It's been a COLD week and 2 days in 5th grade! The cold weather that blew in didn't keep my wonderful family from learning and working hard. Just a recap of the last 7 days:
Math: We are still covering fractions and have moved into adding, subtracting and relating our fractions to a number line. We will continue to work on these skills the week after our Thanksgiving break. We successfully post-tested on comparing and ordering fractions last week and I have to say I not only had 100% pass but had every single one make huge gains from their pre-test! Please keep encouraging and motivating your scholar to work hard and practice, practice, practice. All students are loaded into the Think Through Math and Study Island websites. Please have them log in and practice daily. Even 10-15 minutes a night makes a huge difference!
Science: We covered alternative energy sources last week and even did a mini-project that we presented today. They all did a great job with their mini-research topics and did a fantastic job presenting to our class. Next week we will finish up alternate energy sources and move into our weather and climate unit.
Social Studies: We finished up covering the Bill of Rights and will be testing on it the Tuesday after we get back. Please have your scholar log into the History Alive tutorial site and take the Ch. 15 practice quiz to ensure they are familiar with the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th amendments and can identify what freedoms they each protect. We will be playing review games on Monday to help them prepare. On Wednesday we will move into Ch. 16 and will be covering Manifest Destiny and settling the West!
ELAR: We finished up talking about test features of non-fiction works and your scholar should be familiar with all of them. We just pre-tested on text structures and will be spending the next couple of weeks covering the different ways texts are organized. Inferencing is still an underlying skill that they are all struggling with and it is a very important objective that they MUST master. Please have them work on Study Island on the reading passages and they now have access to IStation which is also another tutorial site. They were given their login information last week and should be able to log in from home.
Don't forget we have two different field trips scheduled for next week: a school-wide field trip to Foster HS on Thursday to watch their production of Beauty and the Beast (no lunch is required for this-we will be eating at school their usual way) and the annual 5th grade field trip on Friday. We will be visiting the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Please remember to send permission slips back for both (I am still missing a few) and if you want to chaperone, please send back the form and the fee for your entrance into the museum. Your scholar will need to pack a lunch for this trip.
I truly hope that your family enjoys the time off to be with family and to celebrate all of the many blessings in your lives. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Friday, November 15, 2013
Thank you to all of the parents who made it out to the Fall Carnival and volunteered your time to help raise money for Huggins! If I didn't see you and thank you personally on Saturday, please accept my gratitude for all you do for our school and students.
I thoroughly enjoyed meeting with every single one of you in our parent conferences over the last couple of weeks to talk about your scholar's successes and progress. It was nice to put faces to names and to share what has been going on.
This week's happenings:
Math: We are still working very hard on fractions in math. We have talked about proper and improper fractions, mixed numbers, equivalent fractions, comparing fractions, the GCF (greatest common factor) and LCM/LCD (least common multiple/least common denominator). We will continue to work on these skills over the next week and move into adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators and ordering and comparing mixed numbers. I have loaded assignments into Study Island (www.studyisland.com) and to access this site, your scholar needs their username (first initial, last name @huggins ex: tmefford@huggins and their password is their ID number. They are to be working on this site as much as possible to reinforce skills at home. We will have a Spiral Review on Thursday to check their progress on fractions.
Science: We have talked about sedimentary rock layers to study our Earth's past, nonrenewable resources and fossils fuels and weathering and erosion. Next week we will talk about caves and renewable energy. The students will have an at-home mini-project on alternative energy that we will discuss on Thursday. It will be due on Monday with presentations. They also have a major 9 weeks project that will be due on Dec. 13th.
Social Studies: We are still talking about the Constitution and Early America. We are currently finishing up Chapter 14 in the History Alive book so please have your scholar take the practice assessment online at home to review. They will have a Ch. 14 quiz on Wed. We will move into talking about the Bill of Rights specifically at the end of the week.
ELAR: We have been working hard on our inferencing skills and incorporating the skills into our Book Clubs. The students are enjoying the novels they picked and their Book Clubs. Next week we will move into talking about non-fiction and text features. Have your scholar look at a magazine and newspaper and have them point out the different features that make up non-fiction. We will also continue to work on our inferencing in our Book Clubs at the end of the week.
