Whole School Writer’s Workshop

Cooper School students got a special treat on Tuesday. A Whole-School Writing Workshop! This annual event is one that is eagerly awaited by students and teachers alike. In the library and 5th grade classroom, with the sliding doors open, the entire school engages in a poetry writing lesson led by Ms.
Franci. Our goal was to write Tribute Poems about our chosen Pass It On charity, The Charleston Animal Society. Students from all grades sat together and helped each other to create some excellent poems. It was a beautiful example of collaboration and love of learning!

Marcus Amaker

The treats continued into Tuesday afternoon for your poets when Marcus Amaker, Charleston’s first Poet Laureate, visited 4^th and 5^th grade for a special poetry workshop. He kicked off the workshop by asking the students to write a collaborative poem. Each writer composed one line of a poem on a post-it that started with the words “I wish…”. When everyone was done, we had an 18 line poem full of wishes! The next collaborative poem required students to write 2 lines; the first line began with “I used to…” and the second line began with “But now I…”. It was so beautiful when it all came together! After he left, one of our students chose him to be their Poet Muse so we get to learn even more about him. We look forward to working with Marcus again as the Pass It On season continues.

Movie Night

Tuesday wasn’t over! Fourth Graders got to come back after school hours for a super special movie night and feast! The Fourth Grade class finished the whole class read aloud, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, this week and got to celebrate by watching the movie. Students came back to school dressed as Greek gods and goddesses bearing delicious plates of food for a Greek feast. Over these treats we got to watch the beloved characters (and scary demons!) come to life. At school the next day, students worked together to create a Venn diagram looking at the similarities and differences between the book and the movie.

Important Dates:

• March 24 – Stingrays Game
• March 25 – Planting Party, 9 – 12
• March 30 – Parent Forum, 5:45 – 6:45
• April 10 – 17 – Spring Break, No School
• April 18 – School Resumes