The Weekly Update #4

As your child enters middle school, we recognize this is an exciting time filled with many new experiences. Students are adjusting to new teachers, rotating classes, and increased academic expectations. They are also learning to manage lockers, organize binders, and balance responsibilities across multiple subjects. Socially, students may be forming new friendships while navigating larger groups and changing peer dynamics.

Alongside these changes, students are developing greater independence and self-advocacy skills.

• They are learning to use planners
• Manage time
• Take ownership of their learning.

We also know that the transition can bring feelings of nervousness, stress, or uncertainty. Our goal is to foster a strong classroom culture and positive learning environment that provides consistency, support, and encouragement. With clear routines, caring relationships, and opportunities for growth, we strive to help students feel confident, connected, and ready to thrive here at Nichols.

ELA is off to a wonderful start! All students have come to class prepared with an independent reading book and are settling into the routine of beginning each class with reading. As the weeks progress, we will share book recommendations from students, highlight titles through “First Chapter Fridays,” and send home suggestions from our school's librarian, Mrs. Philippe. - Check out the Nichols' Library Website

We’ve also been building our classroom community. This week, students played Two Truths and a Fib. Ask your student what their responses were; some were very creative!

Our first assignment, the “What Do You Value” umbrella, invited students to choose 20 words or images that represent who they are and what they value. These projects will be displayed in the hallway as part of celebrating our 6th grade Nichols community.

Looking Ahead: Next Week in ELA

Next week, we will begin our first StudySync unit. More information about the text and upcoming writing assignments will be shared in next week’s newsletter.

• Check the links for Caudill and banned books.
• Banned Book Week
• 20 Ways to Keep Your Middle Schooler Interested in Reading
• Using Comics and Graphic Novels to Support Literacy

We’ve had a wonderful and energetic start to the school year! This week, students participated in a fun and creative community-building activity called the Spaghetti Tower Challenge. Using just 20 pieces of spaghetti, 1 yard of tape, 1 yard of string, and 1 marshmallow, teams worked together to build the tallest freestanding tower possible. It was a great way to practice collaboration, problem-solving, and communication skills—and we had lots of laughs along the way!

We also kicked off our "All About Me" Poster Project, where students are drawing pictures and writing about themselves. It’s been such a joy to see their creativity shine and learn more about each student’s unique personality and interests.

We’re off to a great start and can’t wait for more learning and fun in the weeks ahead!

This week, we focused on:

• Establishing classroom norms and procedures to set a strong foundation for the year.

• Math review: Students reintroduced themselves to area and perimeter of polygons by designing their very own bumper car floor plans.

• Creative projects: Each student created a Perimeter Person, a fun way to connect math with creativity! You’ll get to see these displayed during Curriculum Night.

We are so proud of the effort and energy your students brought to their first week of middle school, and we look forward to all the growth ahead.

Looking Ahead: Next Week in Math

We are excited to officially begin our first math unit! Students will explore:

• Area of polygons (2D shapes)

• Surface area of prisms (3D shapes)

To build understanding, students will use strategies like composing and decomposing figures to determine area in creative ways.

In addition, we will dedicate 2–3 days to completing the Fall i-Ready Math Diagnostic. This assessment helps us better understand each student’s current strengths and areas for growth so we can tailor instruction to meet their needs.

Important Reminder: Please make sure your child comes to class each day with a fully charged iPad 💻 so they are ready for both lessons and assessments.

This week in class, students participated in a creative and reflective activity called the "Quote Walk." During this gallery-style walk, students read a variety of inspiring quotes about education and learning. They explored messages from thinkers, leaders, and educators to find quotes that resonated with them personally.

After reflecting on the quotes, students took it a step further by creating their own personal quote or slogan to represent their educational journey for the school year. This activity helped students set a positive tone and intention for their learning while encouraging self-expression and connection to the broader purpose of education.

We’re so proud of their thoughtful reflections and creativity!

Looking Ahead: Next Week in SS

We’re excited to begin our next unit in Social Studies: Continents and Oceans! Students will begin learning about the seven continents and five oceans, including their locations and names.

As part of this unit, students will create a study guide to help them review and practice at home. To check their understanding, there will be a labeling quiz on Friday, September 8th. On the quiz, students will be asked to correctly label each continent and ocean on a blank map.

Please encourage your student to review their study guide regularly to feel confident and prepared.

Practice quiz online #1 - link

Practice quiz online #2 - link

Let the adventure around the world begin!

To help build classroom community, students have begun working on a fun and creative project called the “You Pamphlet.” This activity is designed to help students share more about themselves—their interests, experiences, and personalities—while also learning about their classmates. By creating these personalized pamphlets, students are making meaningful connections and discovering common interests, which supports a positive and welcoming classroom environment.

Students will share their “You Pamphlet” with others in class. We can’t wait to see how each student’s unique story shines through!

Looking Ahead: Next Week in Science

Then students will start working on lab safety. Students will have a quiz on Lab safety on Monday, September 8th.

What is AVID?

AVID is a comprehensive program for grades 6–12 that bridges the gap between students’ aspirations and their readiness for college and careers. AVID is a daily class that builds academic skills, college and career knowledge, and student agency. Beyond the class, AVID strategies are integrated school wide. As AVID expands, it fosters a culture of rigor and support across all classrooms.

