Kangaroo Connection
Weekly updates for our NCES families
March 9, 2021
Para la versión en español, seleccione "Traducir Newsletter" en el lado derecho de este boletín.
As all you know, on Thursday, March 4 at 5:30 p.m., Superintendent Dr. Annette Tielle held a virtual parent meeting to provide updates. If you couldn't attend the meetings “live”, please review recordings of the meetings at www.dvisd.net.
If you are a parent of a remote student and wish to change the method of learning, please contact the front office at 512-386-3900.
As a Del Valle family, we know what is best for us and we have been able to take care of each other since last spring. Today is no different. We will continue to stay in the arena together and do whatever it takes to keep our community safe.
- Del Valle ISD will continue the same protocols we have had in place, including requiring masks for all students, staff and visitors.
Warm regards,
Ashley Fredo
NCES Principal
Important Updates
- March 9th, 5:30pm : Live Information Session for Parents of 5th graders with our Counselor.
- March 9th, 10th & 11th: 3rd-5th Grade Benchmark Tests
- March 15th-19th: Spring Break
- March 22nd, 9:15-9:30am: Collins Fire Drill
- March 25th, 5:30pm: Parent & Principal Meeting
- Coming Soon: Internet Safety Trainings and more.
Water Bottles Reminder
Mobile Food Pantry Schedule
5th GRADE PARENT NIGHT: Tuesday, 3/9 at 5:30 pm
Hello Families !
It is the exciting time where your child is beginning to plan for their 6th grade year. Students will be selecting their class choices for next year this Friday, 3/5. All 5th graders will receive a personalized letter outlining the Middle School they are zoned for and any teacher recommendations for class choices by Thursday, 3/4. Please check your students’ Gmail account and review their preferences.
Go to the counselor’s page on the Collins 2.0 website for more information on class choices and middle school programs.
Middle School Information for Rising 6th graders
Live Information Session, Tuesday 3/9 at 5:30 pm
English & Spanish
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85833308269
Dial by your location
1- 346- 248-7799
Reading Event Celebration, March 5th, 2021
Collins Elementary is proud to announce the first “Little Locker Library" for students in Del Valle ISD. The Austin YES! Foundation with support from Todd Hart, provided the Little Locker Library so that our students can access donated books, art supplies and crafts.
We placed this little library at the front yard of our school, right next to the school garden area. This box is full of high-interest English and Spanish children’s books and crafts and we are inviting our community to stop by and take a book to read. After you have finished reading, please return it to the box. We believe that every day is an excellent day for learning and this initiative is a great way to do it.
"Our students will love being able to select books from this library and being able to add their books to it. I can't thank Austin YES and Todd Hart enough for gifting this Little Free Library to us. By Amy Gonzalez, Librarian
BENCHMARK TESTS
On March 9th, 10th and 11th, 3rd-5th graders will take the math, reading and science (5th grade only) benchmark tests. These tests are administered to all DVISD students in 3rd-5th grade and are an opportunity for students to demonstrate what they have learned and for teachers to use this data to plan instruction for our students.
Parents of VIRTUAL Students: Please plan to pick up hard copies of the test prior to exam days for your student.
We have found that students are much more successful with showing what they have learned on these tests when they are provided with a paper version of the test during the administration. We are encouraging parents to come pick up these tests and review materials so that students are prepared to be successful. Your students will still attend live classes on these exam days and enter their answers online.
It is extremely important that you do NOT preview these tests before the day of the test or help your student with the test. We want to simply provide students with a hard copy of the test so that they are as successful as they can be with showing what they know by themselves.
You can pick these materials up for your students beginning Tuesday, March 2nd through Monday, March 8th from 7:30AM-3:00PM. If you need to pick them up after hours, we can make a pick up bag for you and leave it outside the main entrance.
It is important for your child to get a good night’s sleep each night, beginning Saturday before the test date. Being completely rested will help improve test performance.
· Eating nutritious meals has also been shown to help students perform under stress. Eating a healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner and limiting sugar intake will help keep students alert for longer periods of time.
· Encouraging students to do their best will help them feel more confident on the day of the test. Giving your child positive words of encouragement on a daily basis will let them know you are supporting them on test day.
· If you drop your child off at school, please make plans to get them here early on testing days so that they have time for breakfast and a relaxed start to the day.
· Please remember that if your child is absent on a testing day they may have to take two when they return. It is important that your child attends school during this time.
The teachers at Collins appreciate all you do to help your child succeed academically! Feel free to contact your child’s teacher with additional questions about test day.
How to help your child get over nervousness about tests / Cómo ayudar a su hijo a superar el nerviosismo sobre los examenes
Tests make kids anxious, which can prevent them from doing their best. Here's how you can help. Children who become anxious at the thought of a test often feel convinced they are going to fail. Test anxiety occurs for many reasons, such as lack of preparation, fear of disappointing the teacher or parents, or low self-confidence. Fortunately, there are lots of things parents can do to help reduce test stress.
Help your child feel prepared. If the test is on material learned in class, help your daughter study a little every day, using different methods. These can include making flash cards, writing and rewriting key words, making up a “mock” test, or even having her teach you the material.
Teach her the following, calling it the A-B-C-D Rules for Test Taking:
- Always read the directions twice.
- Breathe in and out 5 times to relax.
- Carefully read the questions and answer the easy ones first.
- Don’t hand in the test until you have double-checked your work.
Write down their worries. There’s an easy exercise to help kids focus on the test instead of on their worries. On the morning of the test, have your child take a few minutes to write down on a piece of paper everything that’s on her mind. It doesn’t have to be about the test. The point is to get out all her thoughts and worries onto that piece of paper. Research shows that this relieves the mind’s working memory. It makes space in the mind’s working memory, so that the student can devote all of their cognitive resources to the test — not to monitoring or suppressing their worries.
Draw a map. Another thing you can do is suggest your child draw what’s called a self-concept map. Basically, you take a piece of paper, you draw a circle in the middle and that’s you — you can write ‘me’ in the middle — and then draw lines coming out from that circle, as many as possible, and just label each one with a role that the kid plays. Like ‘I’m a soccer player’, ‘I’m a daughter’, ‘I’m a friend’, ‘I’m an artist’. The point is to show kids that the test is not all of who they are. Too often, tests seem disproportionately important. When kids remind themselves that they’re so many other things other than a student, it helps them feel less nervous.
After the test. Praise your child for her hard work and help her celebrate with a special activity, such as taking a walk or playing a game together. Don’t put too much emphasis on her grade and don’t join in her anxiety if she gets upset. Instead, when the test comes home, approach it calmly, reviewing errors and talking about ways to improve next time.
Reference: https://www.greatschools.org/
COMMUNICATION IS ESSENTIAL !
Here are the ways that we are communicating with our families at Newton Collins. If you are not receiving emails or need help with Dojo, please contact our front office or your child's teacher. We can help!
- Collins Parent Newsletter-Weekly, via email
- Our campus Twitter: Account: @DVISD_NCES
- Class Dojo / Website Updates at http://nces.dvisd.net/