The Cooper School Daily

Dialects, Dancing & Discovering!

camille_bee_picReading

This week in reading workshop students began Shiloh, a novel by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. This is a dramatic tale about a boy named Marty and a runaway dog, Shiloh. One interesting aspect of this book is the Appalachian dialect that it is written in. On Thursday, we spent time deciphering this dialect on a reference chart that now hangs on the wall for future reference.

Science

Fourth graders are quickly becoming honeybee experts! This week, students discussed two very important bee topics, bee communication and threats to the hive. On Wednesday, students discovered that one of the ways that bees communicate is through a series of dances. The two most important dances are called the round dance and the waggle dance. Students have been observing the bees perform these dances in the hive for a while, and now they know what the bees were trying to communicate to the rest of the hive! On Thursday, students were introduced to the devastating effects of Colony Collapse Disorder, a phenomenon that is plaguing honeybee communities throughout our Shiloh_Piccountry. Ask your child to explain the causes and effects of this disorder to you!

Tinkering Cart

TCS teachers unveiled the brand new Tinkering Cart, designed by Stacey Bilodeau, to students during Whole School Morning Meeting on Friday. This year, students got to brainstorm a list of items that they would like to find in the tinkering cart. This weekend the cart will be filled with all sorts of goodies for students to experiment, create and explore with next week. This is one of the students’ favorite school activities because it promotes creativity, perseverance, and critical thinking all while having fun!