We are close to the holidays and I know that the tendency is for the students to become less motivated in their studies. Please encourage them to continue to work hard. We have just a week and a half until Thanksgiving Break and then just three short weeks after that before Christmas. We want them to rest up during the breaks because we still have a hard road ahead of us before the STAAR testing in the spring. Please remember that this is a crucial year for your scholar. They have three tests: science, reading and math and mastery on the reading and math tests is required to move on to 6th grade.
Thank you for all you do and please have a great weekend!
I thoroughly enjoyed meeting with every single one of you in our parent conferences over the last couple of weeks to talk about your scholar's successes and progress. It was nice to put faces to names and to share what has been going on.
This week's happenings:
Math: We are still working very hard on fractions in math. We have talked about proper and improper fractions, mixed numbers, equivalent fractions, comparing fractions, the GCF (greatest common factor) and LCM/LCD (least common multiple/least common denominator). We will continue to work on these skills over the next week and move into adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators and ordering and comparing mixed numbers. I have loaded assignments into Study Island (www.studyisland.com) and to access this site, your scholar needs their username (first initial, last name @huggins ex: tmefford@huggins and their password is their ID number. They are to be working on this site as much as possible to reinforce skills at home. We will have a Spiral Review on Thursday to check their progress on fractions.
Science: We have talked about sedimentary rock layers to study our Earth's past, nonrenewable resources and fossils fuels and weathering and erosion. Next week we will talk about caves and renewable energy. The students will have an at-home mini-project on alternative energy that we will discuss on Thursday. It will be due on Monday with presentations. They also have a major 9 weeks project that will be due on Dec. 13th.
Social Studies: We are still talking about the Constitution and Early America. We are currently finishing up Chapter 14 in the History Alive book so please have your scholar take the practice assessment online at home to review. They will have a Ch. 14 quiz on Wed. We will move into talking about the Bill of Rights specifically at the end of the week.
ELAR: We have been working hard on our inferencing skills and incorporating the skills into our Book Clubs. The students are enjoying the novels they picked and their Book Clubs. Next week we will move into talking about non-fiction and text features. Have your scholar look at a magazine and newspaper and have them point out the different features that make up non-fiction. We will also continue to work on our inferencing in our Book Clubs at the end of the week.
We are close to the holidays and I know that the tendency is for the students to become less motivated in their studies. Please encourage them to continue to work hard. We have just a week and a half until Thanksgiving Break and then just three short weeks after that before Christmas. We want them to rest up during the breaks because we still have a hard road ahead of us before the STAAR testing in the spring. Please remember that this is a crucial year for your scholar. They have three tests: science, reading and math and mastery on the reading and math tests is required to move on to 6th grade.
Thank you for all you do and please have a great weekend!
Friday, November 8, 2013
We've had a very busy week this week!!! Thank you to all of the parents who came out to Open House and also all who supported our wonderful 5th graders at the BBQ dinner and bake sale fundraiser. Movie Night on Thursday night was a fun night for all and I was pleased to see several members of my Huggins family out enjoying the cool weather, concessions and movie! We have wrapped up parent conferences and my family had 100% participation. Thank you so much for finding time in your busy schedules to sit down with me one on one to discuss your scholar's progress! It was so nice to put names to faces and meet everyone again!
This has been a busy week and it isn't quite over! Please come out to Huggins on Saturday from 1-5 and enjoy our annual Fall Carnival. Thank you to FOH and the many parents who have volunteered their time to help make this year's carnival a rousing success!
School pictures are in so please check your scholar's HOWL folder! Don't they look awesome????
Just a recap of this week:
Math: We are still working very hard on fractions, GCF (ask your scholars what this means :) ), and equivalent fractions. We will continue to be reviewing and studying fractions for the next week.
Science: We studied weathering and erosion this week and even did a lab on sedimentary layers to see how sedimentary rock layers are formed (I promise you sent the cereal, cups and spoons up here for a reason!) using different types of cereals to represent the different types of sediments that make up the layers. Next week we will be learning about how to use this information to study our Earth's past.
