Absent If your child will be absent from school, please be sure to let the school know in the morning. Art This year third grade students will be getting to go to art class with Mrs. Kintner once each 6 day cycle. Our day for art is Day C. You might want to consider putting your child in older clothes that day!

Birthdays Your child is welcome to bring in birthday treats on or around his/her birthday. If they have a summer birthday, we try and do those around the 1/2 birthday time. Please do not send birthday invitations to school with your child to hand out. Most times not everyone is invited and the handing out of invitations leads to hard feelings.

Calendar Each month the school sends a calendar with the lunch menu on one side and the activities scheduled for that month on the other..please check this calendar to stay up to date! A good place to keep this calendar is the back pocket of the communicator folder.

Dismissal I would appreciate a note that lets me know your child’s usual plans for dismissal. We definitely need a note if there are changes to that plan! Without a note, we try to get a hold of someone, but if we can’t, we’ll dismiss your child according to the regular plan.

Envelope Please send lunch money in an envelope marked with your child’s first and last name. Also, remind them to give them to me!!!

Email Please feel free to email me if you have questions, concerns or need to make a last minute change to plans. My email is kmagee@harlan.k12.ia.us. If you have an email to share with me, I’ve found it a quick way to communicate with parents!

Folders Each student has a folder with the sides labeled for papers to keep at home and those that need to be returned. I will send it home as we have papers to send back or any important notes. It will need to come back to school the very next day, however, so that we can keep it in use!

Good Behavior We are earning numbers for our "Behavior BINGO" gameboard, working on winning a surprise if we get a BINGO. We have discussed our expectations of Being Respectful, Doing what is Right, and Participating at all Times

Guidance Our new guidance counselor is Mr. Wharton. We will have guidance on Day F.

Homework Your child should work about 10-20 minutes a night on school work. This includes reading books, working on flashcards, practicing spelling words, or other things that might come home to finish. We keep a work folder in our seat sacks to keep our daily work in one place. Your child should have plenty of time to complete it at school, but if we need to, it may be sent home for them to finish.

Independence Your child is becoming more independent. Homework, reading and taking care of their red folders is their job and they should be able to complete it independently for the most part.

Join in! Just try it! Students in my class are encouraged to give it a try. It is important that kids learn to be risk takers and to give things their best shot, even if they fail. You can’t succeed if you don’t try!

Keep in Touch! We will hold conferences after the end of the first quarter. Although we will meet with everyone then, if you have a question or concern, please call or let me know when you could come in! Our door is always open.

Library Our library day is DAY F. Please be sure to have books returned on that day so that your child can check out some new ones. Mrs. Fink is our librarian and she has several times a day for open checkout, so we can always have a book to read! Be sure to take good care of the books. If you lose one, let me know so that I can tell you the replacement cost. We have already started checkout.

Lunch and lunch numbers Oftentimes parents like to come and join their child for lunch. This is a wonderful way to connect with your child, but we do ask that you call the office by 8:30 that day to let them know to add you to our lunch count. Our cooks need to know how many to plan for! Your child’s lunch number is the number they use for lunch, library, math facts, AR, etc. It is a very important number and they should have it memorized!

Music Music is Day A and D

Newsletter I will try and get a newsletter sent home each Friday, so that you can get a taste of our week. I know that the standard answer to "What did you do today?" is usually "Nothing!" Hopefully this will help! This newsletter will also be on the classroom website.

Orders I will send home book orders each month or so. Remember that they are completely optional. Please return the completed order along with a check made out to the book club in an envelope with your child's name on it by the date given. We can not accept cash for these. The first order is due next Tuesday, August 28^th.

PE Our PE days are DAY B and E. Your child will need to have tennis shoes on those days. If you like we can store an extra pair of shoes here in case they forget some day.

Questions The school number is 755-2725. My home number is 755-3672. Please call if you have any questions or concerns.

Reading It is important that your child see you read and also be read to. Studies show that the more they read and are read to, the better they will do in reading and most other areas of school. Students will be expected to read each night and to complete the reading log and return it each morning.

Spelling Your child will take a weekly pretest (Monday’s) to determine the words for their weekly spelling list. The list that they will practice throughout the week and be tested over on Fridays will consist of the words that they miss, along with some challenge words if I think they are ready for it. Each list will be more individualized this way. Please help your child to review these words during the week. We will also be doing several activities to practice here at school. The paper their list comes home on will include a few ways for them to practice their words at home, but you can also have them write them on a paper, use a dry erase marker on a window, or just spell them out loud to you!

Teamwork Educating a child is only accomplished by parent and teacher team work. By working together, we can give your child the best possible start in school. Open communication is the key. Be sure to keep me posted on any changes or happenings in your child’s life that could be affecting schoolwork or behavior.

Unusual Weather Fog and snow days will sometimes delay or cancel school. Be sure to listen to KNOD or watch Channel 6 to see if there is a delay or cancellation.

Volunteering I depend upon parent volunteers in my classroom. Can you find time to help in our room? Could you come in occasionally to assist with special projects or room parties? Would you be able to color, cut, and construct games and activities at home? Do you have a special skill or talent that you could share? Any help that you can give will enrich the quality of learning for your child.

www.teacherweb.com/IA/HarlanCommunitySchools/Magee/ I have a website created to keep you up-to-date with the happenings in our classroom, as well as to provide you with resources to help you at home with your child. Please visit it and bookmark it, as well as sign up for email notices when I update the website!

Exciting!!

Yes, they can do it by themselves. Keep up the encouragement and recognize their successes!

Zippity do dah! We are going to have a great year!