Email: lisa.tsau@dvusd.org

Mrs. Lisa Tsau

Background     

My name is Lisa Tsau and I will be your child's first grade teacher.  I graduated from the University of Arizona  earning a Bachelor of Science in Education with a major in Special Education and Rehabilitation.  I then attended California State University Northridge earning a Professional Multiple Subject Teaching Credential.  I have taught first grade for 11 years in DVUSD and have previously taught kindergarten, 4th, and 5th grades.  

My Philosophy

I believe that each child is a unique individual who needs a secure, caring, and stimulating atmosphere in which to grow and mature emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially. It is my desire as an educator to help students meet their fullest potential in these areas by providing an environment that is safe, supports risk-taking, and invites a sharing of ideas.

  My Family

 I am the mother to three beautiful and active boys: Ryan 20, Nicholas 18, and Owen 15. My husband, John, and I have been married for 25 years! We have been in Anthem for the last 17 years and love everything about it.  Our evenings and weekends are filled with baseball, football, and spending time with friends and family. 

I am very excited to be your child's first grade teacher.  I feel truly lucky to be part of such a great school and community. I look forward to meeting you and your child. 

 

Daily Schedule 

Tsau Homeroom: Blue Class

8:15-9:45  Reading                                             

9:45-10:20 Writing/ Social Studies                        

10:25  Switch

Yan Homeroom: Green Class

10:25-11:05 Writing/ Social Studies

11:05-11:10 Reading 

11:10-11:55 Lunch/Recess                                                

11:55-1:20 Reading                                                            

1:20-2:13 Specials

2:13-2:30 PM Recess/Snack

2:30-2:55  RTI

3:00 Dismissal

First Grade 2024-2025

Please label all Folders, Notebooks, Binders, and Pencil Boxes with black permanent marker in the upper right hand corner.  Please unpackage the headphones and place in a large baggy with your child’s name on the outside. Please pack your child’s pencil boxes with his/her crayons, markers, scissors, I expo marker, I eraser, and one glue stick.  All extra supplies will be collected and used throughout the school year.  Thank you!!

 

•     8 black EXPO-brand white board markers

•     4 Pink gum erasers

•      2 boxes 8-12 markers

•     2 boxes 12 or 24-count crayons

•     2  Pencil boxes regular sized- Needs to store all of their supplies.

•     12 Glue sticks

•     2 Scissors

•     1 Red 3-prong, plastic folder

•     1 Blue 3-prong, plastic folder

•     1 Green  3-prong, plastic folder

•     1 spiral notebook any color wide ruled

•     2 MEAD Primary composition notebook (dotted lines and picture space on top)      

•     2 highlighter markers                                 

•     Headphones (not ear buds)

•     2  one-inch 3 prong white binders

•     1 pack of dividers (set of 5)

•     White/Colored cardstock

•     4 Kleenex boxes

•     2 Clorox wipes

•     Ziplock bags 

 Boys:  1 box Gallon Sized Ziploc Baggies  

Girls:  1 box Sandwich Sized Ziploc Baggies   

Donation: colored copy paper

Classroom Policies & Procedures                         

Homework:  Read for 20 minutes daily and record the time on the monthly calendar.  Reading can include practicing the sight words and someone reading to your child.

Daily Folders:  Your child will be taking home their take-home folder each day.  Inside the folder you will find a reading log calendar, sight words, and other important information.  Please be sure to empty any papers that have been checked or notices that are sent home.  The reading log needs to be filled out at home each night after reading for 20 minutes and initialed.

Snacks:  Please have your child bring in one healthy snack each day and a water bottle labeled with your child's name.  We do not allow juice, milk, or flavored water during our snack break...water only.  Some great snack ideas are grapes, raisins, goldfish, pretzels, apples, orange slices, etc.  Please do not send candy in with your child.

Birthdays:  We love to celebrate birthdays in our class.  You are welcome to order treats from our cafeteria...give them at least one weeks notice. You are also able to bring in store bought treats.  

Lunch: Our lunch is from 11:10-11:55  Your child can bring either a lunch from home or purchase a lunch in the cafeteria.  

Parent Volunteers: 

I welcome parent volunteers in the class.  If you are interested in helping out, please make sure you have attended one of the volunteer trainings.  You do not need to repeat the training if you have done so in a previous year.  This applies to those of you wishing to help out with field trips as well.

 

 Assessments

DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills)
Your child will be tested several times throughout the school year to determine their literacy skills and monitor progress.
The areas tested are:
PSF - Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (saying the sounds they hear in a word)
NWF - Nonsense Word Fluency (reading nonsense words)
ORF - Oral Reading Fluency (counts the number of words read accurately in one minute)

Into Reading Assessments: Comprehension and Phonics
At the end of each 6 day cycle, your child will be tested on their ability to read words based on the phonics skill we've been practicing (ex: words with a short a sound), high-frequency words of the week and read a story and respond to comprehension questions related to that cycles' skills. Students will also be given a phonics assessment where students will be asked to write 5-6 words from our phonics skill, 4-5 HFW, and 1-2 dictated sentence(s). 

Words Their Way Spelling Inventory
Students will have daily sorts that align with our weekly  phonics pattern.  3 times throughout the year, they will be given the inventory to see how they are progressing with their spelling and to better inform my instruction.              

Curriculum

Language Arts:
Into Reading - District adopted Language Arts curriculum
 In my classroom I will be using our Into Reading/Writing to meet all of the ELA Common Core Standards. 

Literacy Centers 
Read to Self 
Students will have the opportunity to read books that are at their individual DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) level, books that relate to the theme of the week, or one that they checked out from the school library. This helps students gain confidence and enhances their reading ability.
Read to Someone 
Students will read leveled books,  classroom library books, fluency passages, and/or stories from their myBook  aloud with a partner to build fluency.
Listen to Reading 
Students will use their chromebooks to access IXL where students work on reading skills at their level.
Word Work
During center time, the students will use their words to do a variety of activities such as sorting by spelling pattern, word hunts, and word building. Students will also work with letter tiles to create words, practice the phonics skills of the week and high-frequency words that correlate with Into Reading.
Work on Writing 
Students will respond to a prompt and write their response in their journals. 

Small Groups
While the students are at their literacy centers, also known as outside circle time, I will be running small reading groups and having individual conferences with students. I will meet with up to four students at a time to work on the 5 areas of reading: Vocabulary, Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Comprehension and Fluency. These reading groups will help me provide more individualized instruction to help meet the needs of all of my students. 

Social Studies
McGraw Hill Impact SS - District adopted Social Studies curriculum
The students will be diving into the following Units this year:

1. Being a Good Citizen

2. Our Community 

3. Past and Present

4. Celebrating America   

5. People and Money

Rules

1. Follow Directions Quickly   

2. Raise your hand to share   

3. Raise your hand to leave your seat   

4. Make smart choices

5. Make your learning community happy 

6. Listen when others are sharing

If your child is spoken to about a rule and been given a warning, and the behavior continues, he/she will fill out a Rule Reminder.  This does not mean they were “in trouble” or that they necessarily had a consequence. It just means we talked about it, and hopefully you will speak with them too. Please sign the form sent home and return it the next day. If your child’s behavior is becoming a concern, we will either email you OR call you directly that day. Any students who continue to have difficulty with their behavior in the classroom will be placed on an individual behavior plan that works for them.
 

Class Dojo: Students will earn points for positive behaviors.  Your child can then spend or save their points on different classroom rewards.