AVID Binder System 📚

Nichols is an AVID school, and as an AVID school, all students in every grade level are using the AVID Binder System this year. This system supports one of AVID’s core goals: Organization and Time Management. One key feature in their binder is their academic notebooks to help students keep track of what their assignments are and how to break down longer academic tasks.

Each binder includes:

• A folder for each class, arranged in the order of the student’s daily schedule

• A supply pouch for pencils, pens, and other tools

• Other academically useful materials to help students stay prepared and organized every day

The AVID Binder helps students develop lifelong organizational habits and makes it easier for them to keep track of assignments, notes, and important materials across all of their classes.

👉 Please check in with your student to see their binder and help encourage them to keep it neat and up to date!

Over the past week, music students been building our classroom community by getting to know one another and establishing our routines and expectations. It’s been a joy to see students settle in and bring such great energy to music class!

Looking Ahead: We’ll be launching our first unit: “The Elements of Music.” Students will explore the foundational building blocks of music, including beat, rhythm, melody, and harmony. We’re excited to dive into these concepts through fun, hands-on activities and engaging musical experiences!

Media Arts students are off to a great start and have begun their first project using Adobe Express. They’re using their iPads to take portrait photos and are learning how to import those images to their desktop computers—a great introduction to digital workflows and creative tools.

Our first design project is a poster titled “All About Me.” Students are using their creativity to share about themselves through images, design, and layout. We plan to print and laminate the posters next week, and with a little luck, a copy will make its way home to you!

💡 Reminder: Please help your student remember to bring their charged iPad to Media Arts class every day so they can fully participate in our activities.

This week, students completed their pre-assessment to help guide our learning goals for the year. Along the way, we also enjoyed several fun and collaborative drama games to build community and get comfortable performing together.

Looking Ahead: We’ll dive into our 6th Grade Drama Skills: focusing on expression, movement, voice, and storytelling. We’re excited to keep the creativity flowing as students begin developing their stage presence and performance confidence.

Students kicked off the year with activities to build community and creativity. We started with a fun “name game” icebreaker, where everyone shared one word about their summer.

Next, students created their art portfolios and sketchbooks, which they’ll use to collect and showcase their work throughout the year.

We also had a mini origami lesson! Students folded and decorated fortune tellers, then explored choice origami projects such as cranes, boxes, and hats. Through this, we learned about:

• Scale

• Symmetry

• Area

• Origami rules: start with square paper, fold only, and no cutting, glue, or tape!

Looking Ahead: Next week, we are excited to begin our clay unit—a hands-on favorite for many students!

We kicked off the school year in PE with some fun ice breaker games to get students moving and connecting with their classmates. This week, we also began selling PE uniforms during class.

Looking ahead to next week:

👕 We’ll continue selling PE uniforms, and starting on Thursday, September 4th, students will begin changing into their PE uniforms for class.

👟 Reminder: Please make sure your student comes to school with proper PE shoes so they can participate safely and comfortably.

This week, students had the chance to meet Ms. Dortzbach (School Counselor) and Ms. Lau (Social Worker). Both staff members play an important role in supporting our students throughout the school year:

• Ms. D provides support in three main areas: Academics & Attendance, Social/Emotional Development, and College & Career Readiness.

• Ms. Lau is the primary contact for all students with 504 Plans and IEPs.

Together, they are available to help students with anything they may need, whether it’s navigating challenges, building skills, or planning for the future.

Ways Students Can Reach Out:

• By scanning the QR codes posted throughout the building.

• By asking their teacher to be sent to the office.

• By sending an email.

• By stopping by the office directly.

We are grateful to have Ms. D and Ms. Lau on our team and look forward to the positive impact they will have on our school community this year.

Throughout September, Ms. D will be meeting briefly (2–3 minutes) with every student. These “mini-meetings” are designed as a simple, friendly touchpoint where students can share a little about themselves and begin building a connection with their counselor.

MATH Assessment: Wednesday (9/3) and Thursday (9/4)

ELA Assessment: Tuesday (9/9) and Wednesday (9/10)

(Make up assessments are to take plan in the students scheduled math/ELA class)

💻 Important Tech Reminder: iPads Charged for School & Assessments

As students take their first assessments of middle school, please help them build a strong routine at home:

• Charge iPads fully each night so they’re ready for school and testing.

• Pack the device in the morning (and charging cable if your family prefers).

• Do a quick power-on check before leaving to confirm the battery is full.

A charged device ensures students can focus on showing what they know—thank you for your partnership!

Star Assessments are short tests that provide teachers with personalized learning data for each student. Star tests are computer adaptive, which means they adjust in difficulty to each answer students provide. This helps teachers get the best data to help students in the shortest amount of testing time. A Star test typically takes only 20–30 minutes to complete. The short testing time ensures students spend less time testing and more time learning.

The i-Ready Diagnostic is a K-12 adaptive assessment in reading and math that adjusts the difficulty of questions based on a student's answers to provide personalized learning paths. The i-Ready test typically takes About 60-75 minutes to complete.

Please join us on Thursday, September 18, from 5:00–7:00 PM.
We’re excited to share what your students are learning and how to support them at home!