FLASHBACK FRIDAY

It has been a busy semester. Here's some of the highlights of first grade so far!

Let's flashback to the 50's!
On the fiftieth day of school, the students chose to dress up in 1950's style. We learned how to do the Twist. The kids played Sock Hop Pop- each student picked a popsicle stick with a word on it. If the stick had POP they had to all do the twist to the legend, Sam Cooke. We also compared trends from the 2010's and the 1950's decades. The played math games racing to 50.

With all the compliments, the class won a popcorn party! The students voted on the popcorn they preferred. The winner was....GHOSTBUSTER POPCORN! It was the easiest thing to make. Some kids did not want to try it due to all the green gooeyness, but it turned out tasting awesome if you like rice crispies.

Eliana making silly faces.

Pioneer Day
Just before the break, we had our traditional Pioneer Day. All the kids in first grade learned about what it was like to come to America as a pioneer, having nothing here. We compared the lifestyles for children that lived in the 1600's compared to now. The students went in rotations to each room learning and creating new activites. Thank you to all the wonderful parents that made this day possible. We could not have done it without them. (Thank you Mrs. Evans for twisting off and on all those baby food jars. You were a trooper!)

Marian, Mrs. Lujan, Sarah, and Mrs. Evans celebrating Pioneer Day

Top and Bottom Left: Carly and Lilou showing off their work from quill writing. Jackson creating a picture which was not the easiest task. They used a feather and black ink to write. Top Right: Ryen learned how to make soap. Bottom Right: Dominic and Braylon played a game with their new toy. The goal was to get the washer in the cup.

Top and Bottom Left: Jordan, Mace and Sarah working on more quill writing. Top Right: Jacob was creating a necklace out of dyed noodles and string. Bottom Right: The best station! Madi made her homemade butter. They tasted it with crackers. Overall, it was yummy!

After all the fun activities, we had a lunch together in class. All students brought something to contribute to our soup and fruit salad. There was none left! They gobbled it all up. 

Learning Commons

We have taken trips to the Learning Commons a few times this year. My favorite time we went to the Learning Commons was when the students created buildings in the community. First write, then build.

The kids could have spent hours in there building. I was impressed by the collaboration between Mace and Braylon. Together, they created the Texas Union Bank. Braylon started on the "layout" while Mace created the fence around the bank. They created cameras around the bank with facial recognition. There was room with a chair so the security guard could watch all the cameras. If the guard saw something wrong, he had an alarm button and an escape route. Such detail!

Last but not least...The Engineering Expo

During science, we have been learning about wind energy. Our essential question was "Why is wind energy important to us in everyday life?" During the same time in LA, we have been comparing different stories to the folktale The Three Little Pigs. Integration, viola.

The students had to find a way to keep the second pig's stick home stabile from the wind energy from the Big Bad Wolf. Ask your child why we didn't focus on the first pig.

We tested what objects moved and stayed by blowing our wind energy on them through a straw. We recorded that heavier objects stayed, which means we needed to find objects for our pig homes that were heavier than the sticks. 

Red group added gummy bears and many more sticks on the roof. 

Blue group added heavy dominoes to their Pig House 2.0. They even created a hole on the top that only the pig could fit through. They made a latter out of sticks to get to the top.

Green group's first home was heavy, but top heavy. They moved all their weight down to the bottom with erasers and gumdrops.

Yellow group used marbles to keep the home stable. However, the first home was stable on one side where the marbles were, but would move on the other side. Pig House 2.0 had marbles distributed on all parts of the house.

During the Engineering Expo, Makaela did a wonderful job explaining to the older students the steps of process. She tested out the pig home by using the blow-dryer. As a class we learned about the Fujita Tornado Scale. We decided that the wolf blew the stick home down on a scale of F2, hard enough for wood, but not brick.

It has been a great semester so far. We have done so much! Only a few more days to another glorious break! Thank you for all the support you have been giving your first grader at home!

Lollipop Moment

A few weeks ago, Mr. Steele was asking us to pull gold out of a coal mine, or so we thought. The week before Fall Break was so busy. #stressed For our first graders, they had to practice for the Turkey Performance and get everything ready for Pioneer Day (hats, bags, collars, headbands, etc.). Then we actually had Pioneer Day-big hit #1- and our annual Thanksgiving Turkey Performance-big hit #2. You would think Friday would be an easy day, but turns out we had to present for the Engineering Expo. Give your kid a high-five!

