Questions to Ask 6th Graders
Questions to ask 6th graders in the year they trade one classroom for a schedule full of them, written for homeroom and advisory teachers and for parents. The 51 questions follow the year: first-week openers, lockers and changing classes, a round of fun and would-you-rather questions, then check-ins on friends, workload and feelings. The first three groups hold up in front of a whole class; the last three are for one student at a time, or for paper.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
First week
What name do you want to be called in this room, and how do you say it?
Why ask it
Class lists carry legal names and misspellings, and a sixth grader who has to correct an adult twice often stops correcting. Write the answer the way it sounds and use it before the period ends.
Which elementary school did you come from, and who else from there is here?
Why ask it
The answers sort the room for you: some arrived with half their old class, some know nobody. Students who name no one are the ones to pair up on purpose during the first group task.
What are you into right now that you could explain to someone in one minute?
Why ask it
Eleven year olds often have one subject they know cold, and a minute is short enough to feel safe. Jot the answers down, because they are your writing prompts and your small talk at the door for the next month.
What are you looking forward to most this year: a class, a club, a team, or something else?
Why ask it
Offering choices keeps it from stalling at 'I don't know'. Remember who said what, because a student who was counting on band, a sport or an elective is one to check on if tryouts or the schedule don't go their way.
What were you told about sixth grade before you got here, and who told you?
Why ask it
Older siblings and cousins hand down a mix of useful tips and tall tales about lockers, older students and detention. Hearing the rumors lets you correct the scary ones in one go, without singling anyone out.
What did you do this summer that you'd happily do again next weekend?
Why ask it
Narrower than asking how the summer was, so it gets an actual activity instead of 'good'. Keep the follow-up away from trips and purchases: the kid who stayed home and got very good at one video game has an answer too.
What did a teacher do last year that you hope someone does this year?
Why ask it
You get a free list of what worked: read-alouds, movement breaks, a joke of the day. It also lets a student speak warmly of a teacher they miss, which counts for a lot in the first week of a bigger school.
When you're stuck in class, would you rather I come to your desk, you come to mine, or you pass me a note?
Why ask it
Asking for help in front of new classmates feels expensive at this age, and each student has a price they are willing to pay. Collect this one on paper and then do what the card says, since being asked and ignored is worse than never being asked.
What's one thing you'd like to be able to do by the end of sixth grade that you can't do yet?
Why ask it
A goal in their own words, academic or not: a faster mile, a finished chapter book, speaking up in class. Keep the cards and hand them back near the end of the year, when most students have forgotten what they wrote.
What's something about your week outside school that a teacher should know: a team, a job at home, two houses, a long bus ride?
Why ask it
Written, optional, and never read aloud. It explains why homework from one particular night is always thin, or why a student yawns through first period, before you have guessed wrong about either.
Changing classes
How's the locker: can you get it open on the first try yet?
Why ask it
The combination lock is a classic worry of the first weeks, and a kid who can't open it starts carrying everything all day. If the answer is no, five minutes of practice with nobody watching does more than reassurance. Where there are no lockers, ask what they do with their things between classes.
Which passing period is the tightest for you, and what makes it tight?
Why ask it
You'll hear about a locker at the wrong end of the hall, a crowded stairwell or a class that runs past the bell. Some of that can be fixed with a word to a colleague, and all of it explains the student who is late to the same class every day.
What was the biggest surprise about having a different teacher for each subject?
Why ask it
Two answers come up a lot: every teacher has different rules, and nobody knows them the way last year's teacher did. The second is the one to hear, because that student is waiting for one adult to learn who they are.
What do you miss about having one classroom all day?
Why ask it
Expect a desk of their own, a class pet, recess, or simply knowing where everything was. Missing it doesn't mean the new school is going badly. Let the answer stand without rushing to list what is better now.
What can you do here that you couldn't do in elementary school?
Why ask it
The upside question, best asked right after the one about what they miss. Electives, clubs, choosing a lunch seat and walking the halls without a line are typical. A student who can't think of anything may not have found the good parts yet, and you can point at one.
