Our annual Halloween Carnival isn’t just about candy and costumes, it’s a perfect example of what real learning looks like at Cooper. Every part of the event is completely planned and run by middle school students. It starts with the eighth graders deciding on a theme for the day. Then our fifth graders take that theme and run with it – creating spooky decorations to cover the backyard. From brainstorming booth ideas to creating materials lists, deciding who brings what, designing posters, and setting up for the big day, it’s all on them! Teachers are there to cheer them on and help only when truly needed – no hand-holding here.
What makes this project so powerful is how it brings social-emotional learning (SEL) to life. Students practice empathy as they design fun experiences for younger kids, compromise as they make group decisions, and collaboration as they problem-solve together to make sure everything runs smoothly. It’s messy, meaningful, and full of moments where students learn what it really means to take ownership and work as a team.
This is progressive education in action. We know that students learn by doing, taking risks, reflecting, and growing through authentic experiences. And in the end, our middle schoolers don’t just pull off an amazing carnival…they walk away with the kind of confidence, connection, and skills that can’t be found in a textbook or worksheet.
-RC
ELA- 5th grade readers continued their novel study in The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo, finishing their figurative language charts. 5th graders also began their figurative language posters which selected an example of figurative language from the novel and illustrated both literal and figurative meanings behind the words. Their charts and posters are due next Wednesday 11/5! Grammarians took time to learn subordinating conjunctions and complex sentences in a new grammar unit.
Next week, students will finish The Tale of Despereaux and present their posters. We will also test for grammar on Wednesday, 11/5.
Science- This week 5th grade combined everything they have learned about soil creation and landform formation to study for their test next week on November 11th. We discussed how each step in the process works together to create unique landforms all over the world. Students then picked 4 landforms to research and learn about. Next week students will complete their landform posters and wrap up the soils and landform unit.
Social Studies- Fifth grade did a fantastic job on our mini unit in the United States. Students learned about our role to help protect our environment and lands to ensure we can enjoy them for years to come! We also had a fun mini unit on women changemakers, to give them a glimpse into the spring of how group projects will work with black history and women’s history months. Students researched women who made great changes to their field and they did great research on these women and the projects came out great! We are now moving into European geography for our next unit after Halloween.
Math- This week, 5th grade mathematicians dove into multi-digit multiplication – deriving and practicing a standard algorithm while applying it to things like area and volume of bigger things. Next week, 5th graders will work towards multi-digit multiplication fluency before moving into multi-digit division and fluency there, too.