Social Studies: We have wrapped up talking about the events leading up to the Revolutionary War and the war itself. We will now be learning about our constitution and how our government and country came to be. We will be studying this in our History Alive book with Ch. 14 so please have your scholars practice by taking the assessment on the History Alive website we have been using. (link is on a sticker in their planners)
ELAR: We are still talking about inferencing (such a hard skill!) but are now moving into different genres with our inferencing practice. Remind your scholars that they are to be reading for 30 minutes each night in order to meet their AR goal. To practice inferencing at home, ask them questions about what they are reading at different points and ask them to use their text clues and schema to make an inference about their book!
Please don't forget about our Veteran's Day program on Thursday, Nov. 14th at 1:30 and 6:30. They have been working extra hard on this fantastic program honoring the men and women who have bravely served our country!
Have a great weekend and hope to see y'all at the carnival!
This has been a busy week and it isn't quite over! Please come out to Huggins on Saturday from 1-5 and enjoy our annual Fall Carnival. Thank you to FOH and the many parents who have volunteered their time to help make this year's carnival a rousing success!
School pictures are in so please check your scholar's HOWL folder! Don't they look awesome????
Just a recap of this week:
Math: We are still working very hard on fractions, GCF (ask your scholars what this means :) ), and equivalent fractions. We will continue to be reviewing and studying fractions for the next week.
Science: We studied weathering and erosion this week and even did a lab on sedimentary layers to see how sedimentary rock layers are formed (I promise you sent the cereal, cups and spoons up here for a reason!) using different types of cereals to represent the different types of sediments that make up the layers. Next week we will be learning about how to use this information to study our Earth's past.
Social Studies: We have wrapped up talking about the events leading up to the Revolutionary War and the war itself. We will now be learning about our constitution and how our government and country came to be. We will be studying this in our History Alive book with Ch. 14 so please have your scholars practice by taking the assessment on the History Alive website we have been using. (link is on a sticker in their planners)
ELAR: We are still talking about inferencing (such a hard skill!) but are now moving into different genres with our inferencing practice. Remind your scholars that they are to be reading for 30 minutes each night in order to meet their AR goal. To practice inferencing at home, ask them questions about what they are reading at different points and ask them to use their text clues and schema to make an inference about their book!
Please don't forget about our Veteran's Day program on Thursday, Nov. 14th at 1:30 and 6:30. They have been working extra hard on this fantastic program honoring the men and women who have bravely served our country!
Have a great weekend and hope to see y'all at the carnival!
Friday, October 25, 2013
Phew! We made it!
We have successfully made it through the first 9 weeks grading period! Your students worked so hard to master their 9 weeks' objectives. Just a recap of the last 9 weeks:
Math: We studied place value up to the hundred billions (WOW! So many zeros!), adding and subtracting decimals, multiplication with 2 and 3 digit multipliers, and division with 2 and 3 digit dividends. We started our guided math groups and they have been working beautifully in their small groups and self-managing their behavior. We are now moving into fractions.
Social Studies: We explored the world of the Native Americans, dove deep into the depths of the oceans to see what the early explorers carried to the New World, sailed across the Atlantic with the Pilgrims, colonized the original 13 colonies, reenacted "No taxation without representation" with the activity "King's M&Ms" and understood how unfair King George III was to the colonists (no one liked losing their money -M&Ms- to unfair taxes), declared our indendence from Britain and are now fighting in the Revolutionary War. We will continue to study the beginnings of this great nation in the 2nd 9 weeks.
Science: We studied science lab safety, what tools scientists use, the properties of matter (we even made ice cream to show changing states!), types of energy, electricity and the effects of force and motion. We participated in numerous labs: making a circuit, and even designing our own experiment to test force and motion using the scientific method.
ELAR: We studied how to write good sentences, types of verbs, and types of nouns in language arts. In reading, we spent a lot of time studying our schema, metacognition (thinking about our reading), foreshadowing, comparing texts, and inferencing---all very hard skills. All students took the "fake reading" pledge to prove their determination to go deeper into their reading, using textual clues to draw conclusions about the plot, setting, and characters. We will continue to study inferencing this next 9 weeks!
A big thank you to all of the parents who have continuously supported us by sending in supplies for our classroom for activities and labs. Please continue to be on the lookout for SignUp Genius invites for future events/activities.
Our Fall Carnival is on Sat., Nov. 9th from 1-5 p.m. and we are still in need of parent volunteers to man our two 5th grade booths. Please check the email from SignUp Genius.
