August 24 - 28

This week we introduced math and reading centers. The students are doing a good job learning how to work in a small group and stay on task for up to 20 minutes. Math centers included exploring the 100 pocket chart, playing two math partner games, counting objects and recording the totals, and coloring in sets of 10 on a 100 grid. Reading centers included making words and names with magnetic letters, writing words we find around the room, matching pictures of classmates with their names, making an alphabet book, and reading classroom books on the carpet.

We are also working on becoming independent writers who write down the sounds we hear in words and who can show a story in words and pictures. We have used ThinkBlocks to practice telling and listening to the different parts of our stories. Many students have been enjoying going to the library before school starts to enjoy browsing and checking out new books.

We have started sending homework folders and agenda notebooks home this week. Please take a moment to look in both the folder and the notebook each night and remind your child to bring them back to school each day. In addition to any math worksheet or note in their homework folder, students are expected to talk about their day at school and read for at least 20 minutes with someone at home.

We are very sad to say good-bye to two special friends this week who will be going to new schools for the rest of first grade! We wish them luck and hope they will stay in touch.

 

From ATES 2009-2010

Back to School!

We have been very busy these past few weeks of school. We have been learning each others' names, the classroom and school rules, and how to take care of each other and the materials in our room.

We are working on reading by ourselves using the pictures in the book, the words or letters we know, and our memory or imagination to fill in the story.

We are also working on reading and writing numbers, finding patterns in numbers, counting groups of objects accurately, and putting numbers in order.

Here are some of the tools in our classroom that we have been exploring:

  

We have used ThinkBlocks  to discuss what makes us happy and doesn't make us happy, what helps us learn and doesn't help us learn, and the parts of an apology (I'm sorry for ______.  Are you OK?).  We have also used them to retell the parts of a story and to represent the sounds we hear in words.

 

We have played math games with dice and counters to practice writing and counting numbers to 20.  These games have helped us learn about taking turns, communicating with and helping a partner.

 

We have been using magnetic letters and alphabet books to learn about the sounds letters make in each others' names and to make our own alphabet chart for the classroom.  We also learned a motion for each letter (more pictures and video of that coming soon).

  

 We have been learning how to speak in front of the class and how to listen to each other.

 

Enjoy this slideshow featuring more pictures from the past few weeks.  I will try to update this each week with more detailed information about what we have been learning.  Thank you for your patience!

End of the year accomplishments

We have had a wonderful year together.  I have really enjoyed getting to coach, encourage, and guide your children as they made step-by-step progress throughout the year.


Below is a list of improvements I have seen. It is not meant to include everything; it just highlights the dynamic, complicated, and diverse nature of life in the classroom.


The students can now:
• Write longer stories
• Show their classmates they are listening
• Slow down to complete work more thoroughly
• Use a variety of reading strategies
• Offer and ask for help politely
• Read independently for an extended time period
• Explain problem solving strategies to a classmate
• Make eye contact when greeting someone
• Apologize for mistakes
• Stay focused on an activity
• Be more patient
• Work with anyone in the class
• Feel comfortable speaking in front of a group
• Include more details when telling a story
• Use technology to share ideas and practice skills
• Communicate feelings and resolve conflicts with peers
• Demonstrate what we know to different audiences
• Follow directions the first time they are given
• Make a choice and stick with it


Thank you for all of your support and reinforcement of these skills and many more. It has been an honor to be your partner in your children’s education.


Have a wonderful summer and stay in touch. I’ll be visiting Ithaca in mid-December, if not sooner!


Love,
Ms. Provan

June 15 - 19

Next Wednesday (June 24) is our last day of school!  We will be at Stewart Park from about 10:00 - 12:15 that day.  All family members are invited to join us there.  If you want your child to play in the sprinklers at the park, please send him/her to school wearing a swimsuit under his/her clothes and pack some underwear for him/her to change into afterwards.  Please apply sunscreen at home and pack a towel, too.  Keep your fingers crossed for sunny weather!


All report cards were sent home on Monday in a 4x6 brown envelope.  Let me know if you did not receive your child's report card and if you have any questions or concerns.


This week we took a tour of the big school and saw an imovie all about what reading is like in second grade made by Ms. Thompson's second grade class.  We learned that in second grade you spend a lot of time learning how to pick books that are not too hard and not too easy.  We also saw that they study many of the same reading strategies that we have learned this year.  The video is not online yet but here is the video (in two parts) that they made last year:







We got to ask the second graders a lot of questions like what lunch is like in the gym with all the second and third grade classes in there, what choice time is like, what they are studying in math, and how much homework you get.  We learned that many things are the same between first and second grade, and that the second grade teachers will spend a lot of time explaining the parts that are different.  One of the most exciting parts was learning about making the morning announcements from the office.  Many students expressed interest doing that next year.


We have been working on writing and illustrating our First Grade Memory Books that should be ready to take home on Monday or Tuesday.  We have also been playing a lot of math and literacy games in small groups and on the Smartboard, practicing our best handwriting, reading science books and answering questions about the information we read, and reviewing our word wall words.

Thank you so much for the amazing good-bye party and gifts on Thursday!  I was really touched to see and hear from so many families.  I have really loved working with each and every one of you and your children this year.  You are making it very hard for me to leave....  I plan to keep this website up next year so you can continue to use these links and view the pictures in older posts.  Please keep in touch: alisonprovan @ gmail.com

Next week I'll post a list of accomplishments we have achieved this year and

some ideas about summer enrichment activities.  

June 8 - 12

We had a busy week between end of the year assessments and two field trips!

On Wednesday we went to Taughannock Falls State Park with our Kids Discover the Trail partner class from Northeast Elementary School. Thanks to all the family members who volunteered at the park that day! We hiked the trail to the falls, noting many caterpillars and even a snake. We had lunch by the lake and then played on the playground and enjoyed bubbles and fruit.

On Thursday we went with the Pre-K, K and first grade classes to the Hangar Theater to see their production of Really Rosie.  There were many other elementary classes there and we even saw our buddies from NE!  We got to see some of the backstage area as we exited the theater and we got to meet some of the characters outside after the show.  The students were a very polite audience and they really enjoyed it.

 

In math we continued to study place value, story problems with coins, and adding double digit numbers (without carrying).  In writing we worked on more pages for our book about first grade, including a map of the playground.  In reading we practiced picking books that are just right (not too easy or too hard), building our stamina to read independently for 15-20 minutes, and reading a nonfiction (science) text for information.  We also got in some handwriting practice and played a variety of educational games (linked to the right) on the Smartboard.

We introduced the new sight words of the week: day, zoo, how, sister, favorite

Please look around your house for any Belle Sherman Library books and send them back to school. 

Next week we will take a tour of the big school and get to learn more about second grade.  Ms. Thompson's class will also show us a project they made using iMovie in exchange for teaching them about Voicethread. 

Please remember that Wednesday, June 24th is the last day of school. We will go to Stewart Park for most of the day and all family members are invited to join us. 

Students will have the option of playing in the fountains at Stewart Park.  Please pack/bring a bathing suit, towel and sunscreen for your child if you'd like them to play in the fountains that day.