Dear Parents and Families,

We trust you had a relaxing Thanksgiving Break. This week, we resume our learning journey with a focus on reviewing and preparing for the upcoming quarterly assessments starting next week.

Students will participate in comprehensive review activities in Math, ELAR, Science, and Social Studies.

Please remember to follow VAMS PTO and Van Alstyne Middle School on Facebook.

Thank you for being an essential part of our school community!

Learning Lineup:

ELAR: Students will start wrapping up their Research Projects with a focus on revising and editing.

Math: In math, we will learn about Classifying Numbers and the Coordinate Plane. We will review on Thursday and test on Friday.

Social Studies: In SS we'll be explaining how Eurasian societies express their identities and experiences through art, music, architecture, and literature, as well as describing how scientific discoveries and technological innovations have shaped these societies.

Science: This week, we will wrap up the quarter with Transverse and Longitudinal Waves(6.8C). We will look at the parts of waves, the types, and their movement through mediums. The remaining days of the semester will be spent preparing for our Q2 Exam on Monday 12/15. This test will be our final test grade of the semester!

Art: This week in art we will begin working with polymer clay to create a collection of clay pieces that show unity.

Technology: Students will be creating a travel poster for 3 different landmarks from around the world!

DATES TO REMEMBER

December 9th- Beginner Band Winter Concert: 6:00p.m.
December 11th- RLA Q2 Exam
December 12th- Math Q2 Exam
December 15th- Science Q2 Exam
December 16th- Social Studies Q2 Exam
December 18th- Early Release @1:30pm
December 18th- Yearbook Cover Contest Entries Due Today (Info Below)
December 19th-January 5th- No School: Christmas Break
January 19th- No School- Martin Luther King Day

Reading Steps

In 6th grade Reading, we use a digital form to track at-home reading steps. Below are the links for your child to log their steps. Please ensure you click on your child's teacher's link for the steps to be recorded accurately.

We encourage all students to complete 2 steps each night, totaling 30 minutes of reading.

Garris Reading Log

Greenberg Reading Log

Basham Reading Log

Choir Concert Information

When: Monday 12/15/2025 @ 6 PM

Where: VAHS Cafeteria

Who: 6th-12th Grade Choirs

Accessing Online Learning Platforms from Home:

Sixth grade uses several online learning platforms. Students are able access these from if they are absent, missing assignments or need to correct and redo an assignment. Please see below for instructions how to access them from home.

Clever:

If your child has been unable to access their school accounts from home, please make sure they are entering their full email address as their user name. The format of our student email addresses are as follows. firstname.lastname@vastudent.org

Their password is the same password that they use every day at school.

Instructions:

1. Go to the vanalstyneisd.org website

2. Click on Student and Parents, then click on Clever

3. Students sign in with their school google email account and password

EXAMPLE:

username: firstname.lastname@vastudent.org

password: firstname123456 (their 6 digit lunch number)

Google Classroom:

Video for first time logging into Google Classroom from home

Go to classroom.google.com
Click Go to Classroom.
Enter the school email address for your Classroom account.

ex. sally.smith@vastudent.org

Click Next.
Enter your password. first name with lunch number no space ex. sally123456
Click Next.
If there is a welcome message, review it.
Click Accept.
If you're using a Google Workspace for Education account, click I’m A Student or I’m A Teacher.
Tip: Users with personal Google Accounts won’t find this option.
Click Get Started.

***If it asks for a class code to join, that means the student didn’t login with their school email and didn’t log out of an existing account.

Eduphoria:

Students must log into Clever to access the Eduphoria app.

Log-in to Eduphoria:

Username-student id (lunch number)

Password-student first name capitalized and student id

(NO spaces)

For example:

Username- 123456

Password- Firstname123456