Writing

During Centers this week, students were able to research their Revolutionary War information texts through a brand new medium.  We were lucky enough to receive three copies of Columbia’s “The State” newspaper from 1976, which were created to honor the 200th anniversary of the American Revolution.  These newspapers were filled with fascinating articles focused on the prelude to the war, the actual conflict, and the aftermath of the war.  Many of the articles revolved around what actually happened in South Carolina, which was a brand new perspective for most of our class.

Reading

Before Winter Break, 4th graders were learning how to effectively read nonfiction texts with a focus on different text structures.  The texts that they were reading were all about the American Revolution.  This week we continued to read about history, but through a completely different genre, historical fiction.  The first part of this unit focuses on teaching students the role that the setting plays in historical fiction novels.  This week, students began reading “The Courage of Sarah Noble”, a story that follows the journey of a young girl and her father in the year of 1707.

 

One Word

Around the world, on New Year’s Day, people make resolutions- new goals to guide their lives. This year at The Cooper School we want our students to feel that same sense of introspective goal setting and personal improvement. Students were asked to find one word that they will focus on this year. The class brainstormed ideas like “optimism”, “perseverance” and “patience”. Then they created a card with this word beautifully written and on the back, each student explained why they chose that word and how they hoped it would help guide them throughout the year. This class is headed for more great things in 2016!

Important Dates:

• Monday, January 18th                       MLK Day- No School
• Friday, January 29th                          The Art Walk 8:00am-9:00am
• Friday, February 12th                         Valentine’s Day Concert and Bake Sale
• February 15th & 16th                          February Break