Mrs. McLaughlin

Tell us about yourself

After high school, I went to UMF to major in Home Economics Ed. and graduated in 1986. I taught High School Home Ec. for a short time before I returned to the Mid-Coast. I spent close to a decade working in a family business and being a Mom.  I returned to teaching in the late 90’s.  I came to TGS in 2003 to teach Family Consumer Science and Health.  Currently, I teach ELA/Social Studies in Grade 6 and plan to graduate from USM in the Spring with a masters degree in Education. 

What are you favorite student units?

I enjoy both ELA & Social Studies, as well as reading Young Adult/Teen Lit. I look forward to discovering new books that connect Social Studies content to ELA and try to do this whenever possible. Last year, “Sarny” by Gary Paulsen and “Milkweed” by Jerry Spinelli stood out as two powerful books that I read with many students.

What is your parent contact plan.

I do communicate by phone, but e-mail is the quickest, most efficient way to reach me.lmclaughlin@rsu13.org

What are your homework guidelines:

I like to be as consistent as possible and have a “routine”. 

ELA-Students should read 3 times during the week for about 30 minutes and write a brief reflection in their Reading Journal. On Friday, I like to see the Reading Journal and Independent Reading Book in class. I check to see that homework was done while the students do a self-assessment. 

Spelling: Tuesday is our quiz day. Every week we have a list of 12 spelling words and a packet of practice activities. (Students pick 4) These words come from the spelling curriculum or are integrated from our class novel or Social Studies content.   My weekly spelling lists are posted on SpellingCity.com and students can access this at home to practice with spelling games. We also use this site to take our quizzes online. 

Social Studies: Current Events are shared in class on Thursday (6-1) and Friday (6-2). Students complete a graphic organizer that highlights the event and applies the Themes of Geography. I ask that the news story be within the past month and take place outside of Maine.