DOUGLAS
DRAGONEER
Douglas A+
Creative Arts & Science Magnet Elementary School
Week of 10/1 – 10/5
DOUGLAS
DRAGONEER
Douglas A+
Creative Arts & Science Magnet Elementary School
Upcoming Events
Oct 9 Meet the Specialists
& PTA Mtg, 7:00 pm
Oct 16 McTeacher’s
Night, 5 – 8 pm
Oct 23 Arts
Night and Dinner
Oct 22-26 Book
Fair
Magnet
Corner
Installment #4: Essential
Evidence: Assessment!
Fourth in 10-part series
This week, we’ll take a look at another one of the A+
Essentials – Assessment. At Douglas, we
approach education as a continual cycle of teaching, learning and
assessment. Because of this, assessment
is an important part of the collaborative planning process, and is something
that is planned for during the early stages of lesson development, rather than
at the end of the planning process. In
A+ Schools, like Douglas, assessment is ongoing – sometimes it happens at the
beginning of a lesson, sometimes it happens in the middle and sometimes it’s at
the end.
At Douglas, you might hear the words “enriched
assessment”. This means that teachers
use ways of assessing our students beyond just the traditional methods. It means that we don’t ONLY use paper and
pencil measures to assess student learning and mastery. It means we also use portfolios, and
performances, and arts-integrated student products to discover what a child
knows and is able to do. We call it
“enriched” because it allows instructors to use the “richness” of multiple
assessment methods to monitor each student’s academic progress. Standardized tests? Yes, we use them, too, but they are just one
piece of the whole assessment pie.
Because at Douglas, we believe that each child is unique and has
different ways of learning and of showing what they know.
Why is the climate
important in an A+ School? Find out in
the next installment in the series, The Essentials Behind Douglas.
ØØØNEW
WEBSITE!
We are off to a good start with our Dragon Fire Campaign! The big question is... Will Dr. Spivey get to kiss a pig at Arts Night on Oct. 23rd?
When
at least 75% of our families participate in Dragon Fire, we are sure to see our
Principal kiss the pig. Be sure to send in your donation and filled out
yellow card to the PTA today!
Questions
about Dragon Fire? Contact Alice Spickard at 877-0490 or Susan
Steltenpohl at 788-0941
There are still openings on the Monday and Tuesday OM
teams for grades 3 – 5. Please contact
Carrie Johnson (msccjohnson@earthlink.net)
or Mandi Hofmann (mhofmann@wcpss.net)
if your child is interested in participating.
It is a great experience for everyone!
PTA Membership
3 Reasons to join the PTA... 1. Support your child's education
2. Have an active voice in your child's school
3. Show a common goal between teachers and parents to benefit all the children
Contact Carrie Johnson (msccjohnson@earthlink.net) for more information.
Save the date; Tuesday, October 16, is Douglas
Spirit Night at McDonald’s - aka
McTeacher’s Night. There will be some “special”
workers there that night to wait on Douglas families. All the fun takes
place from 5-8 p.m. at McDonald’s at 6213 Falls of Neuse Road. Remember, this is a Douglas PTA fundraiser
so tell your friends and neighbors to join us at McDonald’s on October
16! Also, keep a look out for a surprise guest
helping out in car pool that day…
Questions? Call Beth Gargan at 881-8260.
Look out for the Book Fair, coming to Douglas Oct 22 - 26. Stay tuned for more exciting news about the Book Fair in an upcoming Dragoneer!
Our Book Fair will be open during Arts Night which will
take place on Tues., Oct. 23rd.
Plan to have a pizza and salad dinner at school from 5pm to 6pm and
participate in our hands-on Arts Night Program and Activities which will
follow. Dinner order forms will come
home next week!
To enrich the 2nd graders' sound unit, the students will be creating their own instruments in art class and then playing them in music. If you collect recycled materials that can be used by the students (such as small boxes, coffee cans, chopsticks, paper tubes, etc..), please send them to the art or music room by Oct 4th. Thank you! Mrs. Zelasky
A huge thank you to Mr. Joe Magura from the
teachers and students here at Douglas. About 3-4 years ago an old weather
station was donated to our science program to use with our weather units in K,
2nd and 5th grades. It has been in storage for many years and I am happy
to announce it is now working and ready for our students to use.
Mr. Magura came to my classroom
last year, the night of Meet and Greet, and noticed the station sitting on top
of my cabinet. He asked about it and I was happy to learn he was
interested in helping me set it up for my 2nd graders to use. He was able
to bring it back to life and presented the station to my class, showing the
students how to read wind speeds, rain amounts, and wind direction.
Recently, Mr. Magura and his son spent a weekend installing our new weather
station in the courtyard closest to the science lab. Please take some
time to peek outside the window with your child or students and admire the
wonderful effort the Magura family put into this project. Thank you so
much for your time and effort, Mr. Magura!!!!
Mrs. Sergeant
Election Day – Oct. 9th
October
9th is Election Day in Wake County. Be sure to get out and vote for our School
Board candidates and city officials.
Also,
Douglas is a voting precinct. The folks at Kids Voting are
looking for parent volunteers to staff a kids voting booth in the Douglas
gym the morning of Oct. 9th or that afternoon /early evening. This booth
is designed to provide a voting experience for those kids who come with their
parents when the parents come to vote.
If
anyone is interested in volunteering with Kids Voting on October 9th, please
contact Alice Spickard at 877-0490, by Wed., Oct. 3rd at 5pm. Thanks!