As a teacher, this can be very stressful. I was leaving right after our staff meeting to go get married, and did not want to deal with all of this stuff laid on us. It was a lot on my plate, and I did not know where to start. I have been teaching first grade for four years, and I still did not know how everything would turn out this week. Teachers have to find inspiration.

Check out this video if you have a chance. He's a funny dude.

This guy asks, "What is your lollipop moment?"
When this was presented at the staff meeting, my thought was......."I don't know."
It did not feel great. I thought I should have some grand explanation to this, but was baffled. I love my kids and I know that my past and present kids love me, but did I make an impact in anyone's life? I don't know.

The Tuesday from the week of complete chaos, I had Anthony, a student from 2 years ago, ask me if he could borrow a book called Sophie's Choice. I read that to him and our class during snack time. He didn't know the name of it, but he could tell me the story line and wanted to read it on his own. I set my alarm to remember to bring the book the next morning. Anthony was there the next morning coming to borrow it.

That was my lollipop moment. Why?

Think back (way back for some of you). When was your first literary memory? When did you first remember a book, a story, or your mom and dad reading to you when you were a kid. Mine was Mrs. Williams in first grade reading to the class everyday after recess. She read Number the Stars by Lois Lowry in her rocking chair. I read that book 3 times in fourth grade. I read it to my first class in first grade.

Anthony remembered a story I read to him as a first grade teacher just like I remembered my first grade teacher's story time. Now that he is old enough, he wants to read it on his own. Wow! It may not be a big impact- or huge rainbow swirl lollipop-but it gave me the little inspiration and drive to get through that week. To top it off, Jessica, a kid from my first year in this grade, asked me during the Engineering Expo what was the book I read to her. I gladly wrote down Number the Stars by Lois Lowry on a bright sticky note.

Lollipop number #2

My question of hope is if one story can make a small impact, how could all the other crazy activities we do in first grade impact your child?

Stephanie

There's an App for That!

A parent asked me the other day what would her child do with an electronic device in my class. I usually let students bring electronic devices to use when they are done with their work. However, I like to use devices as something that challenges students, instead of playing. Unfortunately, I cannot download apps to your child's device. I did find many apps that you can download at home for your child to bring to class. Some are not free #boo.

Math
Brainz: math app that shows different equations with different difficulties. There are challenges that are for primary students all the way up to high school.

Kakooma: helps students build number sense, fluency, and computation in an interactive way. Mrs. Jensby's favorite!

Motion Math Pizza: an interactive game with a pizza store showing profits and expenses for pizza ingredients. Costumers create fast past addition to make more money. Miss Christie's favorite math game!

Lola’s Math Train

Math in Space Free

Kid's Patterns
 

Language Arts
Princess Fairy Tale Maker: Here’s a storytelling workshop fit for a fairy princess! This imaginative app combines storytelling, speaking skills and art in one clever package.

Build a Word

Word Magic

Story Wheel

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Mad Libs

Grammar Fun

Magnetic Letters

Science & Social Studies

Barefoot World Atlas: Take a trip around the world with this interactive 3D globe!

Beginning readers can use the voice narration feature to follow along as the narrator reads. Don't forget to check out a real-life photograph of each item after you've read about it.

Animal Kingdom Science for Kids 

Sid's Science Fair

Coaster Physics

Spacecraft 3D 

Where's My Water?

Weird but True

Logic- My favorite apps!

I SPY Spooky Mansion

Bumpling Free

Flow Free

Montezuma Puzzle 3

4 in a Row

Unblock Me

KenKen 

The OSMO is an interactive device I bought for my classroom. There are 5 different games that students can play. It was something worth buying to see how much they enjoy working on it. Watch this video to see what it is all about.

 

 

 

2nd Annual Engineering Expo

Old Man Johnny Came to Town

Pumpkin Math

This was my fourth year to teach Pumpkin Math, and it was just as fun as the years before. Pumpkin Math is a great way to engage students in math and science during the Fall season. This year we had a few special guests. Jackson's mother, Mrs. Guzman, came to volunteer. Also volunteering was Mrs. Lujan, Marian's mother. Our wonderful counselor, Mrs. McGlamery, experienced Pumpkin Math for the first time as well! All you ladies were PROS! Thank you so much for spending your time with our students last Friday. They really enjoyed it. =]

A few things we did during Pumpkin Math:

1. Since the pumpkins were round, we had to use a string to measure the circumference. We used cubes to measure the string.

