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:
-
Reviewing their grades regularly
-
Emailing or checking in with their teachers about questions or concerns
-
Following up on missing or incomplete assignments
This routine helps strengthen responsibility, independence, and communication skills—key habits for academic success.
All 6th-grade teachers are joining in the fun to celebrate Take Your Teddy Bear to School Day on Wednesday, October 8th!
Students are encouraged to bring a teddy bear or small stuffed animal to school to join them for the day. Stuffed animals should be small enough to sit with them at their desk or table.
It’s a lighthearted way to build community, spark joy, and make learning even more fun—we can’t wait to meet their cuddly classroom companions!
This week, students wrapped up their narrative writing projects inspired by an excerpt from The Mighty Miss Malone. Their task was to create a new scene "pretending" to be the main character, Deza, and imagine her reaction to receiving a "new assignment."
We can’t wait to read the creative, thoughtful, and imaginative stories students have written.
📣 Ask your child: What assignment did Deza get in your story—and how did she react?
Students were recently introduced to a new excerpt from The Red Scarf Girl, a powerful memoir set during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. This text offers students a chance to explore themes like identity, family loyalty, and political pressure through the eyes of a young girl navigating a time of great change. Read the excerpt here
Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution is an autobiography about the teenage life of Ji-li Jiang, who lived with her family in Shanghai during the 1960s when Communist Party leader Mao Zedong effectively declared war against capitalist and anti-establishment forces throughout China. When Mao launched a series of purges aimed at purifying the Communist party, Ji-li and her family were dedicated Communists; she was initially embarrassed by her family’s “landlord” background when the Cultural Revolution began in 1966. However, her feelings began to change when the government started attacking her family. In this excerpt, she has been pulled out of class and is being interrogated by people from her father’s theater.
Looking Ahead: Next Week in ELA
Next week, students will continue exploring the excerpt from The Red Scarf Girl, focusing on how the setting—Communist China during the Cultural Revolution—impacts the characters and events in the story.
This week, students completed their Unit 1 End-of-Unit Assessment. We’ve now begun Unit 2: Introduction to Ratios. In this unit, students are learning to use ratio language to describe the relationship between two quantities. They're exploring how to express ratios in different forms and apply them to real-world contexts.
How Parents Can Support Ratio Learning at Home:
You can help your child strengthen their understanding of ratios by connecting them to everyday activities! Here are a few simple ways:
-
🥣 Cooking Together: Talk about recipes and how ingredients relate (e.g., “This recipe uses 2 cups of flour for every 1 cup of sugar. What’s the ratio of flour to sugar?”).
-
🛒 Grocery Store Math: Compare prices and quantities (e.g., “Which brand gives us a better deal? Let’s compare the price per ounce.”).
-
🎨 Art and Crafts: Mix paint colors or beads using ratios (e.g., “We need 3 red beads for every 2 blue ones. How many of each do we need for 4 patterns?”).
-
🏀 Sports Stats: Talk about player stats or scores (e.g., “If the team made 5 shots out of 10, what’s the ratio of made to attempted shots?”).
Even short conversations using “for every...” or “out of...” language can build a strong foundation
Looking Ahead: Next Week in Math
Students are continuing to explore ratios in our current unit. They are learning to use ratio language to describe the relationship between two quantities.
Next, students will begin using multiplication and division strategies to generate equivalent ratios. This helps them recognize patterns and relationships between numbers.
We just wrapped up our Hominid Unit in Social Studies! Students learned how early Homo Sapiens began to settle in one place instead of constantly moving from location to location.
📣 Ask your child: Why did early humans decide to stay in one spot?
(Hint: It has to do with farming, food, and survival!)
Looking Ahead: Next Week in SS
Mesopotamia is in the house!
We’re kicking off our first civilization unit by diving into the fascinating world of Mesopotamia—often called the “Cradle of Civilization.”
Students will begin learning about the key elements that make up a civilization using the acronym G.R.A.P.E.S. This stands for Geography, Religion, Achievements, Politics, Economics, and Social Structure.
📣 Ask your child: What does each letter in G.R.A.P.E.S. stand for, and how does it connect to Mesopotamia? They’ll love showing off what they’ve learned!
Students have officially kicked off their first 6th-grade science unit — Vision! 👁️
This week, they took the District’s pretest and worked on labeling diagrams of the eye to learn about its different parts and functions.
Looking Ahead: Next Week Mr. Sommer's Science Class
Students will have a quiz on the parts of the eye:
-
Monday for Periods 3 & 7
-
Tuesday for Periods 4 & 8
All students have a study guide they created in class to help them prepare. Be sure to encourage your child to review it over the weekend!
After the quiz, students will dive deeper into scientific thinking by practicing how to make “noticing” and “wonderings” about the eye—an important skill that helps them think like scientists and ask meaningful questions about what they observe.
Celebrating the Freedom to Read – Banned Books Week (October 5–11)
This week, students learned about the importance of the freedom to read in recognition of Banned Books Week. We explored why certain books are challenged or banned in some places and discussed why it's important to have access to diverse stories and perspectives.
As part of our learning, we watched the short film Hair Love, based on the picture book of the same name—which appears on several banned books lists. This sparked thoughtful conversations about representation, family, and why some books are targeted.
We also talked about how fortunate we are to live in a community and state that values access to books and supports the right to read freely.
📣 Ask your child: What is one reason a book might be banned—and why do they think it’s important to read those books anyway?
📚 6th Grade Book Club with Ms. Sorock!
Hi! I’m Ms. Sorock, and I’m excited to be working at Nichols this year as the Reading Interventionist. Starting Thursday, October 16th, I’ll be hosting a weekly Book Club just for 6th grade students!
Our club will meet once a week during 6th grade lunch to read and discuss high-interest books in a relaxed, welcoming setting.
This is a great opportunity for students who:
-
❤️ Love to read
-
📖 Want to enjoy reading more
-
🤝 Want to meet new friends in a calm and friendly environment
All 6th graders are welcome—come read with us!
Please message me with any questions at sorocka@district65.net. I'm also hoping to get our first set of book club books (Stargirl) through my Donors Choose project, if you're interested in donating.