Hello Families and Supporters,
Happy Fall! This week marked the start of fall and with it, we got some cooler weather and some rain. We had a great week of learning here in school this week. Classroom procedures and routines are getting firmed up and teachers and students are starting to dive into new academic content in all classes. We got some more potatoes, carrots, and onions harvested from the garden this week with the help of some of Ms. Smith's class as well.
We had Back to School Night on Tuesday night. Thanks to the families who came and to the instructional staff who shared great information about our school. If you missed Back to School Night, please reach out to your child's classroom teacher to be added to the schedule for Parent Teacher conferences on November 12th and to get any information you may have missed.
Messages for Parents and Guardians A Note from the Cafeteria: The October Menu is now available. Please be sure to complete the request meal pre-order form and return to the school as soon as possible each week. Meals are freshly made based solely on these pre-order forms. Community Information: The JM McDonald Center still has space in their afterschool program on site here in our building through a partnership with the Truxton Community Center. If you want to sign your child up, please go to the link here: https://www.jmmcomplex.com/champ-at-truxton Upcoming Dates: 9/30- PTO Meeting 5:30 PM in the Pavilion 10/5- School Photo Day 10/6- Walk to School Day: Laps will be walked on the blacktop since most of our students can't walk to school- Please remember the fundraiser forms! 10/11- Indigenous People's/ Columbus Day- NO SCHOOL 10/ 29- Book Character Parade 10:00 AM- More information to come 10/ 29- Trunk Or Treat 6:00- 8:00 PM (please email Mrs. Boyden if you want to decorate a trunk to participate heather.boyden@truxtonacademy.org) Updates from the classrooms: Ms. Elliott (K): Our kindergarten friends have been doing an amazing job recognizing, naming, and writing capital letters and numbers for ELA and math this week. During our readers workshop we've been learning about all the different parts of a book including authors and illustrators. During the writers workshop we became the authors and illustrators by drawing pictures with lots of details and verbally telling our stories. Mrs. Francis (K/1): The K/1 group worked hard this week! Readers' workshop is in full swing and the students are doing a great job during independent and partner reading times! During Writers' Workshop our authors started their very own teaching books. We can't wait to see what type of experts we have in our class. In math we used non standard units (unifix cubes) to measure different parts of our bodies, practiced counting to 100 while getting exercise, practiced making a like group, and practiced 1:1 correspondence within 15. For our tree unit we went outside and noticed the different shapes of trees (circles, triangles, and rectangles), read about where we can find trees, and then adopted two schoolyard trees to monitor throughout the year. Lastly, in our PBL we learned about respect and then tied our Classroom Rights and Responsibilities to our Truxton Academy pledge. We are working hard to be safe, able and willing to learn, and making sure everyone is heard and valued in our class! Ms. Smith (1st): This week in science we learned about sound! Sound makes vibrations and vibrations make sound! Sound then travels through the air on sound waves until it hits our eardrum. We had some fun with some good vibrations! Ms. Jess (2nd): Second graders officially kicked off their Readers, Writers, and Math workshops this week! Ask your second grader to tell you:-how to do a grown up, second grade sneak peak and decide how a book WANTS to be read, -what goes at the beginning of a sentence, in between words and at the end of a sentence? -and how high they got in their first session of making a number strip. Your amazing second graders also earned their first special celebration, a pajama day, for taking care of themselves, others and our classroom environment!! Ms. Madysen (3rd): This week the third graders met three agricultural education students from Ithaca College/Cornell University on Wednesday. They asked us what we knew about cows and really impressed them with all of our background knowledge. This year's Top Cut Beef Contest is to market and develop a recipe that can (and will be) served in the school cafeteria.. We are very excited to have them working with us every week this fall as we prepare for the contest! Mr. Daniel (4th): Fourth Grade continued to work on their multiplication tables and factors. Ask them about Prime and Composite numbers! They jumped in and started working on reading maps. They used the information to fill out a graphic organizer about information they gathered from the maps. Señora H (Spanish): In Spanish we learned the names of the numbers 1- 10 in K, K/1 and 1 and learned a fun numbers song. In 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade we learned 1-20 and had a lot of fun playing BINGO! Mr. C (Music): In Music, we have started to learn the We Are Truxton Academy song and have incorporated it into a game that reinforces school and classroom expectations. Ms. Ashley (PE & Makerspace): This week in P.E. students continue learning about pathways: forward, backward, zigzag, loops, plus many more. Also a huge shout out to the 3rd graders as they created a chalk obstacle course outside for all grades to enjoy and participate. Well done 3rd graders! And, in Makerspace, all grades continued learning about biomimicry and started their projects of either a pitcher plant or a geckos! Stay tuned for next week as they will be bringing their finished work home! Thank you for your continued support of our school family! Have a great weekend! - Sara and the Truxton Academy Team