Learning Today and Understanding the Past

Oh my word!! Can the weather be anymore perfect!?! I love it! :) These are the days you just want to spend a little extra time outside.

Things are also looking pretty good in our classroom. My firsties have been working very hard and are getting into the routine of being a 'big first grader'. I know I've had some pretty tired kiddos by the end of the day. It is a change from kindergarten to first grade. Even though they go to all day kindergarten, the expectations are a little higher and things start moving a little quicker, which can be a big change. It is neat to already see the growth we are making!

This year our Parents For Education group has decided that many of our activities will be based around science. To kick off the year and get the students excited, we had a egg drop. First grade was split into groups of four. They were then given the task of creating some kind of contraption that would save their raw egg when it was dropped off the bleachers! Holy cows....so much fun!!! The kids had an absolute blast. Here are some pictures of our EGGcellent contraption.

A big thanks to the PFE for this experience. This helped us work on our team work, helped us build communication to obtain a goal, and develop our problem solving skills. LOVE IT!!! :)

Today, also marks the 10th anniversary of 9/11. It is hard to believe that 10 years have gone by since that tragic day. Each year that goes by I look at my class list and my new babies birth dates. As I scroll down the list it amazes me that they were born after this event. For one, it makes me feel kind of old, but really it amazes me because most of them have no clue about this event that took place. For all of us, it was one of those days that stands out in our mind, and is a day that you will never forget. You can recall exactly where you were and what you were doing as you watched the events unfold.

On this day, I hope you take a moment to reflect on the events that occurred, and have the opportunity to thank someone that serves our community and helps keep us safe. In first grade, we very lightly talked about the event. We discussed that 10 years ago, some people made a very bad decision. They were being 'peacebrakers' (a word in which we refer to people that aren't making peace in our classroom), and were trying to hurt others. We talked about how planes were flown into buildings and many people were hurt and died on this day. We spent more time focusing on the brave people that went in to help others. How there are people out there that want to help others, even in scary situations, and were heroes on this day. 

To all of those people that this effected, we remember you today.  




~ Mrs. Christensen  

Empathy – Adaptability – Communication – Arranger – Developer

Growing Sky HIGH!!!

Hi Friends!

Boy was it hard to get up this morning after such a rainy, dreary start to our day. BUT...the great thing about working with kids is they will get you up and going quickly! :)

As promised, here is the latest picture of our grass!!! There is only 4 days of growth from the picture on the last post until this picture. My sweeties are LOVING seeing the fast growth each day. :)

More soon!


~ Mrs. Christensen  
Empathy – Adaptability – Communication – Arranger – Developer

Check Out What's 'Sprouting' In First Grade!

Science is quickly becoming one of our favorite parts of our week! My lil’ rockstars LOVED getting hands on with science in our first unit of study. (Who can blame them!)

This week we began studying about plants. We started the unit out by talking a little bit about what a lawn is. That led us into a conversation about what plants need in order to grow.

The kiddos then had a chance to get ‘down and dirty’. LITERALLY!

Each student received a small cup that had two holes at the bottom. After filling our container with soil, we planted both rye grass and alfalfa grass in our lil’ containers.

We then, of course, were sure to water our seeds because we know that plants have to have water to grow!

Our plants are now sitting in our ‘Arlington Elementary Greenhouse’ (a green light in our Spanish room) where they are growing. Each day we have been checking in the progress of our grass to see what is happening.

We have also done some reading in our science book about what plants need to live.

Later in the week we had the opportunity to grow another type of plant. The firsties are also growing wheat. We rolled a piece of extra absorbent paper towel into a straw and now the straw is housing a wheat seed! All of our seeds are growing in the straws where we will be tracking their growth and change and comparing them to our grasses that we planted.

And, oh my word friends, since I took the pictures on Friday of the plants - you should see how tall our grasses are! They aren't kidding when they say they grow like a weed! Ha! Sadly, my battery died on my camera, so I wasn't able to snap a picture of our plants today. I will be sure to get one tomorrow though and post asap!

We will keep you up to date on the success of our lil' plants!

'Till next time!

~ Mrs. Christensen  
Empathy – Adaptability – Communication – Arranger – Developer

~!* Tour Our Classroom *!~

As I set up the classroom each year, I try to make it an atmosphere that will be fun and inviting, yet conducive for learning. I want my firsties to be excited to come to school each day and feel that it is a safe place where they can be. I like to incorporate bright colors and set the room up so that many of the things we use each day are within the students reach. Throughout the year I teach the kiddos how to become independent learners and like for them to be able to access resources we use. I also teach them how to use all of the bulletin boards in our room as resources for learning.

