Little Big Things
As we head into Gala weekend, our theme this year is again Little Big Things. I find this theme especially fitting for the middle school years. During this time, so many little moments in a student’s life turn into big, life-changing memories they will carry with them forever. With events like the talent show, Spread the Word, and the middle school dance, these moments in time fly by and can seem small once they are over. But as adults, we know just how many meaningful memories we are helping students create—memories they will look back on fondly.
So, as we head into this weekend, I will be reflecting on all the small moments I’ve experienced and thinking about how I can help create even more for the students here at Cooper School.
-Kevin
Upcoming Dates:
- March 14 – Little Big Things Gala
- April 1 – Art Night Celebration
- April 3 – 10 – Spring Break
- April 16 – Early Dismissal (11:30) Spread The WordScenes from artist, Anna Chen’s, visit:
ELA: This week in ELA, 8th grade reviewed sonnet structure and rules, annotating and interpreting Sonnet 73 as we refreshed our memories. Poets began developing sonnets that either tackled the things they adore or “milestones” they are currently facing in life. Students also continued towards the climax and conclusion of Hamlet, performing key moments of the script as a class and watching Laurence Olivier’s performance on the screen.
Next week, 8th graders will complete and perfect their sonnets for our Spread the Word event on April 16th. They’ll have a grammar test on Friday March 20th – study guides have been provided to prepare!
Science: This week in Science, 8th graders dug deeply into the scientific literature related to their Science Fair topics. Students located and analyzed articles to strengthen their understanding of their topics and to inform how they will collect and interpret data. They also wrote their literature reviews, learning how scientific reports are structured differently from traditional ELA papers. By the end of the week, students finalized clear plans for carrying out their investigations.
Next week, students will begin conducting their experiments and collecting data. They will also start exploring the field of genetics as we begin our next unit of study.
Social Studies: Eighth graders have finished their work on WW1 and will be using next week to look at the end of the war, the creation of the League of Nations and life in Europe after the war. We are also working on our Women’s History Month project. We have looked at famous historical speeches given by women’s suffragists and how women in our society have been making significant contributions in modern society.
Math: This week in math, 8th graders started their final unit of study, in which we’ll explore probability. We explored sample spaces, relative frequency tables, and dependent/independent events. They also crushed their ERB milestones this week – which helps give us an idea of where they are before they take their official end of year ERB assessment in May. Next week, we’ll dive into conditional probability and use tables to explore them.
