This week in our middle school morning meeting, we focused on the topic of advocacy. We began by talking about self-advocacy, which I believe is especially important as students transition into their teen years and beyond. Learning to find their voice and stand up for themselves is a skill that will serve them well throughout life. We also revisited the Peace Wheel, a tool we use at The Cooper School to help students navigate and resolve conflicts with their peers.
Next, we shifted our focus to advocating for others and standing up for what they believe in. I continued the conversation later in the day, asking students to take three minutes to reflect on what they’re passionate about and the problems they see in the world that they’d like to help solve. Their ideas truly wowed me—everything from organizing a sports equipment drive to support under-resourced schools, to building a community Blessing Box that we could help maintain. I can’t wait to see these thoughtful projects come to life. Big shine on our middle schoolers!!
-RO
ELA- 7th grade happily moved into a reading unit this week. With maturity and grace, readers gathered background knowledge on the opioid crisis in America, which aided our entry into Ian’s story in Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow. We examined the ways in which Ian’s stark, yet humorous narration characterizes himself and others in the story.
Next week, 7th graders will begin learning about literary conflict and launch their “conflict trading card” project in conjunction with their readings. They will also take a vocabulary test on Thursday 9/25, which they began preparing for this week!
Science- This week in science 7th graders took an up close look at the moon. Students examined images of the moon to learn about visible features on the surface of the moon and made a model Earth/moon system to explore the comparative size of the moon and how far the moon really is from Earth. After keeping a log of how the moon appeared in the sky each day for the last three weeks, students started their investigation of the phases of the moon. Next week we will continue this investigation into the moon phases and explore how craters are formed on the surface of the moon.
Social Studies- We have now finished our unit on North American cultural groups and they did a fantastic job with this unit! Starting next week we will begin working on Latin American cultures, including the Olmec and Aztec Empires. This will show them the cultural differences between the two areas and the role they played in the Spanish Empire.
Math- This week in math, 7th graders we began our very first TCSMS math-focused project! On Monday, we explored some historical buildings in downtown Charleston before spending the rest of the week choosing a building, contacting the appropriate person for the length, width, and height of the building, researching the history of the building, and writing a historical “blurb” about the building and its importance. I’m SO stoked for this project!
Next week, we’ll dive into unit 2, which will provide us with necessary information to complete our drawings and constructions of our scale models. Specifically, we’ll focus next week on exploring scale, scale factor, and scale drawings.