This is one of the places where we do learning in our classroom. We will often come to the floor and sit as a whole group to listen to a story, learn about what writers do during Writer’s Workshop, or even discuss math topics together. This space is set up so that we have a large enough space for us all to sit together, and I have all the things that I might need to teach Writer’s Workshop right at my fingertips! I just love when we are all sitting together!

These are a few of our important bulletin boards that we use. They have rules and reminders on them of lessons that we learn. New information will continue to go up on them and sometimes changes as the year progresses!

This is our calendar. We use this at the beginning of the day to talk about the date, and day of the week, and we often use it again during math time.

Throughout the course of the year, your firstie will have lots of opportunities to use the computer. We do a variety of different educational programs that reinforce concepts being learned in class. I love that we have computers in our room! How lucky are we!?! J

This is my kidney table that I use to work with small groups. This provides me the perfect opportunity to invite students back to work on certain skills that I want to reinforce with them. I LOVE this table because it allows me to get to the kiddos easily and spaces them out nicely to work. I also have many of my teaching materials set up around me so that it is within easy reach as I need it.

This is our classroom library. Students have the opportunity to check out books in our classroom library as they need them. They have learned how to do this, and how to pick out what we call ‘Good Fit Books’.

Each student has their own cubby. This is where they keep their ‘Good Fit Books’. They also store their Fluency Binders and Writer’s Workshop Binders here! These cubbies help keep us organized so each student can easily find their belongings! (I LOVE ORGANIZATION … I really try to teach my firsties the importance of organization and how it makes things easier!)

I hope you enjoyed our little tour!

More soon ~

~ Mrs. Christensen  
Empathy – Adaptability – Communication – Arranger – Developer

Learning the Ropes of First Grade~

School is officially back in session and day one is in the books! It was truly a great day! Smiling and excited kids showed up ready to learn! I love it!

It is so much fun seeing the kiddos interact with each other and starting to learn the new routines of a new school year.

We have a great class this year and there is going to be so many great things happening.

I thought I would share with all of you just one of the important things we did on the first day of class! As I am sure you all remember from your first days of school, it isn’t complete without talking about rules and routines. While it can be a boring and mundane thing to talk about, it truly is important. Rules and routines set the tone for the whole school year. I like to take the time to be sure that my firsties truly understand the importance and reasoning behind what we do and why we do it. (and I try to make it a somewhat fun experience for them in the process! )

We only have 4 rules in our classroom.

This poster is proudly displayed in the front of the classroom. It is important that the kids can always see the rules, so there is never a question as to what is expected of them.

We then spent time talking about what these rules look like. The kiddos gave me examples of how they can show these. We wrote them down so the kids will always be able to refer back to them as to what they mean. Here are just a few of the ideas that popped up in our conversation:

We also have a classroom pledge! This pledge is said each day after the Pledge of Allegiance. I believe this is truly important for the kids to say so they are remembering what their job is here at Arlington Elementary! As we are just learning our new pledge, I say a line and then the firsties repeat it, but as the year goes on we learn to say it together. J (They become quite good at it in fact!)

We then signed our names on either a flag or a star (they had the choice!) to make our promise to follow these rules each day! The flags and stars are now proudly displayed on our bulletin board.

Over the next week, we will be reviewing and creating social classroom books that the students will be able to read all year long to remind them what it looks like to be a respectful, responsible, safe, learner in first grade!

Stay tuned for more of our first (full) weeks happenings in upcoming days!

Take care!

~ Mrs. Christensen  
Empathy – Adaptability – Communication – Arranger – Developer

Starting With A Clean Slate!

Hi Friends!

It is hard to believe, but a new school year is quickly approaching! In just a week, we will be gathering together to start a new beginning and I can't wait!

Crazy me has been busy working away in the classroom (which for those of you that know me, I LOVE to do!), so the classroom is basically ready to go. Over the past few weeks I've been up there, something very excited has been happening in our hallways!

We have a BEAUTIFUL new mural in our entryway! I'm thrilled with it! For those of you that know the school, we were blessed enough to get a renovation done to our school a few years back. With renovations come white walls inevitably. Well, I'm excited to report that our AMAZING 'PFE' (Parents For Education) helped us turn these walls into a beautiful, welcoming work of art. Each time I pass by the office area, I truly can't help but smile. Here is a little sneak peek!

Enjoy friends!

~ Mrs. Christensen  
Empathy – Adaptability – Communication – Arranger – Developer

Where is summer going!?!?!?

Hi Friends!

Wow! It has been a while since I’ve posted. It has been a BUSY summer for the Christensen family. My hubby started a new job this summer, so we’ve been trying to get adjusted to the new schedule. I taught Summer Skills at school, and have been tutoring a few kids, so I too have been busy! I hosted a baby shower at the house, which meant that I did a few ‘extra’ home improvements (or keep-ups) that needed to be done. It is nice to have parties at your house like this every so often because it forces you to clean! J We also managed to make it down to a College World Series game. What a blast! It was sad to see the old stadium go, but AmeriTrade is a beautiful stadium, and it is neat to see so many new traditions being made.

