Valentine’s Day Concert
This year’s Valentine’s Day Concert was in downtown Charleston at the Circular Congregational Church. Ms. Hazel put together a setlist of love songs appropriate for the holiday, of course, and our singers sounded excellent in that wonderful space. From traditional tunes like “Ode to Joy” performed by 4th graders on stringed instruments, to a whole-school rendition of “Eight Days a Week,” parents were treated to a wide range of music performed with confidence and poise. We can’t wait until our next big show!

Social Studies
What an exciting week in our study of Polar Regions! This week we focused on Inuit shelters and the adaptations of polar animals. After learning about different kinds of Inuit shelter, students began painting an inuksuk, a structure of rough stones stacked in the form of a human figure, traditionally used by Inuit people as a landmark or a commemorative sign. These structures are so important to Inuit culture that they put the image on the flag of Nunavut, the native province of Canada. On Friday, as we studied adaptations, we felt firsthand what it is like to have blubber! After trying hard to keep our hands submerged in icy water, we coated our hands in shortening to simulate having blubber. Guess what? Our students felt like they could keep their hands in the freezing water indefinitely with the extra fatty layer! Polar animals are amazing!

Reading Workshop
Cynthia Rylant, author of the Henry and Mudge series and many more, is one of our most favorite authors at The Cooper School. Lucky for us, we get to study her work in First Grade! Rylant’s stories are perfect for six and seven year-olds because they are filled with life lessons to learn. We already enjoyed Gooseberry Park and Gooseberry Park and the Master Plan as read-alouds this year. This week we examined books from her Henry and Mudge series, from her Poppleton series, and from her High-Rise Private Eyes series. We are excited to learn all we can about this amazing author!

Important Dates
•   Monday and Tuesday, February 20-21 – February Break, No School
•   Monday, February 27 – TCS Sibling Day (4&5 year old siblings)
•   Monday and Tuesday, March 6-7 – Student-Led Conferences, 11:30am-3:30pm