Academics
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Gallery of Student Work & Learning Expeditions
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Our 8th-grade students, inspired by Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, have been on a mission to tell the stories of those whose stories often go untold. Our students have written the life stories of immigrants in the Annunciation community in order to show the incredible strength, resilience, and humanity of immigrants in our community. They have also analyzed the concept of the American Dream throughout history and within their own lives to create their own American Dream. Finally, our students have used design thinking in science to create a floor plan for our school, leaving a legacy at the school, just like Hamilton left a legacy for America.
Nuestros estudiantes de octavo grado, inspirados por Hamilton de Lin-Manuel Miranda, han tenido la misión de contar las historias de aquellos que no se cuentan. Nuestros estudiantes han escrito las historias de la vida de los inmigrantes en la comunidad de Anunciación para mostrar la increíble fuerza, resiliencia y humanidad de los inmigrantes en nuestra comunidad. También han analizado el concepto del Sueño Americano a lo largo de la historia y dentro de sus propias vidas para crear su propio Sueño Americano. Finalmente, nuestros estudiantes han utilizado el pensamiento de diseño en la ciencia para crear un plano de planta para nuestra escuela, dejando un legado en la escuela, al igual que Hamilton dejó un legado para Estados Unidos. CLICK HERE TO READ THE SPRING 2024 STORIES |
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7th Grade | Inside Out and Back Again: A Closer Look at our Community and Selves
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Inspired by the book Inside Out and Back Again by Thannha Lai, our 7th graders have created their own book of heartfelt poems in which they bravely share how their own lives have been turned “inside out and back again.” In addition to these poems, our 7th graders have created icons of individuals that they believe are modern-day saints and viewed the influence of location and those who come before us in their lives. Ultimately, these images allow them to better see themselves and those around them as saints in our Church.
Inspirados por el libro Inside Out and Back Again de Thannha Lai, nuestros alumnos de 7.º grado han creado su propio libro de poemas sinceros en los que valientemente comparten cómo sus propias vidas e identidades se han invertido "al derecho y al revés". Además de estos poemas, nuestros alumnos de 7º grado han creado íconos de personas que creen que son santos modernos y han visto la influencia de la ubicación y de aquellos que nos precedieron en sus vidas. Últimamente, estas imágenes les permiten verse mejor a sí mismos y a quienes los rodean como santos en nuestra Iglesia. |
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6th Grade | Water & Life
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Our students synthesized what they learned about water issues in the United States and Laudato Si to create materials educating our community on our water quality, what community members can do to help, and why households should test their water. In addition, 6th graders created visuals & written explanations to interpret the data of their water testing for audiences of all ages.
Nuestros estudiantes sintetizaron lo que aprendieron sobre los problemas del agua en los Estados Unidos y Laudato S, para crear materiales que eduquen a nuestra comunidad sobre la calidad del agua, qué pueden hacer los miembros de la comunidad para ayudar y por qué los hogares deben analizar su agua. Además, los alumnos de sexto grado crearon imágenes y explicaciones escritas para interpretar los datos de sus pruebas de agua para audiencias de todas las edades. |
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5th Grade | CST: You and Me!
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To teach others about the Catholic Social Teaching principles, the fifth graders wrote, produced, and edited their very own 6-episode podcast! It is titled “CST: Easy as 1, 2, 3!!”. In each episode, fifth graders share what they’ve learned throughout the year about a CST principle, interview someone related to their principle, and even share an original advertisement!
Para enseñar a otros sobre los principios de la Enseñanza Social Católica, los estudiantes de quinto grado escribieron, produjeron y editaron su propio podcast de 6 episodios. Se titula “CST: ¡¡Tan fácil como 1, 2, 3!!”. En cada episodio, los estudiantes de quinto grado comparten lo que han aprendido a lo largo del año sobre un principio CST, entrevistan a alguien relacionado con su principio e incluso comparten un anuncio original. |
Listen to our Podcast!
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4th Grade | Unheard Voices, Untold Stories of our Country and Catholic Faith
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Based on what we’ve been reading and who we have been learning about, we decided to write letters to tell the stories of Holy People and American Heroes in our country. We are writing letters to push for the canonization of Augustus Tolton and Julia Greeley. We are posting the story of Katherine Johnson in the Middle School Classroom, the story of James Armistead Lafayette on Lafayette St right outside. Lastly, we wrote letters to the Cafeteria Cooking Crew for living out the Corporal Works of Mercy for us every day.
