring their stories to life. This is a great opportunity for students to stretch their creative writing muscles and become more expressive, confident writers
Just a reminder that Mrs. Light’s and Mrs. Stratakos’ classes will be heading to the Evanston Public Library on Thursday, October 30th.
🚶♀️ Transportation: This is a walking field trip – wear comfy walking shoes!
⏰ Departure Time: Students will leave school at 8:30 AM.
🎒 Return Time: Students will return in time for Periods 5–8 and will only miss Periods 1–4.
🔔 Please help your student:
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Arrive to school on time so we can leave promptly at 8:30 AM
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Be dressed appropriately for walking and the weather
🗓 End of Unit 1 Assessment – Coming Soon
Mark your calendars: the Unit 1 assessment will take place next week. We’ll be reviewing key skills and content to make sure everyone feels confident and prepared.
This week, students explored the world of ratios and rates through engaging, real-world problem solving. They practiced solving a variety of unit rate problems (like price per item or speed), and began using ratio reasoning to compare different quantities. We also introduced part-part-whole ratios, helping students understand how individual parts relate to the whole in a set.
Looking Ahead: Next Week in Math
Next week, students will continue to deepen their understanding of part-part-whole relationships as we prepare for our end-of-unit assessment on Wednesday.
After the assessment, we’ll launch Unit 3: Unit Rates & Percentages. Students will begin by applying their ratio reasoning skills to convert between units of measurement, laying the groundwork for understanding percentages in everyday contexts.
In Social Studies, students continued working on their Document-Based Question (DBQ) investigation titled “Hammurabi’s Code: Was it just?” This week, they analyzed and answered questions on five primary sources, examining the laws and values of ancient Mesopotamia through critical thinking and discussion.
Be sure to ask your child what they think about Hammurabi’s laws — were they fair or unfair? Their opinions might surprise you!
Looking Ahead: Next Week in SS
This week, they will choose a side (fair or unfair), develop a clear thesis statement, and begin selecting evidence from the documents to support their argument. They’ll also work on explaining how each piece of evidence backs up their point of view, a key skill in argumentative writing
This Week In Mr. Sommer’s classes:
In Science this week, students explored the big idea behind Unit 6.1: “Why do we see things sometimes and not others?” Using a hands-on model, students investigated how light behaves and how variations in light affect what we see.
By manipulating the model, students deepened their understanding of how light travels, reflects, and interacts with objects, helping them explain everyday phenomena in a scientific way.
Ask your child to show or explain what they learned using the model — they’ve been doing some great thinking!
Looking Ahead: Next Week Mr. Sommer's Science Class
Next week, students will begin a research project on various eye diseases as part of our exploration of light and vision. Working in cooperative groups, students will research an assigned eye condition and use class time to gather key information.
Their goal will be to create an engaging visual presentation that teaches their classmates about how the disease affects vision and connects to what we’ve been learning about light.
This Week In Ms. Stone's classes:
This week, students continued working with the box model to explore the question: How can something act like both a mirror and a window at the same time? They recorded their noticing and wonderings, using evidence from their observations to deepen their understanding of how light behaves.
Ask your child what they noticed during the box model activity — and how they would explain what light is!
Students also participated in a lively conversation carousel, sharing ideas and building on one another’s thinking to answer the question: “What is light?” Their discussions were guided by notes taken from a recent BrainPOP video on Light, helping them connect new information to their own experiences.