5th Grade Inquires About Rights

5th grade recently created some Tagxedos (word clouds) about human rights.  Students were delving into the central idea "Conflicts within societies arise from disputes over human rights and cultural values."  They were asked to brainstorm what they thought human rights were.  That list was input into Tagxedo and students created a visual representation of their ideas.  Check out a few examples from Mrs. Walker's class! What a great way to illustrate the concept of human rights!

3rd Grade Gets a Visit from the Police!

No, third grade students aren't in any trouble!  They've been studying the central idea "Work happens when a force causes change."  Students have been learning about different kinds of forces- energy, physical forces, and even social forces and then investigating ways that change can occur. 
A police officer (who is also a COE parent) stopped by to talk about both the social forces that they deal with on a regular basis- such as Occupy Austin- and the physical forces that are sometimes necessary on the job. Students got to see a real world example how the word force can take on a variety of different meanings!

4th Grade Graphs their Origins

4th Grade recently wrapped up their Where We Are in Place and Time unit where they studied the central idea "Opportunities and challenges motivate people to migrate."  In addition to looking at some of the reasons others migrate from one place to another, they also investigated their own family's country and continent of origin.  After tallying the results in their class, they made a graph of their results in Excel.  Check out a couple of examples below!

1st Grade Students Get Smart with the Smart Table

Students in 1st grade have been using one of our newest tech tools- the Smart Table!  It's a multi-touch table with a built in computer.  Teachers can create lessons that help support the concepts they are teaching and load them on the Smart table. 
Mrs. Hoffman's class used it to help them practice identifying and counting coins.  Student work together to answer questions and move the coins- it's like an electronic manipulative!  It's a fun way to strengthen students' skills and understanding of concepts they are working on in class!

4th Grade Supports No Name Calling Week!

Fourth graders read a story about no name calling to second graders. Then they asked students if they wanted to sign a no name calling poster and act out a skit to show how to be safe with name calling and help reinforce the strategies for the younger students: stand up for yourself, ask a friend, find an adult, and exit the area. YEAH FOURTH GRADE!

5th Grade Investigates: What Makes Us Green?

5th grade recently took on the task of inquiring about what makes COE a green school.  Students at Caldwell Heights (also an IB candidate school) were in their Sharing the Planet unit and wanted to know what made our school so "green." 

We had some ideas, but we didn't know all the answers.  We invited the architects and builders that constructed our school to come talk to us about some of the green features. 

We were blown away!  There are so many things that help make our building environmentally friendly.  Students organized the information into a Power Point presentation so we could share it with Caldwell.  We set up a Skype conference and were able to share what we learned and answer their questions.  Check out what we learned in the slide show below!

COES Green School



COE Teachers Get Their Hands Dirty!

Chandler Oaks teachers recently had the opportunity to be students in Mrs. Lanahan's art class and take action in our community!  On our last early release day, we got to play with clay in the art studio. Mrs. Lanahan recieved a grant for materials to make bowls for the Empty Bowl Project. Our bowls will be sold at the Round Rock Empty Bowl Festival on April 14th and all proceeds will benefit the Round Rock Area Serving Center.  We are privledged to participate in such a worth cause!