This Monday felt extra special to me—not only because it was a snow day, but because my favorite band, Tophouse, is releasing a new song every Monday in February. This week’s release, “Morning Cup of Coffee,” felt like the perfect soundtrack for a quiet winter morning. Beyond its cozy, uplifting sound, one lyric especially stood out to me: “Day’s calling, wake on up. You will decide, are you living or alive.”
In a cheerful song about a familiar morning ritual, there’s a gentle but powerful reminder to choose how we show up each day—to live fully, intentionally, and with joy. That idea has stayed with me this week as students began preparing for their self-assessments and reflecting on the school year.
As they look back on their growth, challenges, and accomplishments, my hope is that each student carries with them that same spirit: the courage to choose to thrive, to notice the small moments, and to step into each day with purpose.
—Amanda
Upcoming Dates:
- 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 soon!
- February 27 – Middle School Dance!!
ELA: This week in ELA, 6th grade learned the art of gathering the who, what, when, where, and why of their chosen topic, then digging deep into the “how” in their research to uncover all the important details. Writers were pushed to keep their research organized and labeled, then moved to comb through their findings to begin outlining their article.
Next week, writers will consider how to “hook” those who come to our class blog and how to “keep their audience in mind” while writing. They will have a grammar test on 2/12, so be sure to use study guides wisely in preparation.
Science: This week in Science, 6th graders created spore prints from mushrooms to investigate how fungi reproduce, bringing microscopic processes into view through hands-on exploration. Students also researched a fungus of their choice and shared their findings with classmates, highlighting the diversity within this group of organisms and strengthening their communication and collaboration skills.
Students then began their investigation into plant structures, starting with vascular systems and how plants move water and nutrients.
Next week, students will continue exploring plant structures by examining the inside of seeds and begin their biomimicry project. Be on the lookout for a separate email in the coming weeks with more details about this exciting work.
Social Studies: We are now finished with India and China. After learning about those civilizations we are now moving into the Greek and Romans. This will be an extremely fun unit with plenty of projects and hands-on activities! Soon, we will be announcing our NEW project introduced by this class, the first ever Cooper School ghost tour! More to come towards the end of February.
Math: This week in math, the 6th graders transitioned into unit 6 – which continues our exploration of proportionality within percent increases and decreases. We revisited percentages and explored how to view them as proportional relationships in an equation. Next week, we’ll dive into finding parts of wholes with percentages, original vs. discounted prices, etc – as well as how to express error as a percentage.
