Every January when we return from Winter Break, students and staff both begin thinking of a word they want to define their year. We kicked this off in our Middle School Meeting last week, and we thought of a few questions to help guide us towards our words. We considered:
- What’s important to me and what do I value?
- What do I need more of this year?
- What do I need less of this year?
- Does this word feel grounding or overwhelming to me?
We then spent an afternoon in our advisories brainstorming words. Watching the Cooper middle schoolers set their intentions for the year is one of my favorite parts of the school year. Here are some examples of middle schoolers’ words from last week:
- Refined – “I want to push myself to get better at the things I love to do.”
- Resourceful – “I want to reuse things more, but I also want to use the tools around me when I need help.”
- Committed – “I want to be more committed and intentional about giving more attention and effort to the things I care about.”
- Brilliance – “I want to value the education I get here at Cooper”.
- Mindset – “I want to be less negative and look on the brighter side of things.”
- Self Aware – “I want to be more intentional about the things I say and do, and slow down to notice how I’m feeling and reacting to things around me.”
Hopefully these few examples will inspire your intentions for 2026!
-Allison Gold
Upcoming Dates:
- January 19 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day (No School)
- January 23 – Progress Reports
- January 23 – 7th + 8th PE – Ice Skating
- February 13 – Valentine’s Day Bake Sale and Bingo (1:30pm)
- February 16-17 – February Break (No School)
- Please fill out this form for James Island County Parks. We will be doing PE there starting in February!
ELA: 6th grade instructors polished up final lesson plans, visuals, activities, and assessments this week to teach 3rd and 4th grade mini-lessons next Friday! They are learning the art of transforming information in denser non-fiction texts into accessible and engaging lessons for young students! Students had a vocabulary test on Thursday and will have test grades to share with you in their blue take home folders.
Next week, 6th grade educators will practice and prepare for their lessons, sifting through valuable teacher and peer feedback before the final lessons on Friday! We will also begin unit 5 of grammar.
Science: This week in Science, our 6th graders began their exploration of domains and classification by pondering an intriguing question: “Am I most like bacteria, bread mold, or archaea?” Students investigated these microorganisms and inoculated bread to observe mold growth over time. 6th graders then explored how scientists categorize organisms based on their level of complexity, deepening their understanding of how living things are organized. In addition, students assessed their knowledge of the characteristics of life this week—be sure to ask them about it! I am incredibly proud of how thoughtfully they applied what they’ve learned.
Next week, students will continue their investigation into domains by taking a closer look at bacteria, fungi, and archaea, building on the curiosity and scientific thinking sparked this week.
Social Studies: Sixth grade has finished their work on India and China! We have wrapped up the silk road, Hinduism and Buddhism and India as a subcontinent in the present day. Next week we will have a wrap up on the connection of Empires in those countries and how they led to China and India and their cultural groups today.
Math: This week in math, 6th graders connected our understanding of the rate of change in tables to their respectable graphs! We also began exploring pi as a constant of proportionality as we dove into circles. Next week, we’ll work more with circles and their parts, and solve problems involving the area and circumference of circles.
