The Cooper School Daily

Signs of Gratitude

Sometimes it’s tough to take a moment to express how thankful you are for life’s blessings. All too often, there are never enough minutes in the day for all of your obligations, from family and friends to work and making dinner and laundry (so much laundry!)—the list can be daunting. Add in additional stress—jobs, holidays, (kids)—and the list of to-dos can quickly become overwhelming.

When you’re faced with those “I can’t” moments, it can be nice to take a few quiet minutes away from the chaos to reflect on the many things you have to be grateful for— you’ll be surprised by how quickly your attitude will change. It’s science! According to experts, expressing gratitude can help relationships, improve your outlook, and even lower your blood pressure and keep you from getting sick. For your health alone, it’s well worth spending a few minutes a day focusing on giving thanks. 

In this time of thanksgiving, we are focused on expressing and recognizing gratitude. Middle schoolers enjoyed journaling about what they are thankful for as they had their first class of yoga this week. We are looking forward to continuing this acknowledgement into next week as we begin studying the true history of Thanksgiving. 

What’s happening in Science and Social Studies:

Scientists explored acceleration, mass, and force by completing the egg challenge this week. Using classroom and household materials, scientists devised plans to make containers that would protect a raw egg from a two story drop.

 

Not every egg survived, but everyone devised unique and creative designs. 

In Writing:

Writers worked hard to finalize their chapters for their informational texts. Everyone did a wonderful job constructing their informational writing pieces on the topics they chose for this project. We all enjoyed celebrating the hard work that was put forth to bring this project into fruition. Writers not only celebrated their writing at their Publishing Party, but we also had the opportunity to celebrate a day of literature by tuning into the two middle school virtual sessions happening during Charleston’s Y’ALL Festival! This was a great week full of celebrating local writers within our school and community!

What is happening in Math:

Sixth-grade mathematicians are doing a great job dividing fractions and applying reciprocals. Mathematicians are applying new concepts in a tactical way by visualizing and creating their own story problems based on number sentences with unlike denominators as well as mixed numbers! We had a great time playing a math memory game this week and applying what they have learned. 

Fifth-grade mathematicians have enjoyed applying their knowledge of multiples and place values in order to estimate multi-digit whole numbers divided by two-digit dividends. It is exciting to see students finding success as they spiral previous math concepts in order to apply their knowledge towards new and challenging topics. 

Mathematicians also did a great job learning about functions when it came to creating and organizing a code when building their own computer program. It is awesome for students to see that math is in fun and real-life applications. 

Important Dates:

November 17th- Make-Up Picture Day

November 20th- 11:30 dismissal

November 23rd-27th- Thanksgiving Break