Where in the building do you still get turned around?
Why ask it
The word 'still' makes it normal to be lost three weeks in. Walk the route with them once, or pair them with a classmate headed the same way; a printed map rarely does the job.
How do the older students treat the sixth graders?
Why ask it
Mostly you will hear 'they ignore us', which is fine. Listen for a specific place, like a bus, a bathroom or one hallway, because a named place is something a school can supervise. Ask who deals with that where you are.
What's lunch like: where do you sit, and how did you end up there?
Why ask it
Lunch is usually the least structured stretch of the day, and where to sit is a decision they face again every noon. 'How did you end up there' separates a chosen table from a leftover seat. For a parent, it beats asking whether they have friends.
Fun
Would you rather start school two hours later or get out two hours earlier?
Why ask it
Nearly everyone has an instant opinion, so it works when the room is quiet. The reasons are the good part: sleep, sports practice, a little brother to pick up. You learn about their afternoons while they think they are only arguing.
Would you rather have a pause button or a rewind button for the school day?
Why ask it
Pause people want more time: to finish a test, to reach the next class, to eat lunch. Rewind people usually have one moment in mind, and whether they say which is up to them. Don't ask for it in front of the class.
Would you rather have a locker that opens when you say your name or a hallway that's always empty?
Why ask it
It lets them joke about the two real annoyances of the first month. Have the class vote by moving to opposite walls, then ask one person from each side to defend the choice.
Would you rather have every class in one room again or switch rooms every twenty minutes?
Why ask it
It gets a real opinion about the new schedule dressed up as a silly choice. A student who picks one room quickly and without the grin may be finding all the moving around harder than they have said.
Which is worse: forgetting your locker combination or sitting down in the wrong classroom?
Why ask it
Both have probably happened to somebody in the room already, which is why it gets a laugh. Tell them which one you did in your first year at this school so the joke lands on the adult, and stop before anyone starts naming who did what.
If you could add one room to this school, what would be in it?
Why ask it
Nap rooms, trampoline rooms and snack rooms arrive first, and then somebody asks for a quiet room with no people in it. A wish like that can be about the noise and the crowds of a bigger building, so follow it up in private and not in front of the class.
What would you put in the morning announcements if you got the microphone for a day?
Why ask it
Sixth graders sit through announcements they have no say in, so handing them the microphone is funny before anyone answers. If a few ideas are good, find out whether students may read announcements at your school and who decides.
What invention would make sixth grade easier?
Why ask it
A homework robot comes first; push past it by asking for something that fixes one exact problem. The problems they choose, a heavy backpack or a forgotten combination, make an honest list of what is hard right now.
If your teachers entered a talent show, who wins and what's the act?
Why ask it
Safe teasing that shows which adults they have warmed to. Rule out anything about how a teacher looks or sounds before you start, and be ready to hear what your own act would be.
Friends
Who have you met this year that you didn't know before?
Why ask it
A name or two a few weeks in is a good sign, and where they met matters: a shared class, a team, the bus. If the answer is nobody, don't pounce; ask which class has the people they would most like to know.
Did the schedule put you with your old friends or split you up?
Why ask it
For a lot of sixth graders the hardest part of the year was decided by whoever built the timetable. If they were split up, ask when they do see those friends, since lunch and one shared elective can carry a friendship.
When a teacher says to find a partner, who do you usually end up with?
Why ask it
'Find a partner' is ten seconds that some students dread for the whole period. A different name in each class is a good sign. 'Whoever's left' in one of them is worth passing to that teacher, who can assign pairs for a while without saying why.
How do people end up in groups here: by class, by lunch table, by team, or something else?
Why ask it
It asks about 'people', not about them, so it is easy to answer truthfully. You get a map of how the grade is sorting itself, and often a sideways report on where they fit in it.
What do you do when you walk into a room and don't see anyone you know?
