First, Second, and Third-grade students work daily in our Pirate Cove groups. Pirate Cove is an intense reading intervention to help each student develop and build the necessary reading skills. Last week they ended their first six weeks in Pirate Cove with a bang. Thursday, they celebrated their growth with a party and pirate hats!
First-grade authors have been hard at work planning a realistic- or fantasy- fiction story. We started by discussing different characters and settings and then discussed problems and solutions that the characters could have. In preparation, we created a story about a Pickle man who flew to the moon; this is an example of fantasy fiction, which can’t happen in real life. Each student will have created a book with illustrations of their story by the end of the week!
In science, the 3rd Grade has been learning about how bridges are built. The experiment that they completed today was to design a paper bridge using only two sheets of paper. Once they were done designing, we put aquarium rocks on it until the bridge fell. Our high score was 100 rocks, and the bridge still had not fallen!
The APUSH (Advanced Placement U.S. History) class will be moving into Period 8 (1945-1980)! There are 9 Periods within the curriculum. It has been an incredible experience to teach these young historians! They are close to finishing their AP course!
5th Grade Historians,
This week we will be picking back up with our social studies and learning about the foundation of our great country. Students will continue identifying the patterns that help establish the Americas in our lessons. Patterns, including how geography and trade with Native Americans shaped our success. Also, we observe how George Washington played one of the most prominent roles in our independence for the British. We are learning to analyze primary documents to fully understand the perspectives of those who lived out our country's history. How cool?!
Fourth Grade Fractions!
Our fourth-grade math wizards are deep in learning about fractions. They can write and compare fractions, but they also add and subtract fractions! So if anyone needs help converting measurements for a recipe, the fourth grade can help. We even had a blast adding and subtracting fractions while playing a game of memory. Students had to find the fraction equations that matched the model. We love when math and fun come together!
May the luck of the Irish be with the Little Leprechauns who dare to grab our gold. First grade has been learning about simple machines and how they can use them to build Leprechaun traps. Some of our traps include levers, pulleys, and inclined planes. With high hopes and a bit of luck, we might be able to lure a gold loving Leprechaun into our traps by St. Patrick's Day!
The third grade has been hard at work exploring the Viking way of life in Language Arts. We traveled across the ocean, collected resources, made trades, and eventually made our own settlement in Scandinavia. We interacted with real historical figures like Leif Erikson and Erik the Red to learn more about how the Norse people lived.
Middle and high school art students had work entered into the Fremont Center for the Arts Fremont County student show recently. Each school within the county is invited to enter work. The show runs March 4th-26th. The FCA is located at 505 Macon Ave. in Canon City.
DENTAL SCREENING REMINDER. Just a quick note to remind parents that Chaffee County Oral Health is coming to Cotopaxi next week and will provide free dental screening and fluoride varnish. This is a great opportunity to have your child's dental health monitored. This is an opt in program and requires parental consent. Consent forms were sent home for grades K-7th couple weeks ago. It is not too late to sign a consent and get it sent back to the school if you haven't had the opportunity to do so yet. Please see the consent form below. Feel free to contact Nurse Debbie at school with any questions. Thank you.
The Middle School Physical Education class has begun their baseball season! It has been great to get outside and breathe in the fresh air! There will be lots of hard work ahead! There has been lots of interest!
Last week we introduced new technology to enhance the interactive classroom experience for any learning environment. Lightspeed Classroom Management gives teachers real-time visibility of student activity and control on their chromebooks. Teachers can see student screens, close distracting tabs, and push URLs to all students to keep students focused on the content that is being taught.
Elementary is celebrating the winter Olympics this week with bobsledding races.
Second grade has been hard at work! Groups of students continue to work together to show regrouping. Second graders will further their regrouping skills by subtracting three-digit numbers. The class also celebrated "Twos-day" on February 22, where they learned more about homophones (two, to, and too).
8th graders have been working on pieces from the Zelda video game series for their small ensemble works. Next, we will add some J.S Bach!
The 5th-grade class is becoming experts in fractions. Not only do we know how to multiply fractions, but we are masters in dividing fractions. We are learning to apply fractions to area models, story problems, and more! Every time we start a new math concept, the fifth-grade class amazes me because we find several strategies to solve each time. This way, we strengthen our flexibility and problem-solving skills!
Middle School Leadership has started a Pen Pal Program with our 4th grade class. The middle school students delivered letters to each of our class members on Monday. During a portion of Language Arts time, the 4th graders learned to structure a letter and type it. We are excited to deliver them next week!! Thanks Mr. Treat for starting this with us!
WEATHER UPDATE: Due to weather and road conditions, all grades, PK-12, will once again be on remote learning for THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24. Our teachers have prepared for a second day of remote learning in the event that situations dictated it. Please be safe and we will see your children on Monday.
Cotopaxi Early Learning Center is very excited and thankful to Mr. Calvin for our new bench at the preschool! The old one had seen better days and the children absolutely love the new one! The kids play hard on the playground and need a safe comfortable place to sit for a break! Thank you Mr. Calvin!
WEATHER UPDATE: Due to the forecasted snowfall and road conditions, all grades, PK-12 will be on remote learning tomorrow, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23. We will continue to monitor weather conditions and if needed will send additional updates to families regarding school on Thursday. School for today will end at the regularly scheduled time, and buses will run as scheduled to ensure students make it home safe. For additional details please see the news section of the website.
Stay safe and warm Pirates!