Mrs. Cooper's Bio

This is my 18th year of teaching in the Chicago Public Schools and my 14th year at Decatur. In my 18 years of teaching, I have taught everything from 1st grade to 8th grade! Literacy & Social Studies are passions of mine and I am very excited to be teaching 5th grade English Literacy and Social Studies this year.

I received my undergraduate degree from DePauw University in elementary education and history. Later I attended DePaul University and received my master’s degree as a reading specialist with a focus on learning disabilities. I'm excited to be utilizing my background in history & literacy in my classroom on a daily basis. I'm lucky to be able to teach two of my favorite subjects this year!

When I'm not teaching, I enjoy spending time with my family, traveling, figure skating, and doing needlepoint. I also am very excited to be having my first child this fall!

Posts

4th Graders worked with partners to sort the elements of a RACES response. We're very excited to write our own text dependent responses to all of the great things that we're reading in class!

Check our the 4th Grade Curriculum Night slides HERE.

4th & 5th Graders worked together to create an anchor chart with important to things to look for while annotating!

Field Day 2022

The OSP Sexual Misconduct, Title IX and Bias-based Behavior Student Training

4th graders will have this training on Friday, June 3rd.

The safety of our students continues to be of the utmost importance. The District’s Office of Student Protection and Title IX’s commitment to this endeavor includes providing training on preventing and reporting abuse to all Pre-K-12 CPS students.

The Office of Student Protection and Title IX (OSP) Sexual Misconduct, Title IX and Bias-based Behavior Student Training covers the following five learning objectives using developmentally appropriate language:

Students will understand CPS Title IX Policy and Discrimination Statement
Students will know who the Title IX Coordinator is, what OSP does, and how to get in touch with OSPStudents will understand what constitutes sexual harassment and bias-based harm
Students will be aware of the resources available to students who report sexual harassment, retaliation, or bias-based harm, including supportive measures pending an investigation
Students will know what to do if they believe they or other students have been subjected to sexual harassment or bias-based harm

5th Graders visited the kindergarteners publishing party. It was so much fun to celebrate the kindergarteners hard work!

4th Graders brainstorm what they know about poetry as we begin our poetry writing unit!

4th & 5th Graders eagerly wait backstage before performing in our school show, The Wizard of Oz!

5th Graders collaborated on making a theme poster to showcase four important themes from our novel, Amal Unbound.

Feeling much birthday love from my students!

4th Graders participated in a graffiti wall discussion about The Westing Game. Students walked around the room answering questions and each other about the novel.

Yearbook Club is having a contest for Decatur Classical School student artists to design original student artwork to be used as the cover for this year's school yearbook. If your student is interested, see this flyer for details. Entries are due by Friday, March 25th and only one design will be selected for use.

5th Graders are excited to begin their penpal writing exchange with their new kindergartener friends!

4th grader shows analysis of a character's personality, physical characteristics and feelings in a visual representation. What can you learn about Grace Wexler from The Westing Game from this illustration?

Name: Katherine Cooper
Position: 4th-5th | ELA
Email: kgcooper@cps.edu

Katherine Cooper

5th Grade Literacy & Social Studies Teacher