I don’t know about you, but I was more than ready to get back into a routine this week! I love my kids and all, but we all needed it—ha! It’s been so great seeing the middle schoolers reunite after a few weeks off. There have been so many stories shared, hugs exchanged, and new looks to admire.
Moments like this always remind me what a special place The Cooper School is. I’ve worked in many schools over the years, and none have ever felt quite as “at home” as this one. One of my favorite times of day is watching the kids during breaks and lunch. They’re so comfortable with one another—capture the flag happening next to a kickball game (with runners cutting straight through it), a volleyball being volleyed back and forth, finger knitting on a bench, kids chatting in the playground tower. Even with so many different things going on, they’re all connected, kind, and aware of one another.
It’s truly the best to sit back and watch.
-Rives
Upcoming Dates:
- January 16 – ice skating 5th + 6th
- January 19 – MLK day no school
- January 23 – ice skating 7th + 8th
- In March, we will be going to JICP for PE. Please sign this waiver as soon as you can, so we will be ready to roll!
ELA: 7th grade writers continued genre writing this week! They studied common situations and plots in horror before plotting and writing their own horror story rough drafts. We then transitioned to coming-of-age genre work, developing characters from this familiar world! 7th grade began unit 5 of vocabulary this week, too.
Next week, writers finish developing settings and situations for a coming-of-age story and will write a rough draft. They will then have two fabulous genre stories to choose between – horror or coming-of-age – for rewriting and publishing by 1/22! Their test is next Thursday 1/15, so study vocabulary consistently until then!
Science: This week in Science, our 7th graders continued their exploration of producers and the role they play in ecosystems. Students planted wheat seeds under different conditions to investigate how light impacts producers, carefully observing and recording changes over time. They then revisited the ecosystems they are studying to research the producers present, strengthening their understanding of how energy enters and supports each system.
Next week, students will explore how energy is transferred through food by measuring the amount of energy released when food is burned. This investigation will help students make meaningful connections between producers, consumers, and energy flow within ecosystems.
Social Studies: This was a great week back for the seventh grade! We have begun our discussion on the federal government and will continue this unit into next week. We will be looking at primary sources such as the constitution to have them have a deeper understanding so we will be ready for our trip in May to Washington D.C. Next week we will learn about how the three branches of government work together and how laws are made as well as the role of federal government versus state.
Math: This week in math, 7th graders began unit 5. In this unit, we are exploring proportional relationships and using our previously mastered skills of unit rates, ratios, and expressions to help us learn about slope-intercept form and linear graphs. Next week, we will dive into calculating slope from a line, a table, or two separate coordinates to help us create slope-intercept form equations and graphs!