2. We predicted the weight of the pumpkin. Even though it felt like 100 pounds, most pumpkins were under 10 pounds. That surprised them!

3. The groups predicted whether the pumpkins would sink or float.

4. We estimated how many seeds were in the 

pumpkins. Mrs. Guzman's group had over three hundred seeds! We counted the pumpkin seeds by 10s.

5. BEST PART: Carving the pumpkins and giving them a face.

 Most of the pumpkins had a facial and ended up with bushy eyebrows, mustaches, and glasses. My group named our pumpkin Old Man Johnny. Too bad they can't stick around for 50's Day coming up this Tuesday. What a great way to finish up the week. =]

New Schedule

Change Can Be A Good Thing

Congrats to Marian for being
the first Cubtastic Winner!

Christie Elementary will be returning to the schedule from previous years. This means that the students will have specials for 50 minutes every single day now, including Friday. So here is what our day in Miss Christie's class will look like starting November 2nd...

8:00-9:45:     UBD (includes Science, Social Studies and L.A.)
9:45-10:35:   Specials
10:35-11:30: Snack and finishing up UBD
11:30-12:30: Recess/Lunch
12:30-1:00:   Integrated Enrichment
1:00-2:30:     Math
2:30-2:45:     Pack and Stack

Monday:       Fitness/Music
Tuesday:       P.E.
Wednesday:  Art
Thursday:     Music/Fitness
Friday:          P.E.

This week: Pumpkin Math and Field Day will be Friday.
We will also have Red Ribbon Week where the students can dress up. Here is what each day will be designated to...

Monday:       Wear Red Day
Tuesday:       Wear your favorite sport's team attire
Wednesday:  Wear your shirt backwards
Thursday:     Crazy Sock Day
Friday:          Christie Shirt

First Christie Challenge

Last Friday, our school had a challenge to design a pumpkin as one of their favorite story book character. Thankfully, many parents donated small pumpkins to our class. We were able to make groups and have the students research what character they would like.

The first day, the students chose what character they would like. That was probably the hardest part for them. Two groups were reading library chapter books with popular characters, so Amelia quickly thought about Harry Potter. The Lorax and Cat in the Hat were immediate choices once the groups thought of it.

The next day, they designed a pumpkin on paper and gave me the materials list they needed. They requested paint, googly eyes, felt, and many other materials.

Friday, we went outside and decorated the pumpkins. YAY! No paint on clothes. No big disasters. The students had fun. The biggest challenge was finding a hat that would stay up for the Cat in the Hat. Makaela and Madilynn found cardboard from the classroom. We cut it and made it into a cylinder to go on the top.

Many of our pumpkins will be presented at the assembly.

FALL FESTIVAL ASSEMBLY 

Friday October 23, 2015 @ 8AM

All parents and family 

are welcomed to join!!!

See you there =]

Music To Our Ears

In the past two weeks, we have been focusing on a certain energy that we cannot get away from: sound. The kids have been learning how sound travels, how it goes through solids, and how it can bounce back to make an echo.

The students have been able to explore different instruments and listen to the various pitches each one can make. 

Mrs. Massey let us check out her guitar.

Azar was making a megaphone to show how sound energy can travel over to Miss Stanford's room.

Eliana's group were listening to the different sounds made by Mrs. Reeves homemade maracas.

Braylon was recording the different parts that make the system we called an instrument. 

The rest of the week, we will finish up our unit by creating our own instruments. The students had to make a blue print and a list of materials. So far, we have made a kazoo with a paper roll, wax paper, and a rubber band. 

Thank you Mr. Berg for coming to help us as a Watch Dog Dad. The students and Amelia loved it! 

Brain breaks are the best, especially with a dad dancing!

Homework, etc. etc.

I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all of my student's parents that have been on top of getting your child to do his or her math homework. Even though there has been a few times it has not been done, overall the students are all bringing it back daily. That is AWESOME!

I barely see this.... (picture)

Well, now there will be a homework change in a week or so. Instead of the pink piece of paper coming home, they will have a sheet come home from their math workbook. Your child will be expected to answer questions 1-4 daily. There will be more questions on the page. If you want to work with your child on the extra questions, go for it! That would be AWESOME! 