Basándonos en lo que hemos estado leyendo y sobre quién hemos estado aprendiendo, decidimos escribir cartas para contar las historias de los Santos y los Héroes Americanos en nuestro país. Estamos escribiendo cartas para impulsar la canonización de Augustus Tolton y Julia Greeley. Estamos publicando la historia de Katherine Johnson en el salón de la escuela secundaria, la historia de James Armistead Lafayette en Lafayette St, justo afuera. Por último, escribimos cartas al Equipo de Cocina de la Cafetería por vivir las Obras Corporales de Misericordia para nosotros todos los días. |
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3rd Grade | Windows to the World: Overcoming Barriers in Literacy
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The third-grade class discovered that many of the Little Free Libraries in our neighborhood were almost empty and decided to hold a book drive to help update the books circulating in our neighborhood. They created high-quality brochures detailing the book drive and shared them with our school, our neighbors, and their own families and communities. They spent several weeks adding these collected books to our neighborhood libraries, making sure on a weekly basis that each library was full and tidy. They also built their own little free library, The Sci-Library, which will focus specifically on books about science and the world around us, to share with our neighborhood.
Los estudiantes descubrieron que muchas de las Pequeñas Bibliotecas Gratuitas de nuestro vecindario estaban casi vacías y decidieron realizar una colecta de libros para ayudar a actualizar los libros que circulan en nuestro vecindario. Crearon folletos de alta calidad que detallaban la colecta de libros y los compartieron con nuestra escuela, nuestros vecinos y sus propias familias y comunidades. Pasaron varias semanas agregando estos libros recopilados a las bibliotecas de nuestro vecindario, asegurándose semanalmente de que cada biblioteca estuviera llena y ordenada. También construyeron su propia pequeña biblioteca gratuita, The Sci-Library, que se centrará específicamente en libros sobre ciencia y el mundo que nos rodea, para compartir con nuestro vecindario. |
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2nd Grade | Growing Our Garden: Interconnectedness in Nature and Community
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Students created information cards describing the role of each of the garden helpers that we studied. They will hand these out to visitors to spread the word about why garden helpers are important and to encourage more people to be good earthkeepers. Students also raised butterflies, ladybugs, and worms in their classroom and released them into our school garden to help it flourish.
Los estudiantes crearon tarjetas de información que describen el papel de cada uno de los ayudantes del jardín que estudiamos. Los entregarán a los visitantes para difundir la importancia de los ayudantes de jardinería y animar a más personas a ser buenos cuidadores de la tierra. Los estudiantes también criaron mariposas, mariquitas y gusanos en su salón de clases y los soltaron en el jardín de nuestra escuela para ayudarlo a florecer. |
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1st Grade | I Am a Saint In The Making
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The students wrote a letter to Pope Francis asking him to name Julia Greeley as a saint. They also wrote Cheer Cards for the medical professionals at Children’s Hospital of Colorado. Finally, they made 13 blankets for the patients at Children’s Hospital.
Los estudiantes escribieron una carta al Papa Francisco pidiéndole que nombrara santa a Julia Greeley. También escribieron cartas de alegría para los médicos profesionales del Children's Hospital de Colorado. Finalmente, elaboraron 13 mantas para los pacientes del Hospital Infantil. |
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Kindergarten | We can’t be family if we are not FRIENDS first!
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For our final product kindergarten created matching friendship bracelets for themselves and the Annunciation community. The bracelets were made with a pattern of colors that represent compassion, happiness, growth, friendship, and love. In addition students created a video answering three questions about their friendship with each other and God!
Para nuestro producto final, Kinder creó pulseras de la amistad para ellos mismos y la comunidad de la Anunciación. Las pulseras fueron hechas con un patrón de colores que representan compasión, felicidad, crecimiento, amistad y amor. ¡Los estudiantes también crearon un video respondiendo tres preguntas sobre su amistad entre ellos y con Dios! |
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Preschool | Courageous Contributors of our Community
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Our final product is an album of pictures of our students, dressed as the different community helpers they learned about and the different activities we did to role-play as that Courageous Contributor.
