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.....