Leaving Phone Messages

Leaving Phone Messages

Leaving Phone Messages
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 3 to 4
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	2.45

Vocabulary

challenging words:

recite, purpose, clearly, whatever, homework, telephone, repeat, return, notice, phone, remember, between, instead, suppose, short, reach

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Other Languages
     French: Laisser un message téléphonique
     Italian: Lasciare dei messaggi telefonici
     German: Telefonische Nachrichten hinterlassen

Leaving Phone Messages
By Brenda B. Covert

¹     Many children like to use the telephone. It's fun to be able to talk to a relative who lives far away. It can be fun to call friends on rainy days. Everyone who plans to use a phone should use good phone manners. Do you know what to do when you can't reach the person you are calling? You can impress people with your phone manners. You can learn how to leave a message.

²     If your friend isn't home, you might reach an answering machine instead of a person. If you hang up, your friend won't know you called. Your friend won't be able to call you back. You will need to leave a message. The answering machine will record your message. Your friend can listen to your message when he or she returns home.

³     Prepare to speak clearly. Don't go too fast! Say "this is ________" and give your name. Next you will need to recite your phone number. Even if you think your friend has your number, it's polite to give it again. After that, you should give the name of the person whom you are calling. Also state your purpose, if you have one. You may explain that you have a question about homework! Whatever it is, keep it short. Ask your friend to call you back. This is when you might give the best time to call, such as "between 6 and 8:00 p.m."

Paragraphs 4 to 6:
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