Why ask it
There is no wrong answer, and plenty will say they head for the back or stare at their shoes. Trade strategies instead of handing out advice. For a teacher, the answers make a good case for assigned seats in the first weeks.
Has anything changed with a friend from elementary school since the year started?
Why ask it
Old friendships get reshuffled when several schools feed into one, and it can feel like being dropped even when nobody meant it. Listen more than you fix. Calling the other family is a step to take only with your child's say-so.
Do you and your friends hang out more online or in person these days?
Why ask it
Group chats and shared games often start or speed up around this age, and the rules about phones differ by family and by school. Ask out of curiosity and not as the opening of a rules talk, or you will get the edited version.
What do kids in your grade tease each other about that you wish they'd drop?
Why ask it
The wording lets them report on the grade without admitting to being a target. When the same subject or the same name comes up from several students, that is information for whoever handles behavior at your school.
Workload
How long does homework really take you on a normal night?
Why ask it
Ask for an honest number, then ask how much of it is getting started. If the number is far from what you expected, ask the teachers what a normal night is meant to look like at this school before deciding who is right.
How do you keep track of what's due when it comes from that many teachers?
Why ask it
'I just remember' is the answer that tends to fail around the first report. Have them show you the planner, app or folder, not describe it, and ask a teacher how students are meant to check assignments there.
Which class gives you the most to keep up with, and is it the work or the organizing?
Why ask it
Splitting the two matters because they need different help. Hard material calls for the teacher or more practice; lost papers and missed deadlines call for a folder and a routine.
When a test is coming up, what do you actually do the night before?
Why ask it
For many students this is the first year a test covers weeks of material, and 'look over my notes' can mean ten minutes of staring at a page. Have them show you with tomorrow's material, then ask the teacher whether a study guide or practice questions are posted anywhere.
What do you do when two tests or projects land on the same day?
Why ask it
With one teacher, somebody saw the whole week; with several, nobody does unless the student speaks up. Whether a deadline can move depends on the school and the teacher, so find out before you suggest asking.
Have you looked at your grades lately, and was anything in there a surprise?
Why ask it
If your school posts grades online, this may be the first year a student can watch them change week to week. Look together and let them explain before you react. A zero is sometimes a paper that was never handed in, which is a different problem from not knowing the material.
What's getting squeezed out now that school takes more time?
Why ask it
Sleep, a sport, reading for fun, plain messing around. One squeezed thing is the price of a bigger school; three is a week to rethink. Parents can act on this answer directly, which is not true of most of the others.
What would make homework easier at home: a different spot, a different time, or less of me checking in?
Why ask it
Built for parents, and the third option is the one that earns trust. Agree to try their answer for two weeks, then sit down and look at how it went.
Feelings
On a scale of one to five, how is sixth grade going this week, and what would move it up by one?
Why ask it
A number is easier to give than a feeling, and the second half turns it into something you can act on. Ask it on the same day every few weeks, because the change in the number tells you more than any single answer.
Which part of the school day do you look forward to, and which part do you brace for?
Why ask it
'Brace for' gives permission to name a class, a hallway or a bus ride without calling it a problem. If the braced-for part is the same two check-ins running, ask what happens there.
What were you worried about before school started that turned out fine?
Why ask it
Getting lost, forgetting the combination and being late are the usual three. A fear that shrank is evidence they can use against the next one, and it sets up asking what is still on the list.
What still makes you nervous about middle school?
Why ask it
Ask it straight after the worries that faded, and don't rush to reassure. Repeat back what you heard, then ask whether they want help with it or only wanted it said.
Which adult in the building would you go to if something went wrong?
Why ask it
With one teacher traded for many, some students cannot name anyone. Pick a candidate together: an advisor, a counselor, a coach, the librarian. Ask the school who sixth graders are meant to go to, and make sure the student knows where that person's door is.
What do you wish adults understood about being the youngest in the school again?
Why ask it
A few months ago they were the oldest, with jobs to do and little kids looking up at them. Expect to hear about being talked down to, or being expected to know things nobody explained. Write it down and argue with none of it.