Parent/Teacher conferences are coming up. In order to receive your student's report card you MUST attend a face-to-face conference with me. I no longer have slots for 10/30 or 11/4. I still have several on 11/7. Please sign up for a slot!
Don't forget that Nov. 7 & 8 are early release days.
Thanks so much for all you do and have a great weekend!
Math: We studied place value up to the hundred billions (WOW! So many zeros!), adding and subtracting decimals, multiplication with 2 and 3 digit multipliers, and division with 2 and 3 digit dividends. We started our guided math groups and they have been working beautifully in their small groups and self-managing their behavior. We are now moving into fractions.
Social Studies: We explored the world of the Native Americans, dove deep into the depths of the oceans to see what the early explorers carried to the New World, sailed across the Atlantic with the Pilgrims, colonized the original 13 colonies, reenacted "No taxation without representation" with the activity "King's M&Ms" and understood how unfair King George III was to the colonists (no one liked losing their money -M&Ms- to unfair taxes), declared our indendence from Britain and are now fighting in the Revolutionary War. We will continue to study the beginnings of this great nation in the 2nd 9 weeks.
Science: We studied science lab safety, what tools scientists use, the properties of matter (we even made ice cream to show changing states!), types of energy, electricity and the effects of force and motion. We participated in numerous labs: making a circuit, and even designing our own experiment to test force and motion using the scientific method.
ELAR: We studied how to write good sentences, types of verbs, and types of nouns in language arts. In reading, we spent a lot of time studying our schema, metacognition (thinking about our reading), foreshadowing, comparing texts, and inferencing---all very hard skills. All students took the "fake reading" pledge to prove their determination to go deeper into their reading, using textual clues to draw conclusions about the plot, setting, and characters. We will continue to study inferencing this next 9 weeks!
A big thank you to all of the parents who have continuously supported us by sending in supplies for our classroom for activities and labs. Please continue to be on the lookout for SignUp Genius invites for future events/activities.
Our Fall Carnival is on Sat., Nov. 9th from 1-5 p.m. and we are still in need of parent volunteers to man our two 5th grade booths. Please check the email from SignUp Genius.
Parent/Teacher conferences are coming up. In order to receive your student's report card you MUST attend a face-to-face conference with me. I no longer have slots for 10/30 or 11/4. I still have several on 11/7. Please sign up for a slot!
Don't forget that Nov. 7 & 8 are early release days.
Thanks so much for all you do and have a great weekend!
Monday, October 14, 2013
Wow a wonderful, hard-working class I have!!!! Your students have been working extremely hard the last week to master long division, electricity, adjectives, and all of the objectives we've taught them!
Just a recap: In math, we have been working hard in our guided math groups on all of the objectives we needed to accomplish this first 9 weeks. We've studied place value, adding and subtracting decimals, multiplication, long division with 2 and 3 digit divisors, and interpreting the remainder. We have our first 9 weeks test this coming Friday. Please make sure your scholar gets plenty of rest! We will be working on the objectives they are weakest in in our small groups this week to make sure they are fully prepared!
In Social Studies, we studied why the explorers came to the New World, the growing tensions betweent the colonists and Britain and slavery in the United States. Junior Achievement starts this week on Friday in social studies.
In science we have talked about matter, electrical circuits and will be finishing up reflections and refractions and bending light this week.
In ELAR, we are starting a new book this week in our book clubs, we've talked about inferencing, foreshadowing and will be comparing texts this week. We explored the different parts of speech: verbs, types of nouns, and adjectives. We will be finishing up pronouns this week.
We are now officially in our 9 week assessment window and will be giving 9 week assessments in social studies, math, and science!
Thank you again for all of the supplies you have sent up via SignUp Genius. Your support is much appreciated.
Don't forget the Scarecrow Festival is this weekend. Come out and see our choir and trashcan band perform!
Just a recap: In math, we have been working hard in our guided math groups on all of the objectives we needed to accomplish this first 9 weeks. We've studied place value, adding and subtracting decimals, multiplication, long division with 2 and 3 digit divisors, and interpreting the remainder. We have our first 9 weeks test this coming Friday. Please make sure your scholar gets plenty of rest! We will be working on the objectives they are weakest in in our small groups this week to make sure they are fully prepared!
In Social Studies, we studied why the explorers came to the New World, the growing tensions betweent the colonists and Britain and slavery in the United States. Junior Achievement starts this week on Friday in social studies.
