Hello, Cooper Family! September has arrived here at TCS Middle School and we are looking forward to what it will hold for your kids. Here are five fun facts about September:

1. The name “September” comes from an old Roman word, “septem,” which actually means 7. That’s right – September was the seventh month of the year on the Roman calendar. It did not become the ninth month until the advent of the Gregorian calendar.
2. Out of all 12 months of the year, September is spelled with the most letters. It contains nine letters, and it happens to be the ninth month of the year. No other months have the same amount of letters as their number in the calendar year.
3. This September “Harvest Moon” is the fullest moon of the year.
When you gaze at it, it looks very large and gives a lot of light throughout the entire night. No other lunar spectacle is as awesome as the Harvest Moon.
4. There are more pop and classic songs with “September” in the title than any other month.
5. The birthstone for September is the sapphire which is said to reduce inflammation, treat fever and act as a lucky charm for the person wearing it. It symbolizes intuition, clarity of thought, peacefulness, as well as loyalty and trust (12 Fun Facts About September! /The Storage Inn Blog, 2020).

Here’s a look at what is happening in each of the classes:


What’s happening in Science?
Fifth Graders chemically altered rocks this week using “acid rain” to differentiate how physical and chemical weathering impact rocks. They also used geographical clues and fossil evidence to construct a supercontinent, or Pangea, by making connections between the different landmasses that are now separate. They inquired and learned about the Theory of Plate Tectonics and seafloor spreading, which explain how the continents have moved throughout Earth’s history. Next week, Fifth Graders will learn how to identify minerals using Moh’s hardness scale and begin to investigate deposition.

What’s up in ELA?

Your Fifth Graders have been working on sharpening their reading skills and identifying the problems the characters in their stories are facing. We also reviewed expectations for their reading log journals. Please be sure to look over their journals.

Finally, Fifth Graders are working on a book project. They are creating book jackets for the books they are reading or have recently completed reading. If they are unable to complete the project by Friday morning in class, the project will be sent home to be completed over the weekend.

What’s going on in Math?

The first Unit of Math for the year is over, and it’s time for the End-of-Unit Assessment. By the time you read this the Fifth Graders will have taken their first Unit Assessment, and I’m pretty sure they’ll all find it easier than they expect. They’re ready for it, and we’ve been doing a lot of review these past few days to make sure there are no surprises or twists. Then they’ll have the weekend to rest, do corrections if necessary to earn some points back, and dig into something new: Equivalent Fractions. (Yeah, I’m kinda giddy too!)

What’s happening in Social Studies?
This week the Fifth Graders were challenged to put what they learned thus far into an assessment! This assessment covered all of the basics of geography before getting into the specifics of the Western Hemisphere!

Next week we will be working on learning about different cultures and types of societies around the world. We will also be looking into the history of all of the different religions around the world!

Important Dates:

September 21st: Middle School Curriculum Night (5:30-6:30)
September 29th: Parent Coffee (8:00am-8:45am)