6th Grade Newsletter

Ms. Amber Altheide (Math)

• amber.altheide@marshall.k12.mn.us

Ms. Nikki Gehrke (Math)

• nikki.gehrke@marshall.k12.mn.us

Mr. Nicholas Dunn (Language Arts)

• nicholas.dunn@marshall.k12.mn.us

Ms. Sorcha Vikter (Language Arts)

• sorcha.vikter@marshall.12.mn.us

Ms. Natalie Bohnert (Social Studies)

• natalie.bohnert@marshall.k12.mn.us

Ms. Barbara Wendt (Science)

• barbara.wendt@marshall.k12.mn.us

Ms. Laura Moorse (FACS)

• laura.moorse@marshall.k12.mn.us

Ms. Chandler Link (Media Arts)

• chandler.link@marshall.k12.mn.us

Ms. Tami Tolk (Reading Interventionist)

• tamara.tolk@marshall.k12.mn.us

Mr. Joseph Schmitt (Math Interventionist)

• joseph.schmitt@marshall.k12.mn.us

Mr. Christian Witherow (Band)

• christian.witherow@marshall.k12.mn.us

Mr. Eric Novosad (General Music)

• eric.novosad@marshall.k12.mn.us

Mr. Wes Meyers (Orchestra)

• wes.meyers@marshall.k12.mn.us

Mr. Blaine Schnaible, (PE & Health)

• blaine.schnaible@marshall.k12.mn.us

Our 6th grade advisories worked as teams to move a hula hoop from the front of the school to the end of the ramp. They had to stay connected the whole time while working together to get everyone through the hula hoop. The goal was to get to the end of the ramp the fastest!

Our winner ended up being Ms. Bohnert's advisory!

Our Language Arts students have been working hard and recently completed their first major Unit 1 test! Moving forward, we will continue practicing identifying the subject and predicate in sentences, while also focusing on articles and adjectives. Additionally, we'll begin exploring the point of view in stories and learning how to analyze characters. We have some exciting stories to share, so be sure to ask your student what they’ve been reading in class!

Students have been working very hard on dissecting and analyzing the different prefixes and suffixes of words to discover their meanings. Can't wait to see how they will use these skills throughout the rest of the year!

In social studies we have been working on the fur trade. We made life size people to better understand each job during the fur trade. We also started working on the branches of the government and how Minnesota became a state. Make sure you are quizzing your student on each of the branches throughout the next month!

During October the 6th grade science class learned about the atmosphere. We practiced reading weather maps, which was not too exciting for Minnesota since we had one of the driest Octobers on record! We discussed the fire dangers with the wind in different parts of the country, and we tracked the hurricanes traveling across the ocean and into Florida. We compared some different websites to see what had the most accurate forecast, we used computer simulations to gather information from a weather balloon robot, and we went outside to test out some different greenhouse designs.

The end of the month has us moving underground to learn about the layers of the Earth, and we will be exploring rocks and minerals in the next few weeks. We will be coming back to weather in January to predict snow days and compare the weather on different planets.

Mrs. Wendt is excited to share the book “Night of the Twisters” with the class, which is the story of a middle school boy during a tornado outbreak in Nebraska in 1980. This book is a past Maud Heart Lovelace winner, and we are very excited to get a class set to enjoy from Pride in the Tiger Foundation Impact Grant. They will be arriving in our classroom soon, and we thank everyone who supports the program!

Students will be learning about personal finance (bank accounts, credit, budgets) and personal relationships (communication & listening, positive relationships, morals & values, decision making, respect & responsibilities, and family values). The personal relationships unit will end with watching the movie Remember the Titans.

We have been learning about stop motion animation! Students created detailed sets, characters, and a story. They then animated them using a stop motion app on the iPads we use. We discussed a variety of shows and movies that are animated using stop motion, such as Shaun the Sheep, The Missing Link, and The Boxtrolls. The students have put so much creativity and hard work into their animations, and they are eager to share them with their classmates!

In 6th grade Reading E & I the students are continuing to work on their SRA labs: focusing on comprehension and learning about words. The Skill Building Cards are an additional assignment to their stories they read and focus on specific skills. Once they successfully reach 15 stories they move on to the next level. It's awesome to see some of them moving on, and exciting to see the growth on their graphs. I will be adding a curriculum soon that focuses on comprehension.

The 5th grade math E & I are brushing up on division facts and practicing long division. We’re trying to build number fact fluency to help us with these more complex problems.

The 6th grade E & I are using our division rules to help with learning fraction operations. Again, we are trying to get really familiar with our math fact fluency to make these problems feel less complicated.

The 5th – 8th grade orchestras will perform their first concert of the year on November 26th at 6:00 p.m.

Dear Parents,

We have completed our unit for 6th-grade physical education curriculum: Disc Golf! This engaging sport combines the fun of traditional golf with the skills of throwing and strategy, providing a fantastic opportunity for your child to stay active and enjoy the outdoors.

What is Disc Golf?
Disc golf is played by throwing a flying disc into a series of metal baskets, aiming to complete each hole in the fewest throws possible. It emphasizes skill development, teamwork, and sportsmanship, making it a perfect fit for our students.

Benefits for Your Child:

• Physical Activity: Disc golf promotes exercise and outdoor activity, helping students stay healthy and active.

• Skill Development: Students will develop hand-eye coordination, throwing techniques, and strategic thinking.

• Social Interaction: Playing disc golf encourages teamwork and friendship as students collaborate and compete in a fun environment.

• Confidence Building: As students improve their skills, they gain confidence and a sense of achievement.

Program Details:

• Introduction Sessions: We began with introductory sessions during physical education classes, where students learned the basics of disc golf, including throwing techniques and game rules.

Get Involved! We encourage parents to support this initiative by providing discs for your child (if possible) and participating in upcoming events. Your involvement can enhance their experience and foster a love for this enjoyable sport.

There are two permanent courses in Marshall. One is located at Independence Park and the other is located on the north side of SMSU. A temporary course is located at the Marshall Middle School but will be taken down sometime in November.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the program, please feel free to reach out. We look forward to seeing our students embrace the joy of disc golf!

Thank you for your support!