What's a small win from the last few weeks that no adult saw?
Why ask it
When each teacher has a student for one period a day, plenty goes unseen. Take the small answers seriously: got the locker open in ten seconds, asked a question in science. Then say out loud that somebody has noticed now.
Knowing what you know now, what would you tell yourself on the first day?
Why ask it
For the middle of the year onward. The advice is nearly always kinder than they were to themselves in the first week, and with the names left off it makes a good note for next year's incoming class.
Using these with sixth graders
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Which group for which room
A whole class in the first week
First week and Fun are built for a full room. Have everyone answer on an index card, then invite volunteers to read theirs. Cold calling a child who knows nobody in the room is a fast way to make them dread your class.
Advisory or homeroom
Changing classes suits a circle of ten to fifteen a few weeks in, when the novelty has worn off and the real snags have shown up. Take one question per meeting and let students answer each other. When three students describe the same snag, pass it to whoever can fix it.
On paper
Friends, Workload and Feelings get truer answers in writing than aloud. A half sheet collected at the door, with a line saying who will read it, is enough. Read them the same day, because a student who wrote something hard is watching to see whether anyone noticed.
At home
A parent needs two or three of these a week, not the whole list. The car, the walk to practice and the time spent cooking beat a sit-down talk, since nobody has to look at anybody. Lunch, the locker and the tightest passing period are the ones that open the rest.
If sixth grade is still elementary where you are
In some districts and countries sixth graders stay in the elementary building, or change schools at a different age. Skip the Changing classes group then, or ask it as a preview near the end of the year, and use the other five groups as they stand.
Asking so they answer
One period, not the whole day
'How was school' covers the whole day and gets one word. 'What happened in the hall after third period' covers four minutes and gets a story. Most of the list is already cut that small; cut your own questions the same way.
Go first
Tell them where you sat at lunch in sixth grade, or how long your own locker took you. A short, slightly embarrassing answer from the adult lowers the cost of an honest one from the student. Keep yours under thirty seconds.
Make passing ordinary
Say before you start that anyone may pass, and let the first pass go by without comment. Eleven and twelve year olds watch closely what happens to the first classmate who opts out.
Leave the answer alone
When a student says homework takes three hours or that nobody talks to them at lunch, the pull is to correct or solve on the spot. Ask one more question and come back to it the next day. A student whose answer set off a lecture gives safer answers afterward.
Across the year
The first two weeks
Names, old schools, rumors and goals. The job is to learn a room of new people fast and to let them hear that their worries are shared. Save the Friends group until there are some friendships to ask about.
Weeks three to six
The locker works, the routes are known, and the workload arrives. This is the moment for Changing classes and Workload, and for the one to five rating, which gives you a first number to hold later ones against.
After the first grades come home
Whatever your school calls it, the first report is the first time many students see how several teachers at once have judged them. Ask about keeping track of due dates and about what is getting squeezed out before you ask about any single grade.
The last stretch
Bring back the goal cards from the first week and ask what they would tell themselves on day one. Their advice, collected and unsigned, is a ready-made welcome for the students arriving next year.
When an answer worries you
One bad week or a pattern
A low rating once is a bad week. The same class, hallway or name turning up across several check-ins is a pattern, and patterns are what to act on. Dates jotted on the cards make the difference easy to see.
Say who will hear it
Don't promise to keep something secret before you know what it is. Teachers and other staff may be required to pass certain things on, and those rules depend on where you work, so ask your school what they are and tell students plainly who reads their answers.
Take it to the right person
A teacher who hears about trouble on the bus or in a bathroom usually cannot fix it alone. Find out who handles that in your building, whether a counselor, an administrator or someone else, and hand it over with the specifics the student gave you.
For parents
Before you email the school, ask your child what they would like to happen and what they are afraid will happen if you step in. Then ask the school who the right contact is for a sixth grader. If it sounds like a safety matter, act even if your child would prefer you didn't, and tell them that you are going to.