The Flores Flyer
October 12, 2018 Volume 1, Issue 2
Davis Magnet School Students Continue to Excel on State Assessments
Recently the State of California released the scores for last year’s Smarter Balanced Assessments. In elementary school, all students in grades 3 through 6 take the Smarter Balanced Assessments, which are computer adaptive tests that adjust the difficulty of the test items based on how a test taker responds. This provides a more precise measure of student performance.
The students at Davis Magnet School continue to excel and show growth in both English Language Arts and Math. Out of 32 schools in NMUSD, Davis' scores are the 4th highest in ELA and the 2nd highest in Math. This is an incredible accomplishment that is the result of hard work and collaboration among our teachers, staff, and parents to support our students' efforts and learning.
This year our staff is focusing on a few particular areas within ELA and Math. In ELA we are spending a lot of time supporting our students in reading and listening, while in math we are focusing on developing our problem solving discussion skills.
Parents play a critical role in assisting our students in these key areas as well. Below are some tips and resources that you can apply at home.
Designate quiet time for reading every day. Whether your child is reading on their own, listening to you read, or a combination of the two, it is really important to spend time practicing reading.
Mix up the genre of books that your child is reading. As a classroom teacher I would establish a rotation for students who were only wanting to read one particular type of book. An example would be 1)fiction picture book, 2)nonfiction book, 3)chapter book, 4)student choice. Reading fiction and nonfiction books require different reading skills. It is equally important to practice both.
Ask your child questions about the books. Here’s a parent ‘Cheat Sheet’ to help your child develop their comprehension that dives a little deeper than the basic 5 W’s.
To assist students’ listening skills, check out these recommended podcasts for students.
While at school, students are expected to explain their thinking in math through their written work, but there are also multiple opportunities for collaboration and discussion. At home ask your child questions as to how they got their answer, other strategies to apply, and make connections through different types of problems.
We are proud of the academic achievements of our students and appreciate the collaboration among staff and parents to best support our students. If you have questions or would like additional ideas please contact your child’s teacher or myself.
Go Ducks!
Mrs. Flores
Principal, Davis Magnet School
"You Gotta Maslow Before Ya' Bloom!"
We have to make sure our students' Maslow Hierarchy of Needs are being met before we even expect our students to memorize math facts or write a research report. Additionally, as adults we need to model healthy choices for ourselves so that our Hierarchy of Needs are met allowing us to do whatever it takes to support our students.
NMUSD has organized a wonderful Parent Education Series for this school year with many of the sessions focusing on supporting students' mental health. You may find the schedule and list of topics here.
If your child or family needs help, please contact me. I'm here to support our Davis families and strongly believe that our mental health is the most important health.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
The Power of Yet - Developing our Growth Mindset
This month’s focus is “Neuroplasticity.”
A major component to having a growth mindset is understanding how our brain works. Did you know that the brain physically stops growing around age 18? It keeps changing forever, though, even as an adult.
Watch this two minute video to gain a better understanding about neuroplasticity and how to explain it to your child.
Do you want to help your child build their memory for studying and develop their neuroplasticity? Check out the tips listed below from Neurologist, Dr. Willis from Pyschology Today.
1. Distress - Stress causes the brain intake systems to send information into reactive brain and prevents information flow. Keep learning fun by adding music, playing games, movement, etc. to help the brain's pathways open up.
2. Color - The brain only lets in a small part of the billions of bits of sensory information available every second. A filter in the low brain decides what gets in. Color is something that gets through this filter especially well. Try using colored pens when writing, creating flash cards for math facts or sight words, and/or highlight key facts in different colors.
3. Personal Meaning - Children must care enough about information or consider it personally important, for it to go through the brain filters and be stored as a memory. Use your child's interests to connect him/her to the material. Make stories together using the information.
4. Patterning - The brain is a pattern-seeking organ. Charts, mnemonics, listing similarities/differences, and making analogies build long-term memory patterns.
5. Practice Makes Permanent - Information from each of the senses is stored in a part of the brain specific to that sense. Review material using multiple sensory activities so different neural networks store the knowledge in multiple brain regions. Your child's brain will build multiple pathways leading to the stored memory, which makes retrieval more efficient.
Spotlight on Preschool
Each month we will shine a special spotlight on one grade level at Davis Magnet School. This month our spotlight is on our wonderful preschool programs! Many of you may not realize that Davis is home to five different preschool classes, including one General Education preschool class and four Special Day preschool classes. Both programs are fabulous and provide many learning opportunities for our students preparing them well for kindergarten.
Both preschool programs utilize content curriculum aligned with our K-6 district ELA and Math programs. Academic skills are taught and practiced in a playful, hands-on, developmentally appropriate setting. The programs carefully integrate teacher-directed instruction with structured and independent play activities that promote healthy social-emotional, physical and cognitive development.
In addition to the academic content, students are taught and supported in their social and emotional learning. Learning how to appropriately communicate, play with others, manage and express their feelings are a few of the skills that students practice while attending preschool.
Our preschool classrooms are actively involved in collaborating with the community and broadening the classroom experience by attending field trips, such as Tanaka Farms Pumpkin Patch, Long Beach Aquarium, We Play Loud, and Tanaka Farms Strawberry Farm. When students leave the classroom, they are able to see the connections between what is happening at school and in the “real-world”. Teachers will also invite our community helpers (e.g., police officers, firefighters, doctors, etc.) to educate our students on safety and awareness. Preschoolers have the opportunity to experience school on a K-6 campus by visiting the library, computer lab, Art Masters, etc. Our youngest scholars frequently team up with big buddies, or upper grade students, to explore the playground together and complete fun activities within the classroom.
The “Power of Yet” is alive within our preschool programs and the teachers work hard to support each student and their individual needs. Our preschoolers are definitely on their way to having the Best Year Yet!
Nutrition Nuggets - "When We See Orange" By Pam Williams, NMUSD Nutritionist
Autumn is the season for going to school and doing homework. It is also the season for growing and carving pumpkins. But did you know that pumpkins taste good?
Of course we eat pumpkin pie, but we can also add chunks of pumpkin to our favorite soup, we can roast it and add seasoning like cinnamon, and we can mix it in with our favorite vegetables.
The flavor is mild and enjoyable. But what’s so wonderful about adding pumpkin to our diet?
Pumpkins supply vitamins, fiber and other ingredients that help us stay healthy. They are low in calories and a good source of the color, orange. In the body, the orange pigment is used to make vitamin A. This vitamin maintains healthy skin, a strong immune system, and good vision.
Here in NMUSD, students enjoy exploring this autumn vegetable. For example, they may learn that pumpkins float in water, even the big ones! Or, they may learn how they grow.
This autumn season let’s add exploring pumpkins to our list of things to do and discover the versatile flavor pumpkins.
Parenting Tip: Teaching our Children Digital Citizenship
Begin now and teach your child how to be a good Digital Citizen. Below are some easy to use visuals that teach our younger children and then remind our older students how to be good digital citizens.
Davis Magnet School
Instagram @davis_magnet_school
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Twitter @DavisMagnet
Email: cflores@nmusd.us
Website: http://davismagnet.nmusd.us/
Location: 1050 Arlington Drive, Costa Mesa, CA, USA
Phone: (714)424-7930
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavisMagnetSchoolDucks/
Twitter: @DavisMagnet