Homework week of 2/22/2016

Here is a copy of this week's homework if you've misplaced your copy.  Due Friday!

Homework Week of 2/22

Thanksgiving Break

Have a happy time with your families over Thanksgiving break!  We will see you back at school on Nov. 30.

In the meantime, if you're looking for a way to enhance your child's time at home academically, here are some great websites to practice reading and math:

www.starfall.com
www.abcya.com
www.spellingcity.com
www.coolmath4kids.com

Welcome back from Fall Break!

First grade is in full swing as we settle back in from Fall Break.  I hope everyone enjoyed a restful time with family and friends.  Report cards will be sent home at the end of this week and parent-teacher conferences will be scheduled soon.  These will be taking place in early November. 

Busy in First Grade!

Maurice makes a number using 10s and 1s.

Wildcat groups are math groups that meet daily for the last 30 minutes of the day. We work on targeted, hands on math instruction during this time.

Tevin and Quordell have fun on the playground.

Reading with a partner is a favorite part of our day.

We have been having so much fun in first grade!  The kids are learning a lot and having fun together too.  Here are some pictures from our first month together.

Homework Week of 8/17

Here's a link to this week's homework:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m9COdtDmKxBS90spelWP5K2t7DZrqeoupARj_CBL1qo/edit

Welcome!

Welcome to the 2015-16 school year in first grade!  I'm pleased to welcome you to Mrs. Guinn's room at Fairview Elementary School.  Please check here regularly for photos, information about the skills we are working on, reminders, and much more!  I will be updating the website weekly, at least.

The best ways to get in touch with me are:

My school phone:  812-330-7732 ext 50045

My school email:  aguinn@mccsc.edu

or, a note in your child's folder.

***Please note, if you call or email during the school day, it may be up to 24 hours to get a reply to you.  If you have an urgent matter, such as a change in your child's transportation home, please call the school office and they will relay the message to me.

***Equally important, children must follow their regular dismissal plans unless I have received written notification from you or a phone call from the office indicating that you have contacted them to change dismissal plans.  Simply telling your child to take a different bus will not be acceptable.

Graphing

We are working on making and interpreting graphs in class this last quarter.  Today we collected data about our favorite school lunch!

Water colors

Fruits and Veggies

Our school earned a fruits and veggie grant.  This means that each class and Fairview gets a tray of a fruit or veggie to eat every afternoon.  We do this in combination with our usual snack that is contributed by our generous families.  We've had carrots, broccoli, apples, pineapple, and today many of us tried jicama (also known as yam bean) for the first time today.  Here is a picture of Jay, Charloe, and Makaila trying Jicama for the first time.  

Being an Artist

We are wrapping up a unit where we studied books written by the wonderful children's author, Ezra Jack Keats.  Keats also illustrates his books, mostly using cut paper layered into a collage.  In celebration of the end of our unit, the children designed a "Snowy Day" collage of their own!  

Gingerbread House

Everyone be safe and stay warm!  Today is a snow day!

Here's a picture of our classroom door and story map we have been working on this week.

Gingerbread Science

We noticed a pattern in some of the traditional Gingerbread stories this week.  The gingerbread man was warned by the fox to be careful not to fall in the river or he might "crumble to pieces".  So, we wondered, is the fox just being sly and lying or does would the G.B. really crumble in the water?  

Our experiment:  Predict.  Then, submerge a gingerbread man under the water. Observe.  Reflect on what we learned.

Ask your child what happened!  It made for an exciting afternoon!

Run! Run! As fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!

This week we kicked off our gingerbread man unit!  We'll study traditional and modern versions of this fun folktale.  We will be comparing the many versions of the gingerbread man story using a story map to ensure our comprehension of the stories.  

Today, we created our gingerbread boys and girls!  These cuties will be decorating our hallway very soon!

Hat Day

Spirit Week!

Next week (Nov. 18 - 22) is spirit week at Fairview!  

Monday- crazy sock day

Tuesday- hat day

Wednesday- favorite sport team day

Thursday- twin day

Friday- pajama day

Artful Learning

Last week we began our first Artful Learning Unit focused around Hoagy Charmichael's song Lazy River.  You can listen to the song here:  http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T7yCYXfTA3g. 

The first graders will study the concept of relationships as we continue through the inquiry centers in this unit.  

We will ask ourselves how our relationships with others and the world around us affect us. 

Today Mr. Grimme, our music teacher, visited our class and Ms. Parmenter's class came too. Mr. Grimme taught

us about beat and rhythm and why Hoagy's song is considered a jazz song.  Then, he played other versions of 

Lazy River by other famous artists like B.B. King and Michael Buble.  The first graders realized that the words 

were the same, but each song sounded a little different!  

Happy Halloween!

VIPs. 11/1/13

Halloween pictures coming soon!  (Mrs. Guinn's house lost power during the storm, so no photos were uploaded ....hopefully tonight!)

Usually we have 2 or 3 VIPs from our class each week.  However, this week we had SIX!  What a fantastic crew of kids!  Mrs, Guinn picked 2 VIPs, 3 specials teachers picked VIPs from our room, and a math teacher picked someone from our class too!  Take a look!

Reading Stamina

We have been working on our "reading stamina" during our reading block each morning for several months.  The children read "good fit books" - books that can be read by them, independently, with only a few errors.  Today, my reading group read for 17 minutes independently!  We are getting close to our 20 minute goal!   The children also work on writing, work with words, practice their fluency, work on vocabulary, listen to reading, work on reading comprehension, and much, much more during 105 minute reading block each morning!!

look!

"Look!  It's snowing!"  ....and a stampede to the window.