In science we have talked about matter, electrical circuits and will be finishing up reflections and refractions and bending light this week.
In ELAR, we are starting a new book this week in our book clubs, we've talked about inferencing, foreshadowing and will be comparing texts this week. We explored the different parts of speech: verbs, types of nouns, and adjectives. We will be finishing up pronouns this week.
We are now officially in our 9 week assessment window and will be giving 9 week assessments in social studies, math, and science!
Thank you again for all of the supplies you have sent up via SignUp Genius. Your support is much appreciated.
Don't forget the Scarecrow Festival is this weekend. Come out and see our choir and trashcan band perform!
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
CogAT Testing
Parents, don't forget we will be taking the CogAT test Tuesday, Oct. 8 - Thursday, Oct. 10. Please make sure your students get plenty of rest and eat a good breakfast!
Monday, September 30, 2013
I hope everyone had a FANTASTIC 3-day weekend and had the opportunity to enjoy the Ft. Bend Co. Fair. Here is a recap of the last week in 5th grade:
Math: Your scholars were hard at work finishing up their multiplication review and found different methods to help them tackle the bigger multiplication problems. We started reviewing long division, proper placement of the quotient and moved into our smaller guided math groups. Your scholars were hard at work using manipulatives to help build up their division skills. This week we will continue working on long division.
Science: In science we had a busy four days working in the science lab and applying what we knew about the properties of matter. We built a density column to test buoyancy and density and the students enjoyed their colorful density columns. We also visited the science lab to make our very own ice cream. The students were able to observe freezing and using salt to lower the freezing temperature of water. After some heavy shaking, flipping, and rolling of our bags of ice cream solution, rock salt and ice we were able to taste our yummy creations while learning! This week we will be studying energy conversions and how energy changes forms!
Social Studies: We were able to finish talking about why early Europeans left for the New World and talked about the different explorers who set out to find land and riches for their home countries. This week we will be talking about the different exploration routes that were used by the explorers.
ELAR: In our book clubs, we were able to finish reading and discussing our novel, Chocolate Fever and watched the video. We talked about all of the different types of verbs and how they help to make our writing more interesting. This week we will finish up verbs and move into adjectives and writing descriptive stories. We will be discussing foreshadowing and how to use author clues to foreshadow upcoming events in our stories.
Again, thank you so much to all of the parents who have been sending much-needed supplies for our activities and labs. Your support is much appreciated!
Math: Your scholars were hard at work finishing up their multiplication review and found different methods to help them tackle the bigger multiplication problems. We started reviewing long division, proper placement of the quotient and moved into our smaller guided math groups. Your scholars were hard at work using manipulatives to help build up their division skills. This week we will continue working on long division.
Science: In science we had a busy four days working in the science lab and applying what we knew about the properties of matter. We built a density column to test buoyancy and density and the students enjoyed their colorful density columns. We also visited the science lab to make our very own ice cream. The students were able to observe freezing and using salt to lower the freezing temperature of water. After some heavy shaking, flipping, and rolling of our bags of ice cream solution, rock salt and ice we were able to taste our yummy creations while learning! This week we will be studying energy conversions and how energy changes forms!
Social Studies: We were able to finish talking about why early Europeans left for the New World and talked about the different explorers who set out to find land and riches for their home countries. This week we will be talking about the different exploration routes that were used by the explorers.
ELAR: In our book clubs, we were able to finish reading and discussing our novel, Chocolate Fever and watched the video. We talked about all of the different types of verbs and how they help to make our writing more interesting. This week we will finish up verbs and move into adjectives and writing descriptive stories. We will be discussing foreshadowing and how to use author clues to foreshadow upcoming events in our stories.
Again, thank you so much to all of the parents who have been sending much-needed supplies for our activities and labs. Your support is much appreciated!
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Western Wear!!!
Don't forget to wear western wear tomorrow!!! The class with the most participation wins their teacher a free jean pass for all of next week!!! We all know how coveted these passes are for teachers ;)! Help me win!!!
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Don't forget to remind your scholars that they have a Chapter 3 test in social studies tomorrow. Check inside the planner/agenda and you will find a sticky label with a website on it. This is a great study tool for all chapter tests.