And this weekend we’ve been busy with family in from out of town to celebrate my wonderful grandmothers 95^th birthday! What a wonderful woman she is! I can only hope that I live to be that age, and am still able to get along like she does! I feel so blessed to still have her in my life! J

I must admit thought that I think I might be slightly addicted to my job. Somehow, I manage to find something ‘schoolish’ to work on ALMOST every day. I have found that I can’t just sit on the couch. I have to be doing something as I sit on the couch. (I know, I sometimes think I am a little crazy too! J) But, because of this, I have got a lot accomplished off of my ‘To-Do’ list that I made for myself for the upcoming school year!

One goal that I’ve had for myself though that I am yet to accomplish is trying to figure out darn Google Docs. I’m sure it is probably more ‘operator error’ than anything, but I’m struggling with it! A bunch of the amazing blogs that I follow, they are all able to post documents they’ve made with their cute fonts and borders. Me? Nope. Can’t figure it out. Every time I try it won’t let me put anything up and reformats everything I’ve done. Needless to say, I’m starting to get slightly frustrated with it. If anyone knows anything about Google Docs and can walk me through the process, or would be willing to show me I would be SUPER appreciative!

I hope that you all are having a wonderful, safe summer! I can't wait to see everyone again in a few short weeks. Be sure to enjoy the time you have left of summer! Don't forget to keep working on all the skills you worked so hard on in first grade.

More soon!

~ Mrs. Christensen  
Empathy – Adaptability – Communication – Arranger – Developer

Summer is here!

Hi Friends!

Yay! It is officially summer! Or at least for our school it is! The weather is absolutely PERFECT today, and I must say that I am taking full advantage of it. J I planted some flowers in the yard, did a little yard work, and went for a run. My sweet puppies are even enjoying the beautiful weather. This is my little darling Kash.

I decided to give him a haircut today, which was slightly unsuccessful. It looks more like the lawn mower got him, but the good news is he has ‘shaggy’, crazy hair by nature, so it doesn’t look to bad. Ha! Poor baby! Oh well, it’ll grow. J

Even though summer is here I have been playing around with school stuff. I know, I know. It is summer and I’m supposed to not be thinking about school stuff for a bit, but I honestly love working on crafty things. This was something fun and crafty that I’ve wanted to do for a while, so when I saw fabric on sale, well… I couldn’t help myself! This is also a fun idea that you could do with your kiddo at home as a fun craft that can possibly spur them to do some summer ‘practice’. The other great part is…it is pretty cheap to make!

All you need is a clipboard ($1.88 at Walmart), and then 1/4^th yard of some cute fabric. I used a patterned fabric and a solid color fabric. Cut the fabric into strips. Then all you need to do is tie the fabric in knots around the top part of the clipboard, alternating the patterned fabric and then solid fabric. I then took a permanent marker and wrote inspirations quotes on the board. They are super fun and cute!

I hope that you’re enjoying your time off and taking advantage of the weather.
Take care!
~ Mrs. Christensen  
Empathy – Adaptability – Communication – Arranger – Developer

Baby Chicks!

Hi Friends!

First of all, I want to apologize to all my kiddos who tried to look last night at the pictures. I promised you that I would post them, and when I went to do it -technology wasn’t wanting to cooperate. The website was down for posting last night. L

But…
Great news! We have chicks! The kids are so excited! Sadly, our little eggs didn’t end up hatching. When I came into the classroom this morning, we still didn’t have any cracks. I decided to email the guy that brought them to us from the extension office, and he informed me that he would bring out some chicks to us!

Our baby chicks came with names: Chicky and Lucky. After playing around with them today though, a few of the kids decided they liked the name ‘Happy Feet’ for one of them instead. He was doing this funny little kick causing the wood chips to fly around. It was very cute! J

When the gentleman from the extension office came out, he did end up cracking the eggs to peek inside. He said that the chick was fully developed inside all 3 of the eggs, so he wasn’t sure what caused them to die. L This gave us a good opportunity to talk about how not all things live in nature, and while it is sad, this is sometimes how nature works. The kids weren’t to down though because we had talkative chicks chirping in the background!

We had them through the day tomorrow, and now they're on their way to a new happy home as a 4H project for a family! J

I’m also including a few pictures that some of the firsties drew of the chicks! Super cute! Check out the detail! Love it!

Thanks for checking in on our day!
Have a GREAT weekend!!!

~ Mrs. Christensen  
Empathy – Adaptability – Communication – Arranger – Developer

It’s in the small stuff…

Hi Friends!

