It was so wonderful to see all of you who attended parent-teacher conferences and thank you for making the time to meet with us! This week the middle schoolers have had a multitude of project presentations that have really showcased their hard work, talent, and creativity. We also have the Harvest Festival coming up this week! Make sure you are here on the 18th for a fun filled day on our beautiful campus!

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

What’s happening in Social Studies?

This week the students finished their Revolutions and Nationalism unit. Students will be assessed on this  Unit on Tuesday of next week! Students read about German and Italian Nationalism then taught their peers what they learned. 

Next week, the students will move into Unit 3 (Industrialization). Students will begin to master the vocabulary that the unit requires to be able to understand the concepts that will be introduced. 

What’s happening in ELA?

Eighth grade students are working diligently on their  “Critical Literacy” reading unit. They’ve been applying their notetaking skills to delve into situations that impact the protagonist emotionally. Your eighth graders are using “Pride” as their mentor text to practice using interpretive lenses and summarizing complicated narratives. The end result of this unit is to participate in a book slam that will encourage other students to read the text that the eighth graders have completed in this reading unit. Please continue to encourage your student to take notes about their reading. This is an important skill that will serve them well as they pursue higher education.  This week in grammar, students identified two types of run-on sentences, using reflexive pronouns, and apostrophes to show possession. 

Finally, signed papers for ELA will be sent home every Monday. Please make sure to check with your child every Monday afternoon for their ELA signed papers.

What’s happening in Science?

Yay! I am so proud of the eighth graders! They worked so hard on their Rube Goldberg machine. It was definitely a test of will and motivation to keep going. The joy expressed when the lunchable opened with you there was priceless!

They have begun their new unit about waves! For their first lab, they observed and calculated their heart rate to become familiar with frequency. They also contemplated whether light is a wave or particle. What do you think?

What’s happening in Math?

We are finally ready to take our Unit 2 Assessment. This week, we have successfully worked through the review and feel confident moving forward. It was very nice to see some of you during conferences and I am hopeful that you gained a clearer insight to your child’s day here at The Cooper School. I wanted to share with all of you that I do send “Cool Down’s” home almost daily so that you can see what it is your student is learning, their strategies, and my notes. I am hopeful this will keep us on the same page and provide consistent communication about what’s happening in math. 

Important Dates:

• November 18- Harvest Festival (11:30 Dismissal)
• November 21-25 Thanksgiving Break (No School)