Nuestro producto final es un libro de fotos de nuestros estudiantes, vestidos como los ayudantes de la comunidad que repasamos y las actividades que hicimos mientras desempeñaban su papel como ese Contribuidor Valiente . |
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Learning Highlight Reel:
Remembering Past Expeditions
Learning Expeditions Archive
Check Out Past Final Products:
Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story? | 8th Grade
Whose stories get told? Whose stories don’t? How can we tell the stories of those who history might otherwise forget? These questions have been at the center of the 8th grade’s expedition, in which they have studied the life of Alexander Hamilton, the experiences of immigrants in America, and the stories of immigrants in their own community. In writing the stories of immigrants in their community, viewing the concept of the American Dream throughout history, and using design thinking to create a legacy project, our 8th graders have ensured that their legacies and the legacies of people in their community will live on.
8th Grade Class of 2023 Stories
8th Grade Class of 2022 Stories
8th Grade Class of 2023 Stories
8th Grade Class of 2022 Stories
CST: You and Me! | 5th Grade
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Fifth graders learned about the 7 Catholic Social Teaching (CST) Principles and how the Catholic Church calls us to “be doers of the word, not hearers only.” Across Catechism, reading, writing, CREW, and science, fifth-graders dove into the details of each principle and discovered how their words and actions can be living examples of God’s love as members of the Body of Christ.
5th Grade Class of 2023 Podcast - CST: You and Me! Volume 1 |
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Where In The World is Mary? | First Grade Spring 2022
Mrs. Roberts was taking the school on a journey around the world with Mary, but couldn’t find a good children’s book. So, we decided to write one for her. It’s called Where In The World Is Mary?
Theatre Performance of 'Brother Rabbit' at the Walnut Room Theatre | Middle School Spring 2017
With the support and direction of the CSU 4-H Theatre program, our Annunciation middle school “Young Performers" theatre troupe performed their rendition of “Br'er (Brother) Rabbit & Other Stories” on stage at the Walnut Room, a great local restaurant and concert venue in RiNo, near our school! We are incredibly proud of the excellent performance our students put on, and want to give special thanks to the Walnut Room for hosting the event, as well as tremendous gratitude to Ken Grimes & Robert Franklin of the 4H theatre program.
5th Grade Visual Arts Exhibit at the Redline Gallery
5th Grade | Fall, 2016
In collaboration with local artist Dr. Ella Maria Ray, the Annunciation 5th grade students created an art exhibition displayed at the Redline Art Gallery in Denver's RiNo Arts District. In this installation, our students celebrate our multicultural community, call out injustices they see in our neighborhood, and explore their hopes and fears for our city and our nation. Their work has been featured by Westword, ABC Channel 7 News, Telemundo Denver, and Univision/Entravision Denver.
In collaboration with local artist Dr. Ella Maria Ray, the Annunciation 5th grade students created an art exhibition displayed at the Redline Art Gallery in Denver's RiNo Arts District. In this installation, our students celebrate our multicultural community, call out injustices they see in our neighborhood, and explore their hopes and fears for our city and our nation. Their work has been featured by Westword, ABC Channel 7 News, Telemundo Denver, and Univision/Entravision Denver.
What Is A Bird?
Preschool Expedition | 2015-2016
How do you know if an animal is a bird? What do we look for? Well, after all of our learning, do we know birds! In this expedition, we learned how to identify birds by four general characteristics, and we learned what kinds of habitats birds need to survive. We also learned about a special bird - our school mascot, the cardinal - and what makes it stand apart from other birds. Check out our video and our work to learn all about birds, especially the cardinal!
How do you know if an animal is a bird? What do we look for? Well, after all of our learning, do we know birds! In this expedition, we learned how to identify birds by four general characteristics, and we learned what kinds of habitats birds need to survive. We also learned about a special bird - our school mascot, the cardinal - and what makes it stand apart from other birds. Check out our video and our work to learn all about birds, especially the cardinal!
Worms Are Not Yucky!
Kindergarten Expedition | 2015-2016
In Kindergarten, we believe that worms are important, but most people think they're bad. So, we wanted to learn about worms and change people's minds! In this expedition, we became scientists: scientists who study worms - oligochaetologists. In the first case study, we investigated the life of a worm (life cycle, body parts, habitat, what it eats…etc). Then, we explored what oligochaetologists do and learned more about our worms through experiments. Check out our work and our video about why worms are not yucky!
