The Cooper School Daily
April 12, 2024
A Tree, a Symbol of Growth
A Tree, a Symbol of Growth
By: Emmylou Allen
A tree swaying in the field of sweet spring,
a story to tell needing to be heard.
The vivid colors that autumn soon bring,
in the restless strong wind, colors so blurred.
Winter comes; new appearances await.
With winter comes a terrible escape.
In my comfort, coziness is my fate,
weighed down by heavy snow branches agape.
As the sun hits my back, so leaves grow back.
My skin transforms – a golden tan arrives.
Sunshine’s rays in this time they never lack.
The old, wise trees have lived many past lives.
Trees grow tall as I grow into myself.
Lessons of nature give me words of wealth.
The line “trees grow tall as I grow into myself” suits this season of life for our middle schoolers so well. As we reflect back on the past school year, I’ve seen so much growth physically, academically, and emotionally in the TCS middle schoolers. They’ve stepped into their respective roles, taken charge of their academics, and grown into themselves.
-AG
What’s happening in Science?
Fifth graders learned about chemical reactions this week. They burned sucrose, which changed the sucrose into something completely different before their eyes. They also added oxygen to limewater to chemically change calcium hydroxide into a new substance. The fifth graders learned how to balance the chemical equation they made while blowing carbon dioxide into the limewater. Next week, they will consider how kinetic energy impacts thermal design.
What’s happening in Math?
This week, 5th graders began their final unit of study in which we are reviewing and connecting all of the key concepts we’ve learned this year, including decimal and fraction operations, multiplication and division of multi-digit numbers, as well as area and volume of 2-d and 3-d figures. This week, we focused on multi-digit multiplication and division, which we will connect into volume concepts next week!
What’s happening in ELA?
5th graders worked hard to prepare their sonnet presentations at the top of the week – providing authentic feedback and encouragement to one another. We picked our novel study of Island of the Blue Dolphins back up, discussing character motivations and how figurative language like idioms supports our story.
Next week, readers will start developing ideas about the theme of the novel, working on citing important evidence from the text to support their theories.We will be proofreading texts for run-on sentences and reviewing verb types in grammar.
What’s happening in Social Studies?
In Social Studies, the fifth graders finished their Asian units! The students focused on current day Asia by diving into the different regions of Asia and studying their governments, economics, and challenges! Students finished the week by beginning their Asia Mindmaps!
Next week, the students will finish their Asian Mindmaps before moving into Africa! Students will start their African unit by studying human origins and progressing into Ancient Egypt and Kush.
Important Dates:
April 17: Middle School Sports Banquet- 5pm
April 19: 1st, 5th, and 7th Grade Artist of the Month- 8:15am
April 27: Spring Auction & Gala- 6pm @ Founder’s Hall (tickets available until 4/12)
By: Emmylou Allen
A tree swaying in the field of sweet spring,
a story to tell needing to be heard.
The vivid colors that autumn soon bring,
in the restless strong wind, colors so blurred.
Winter comes; new appearances await.
With winter comes a terrible escape.
In my comfort, coziness is my fate,
weighed down by heavy snow branches agape.
As the sun hits my back, so leaves grow back.
My skin transforms – a golden tan arrives.
Sunshine’s rays in this time they never lack.
The old, wise trees have lived many past lives.
Trees grow tall as I grow into myself.
Lessons of nature give me words of wealth.
The line “trees grow tall as I grow into myself” suits this season of life for our middle schoolers so well. As we reflect back on the past school year, I’ve seen so much growth physically, academically, and emotionally in the TCS middle schoolers. They’ve stepped into their respective roles, taken charge of their academics, and grown into themselves.
-AG
What’s happening in Science?
Fifth graders learned about chemical reactions this week. They burned sucrose, which changed the sucrose into something completely different before their eyes. They also added oxygen to limewater to chemically change calcium hydroxide into a new substance. The fifth graders learned how to balance the chemical equation they made while blowing carbon dioxide into the limewater. Next week, they will consider how kinetic energy impacts thermal design.
What’s happening in Math?
This week, 5th graders began their final unit of study in which we are reviewing and connecting all of the key concepts we’ve learned this year, including decimal and fraction operations, multiplication and division of multi-digit numbers, as well as area and volume of 2-d and 3-d figures. This week, we focused on multi-digit multiplication and division, which we will connect into volume concepts next week!
What’s happening in ELA?
5th graders worked hard to prepare their sonnet presentations at the top of the week – providing authentic feedback and encouragement to one another. We picked our novel study of Island of the Blue Dolphins back up, discussing character motivations and how figurative language like idioms supports our story.
Next week, readers will start developing ideas about the theme of the novel, working on citing important evidence from the text to support their theories.We will be proofreading texts for run-on sentences and reviewing verb types in grammar.
What’s happening in Social Studies?
In Social Studies, the fifth graders finished their Asian units! The students focused on current day Asia by diving into the different regions of Asia and studying their governments, economics, and challenges! Students finished the week by beginning their Asia Mindmaps!
Next week, the students will finish their Asian Mindmaps before moving into Africa! Students will start their African unit by studying human origins and progressing into Ancient Egypt and Kush.
Important Dates:
April 17: Middle School Sports Banquet- 5pm
April 19: 1st, 5th, and 7th Grade Artist of the Month- 8:15am
April 27: Spring Auction & Gala- 6pm @ Founder’s Hall (tickets available until 4/12)