Road Runner Update

We are running an anti-bullying campaign here at Mt. Taylor elementary. It's a comprehensive effort by our staff to teach children what bullying is and how to stop it. We are being proactive and helping our children to advocate for themselves. But there is another piece of the puzzle when it comes to bullying. We are also teaching our children how to be kind and how to be a good friend. Sometimes our children don't realize that when they exclude someone, that could be perceived as bullying. Being kind can be as simple as inviting all to play the game that way no one is feeling left out.

I would like to thank everyone for their efforts in getting our traffic situation worked out. When everyone does their part, it all goes smoothly!

We are starting something different this year...after school academic clubs! The clubs are meant to be enriching and fun for the children. They are also meant to support reading, math, science and social studies. Some examples of clubs are: Math Games, Fun with Phonics, Archery, Cup Stacking, Engineering and much more. Please look for permission slips coming home to sign up your child.

Last, if you need to talk to me, I am always available to you in person or by phone.

Tuesday, Oct. 25th - Team up against Drugs: Wear your favorite Sports Team

Wednesday, Oct. 26th - Don't Be Crazy and do Drugs: Crazy Hair Day

Thursday, Oct. 27th - Too Smart to Start Drugs: Nerd Day

Friday, Oct. 28th - Halloween: Wear you Halloween Costume

Hello first grade families!

October is already here! This month we will be working on adding and subtracting numbers within 10, learning about informational texts, learning new vowel sounds, learning about outer space in science, and holidays around the world in social studies. Please continue reading with your child for 15-20 minutes each night, it makes a huge impact on their love for reading. Conferences were very successful and we were happy to meet with you to discuss your child. Please reach out to let us know if you have any questions!

Thanks for all that you do,

Mrs. Knott, Ms. Kristy, and Mrs. Jaramillo

Dear Parents/Guardians:

We hope this letter finds you all doing well. We would like to thank you for all your support,

patience, and understanding during this first quarter. Time has gone so fast and the second

quarter is right around the corner. It is our hope that it will be even more productive than the

last nine weeks.

Some of you may have noticed a new face amongst our second grade. Mrs. Sanders recently

retired and Mr. Trotter joined our second grade team! Let’s welcome Mr. Trotter to our school

and community with the hospitality Mt. Taylor Roadrunners are known for instead of a Halloween party, second grade students will be going trick-or-treating to several

businesses on Roosevelt Avenue and Lobo Canyon Road. This event is a reward for the hard

work our students put into the classroom.

Students must be completing all classwork, following classroom/school rules, and meeting AR goals in order to attend. More information and permission slips will be sent home soon. As always, students should be reading and testing on two or three A.R. books a week to be able to reach their goals for the end of the nine weeks. Studies show that students that read for 20 minutes a day are exposed to 1.8 million words each school year! Ask your child for their library books and make sure to read every night. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us. We are excited to start the second quarter with you and your child.

Sincerely,

Mt. Taylor’s 2nd Grade Team

*Math- We will be working on place value and problem solving with units of measure. We have also started learning how to tell time, so please encourage them to practice telling time at home as well. Students should continue to work on studying multiplication facts daily.

*ELA- This month for ELA we will begin the unit titled, "How Does Your Body Work?" Third graders will be learning about their skeletal, muscular, and nervous systems.

We still are working on having our students achieve their weekly Lexia goals.

*Science- We will be learning about the Human Body in conjunction with ELA.

*Social Studies- We will be continuing to learn about different American Symbols.

*Students should be reading for at least 15-20 minutes daily.

The Language Arts / Reading Classes in 5th grade will be continuing our novel study of "Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry. We will also be looking at figurative language in the short story, "The Big Catch". Also in October, we will be looking at theme, summarizing, and main idea and details in the following short stories: "The Miller, His Son, and the Donkey"; "A Closer Look", and "A Recipe for Allergies". Each week, we have a different spelling list with the spelling test on Fridays. We're gearing up for the Spelling Bee to be held November 7th. Finally, be on the lookout for our pumpkin patch which will feature our favorite memories of Autumn.

The fifth grade math class continues to work hard this month. We will be finishing up adding and subtracting mixed numbers with unlike denominators and solving multi-step word problems involving fractions. We will be moving on to multiplying and dividing fractions and learning to follow the order of operations (PEMDAS) so that we can use them in our number sentences. By the end of the month, we will return to decimals-adding and subtracting them.

In science and social studies, we finished up with plant life cycles and building terrariums. We will continue working on food webs. Last week was Ms. Lopez's last week teaching fifth grade science and social studies. We'd like to thank her for all her hard work and for teaching our students; we'll miss her! We would also like to welcome our new teacher Mr. Alvin Malig who is our permanent Science and Social Studies teacher.

Second, we would like to celebrate Mrs. Montoya for being a rockstar Science and Social Studies teacher. Students are learning many cool things from how the plates move to the many differences in the religions of our world. Thanks for being awesome Mrs. Montoya!

Third, we would like to celebrate all of our student council participants who were brave enough to write and give their speeches in front of a large crowd of their peers. That takes real guts! Shout out to Emberlyn, Emma, Jozie, Aaliyah B, Abigail, and Gabriel for showing real bravery this month.

The Sixth Grade Team