IMPORTANT DATES:
October 12th is our parent/teacher conference. If you cannot come, please let me know ASAP so we can schedule another time. It is very important that we meet.

October 30th is Pumpkin Math and  Field Day. If you would like to volunteer, please make sure you have signed up to volunteer through the district this year. Even if you volunteered last year, you have to sign up again. I would love to see parents here enjoying the day with their kiddos.  Click here to sign up!

Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) is a program with college readiness in mind. It focuses on closing the achievement gap by teaching students strategies to help them have ownership of their learning and reach their full potential. We use organizational tools and agendas in 4th and 5th grade, but we have instructional strategies site-wide. Writing, inquiry, collaborating, organization and reading to learn are only a few of the AVID strategies we implement. 

It's never too young to start thinking about college. A college-bound culture is a culture of success and everyone can benefit from that at any age. AVID is really stressed in 3rd, 4th, and 5th and we're trying to move it into all grade levels in the near future. It'll be available at Carpenter Middle School and in Plano high schools. 

Our AVID liaison for Christie Elementary, Mr. Ramos in 5th Grade, has designed an awesome Avengers themed t-shirt to help promote the program. 

You pay for your shirt(s) online, and they will ship to Christie 4-7 days after the closing date which is Wednesday, September 30th! Teachers, parents, and students are all encouraged to order and proceeds exceeding a certain order amount will be used towards Christie College Week to promote our college-bound culture. It's a win-win! I hope that you join me in supporting both Christie and the AVID program with Plano ISD.

The shirt design:

Ready, Set, Read

Ready, Set, Read

For the most part. testing is over. I now finally feel like a teacher and can actually teach from 8AM to 2:45. That being said, review time for language arts is over. Each week, the students will be expected to know at least 50 words. The good news: those words belong to a pattern. Your child will learn so much in first grade, but they need the help at home. Part of their homework is to read every night for at least 20 minutes. Their Fun Free Friday depends on it!

Check this out....

If you feel frustrated with your child at home, here are some tips you can utilize. Print this out and stick it on your refrigerator.

Tips for Parents for Reading at Home

For my friends that already have students that read, my best advice for you is to ask them questions about the story. If you want to know some specific questions, e-mail me! I have plenty!

Thinking Like A Scientist

First Grade's Law of Theory

As many parents are aware, we have adjusted the curriculum to teach the students science every day. I would say that many of them LOVE science. One of our essential questions is "How does science impact our everyday life?" The past two weeks, we have been working on observing different experiments, but more importantly, being able to connect it to something else in our lives.

Last week, we did the infamous Gummy Bear Experiment. The students predicted what would happen to the gummy bears. Many said they would get bigger, but they were all surprised about how little the gummy bear in the vinegar turned out. We learned what the word dissolves meant. After talking about our results, I integrated math into our lesson. We learned how to graph our work so we could get precise answers about our observations.

Today, the students predicted what would happen if we mixed milk with dish soap. If you want to do this experiment at home, pour some milk into a pan. Then, add some food coloring of different colors in the middle of the pan. Next, put dish soap on a Q-tip. Last, dip the soap into the middle of the pan of milk. The kids were so amazed at what happened! They were all saying how much they love science. They went back to their desks and wrote about what the milk reminded them of. I was impressed by some great connections!

Madilynn compared the milk to a big jaw dropper candy ball that you can buy.

Braylon said it looked like the portal from the movie Big Hero Six.

Eliana wrote that the milk looks like a ripple when you throw a rock into the water.

Makaela said it looked like an erupting volcano.

Many more experiments to come! Stay tuned.....

Time to be Awesome.

Awesome. It seems like a small word. It is a word that is overused in our society. However, the true meaning behind it has a lot of worth. This year, I want everything in my class to be AWESOME! From the pictures each student draws all the way to the crazy activities we do in first grade, everything should be Awesome. Here is where I get my inspiration from. Of course it was a kid......

Are you being Awesome to your friend? Do you think your work is Awesome? Are you having an Awesome attitude? Don't you think being a scientist in Miss Christie's class is Awesome? Doesn't it feel Awesome when you work hard and learned something new?

I am going to show this to my students in class. Show it to them at home too! When you see your child each day, ask them "What did you do that was Awesome today?"

"Life is too short not to be Awesome?"  - Kid President

New Blog for the New School Year

MEET THE TEACHER

Welcome to First grade! Welcome to Miss Christie's corner! I am so excited to start a new year with your child. This summer has been a great two months to reflect on what my drive will be this year. I finally found it! As kid president would say, "BE AWESOME." We will get more into that later.

