It has been so great to be back at The Cooper School and to hear about all of the students’ breaks! This week has been really good for getting everyone back into the routine and back on track with school work. We cannot wait for the rest of this year and to see how the middle schoolers continue to grow in their studies.  

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

What’s happening in Science?

This week, seventh graders learned photosynthesis and invasive species! They considered the importance of carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight for the process of photosynthesis by balancing the chemical equation and witnessing the result of carbohydrate and oxygen. They also started a new project about invasive species after learning how invasive species impact ecosystems. Seventh graders choose invasive species that can be found in the southeastern United States that have been brought over from other countries. They will create a way to present and inform the public about the impact of their species and ways it can be prevented, detected, and regulated.

What’s up in Math?

HAPPY NEW YEAR! We have started this year fresh with a new unit, Linear Equations. We have explored proportional relationships and linear relationships this week. We have some familiarity with finding the slope and graphing from slope-intercept form. As we move through the unit, we will solidify our understanding and grasp the concepts attached to linear relationships and equations. 

What’s happening in ELA?

Happy New Year! This week in ELA, your seventh graders were introduced to MLA Style which specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and citing sources (Purdue Owl). They were given resources to add to their writing notebooks about MLA, so please review the concepts with them. Your students will be learning about writing about reading in this unit. Please ask them to share with you, “The Stolen Party” because we had quite a discussion about it.  I will provide short stories for them to read and write about. Reading homework has also started this week. Students will be expected to read for 20 minutes each day and complete a reading log entry of their choice. They are allowed to read any fiction book. Please make sure their book is not nonfiction.  I will be checking their logs every day, collecting their logs on Fridays, and returning their logs and rubrics on Monday. Please sign their rubrics. Finally, we will begin working on grammar week eleven on Monday. Every Friday, your students will be introduced to figurative language and complete a brief quiz on their grammar concepts.

What’s going on in Social Studies?

Welcome back! The week the students dove into their new unit, which covers Jackson’s Presidency. Students then chose to create an “Instagram” page for either Andrew Jackson or John Quincy Adams. 

Next week, the students will be finishing the unit by discussing westward expansion and creating maps to follow it. Students will be assessed over the unit the following week. 

Important Dates:

• January 9th: Field Trip to James Island County Park
• January 16th: MLK Day-no school