Monday, March 31, 2014

1st Graders Take Action @ Home!

1st grade students have been learning about natural resources in science. Some of Mrs. Sharp's students took action by going home and reusing common household items and turning them into something new and useful. We get excited when students are able to put their learning to use out in the real world- nothing is more satisfying to a teacher!  
Check out some of their creations below!
Anuj used a shoe box for a question/answer type game about birds.


Briley made a bird feeder out of a large water bottle.


We celebrate students who take action at home- if your child has put their learning to use at home, fill out one of the Action at Home forms and send it in to their teacher.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

5th Grade Students Design a Green City

5th Grade students finished their Sharing the Planet unit last month. The inquired into the central idea Using and conserving resources alters our relationships with communities and environments. To show their understanding at the end of the unit, students were given the real world task of creating a "Green City" that would run entirely on alternative energy. In their presentation, students had to discuss the impact on the community and environment as well as the conditions that must be necessary for the alternative energy forms to successfully power the city. Check out some samples below from Mrs. Walker's class:

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

4th Grade Ramps Up for the Writing STAAR

4th grade is in the home stretch before the writing STAAR test. They have been doing Six Traits review and revising/editing review in rotations. Students are reminded of how much they have learned throughout the year in writing workshop. They've come a long way and made so much progress as writers! Students are applying their writing skills to develop great ideas, using ba-da-bings to explode the moment, and covering their drafts with colorful revision and editing marks. We are so proud of all our writers!

Monday, March 24, 2014

4th Grade Students Explore Soil

4th grade students recently investigated the different kinds of soil and their properties such as their ability to retain water.  Students made predictions about what would happen as they passed water through the different types.


Friday, March 21, 2014

COE Cheetahs Win 3rd Place in Battle of the Bluebonnets!

The COE Battle of the Bluebonnets team took home 3rd place yesterday after a heated competition!  Our team of 5 reading rock stars, led by their coach Mrs. Collings, actually tied for first place with three other schools- several tie breaker questions were needed to settle the competition. In the end we brought home 3rd place medals- our highest finish yet!
Our team practiced well and worked together as a team- and it paid off.  If you see Mrs. Collings or one of these students, be sure to congratulate them on their accomplishment!



1st Grade Reflects...I Want to Be Like

First grade students recently completed their Where We Are in Place and Time unit where they explored the central idea Exploring influential people from the past can inspire our way of life. After they studied characteristics of people who influenced the past and how people's previous actions inspire future change, students reflected on who they might want to be like. Students uploaded their photo into Phrase.it and wrote a speech bubble of who they wanted to be like and why. It is evident that this unit get students thinking about how they can use what they learned from others to make good choices today! Check out a few samples from Mrs. Moyer's class below and see the whole class by clicking here.