In Kindergarten, we believe that worms are important, but most people think they're bad. So, we wanted to learn about worms and change people's minds! In this expedition, we became scientists: scientists who study worms - oligochaetologists. In the first case study, we investigated the life of a worm (life cycle, body parts, habitat, what it eats…etc). Then, we explored what oligochaetologists do and learned more about our worms through experiments. Check out our work and our video about why worms are not yucky!
How'd That Get There? The Mysterious Story of Seashell Fossil Found in the Mountains.
6th Grade Expedition | 2015-2016
During the summer of 2015, we found a sea shell fossil in a canyon in northwest Colorado. We were shocked! How did it get there? Was Colorado under water in the past? So, we set off on a five-month-long learning expedition to answer that question. We conducted field work in the mountains, worked with Joe Sertich (Paleontologist & Curator of Dinosaurs) from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and read and wrote a lot about the geologic history of our state. As a final product to show all we learned, we wrote and published a book about the geologic history of Colorado, complete with illustrations (click on the cover on the right to read the entire book online or order a copy). In this book the seashell (named MJ), takes us on a journey through time to experience Colorado over the past 400 Million Years! We hope you enjoy our book & contact [email protected] to order a copy!
During the summer of 2015, we found a sea shell fossil in a canyon in northwest Colorado. We were shocked! How did it get there? Was Colorado under water in the past? So, we set off on a five-month-long learning expedition to answer that question. We conducted field work in the mountains, worked with Joe Sertich (Paleontologist & Curator of Dinosaurs) from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and read and wrote a lot about the geologic history of our state. As a final product to show all we learned, we wrote and published a book about the geologic history of Colorado, complete with illustrations (click on the cover on the right to read the entire book online or order a copy). In this book the seashell (named MJ), takes us on a journey through time to experience Colorado over the past 400 Million Years! We hope you enjoy our book & contact [email protected] to order a copy!
Restoring Our River in RiNo
7th Grade Expedition | 2015-2016
At Annunciation, we are fortunate to have a river ecosystem right in our neighborhood, but really, how healthy is the South Platte River ecosystem in the city? What can we do to improve it so trout and other native species can thrive there? In this expedition, we explored the biology and ecology of a healthy, interdependent, and balanced Colorado river ecosystem, and developed ways we can lessen the city's impact on our river. We even established a cold-water river ecosystem tank in our classroom, complete with trout and a diversity of macroinvertebrates like mayfly nymphs and crawfish. In collaboration with Denver Water, the Earth Force, and Wenk & Associates Landscape Architecture firm who is leading the construction of the new riverside park in our neighborhood called RiNo Park, we are putting our learning to good use! We have given input and design ideas to the architects to help make the new RiNo park a beautiful and enjoyable community space, while also using the park to make the river ecosystem more natural and healthy.
At Annunciation, we are fortunate to have a river ecosystem right in our neighborhood, but really, how healthy is the South Platte River ecosystem in the city? What can we do to improve it so trout and other native species can thrive there? In this expedition, we explored the biology and ecology of a healthy, interdependent, and balanced Colorado river ecosystem, and developed ways we can lessen the city's impact on our river. We even established a cold-water river ecosystem tank in our classroom, complete with trout and a diversity of macroinvertebrates like mayfly nymphs and crawfish. In collaboration with Denver Water, the Earth Force, and Wenk & Associates Landscape Architecture firm who is leading the construction of the new riverside park in our neighborhood called RiNo Park, we are putting our learning to good use! We have given input and design ideas to the architects to help make the new RiNo park a beautiful and enjoyable community space, while also using the park to make the river ecosystem more natural and healthy.
Tiny Organisms, Big Role!
7th Science Expedition | 2014
Just because you don't see or notice them doesnt mean they're not doing something important. In this expedition, we explored the important role of tiny organisms, like microbes and macroinvertebrates in the South Platte River. For our final product, we created post cards that were presented to the Greenway Foundation of Denver to be used to teach the public to appreciate the river ecology.
Just because you don't see or notice them doesnt mean they're not doing something important. In this expedition, we explored the important role of tiny organisms, like microbes and macroinvertebrates in the South Platte River. For our final product, we created post cards that were presented to the Greenway Foundation of Denver to be used to teach the public to appreciate the river ecology.
