Curriculum night Welcome Parents! We have been working hard to create an exciting learning adventure in First Grade. This booklet contains general information, classroom expectations and a curriculum overview specific to our class. We look forward to working with you to make this a successful year for everyone!   Sincerely, The First Grade Teachers

We will talk about: Something about me Great Expectations and Core Values Curriculum Map Classroom Schedule Classroom rules Discipline and Consequences Homework Policies Field Trip

Something about me: My name is Suiru Shi, also known as Shi Laoshi. I am from Henan province, China. My family is quite involved in education, as my father was a High School Master and two of my siblings have been teachers, too. I have been working as a language teacher for more than 30 years. I finished my Bachelor degree in English and Chinese Language teaching in China. I taught English in China before I came to America. After I came to USA in 2006, I started to teach Chinese in different schools. I started to work in Yinghua since 2011. I was very impressed with Yinghua Academy’s program.   It’s my pleasure to teach your children this year as I’ve heard so many good things about this class. I believe that you, your child, and I will have a good time with one another this year. As your child’s teacher, my main concern is to ensure that he/she is equipped with the skills necessary for achieving academic and social success. Therefore, I will help them to develop a sense of motivation, peer cooperation, study skills and social skills (both at school and in their daily life) as well as to find out their talents/interests. I believe that the above is also one of this year’s academic goals. I would like to thank you in advance for your assistance and support for the following school year. I expect it to be an exciting, interesting, fun and happy learning year for everyone involved.    

Great Expectations: Always try. Do your best. Cooperate and help others. Respect people and property. Manage yourself.

Core Values: Safety. Speak Chinese. Learn. Happiness. Global Citizen.

2013-2014 First Grade Curriculum Map

Classroom Schedule

Classroom Rules: We have our own classroom rules beside the Great Expectations and 5 Core Values. Students are learning to recite them every day. The rules are: Be on time. Be responsible. Be organized and tidy up your desk. Be nice/respectful to each other. Be on task in class. Raise your hand before talking in class. Hand in your homework on time.

Discipline & Consequences: At Yinghua Academy we use the Responsive Classroom approach to discipline. It is a proactive, logical management plan. During the morning, we use 4 steps (greetings, sharing, activities, and morning message) to create a happy learning community. Students learn to make friends with each other, enjoy learning, help others learn, and follow the instruction during the morning meeting. When students are engaged in their work, there are usually few behavior problems, however, if a problem occurs, I may use one or more of the following consequences, depending on the situation: *Verbal reminder *Time out in classroom *Time out in buddy classroom *Student-teacher conference *Parent contact

Homework Policies: 1st graders will learn to collect all the worksheets in the “Homework” folder. They also have “Teacher/Parent Communication” folder for the homework check chart and other information/letters from the school or the teacher. They will bring all these folders home every day. Please check their finished and not-finished homework and have your signature on the homework check chart every night. It is recommended to sign on each worksheet or exercise book. 1st graders are asked to write neatly. Please remind your child to do so. 1st graders are asked to make correction when they make mistakes on their class work or homework. Please remind them to check and correct the mistakes they have made on the worksheets or workbooks. Homework will be marked by using 1) 3 star grades — three stars☆☆☆ (no mistakes), two stars ☆☆(minor mistakes), and one star ☆(too many mistakes); and 2) numerical system—from 0~100.

Field Trip This year we plan to have 3 field trips. One is Sea Life in Mall of America (may be in October); one is Children’s Theater in January or February; and one is MIA or Science Museum in May. All field trip will related first grade CLA, Social studies &Science. More information will be send it home later.

Contact me by: Suiru.shi@yinghuaacademy.org Xie Xie!