This week, I’ve been reflecting on the power of teamwork. As the students prepare for the Halloween Carnival next week and continue working on projects, I remain impressed. Cooper School students can artfully navigate the tricky situations that naturally arise when collaborating with others. Passionate opinions and strong emotions can sometimes make teamwork challenging, but I’ve seen our students draw on what they’ve learned from middle school meetings, SEL lessons, and experiences with previous teachers to problem-solve and find solutions together.
In my short time at The Cooper School, it’s clear that this ability to work collaboratively is truly at the heart of our school’s ethos. Teamwork isn’t an afterthought or a bonus; it’s an intentional decision, modeled by teachers and staff and explicitly taught to students. It not only helps us achieve common goals but also encourages us to look beyond ourselves to notice, celebrate, and support others.
There’s something truly beautiful about seeing our middle schoolers come together, celebrate one another’s successes, and work toward shared goals as a team. Watching them collaborate these past few weeks has truly been a gift to my soul, and a wonderful reminder of the strength and spirit of our community.
-AB
ELA- 6th grade continued Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me, beginning to gather text evidence around the essential question “What does the novel have to say about perception and reality?” These pieces of text went into charts which will be due November 7th as a precursor to the next unit’s essay. We considered perception changes, perception differences, and symbols of perception in our charts this week. Students had a vocabulary test this Friday, and can expect to get grades back next Wednesday.
Next week, 6th grade will continue gathering information from the novel to both fill their charts and solve the time-travel mystery within the story! We will also transition to grammar unit 3.
Science- This week in science, our 6th graders investigated the fascinating forces that drive global wind patterns using historical radar data. They then shifted their focus to the water in our atmosphere, brainstorming creative ways to demonstrate the presence of water vapor in the air around us.
Next week, students will take their learning even further as they explore why there is water on the grass in the morning and create their very own “clouds in a bottle” to see these concepts in action!
Social Studies- Sixth graders are finishing their group projects on Egyptian gods! These came out so great and I am proud of how hard they worked on them and how well they worked in a group setting. Once we finish these the students will start to learn about the Pharaohs and lifestyle of Egypt and some of the great buildings and things that were created during this time period.
Math- This week in math, sixth graders practiced fraction operations and applied them to our previous unit – which involved rates, ratios, and percentages. We also worked on understanding the big relationship between fractions, decimals, and percentages!
Next week, we’ll continue applying fractions to more complex problems, and we’ll also dive back into decimals – reviewing what we learned from last year and applying them to things like rates, ratios, and percentages.
Important Dates:
- October 31 – Halloween Carnival (½ Day)
- November 3 – Teacher Work Day (No Students)
- November 6 – 7th Grade History in Proportion Presentation (2:00pm)
- November 10-11 – Parent Teacher Conferences (½ Days)
- November 21 – Harvest Feast (½ Day)
