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.