KCOE News: Students at Work

You may not know it, but Chandler Oaks has some budding newscasters in 5th grade!  Each morning, a team of students reports to the broadcast studio to write, rehearse, and produce the daily news show that is delivered to all students.

  Students report to the broadcast room early each morning to update the script with current events, weather, lunch menu, pledges, art and other special segments.  Those same students also produce most of the special reports such as Wonder Box Wednesday, where student reporters research questions submitted by other COE students and report the findings.

Student broadcasters learn communication skills, how to work flexibly on a team and the ins and out of the technology tools used to produce the KCOE news show.  Students get to rotate through a variety of roles such as anchor, engineer, director and special reporter and learn more about some of the duties and skills needed in the broadcast industry.  They learn a lot, but it is also a lot of fun!

COE Cheetahs Celebrate International Day of Peace!

COE Cheetahs have been celebrating the International Day of Peace each year. This year in art class, students are making symbols of peace in origami like cranes, butterflies, doves, hearts, homes, and lotus flowers. Students also pledged to take individual actions.  As an IB school, it is so important to all of us that we each do our part to make this world a more peaceful place.  Check out what some of our students have pledged to do in the video below!

3rd Grade Economics Fair

3rd Grade students recently held their annual Economics Fair.  As part of their IB How We Organize Ourselves unit, they inquired into the central idea: Economic systems require decisions and choices that impact lives and communities. Students created goods or developed services and invited the school to come to their marketplace. Prior to the fair, all students wrote a business plan &developed marketing.
Students used Vocaroo to record radio commercials and shot a video commercial to air on our morning news program.  Check them out!
Radio Commercials


3rd graders researched options for what they would do with the profits. Groups presented their ideas and  then they voted on their favorites. This year they decided that their proceeds would benefit The Wounded Warrior Project and Austin Disaster Relief. Austin Disaster relief was chosen because they are helping with recovery efforts in West.  The Wounded Warrior Project was chosen because there are several students that parents that are active in the military.  In total, 3rd grade raised about $1500 from their fair for the community!

Spring Techno Art Movies

Students in Mrs. Lanahan's Techno Art Club have been busy this spring!  They used claymation techniques and Frames movie making software to make their own movies.  Students used a storyboard to plan out their movie, then created scenery and props.  Students used digital cameras to photograph each step of their movie, then combined the photos with music and special effects.  Check out their work below!

Kindergarten Paperslides

Kindergarten students recently wrapped up their Where We are in Place and Time IB unit. Their central idea was: Homes are unique all over the world. They inquired into: types of shelter, the difference between home & shelter, and organisms without a home. As their summative (end of unit) assessment, students did a "paperslides" project. The students picked an organism and drew them with and without a home. The students then recorded their slides and explained their learning.  Check out a few samples below:

Techno-Art is in the Movie Business

4th and 5th grade members of the Techno-Art club have been working hard making stop motion movies. Students worked in collaborative groups, planned out their story using a storyboard, then had their choice of medium with which to create their story. Some students chose clay, Legos, tangrams, even dry erase boards! Check out one of their feature presentations!

Second Grade Responds to Problems

Second grade students have been investigating the central idea "Societies respond to problems with action" during their How We Organize Ourselves unit.  One problem that is current to our students is safety!  We recently wrapped up two weeks of safety reminders.  Second grade took the opportunity to teach us about the problems we face at the crosswalks and how to do it safely.  They researched the problem, then decided how they would take action. Students in Mrs. Koester's class decided to make a Power Point and Ms. Birrell's and Ms. Kenisell's classes made public service announcement videos.  2nd grade presented at the assembly this morning to help other students make safe choices.  Check out their work below! 
Other second grade classes are also investigating problems - look for some of their projects soon!

The Crosswalk Problem

Students Take Their Spanish Skills Up a Notch!

4th and 5th grade students are applying their knowledge of Spanish vocabulary by writing some amazing stories.  See if you can figure out what they wrote. 

Here is some vocabulary to help you out:
otra vez=again
oveja=sheep
pastor= shepherd
corre= he/she runs
cuida= he/she cares for
grita= he/she yells

Music + Spanish= Fantastico!

Kindergarten, first and second grades have learned a great song! It is about what is in the classroom. They learned sign language for the objects listed in the classroom. They also learned a very important word that is used in Spanish, which is “hay” (pronounced like eye). It means “there is” or “there are.” In this song they are answering the question “¿Qué hay en la clase?” which means “What is there in the classroom?”  The verses respond with – There is a table(mesa) , there is a teacher (maestra), there is a pencil (lapiz) and there is a clock (reloj). See if you can figure out the sign language that goes with those items while you watch Mrs. McCant’s class sing this song entitled “La clase.”

Kindergarten Investigates: Cheetahs

Kindergarten students have been sharpening their research skills!  The past two weeks, Mrs. Morehead's class has been working together to create a research project.  The children voted on a topic (Cheetahs), did all of the research (some in books, some using on-line resources), took notes of their research, compiled information in small groups, and then independently created a 3D display of their part and recorded their voice using Easi-speak microphones.  This is the movie that they made. What a great way for kinder students to share their knowledge with others!

4th Grade Students Create Book Trailers

4th grade students in Mr. Snyder's class have been making book trailers with their book clubs.  After finishing their books, student talked about the story and pulled out elements that might make the book something others would want to read.  Students checked out some examples, then talked about what features make a good trailer.  They created a storyboard and gathered images from clip art that would help them entice a viewer to read their book without giving the whole story away.  Finally, they used Photostory to combine their images and voices to create their trailers.  Check out a few of their projects below, and maybe even find a new book to read!

Second Grade Inspired by Sesame Street & Wil.i.am

Second Grade has been exploring what it means to be human in their Who We Are unit.  Their central idea, "Humans manifest their characteristics differently" has led to some great learning about which characteristics we share, which ones we don't, how we define success, and how our characteristics contribute to our success or failure.  They were inspired by a song that was featured on Sesame Street.  Singer Wil.i.am performed his song "What I Am" with several characters from the show. Second grade thought this was a great way to demonstrate what they've been learning, so they showed the video and sang along at our Friday Assembly last week.  Check out their performance, as well as the original video from YouTube. 
Link to lyrics

Skyping with the Author of Origami Yoda

Miss Dees, our librarian, organized an exciting lesson for 5th grade!  Students held a Skype conference with the author of The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, Tom Angleberger!  Mr. Angleberger's book is on the Bluebonnet Book List this year, so the meeting was super exciting since so many students have read it!  Mr. Angleberger shared how he came up with his ideas, how he wrote the book, what projects he's working on right now, and even some of his favorite books.  Students had the chance to ask questions and they even made an origami Yoda of their own!  Students reported how awesome it was to Skype with the author of such  a popular book, and teachers reported that students immediately wanted to go to the library and read some of Mr. Angleberger's favorites.  It looks like a successful lesson!    

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Why do We Learn Spanish?

At COE, have lots of curious kids who ask great questions.  Our Wonder Box gives students a place to ask all those burning questions!  We are really lucky to have an awesome crew of 5th grade students who work on our daily broadcast. The KCOE News Special Reporters take on the task of researching and reporting on as many of those questions as they can.  Recently, they answered the question, "Why do we learn Spanish?"  Our reporters scheduled an interview with our Spanish teacher, Mrs. Imperial, to learn the answer.  Check out their video report*- not only will you learn all the reasons why we learn Spanish, but I think you'll agree that we have some great student news reporters and producers! 

*On the video, we report that we are an IB school. Chandler Oaks is a candidate school for the Primary Years Programme. This school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy - a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that Chandler Oaks Elementary believes is important for our students.