We are in our LAST full week of school of the year! I can’t believe it. This time of year we are doing all kinds of odds and ends. I think it might be safe to say that the kids are starting to ‘check out’. Ha! It is getting harder and harder each day to keep their attention. Do you ever feel like the microphone just isn’t on, and you wonder if anyone can hear you? Yep, starting to get that way!

I had to share something sweet that a few of my girlies did for me today! I’m sure if you have ever had kids of your own, or worked with kids before you have got the ‘beautiful’, yellow flowers that grow in the grass this time of year. Yes, I’m talking about dandelions! Well today, I didn’t just get a small bouquet; I got a whole mountain of beautiful flowers! A few of my kids pointed out that they are just weeds, and who would want weeds? They are right. They are weeds. And while they will die in a few short hours, I have to admit that it is really sweet and I do love getting them. As I reminded my darlings today, they might be a weed, but it is the thought that counts. I think that is a lesson that we can all remember, as I reflected on my own words today. It is the thought that counts. It is the small things that you do for others that make the biggest difference. Hopefully, this picture of my BEAUTIFUL flowers will help us all remember to remember it’s in the small things!

Speaking of ‘small stuff’, in other news, our baby chicks should HOPEFULLY be hatching any time now. In fact, I’m starting to get a little nervous because they haven’t arrived yet. This year, we were lucky enough to get the new and improved incubators that are on the market.

The incubation process, for all of those that didn’t know like me, is 21 days. We’ve had these little guys since the beginning, and with our new fancy incubator, have been able to watch the whole process. We even had a microscope that attached to the top where we could watch the changes that take place.
Well, it is now day 22… and still no chicks. YIKES…
I have to tell you, I’m really hoping to come in to the classroom tomorrow and see baby chicks! I’m hoping that at least one decides to come out. :S

I will keep you posted as to what happens with the little chickies!

I hope that everyone is having a good week!
Take care,

~ Mrs. Christensen  
Empathy – Adaptability – Communication – Arranger – Developer

Happy mother’s day and a Hawaiian luau!

Hi Friends!

What a week! We have been busy, busy, busy!!!

First off, Happy Mother’s Day to ALL the wonderful mama’s! I hope that each and every one of you have found time to spend time with your babies today and spend time with your own mom. I feel very blessed because in a little bit my mom and family will be coming over for supper! I feel so lucky to have such an amazing mother. She has been patient, loving, and caring. She offers advice, but knows when to listen. I truly believe that being a mother is one of the toughest jobs out there, but I hope that each and every mother knows that they are appreciated and loved for everything they do!

For Mother’s Day, we spent some time reflecting on our own moms this week in class. Since we are ‘authors’, we decided that it would be a great present to share a special memory of our moms that we have. The kiddos each wrote a small moment story about them and mom, and then illustrated their books. We then published it by creating our very own moms and posting the story in the middle! Check out our ADORABLE Mother’s Day presents below. I do have to say that they turned out pretty cute! J

Another exciting event that took place this week was our ‘Poetry Luau’. What a fun day it was! All the kiddos were each assigned a poem. Over the past several weeks, we’ve spent time practicing our poems and talking about the importance of fluency when we read aloud. Students practiced their poem both at home and at school.

Here are a few of the poems that we read at our luau:

If School Were More Like Baseball

If school were more like baseball

we'd only have to play.

We'd hang out in the sunshine

and run around all day.

We wouldn't have to study.

We'd practice and we'd train.

And, best of all, they'd cancel

whenever there was rain.

--Kenn Nesbitt

Dirty Socks

My socks were very dirty,

So I washed them in the lake.

It wasn't long before I knew

I'd made a big mistake.

The water changed from clear to mud.

Then fumes began to rise.

And soon a cloud of air pollution

Covered up the skies.

When bullfrogs started croaking

And ducks began to quack,

Some campers started chanting,

"We want our clean lake back."

I've got a pile of dirty socks.

I'm in an awful bind.

I guess I'll have to bury them.

I hope the worms don't mind.

�Bruce Lansky

After much anticipation, FINALLY, the big day had arrived for our ‘Poetry Luau’! The kids looked awesome, as well as our classroom! We had a tropical paradise! The firsties had on Hawaiian clothes, lei’s, grass skirts, sunglasses, flip-flops (pretty much if it was Hawaiian attire - we had it!

We had an AMAZING turnout! Both first grade classes read, which means we had parents from both rooms in one. We also invited a bunch of our community volunteers to come listen. The kiddos knocked it out of the park, and did a fabulous job. All their poems were cute, funny poems, so the audience got a good chuckle out of them, which the kids enjoyed.

Afterwards, we had some watermelon, pineapple, and lemonade to celebrate!
Overall, it was a great day!

~ Mrs. Christensen  

Empathy – Adaptability – Communication – Arranger – Developer

J ). The kiddos also brought along beach towels. They were so excited they could barely contain themselves!