To start off, my name is Stephanie Christie. This is my fifth year at Christie Elementary and my fourth year in first grade! I LOVE FIRST GRADE! I think I will be a first grade teacher for as long as I teach. You will see why as the year goes by. I graduated from UNT, Go Mean Green! Big News: I am getting married this year, November 7th, Future Mrs. Blake Adams. I have two AWESOME dogs: Mickey and Bailey. Of course I have to include them on this. Oh yea, and the gerbils! They stay at the school or else Bailey will try to have them for snack.

The best way to get ahold of me is through e-mail: stephanie.christie@pisd.edu. You can also call my direct line: 469-752-0853.

I hope you enjoy first grade as much as I do each year. First graders show such a high growth compared to many other grades. What? They have to learn how to read in one year? Yes! They can do it! We are on a new side of the building, with a new classroom. If you walk around the school, you will see updates: painted walls, new driveways, these crazy new double-desks. It's time for a fresh start! My advice: enjoy the chaos. First grade is busy and can be stressful, but the kids will have so much fun and some great memories.

Miss Christie's Favorites

Food: Tex-Mex

Books: Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, Gillian Flynn books

Color: Anything colorful and bright

Drink: Red Bull, DP, Starbucks

Store: Target, Barnes and Noble

Snack: Jalapeno Chex-Mex, beef jerky

Candy/chocolate: gummy bears, Almond Joy, Hanuta

Litter Bug Art

Welcome to Christie's Maker Space Camp. Recyclable trash has been collected for months so children can make whatever they want in Litter Bug Art. 

Here is a great creation by a kindergartener! Introducing Mr. Bug-E Bug. 

First graders love bugs!

18 Little Engineers and the School Dance

This week was the kick-off to the Engineering Expo! 

The students were presented a problem: When the parent volunteers bring ice pops to our End-of-Year party, what will you create to keep the ice pops from melting?

This is a student-based project, which means the students ask the questions and figure out the best solution. From first graders? Yes! First off, they have been engaged 100%. Getting them to think on their own has been like pulling teeth, but they are finally getting it! While trying to figure out what material can help keep the ice pops insulated, we have been talking about different temperatures.

I enjoyed integrating math into our lesson. We compared Fahrenheit to Celsius and discussed that both degrees are different units of measurement, like measuring with inch tiles and paper clips. We also discussed what degree it has to be to keep the ice pop from melting. Do you know? Ask your child.


I talked to a wonderful lady that works in the kitchen and she let us go into the walk-in fridge and freezer. The students fully understood what above freezing and below freezing felt like. Cold is not just cold! There was a big difference. While freezing their tooshies off, we compared what foods were in the freezer and fridge. We talked about why we put other foods besides ice cream in the freezer. We observed that the apple juice is still a liquid in the 40 degree cooled fridge. The students also observed what the fridge was built with and compared it to what materials they will use for their project.


Challenge your child: let them try to give you an example of why heat energy is important to our every day life.

SCHOOL NEWS!
***All children must be accompanied by an adult in order to attend the dance this Friday***

ChristieMark

Our last math unit was about financial literacy. We learned about how we save and spend money that we can earn from income. 

This is a new math standard for first grade. To make it more meaningful to a seven year old's everyday life, we created the first ChristieMark.

The students saved money for two weeks by doing their "job." Payment came from reading each night, bringing their binder each day, receiving their sticker, etc. 

Mrs. Armstrong had a great idea to have the students each write down how much it cost to buy all the goods they wanted, including their movie ticket and desired snacks. This gave each student a personal goal to reach. 

On Friday, we watched Big Hero 6 while each student had a chance to buy the snacks they could afford.

As a teacher, I enjoyed hearing "I only need two dollars until I reach my goal!" The students loved exchanging change for bills, but seemed super excited when they could get a half-dollar. Money is a hard concept to teach students. This kept them engaged the whole two weeks.

As a teacher, this was a time-consuming hassle! However, the outcome was worth it.

Engineering Expo

MARK YOUR CALENDERS for MAY 21st!
Introducing the first Engineering Expo at Christie Elementary...


In the next few weeks, we will be creating opportunities for students to transfer their understanding of content in a meaningful, authentic way. How?

Good question...off to the drawing board. 

Stay. Tuned.