1st Grade
Reading Strategies
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Helpful Reading Strategies to Use at Home
Throughout the year, we will be working together to encourage your children to grow and learn. Here are some useful reading strategeies to use at home when reading with your child. These are the same strategies we will be using daily at school. Please refer to them when your child is stuck on a word.
To Help Myself Read I Can:
1. Check The Picture. (Sometimes the word is something they can see in the picture.)
2. Get My Mouth Ready. (Child should shape mouth for beginning letter.)
3. Go Back And Read It Again. (Start back from the beginning of the sentence.)
4. If child says the wrong word while reading ask:
Does it sound right?
Does it look right?
Does it make sense?
5. Find Chunks I Know. (Examples include finding AT in the word MAT, IT in the word SIT, and finding AND in the word SAND.)
Homework
Homework Policy:
Homework is meant to be an extension of what we do in the classroom. In first grade, the purpose of homework is to help students develop organizational skills, learn responsibility, and reinforce skills learned in school. It is also a time to involve parents in the educational process. Homework is time well spent on important skills, rather than "busy work!"
First graders are expected to spend time each night practicing their reading and sight words On Monday, there will be a homework sheet with the sight words that need to be studied and a weekly calendar. Attached to it will be a reading passage and comprehension questions. The packets are due back the following Monday.
Schedules
Information
On the Full day Fridays we will follow the M-Th Schedule.
We have 6 half days-School Released at 11:50. Half day schedules vary.
The following are half days:
October 17th and 18th - Parent/Teacher Conferences
December 20th - Final day before Winter Break
February 13th and 14th - Parent/Teacher Conferences
May 22nd - Last day of school
Full Days (M-TH)
Early Release Fridays
Specials
Meet the First Grade Team
Mrs. Abraham
I have been teaching at Copper Creek since 2003. My first 10 years were in second grade. I am currently teaching first grade. I am so excited about starting the school year. I have been married to my husband, Roger, for 25 years. We have 3 adult children and 5 grandchildren.
I received my Bachelor's degree from ASU West in 1999 and my Master's Degree from NAU in 2008. I am excited about watching my students grow into successful readers, writers and mathematicians, along with becoming lifelong learners.
I chose to have my two younger children attend Copper Creek from K-6th grade.
Ms. Berk
I am honored to be your child's first grade teacher. This will be my seventh year teaching at Copper Creek, and my 18th year teaching in the Deer Valley School District. I am thrilled to be returning this year to continue working with such wonderful students, families, and educators. I have two children of my own. My daughter Alexandra will be a senior this year at ASU. My son Ethan just graduated from high school this last year and is hopefully ready for his first year of college. :) I look forward to working with each and every one of you this year, to create a community where learners set personal goals to reach their full potential. I am truly fortunate to enjoy my profession. In my time away from school, I enjoy photography, reading, and crocheting.
Ms. Lippert
I am a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with my degree in Elementary Education in 1986. I have lived in Arizona since 1992, so this has been my home for decades. This is my 18th year of being a classroom teacher. I began my teaching career in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1987 teaching Kindergarten there for five years. A job transfer brought me to Phoenix in 1992. My career in the Deer Valley School district began then. This is my 13th year teaching first grade. I am thrilled to be a part of the Copper Creek Community. I have a 30-year-old son who graduated from ASU and is working as an Industrial Designer in Rhode Island. I am a Green Bay Packer fan and an Arizona Cardinals fan (if they are not playing the Packers). I'm a Coyotes fan too. I like to hike and you can often find me at Thunderbird Park. I like to spend time kayaking when a can. I enjoy traveling whenever I can. Most importantly, teaching is my passion and bringing out the best in each child.