We long for October at The Cooper School – these Charleston kids know this month could contain the first real refreshing chill of the season, they understand that it represents a month of prepping for the Halloween Carnival of which they proudly take charge, and perhaps subconsciously, these kids feel the unspoken confidence of being well past the bumpy beginnings of a new grade and firmly planted in The School Year proper.
I am grateful for the way October often represents a resetting of our outfits and I think somehow our attitudes, too. This English teacher is so refreshed by the mere idea of a season and month change-up that she’s been overwhelmed with fall figurative language that simply must be shared:
I hope you encourage your student to drop what doesn’t serve them like the first fall leaf.
Let them know how proud we are to look out at them and see every variety of pumpkin in the patch.
May these students know they are safe to experiment in their education like it’s a selection of free Halloween masks.
I believe these kids can face a myriad of fears and challenges like it’s a scary movie that eventually ends and kind of feels thrilling!
And please know, this school community strives to be like the first sweater slipped on of the season, knitted with careful hands, instantly cozy, and capable of stretching and softening over several years for the brilliant kid who wears it.
-MK
Math:
This week, we began our third unit of study on fraction operations including addition, subtraction, more multiplication, and division. Next week, we will dive deeper into two-fraction multiplication and take a quiz on Monday.
ELA:
This week in ELA, 5th essayists completed mini-practice-essays and developed a top notch thesis from their past reading of Hello, Universe. They confidently flash-drafted a 4 paragraph essay using the skills from their mini essay to structure their thoughts clearly. We also dove fearlessly into our first vocabulary unit of the year.
Next week, essayists will edit and complete their literary essays to wrap up the unit. The final essay is due (typed and edited) on Wednesday 10/9. They will take their first vocabulary test on Wednesday 10/9 so be sure to start studying words, definitions, and spelling now!
Social Studies:
The fifth grade class has had fun starting our learning on the fifty states. They have enjoyed the fifty nifty United States song, as well as the US map game. We will finish the western half of the country next week and will begin working on our next project in which students will research an individual state. This will be a poster project.
Science:
Fifth graders explored mineral identification and erosion this week. They learned how to use Moh’s hardness scale to identify minerals they may find in nature. They also modeled landscapes to see how water erodes soil and deposits it in other places due to the amount of water flowing. Next week, the fifth graders will learn more about deposition and how slope impacts landforms.
Important Dates:
October 10: Field Trip to Charlestowne Landing
October 14 & 15: Fall Break- No School
October 28: LeAnn Gardner Parent Presentation (5:30)
October 31: Halloween Carnival (11:30 Dismissal)
