The second full week of school meant stepping into the thick of grade-level learning. With routines, procedures, and culture thoroughly workshopped and introduced, our middle schoolers tread confidently into the content they’ve been anticipating all summer. Though some of the ‘rust’ of summer may still be there, we’ve watched each grade gain confidence, drive, openness, and excitement for what this school year really holds for each of them. I’m encouraged by the sight of upper grade students embracing leadership roles in class and 5th graders who are finding their middle school groove. It’s still early in the year, but these Cooper School Kids adapt and grow so quickly.
Of course, Hurricane Season found us midweek, but we were glad to see diligent students enthusiastically complete e-learning to keep their minds engaged through the storm. We’re always grateful for the support from home when Charleston weather does its thing. Looking forward to yet another week of bravery and growth!
-Maggie Keim
Here’s a look at what is happening in each of the classes:
What’s happening in Science?
Seventh graders contemplated where in our solar system there could be life! They considered the characteristics a planet or satellite must have to support life and then looked deeply at each planet’s temperature ranges and atmosphere compositions to support or defend their hypotheses. The seventh graders also visualized their cosmic address to understand not only where our planet fits in the solar system, but the Milky Way galaxy. They also learned about how the position between the sun and the earth makes our days and nights, and demonstrated their understanding with lamps and globes. Next week, they will explore more about the seasons and the moon!
What’s up in Math?
This week in math, 7th graders explored transversals, alternate interior angles, and vertical angles. These concepts help us find the measures of unknown angles without actually measuring them! They also took their mid-unit 1 test for Ms. Allison to gauge their understanding of the unit thus far, before we get into congruence in polygons next week! I look forward to seeing you all at Curriculum Night on Wednesday.
What’s happening in ELA?
Seventh graders continued a deep study of perspective as we continued reading short stories from the anthology Flying Lessons. Readers were able to distinguish between our own perspective changes vs. character change and identify moments where the author manipulated our own character sympathies simply by controlling our access to certain character’s thoughts and feelings. Lots of rich discussions about the implications of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person points of view this week! We set new goals for our reading and made a point to write about the ways in which these diverse short stories offered ‘windows’ into new perspectives that were much different than our own.
Next week, we’ll have our first author-book-club meetings as students dive into full length novels by the authors they admired most from their anthologies. In book club, they’ll have opportunities to unpack their chosen author’s style. I look forward to discussing 7th grade’s brilliant work on Wednesday!
What’s going on in Social Studies?
This week, the students finished their first unit about the early Americas. Students learned about the Aztec, Incan, and Mayan Empires and the early Native American regional tribes. Students took an assessment over early America before diving into colonization.
Next week, students will dive into the differences of the French, Dutch, and English colonization and compare the lifestyles in each. Students will learn about the government put into place in their colonies before diving into each of the original 13 colonies and the purpose of them. Students will end the week by using their new knowledge of the colonies and create their own colony with historic accuracy.
Important Dates:
Monday, September 4th- Labor Day (No School)
Wednesday, September 6th- Curriculum Night (5:30-6:30)
Friday, September 15th- Parent Coffee (8:15-9:00)
Saturday, September 23rd- Charleston Battery Family Fun Night
