6th Grade Newsletter
The 2025–2026 Nichols Middle School Clubs and Activities website has been updated! 🎉
Check it out for the most up-to-date information about the clubs, teams, and activities available to our students this year. It’s a great way for students to get involved, explore new interests, and connect with peers outside of the classroom.
Paper Towel and Wipes Drive
We Need You!
Caregivers! We are hosting a paper towel and wipes drive until the last night of PT conferences Oct. 8th. Please bring any donations of Paper Towels and Clorox Wipes (labeled with the grade level) to the main office. The grade level that collects the most donations will get a special treat!
SY24-25 vs. SY25-26 Academic Indicators 6th-8th
Grades are starting to come in! Please check PowerSchool to see your student’s assignment grades. Students also have direct access to their own grades.
To make this process easier, in the front pocket of your student’s AVID white binder there is a QR code that links directly to PowerSchool. We encourage all students to check their classes on a weekly basis.
As part of building strong learning habits, we also encourage students to take ownership of their learning by:
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Reviewing their grades regularly
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Emailing or checking in with their teachers about questions or concerns
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Following up on missing or incomplete assignments
This routine helps strengthen responsibility, independence, and communication skills—key habits for academic success.
This week, we read an excerpt from The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis and built background knowledge about the novel’s setting, The Great Depression. During our second read, we shifted our focus to the protagonist, Deza Malone. Students explored indirect characterization—looking at what a character says, thinks, how others react to them, what they do, and how they appear. Using the STEAL strategy (Speech, Thoughts, Effect on others, Actions, and Looks), we began to unpack who Deza is beyond the surface, and how Christopher Paul Curtis reveals her personality and struggles through subtle details. Read of The Mighty Miss Malone excerpt. (Read Here)
📝 ELA Homework Update – Mrs. Stratakos / Mrs. Light’s Classes
Students are expected to finish their brainstorming sheet for The Mighty Miss Malone. This will prepare them for our next step—writing their narrative this week.
All students have written this homework in their agenda, so please check in with your scholar to see where they are in the brainstorming process. Having this completed will help them be ready to draft with confidence in class.
Looking Ahead: Next Week in ELA
Students will write a creative continuation of the story The Mighty Miss Malone from Deza’s perspective. We’ll also review how to use believable dialogue in narrative work.
Finally, we’ll visit the library for a presentation from Ms. Philippe on banned books.
To learn more click "here" to visit the American Library Association
"With the escalation in attempts to ban books in libraries, schools, and bookstores around the country, George Orwell’s cautionary tale "1984" serves a prescient warning about the dangers of censorship. This year’s theme reminds us that the right to read belongs to all of us."
In class, students continued their work with surface area by exploring both prisms and pyramids. They practiced identifying the base, height, and area of these shapes as part of calculating surface area.
Students also worked on the coordinate grid, plotting and connecting points to form polygons. Once their shapes were complete, they analyzed the figures to determine the base, height, and area, strengthening their understanding of geometry and spatial reasoning.
Looking Ahead: Next Week in Math
📊 Upcoming Assessment
Students will have their first end-of-the-unit assessment on Tuesday or Wednesday. This assessment will cover the concepts we’ve been practicing. Here are links of unit 1 to support your student at home:
Encouraging your student to review class notes, practice problems, and vocabulary will help them feel confident and prepared.
In class, students read and highlighted an article titled “Who Would Win?”. Using the information they identified, students then wrote a short essay in which they stated their Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning (CER) to answer the question: Who would win in a fight between a Modern Human and a Neanderthal?
This activity helped students practice:
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Close reading to highlight key details
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Forming a clear claim based on evidence
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Explaining reasoning to support their ideas
Looking Ahead: Next Week in SS
Next week, students will be finishing up the Hominid Unit. By the end of the unit, students will understand why early hominids began settling in one spot, a key shift that marks the beginning of civilizations.
In addition, students will be introduced to historical atlases and will learn how to use them as a resource for exploring geography and history together.
Looking Ahead: Next Week Mr. Sommer's Science Class
Students will be starting their next unit in science, OpenSciEd 6.1 on Vision. To begin, they will learn about the parts of the eye and how each part works together to help us see. This unit will guide students through hands-on investigations and discussions that explore the question: “How can something act like both a mirror and a window at the same time?”
Ms. Stone's Science Class
🔬 Science Update – My Scientist Video Project
Most students have completed their My Scientist Video Project. For this assignment, students researched a scientist of their choice and created a short digital biography highlighting their life and contributions.
In addition to learning about influential scientists, students are also building their technology skills, including how to properly submit projects in Google Classroom.
👉 If you do not see your child’s project, it may mean:
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They have not yet completed the assignment
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They are experiencing difficulty with turning it in.
In either case, please have them contact Ms. Stone so we can troubleshoot and find a solution together.
This week, students gave their very first 15-second presentation in front of the entire class! The focus was on building public speaking skills such as voice projection, purposeful hand gestures, and maintaining eye contact with their audience.
For this activity, students shared a short excerpt from their journals based on the word “Victory.” This exercise not only strengthened their confidence in speaking but also gave them a chance to showcase their writing in a meaningful way.
Looking Ahead: Next Week in AVID
Students have been focusing on the Inquiry, Reading, and Writing portion of AVID. To build on their college and university awareness, each student is researching a school of higher learning of their choice.
They will then create a slide presentation, expanding on the 15-second class presentations they gave last week. This project helps students practice research skills, strengthen their presentation abilities, and start envisioning their own future paths in education.
Ms. Hodges PE classes did the push-up test and started our Doubles Badminton Tournament!
Next week in Ms. Hodges PE classes we will be testing the curl-ups and will be continuing our Doubles Badminton Tournament!