Mrs. Plunkett
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My name is Kerry Plunkett and I teach first grade at Porters Point School, in Colchester, Vermont. We begin each day with a morning meeting. During the meeting children greet one another, participate in a fun activity, read the morning agenda and share. This time helps to build a class community. Literacy is an important part of our day. We spend our mornings involved in many different activities. Our literacy program includes S.W.R. (Spelling, Writing, Reading). The children focus on penmanship, word families and spelling rules. Other components of my literacy program include a read-aloud time, (we focus on an author study), quiet reading (children silently read texts on their instructional level), guided reading (group instruction) working with words activities, poetry (children read poems independently, this helps with fluency) and writing. Writing is a favorite time of day. Children choose their own writing topics. I remind them to choose topics that they care about and know a lot about. Target skills are taught throughout the year. These skills assist the children with the writing process. Once a piece of writing is completed the child has a writing conference with me. When it is ready for publication, the child reads the piece of writing to a parent volunteer who types and binds the published piece for the child. Next the child illustrates the piece and then shares it with the whole class. Sharing in the author’s chair is a treasured time for authors and is a celebration of their writing! We study a children’s author each month. The Author of the Month books are shared during read aloud time. The children explore the author’s web site to learn important facts about the author. The children then type these facts to share with the classes. We create art projects that are related to the Author of the Month.
Check out math websites with your child:
Our school uses the Everyday Math Program. You can expect math homework on Monday through Thursday nights. Beginning in November first graders will participate in a Buddy Study program to master addition and subtraction facts. The children are on individual levels and study with a buddy almost everyday. They are tested on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If they make their goal they move up to the next level.
Science and Social Studies units are taught in themes. Some of the units we will focus on this year are; Friends, Family, Community, Our Country, Native Americans, Animals, Winter, Life Cycles, Human Body, Magnets and Night Sky. Children always look forward to their Specials each day. Our schedule is as follows
There are two celebrations that occur at the end of our school year. The first is an Author ’s Breakfast held in May. Parents are invited to this special event. Children choose their favorite piece of published writing and share it in our Author’s Chair. A celebration breakfast is held in our classroom following the readings. Project Inside Out is another special event that happens at Porters Point at the end of the school year. Children are bussed directly to Camp Holy Cross to enjoy outside activities. The children choose four hands-on activities to enjoy during their four days at camp. They also spend time writing in their Project Inside Out journals. It is a wonderful way to celebrate the end of the school year. I am privileged to work with a wonderful group of first graders at Porters Point School. I truly enjoy watching them grow and develop academically, socially and emotionally. Thank you for learning so much about our classroom!
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