1. Welcome Grade 1 Parents! Teacher Debbie & Teacher Iris

2. About Me My name is Debbie Casey. My family is Irish. I was born in Dalhousie, New Brunswick, Canada.

3. Teaching Experience I have been teaching science, social studies, math, phonics, reading, writing, and grammar in English for 8 years.

4. Grade 1 Phonics In grade 1 phonics becomes more difficult than in kindergarten. In grade 1 listening skills are critical! Students with excellent listening skills have better comprehension, spelling, speaking, and reading skills.

5. Reading Skills After this year students will be able to: –Speak and write full English sentences. –Recognize, read, and use vocabulary words at a grade 1 level equivalent to students in North America. –Read fluently at a first grade level equivalent to students in North America. When We Read: 1st Teacher reads – students listen & ask questions. Creates interest and builds early comprehension. 2nd Echo reading – students read after the teacher. Develops fluency and encourages intonation. 3rd Shared reading – students read together. Small groups are used to check accuracy and fluency.

6. Grade 1 Writing Students learn to write sentences!! Students learn to use capitalization, periods, commas, and spacing. Students should write slowly and properly! Students need this attention to detail, especially when they write Chinese.

7. Manners, Hygiene, and Safety Grade 1 is the best time to develop proper class manners. Students learn to get ready for class, sit properly, and focus on what the teacher is saying. Students are supervised while washing their hands to ensure they use soap. Also, alcohol spray is used before and after they play or eat. If a students hits another student, that student will accompany me throughout the day to ensure the other students are safe.

8. Books and Homework Korrnell’s policy is not to assign more than one hour of homework per night. (30 Teacher Debbie/30 min Teacher Debbie). I will choose when or if homework is needed and when it is sent home. Please check your child’s homework each night. Parents can ask their child to take books home at any time! If parents want books to go home every night they must: A. Be sure students don’t go ahead of schedule! B. Be sure all books are returned the next day!

9. Questions Who has questions??? Don’t be shy!!

10. Let’s have a wonderful year!! Thank you for your time! Have a safe drive home! Bye!