Magee School News
January 15th, 2021
All School Picture Day
Please mark Monday, February 1st on your calendar as all students will be photographed.
Student winter gear bags
Morning Milk
Second semester milk will start on Monday, January 25th.
PTO meeting
Login: 236 969 1918
Password: B5kEv3
Second Semester school calendar
Exceptions to the Monday through Thursday plan would be off the week of March 15th for Spring Break, off Monday April 5th for Easter and off Monday May 31st for Memorial Day. Our last day of school will be Thursday, June 10th.
Grow it Forward
Grow it Forward is a community resource which offers both healthy food access along with community education and awareness. Consider using this resource to stretch your family’s food budget.
See the Grow It Forward website for specifics and the most current offerings. This organization works to serve our local community with healthy food access programs to provide a healthy source of food for people who need it. Contact Jenny Schneider, School Social Worker, 793 7173 ext. 6105 or jenny.schneider@trschools.k12.wi.us, if you have questions or needs.
Here are links to some of their offerings.
On Mondays in January from 4-6 pm, there will be a free community meal for those in need. Available by curbside pick up, simply drive or walk-up and notify volunteers how many individual meals you need. Your patience is requested as they work to strengthen and improve this opportunity and process.
Grow it Forward (920) 645-9467 | Manitowoc, Wisconsin 54220 | info@grow54220.com
January Title 1 Tip CAFÉ Strategy: Cross Checking
Dear Families,
As your child is progressing through the year, we would like to update you with another CAFÉ strategy to reinforce at home. CAFÉ is an acronym that stands for Comprehension (I understand what I read), Accuracy (I can read the words), Fluency (I can read smoothly and understand what I read), and Expanding vocabulary (I know, find, and use interesting words).
The strategy cross checking is introduced as a part of the accuracy portion of the CAFÉ Menu. When reading a book, you will come across a word or two you are unsure of. You will probably use the accuracy strategy of cross checking without even thinking about it. Accuracy is not second nature to children learning to read. It needs to be taught using a variety of strategies.
Your child has been introduced to the accuracy strategy. It is important to slow readers down when they come to a word they don’t know and teach them to apply the strategy cross checking so they are able to fix the meaning and not just skip the word. Cross checking requires a person to constantly think and monitor meaning. It is a strategy for ensuring the words and pictures read make sense and match the letters on a page.
How to help your child with the cross checking strategy at home:
1. Listen to your child read. When he/she comes to a word he/she is unsure of, remind him/her to cross check, Ask:
Does the word you are reading match the picture or letters written? (they cross their right arm over their body)
Does it sound right?
(their left arm crosses over their body making an X)
Does it make sense?
(both arms come down with hands pointing to the ground)
Thank you for your continued support!
Calling your child in sick to school
From Your Student Services Team
Strategies to Make Homework Go More Smoothly
Happy New Year Everyone! When I was young, staying up late to count down from 10 and watch the infamous ball drop was a treasured treat. Not often did my parents allow us kids to stay up that late. Now as a parent, my kids still get excited to stay up late and see the ball drop even though they are in high school or out of the house. There is just something about the excitement of a new year. We can put the old year behind us and plan for a new one. To this day we still make New Year’s resolutions. I think many families do. We try to focus on how we can be better. Better at doing our chores/jobs, better at being a friend, better at walking the dog, going to church, reading, losing weight and the list could go on. Does this sound familiar in your house? One thing I am focusing on this year is strategies to help me make homework go better for my children without me constantly nagging. The past year has been a struggle with consistency for one of my children.
I really like the Child Mind Institute web page. It has a ton of great articles on a wide variety of important topics. Peg Dawson, EdD, NCSP summarized one of the best guides she has seen on helping kids do homework successfully. It was published by the National Association of School Psychologists on their website, NASPonline.org. I would like to summarize briefly what the article stated.
Homework Routines:
Step 1. Find a location in the house where homework will be done. The right location depends on your child and the culture of the family.
Step 2. Set up a homework center. Once you and your child have identified a location, fix it up as a home office/homework center.
Step 3. Establish a homework time. Your child should get in the habit of doing homework at the same time every day. The time may vary depending on the individual child.
Step 4. Establish a daily homework schedule. In general, at least into middle school, the homework session should begin with your sitting down with your child and drawing up a homework schedule. Personally, we had to do this with one of my children in high school.
The article then describes how children may not be motivated by good grades alone and how parents will need to look for other rewards to help them get through their homework. The article talked briefly about Incentive systems, and how they fall into two categories: simple and elaborate. The article then provides steps to develop incentives.
Developing Incentive Systems:
Step 1. Describe the problem behaviors. Parents and children decide which behaviors are causing problems at homework time.
Step 2. Set a goal. Usually the goal relates directly to the problem behavior.How can parents help?
Step 3. Decide on possible rewards and penalties. Homework incentive systems work best when children have a menu of rewards to choose from.
Step 4. Write a homework contract. The contract should say exactly what the child agrees to do and exactly what the parents’ roles and responsibilities will be.
For more information and other helpful tips read this article and some other amazing articles at Child Mind Institute.
Mr. Dahl, Two Rivers High School Counselor
Stop the Spread!
Help keep our students in our buildings and our athletes participating in their sport.
- Wear a mask when out and about.
- Keep a physical distance of at least 6 feet.
- Wash/sanitize your hands.
- Sanitize frequently-touched surfaces.
- Do not attend large gatherings.
- Stay home if you are sick.