Here is the link in case the planner/agenda was forgotten at school: http://www.tutorial.teachtci.com
Here is the link in case the planner/agenda was forgotten at school: http://www.tutorial.teachtci.com
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weekend! We have been busy at work the last three weeks getting settled, learning expectations, creating a "family" environment and learning, learning, learning! I am so excited to have each and everyone of your wonderful scholars and watching them grow educationally this year. I will be posting at least weekly to my blog and our class Facebook page to keep you connected to what we are doing here in my classroom at Huggins. Sorry this is so long and has taken me this long to get this started but I hope you enjoy reading about everything that is happening here in the 5th grade.
Just a recap of the things we have been studying the last three weeks:
Math: We have covered Place Value, Rounding/Estimating, and Adding/Subtracting decimals. We are moving into multiplication of two and three-digit numbers and problem-solving. Please work with your scholars at home on multiplication facts as this is the foundation for everything we are learning. We will be testing over Adding/Subtracting decimals on Tuesday so please review with your scholar at home. Remind them about lining up decimals, "Zero, the Hero", and that every digit has a "home". :)
Social Studies: We have studied map skills, geography, and Native American cultural regions. Next we will be studying the Constitution in honor of Constitution Week and will be introducing why Europeans left for the New World. In your scholar's agendas/planners is a sticky label that has the website for one of the textbooks, History Alive, that we use and has practice assessments. This is a great tool for studying for chapter tests. We will be testing on Thursday, Sept.19th on Chapter 3.
ELAR (Reading, Language Arts, Writing): We have studied how to choose "just right" books, "Reading is thinking", schema, metacognition, read the stories "Goin' Someplace Special" and "Shiloh". We have discussed and practiced expectations/roles for our literature circles or what we like to call our "Book Talks" :)! In Language Arts, we have reviewed simple/complete subjects/predicates and in Writing we have brainstormed ideas on what people may write about pulling prior knowledge and connecting to our real lives. Next week we will start our first "Book Talks" over the novel Chocolate Fever, different types of nouns, and inferencing.
Science: We have been mad scientists over the last three weeks! We studied science lab safety rules, science tools and the scientific method. We visited the lab twice and did two labs: one measuring using scientific tools, a bubble gum lab (YUMMY!!!) to introduce the scientific method and measuring mass. We also did a lab in the classroom the first week, "Marble Ramp" where the students had to use only what they were given and their problem solving skills to build a ramp for their marble out of one sheet of newspaper, a meter long piece of masking tape, one marble and the ramp had to be no more than 25 cm high and the ramp had to change direction once. The students had a blast and I was so excited to see all of the creative ways they built their ramps!
Communication: I have set-up a Sign-Up Genius account and have sent out the first invite. We are needing some supplies for our upcoming science labs. Please check your emails! I will also be setting up a Remind101 account just for our class. Be on the lookout for the link.
Just a recap of the things we have been studying the last three weeks:
Math: We have covered Place Value, Rounding/Estimating, and Adding/Subtracting decimals. We are moving into multiplication of two and three-digit numbers and problem-solving. Please work with your scholars at home on multiplication facts as this is the foundation for everything we are learning. We will be testing over Adding/Subtracting decimals on Tuesday so please review with your scholar at home. Remind them about lining up decimals, "Zero, the Hero", and that every digit has a "home". :)
Social Studies: We have studied map skills, geography, and Native American cultural regions. Next we will be studying the Constitution in honor of Constitution Week and will be introducing why Europeans left for the New World. In your scholar's agendas/planners is a sticky label that has the website for one of the textbooks, History Alive, that we use and has practice assessments. This is a great tool for studying for chapter tests. We will be testing on Thursday, Sept.19th on Chapter 3.
ELAR (Reading, Language Arts, Writing): We have studied how to choose "just right" books, "Reading is thinking", schema, metacognition, read the stories "Goin' Someplace Special" and "Shiloh". We have discussed and practiced expectations/roles for our literature circles or what we like to call our "Book Talks" :)! In Language Arts, we have reviewed simple/complete subjects/predicates and in Writing we have brainstormed ideas on what people may write about pulling prior knowledge and connecting to our real lives. Next week we will start our first "Book Talks" over the novel Chocolate Fever, different types of nouns, and inferencing.
Science: We have been mad scientists over the last three weeks! We studied science lab safety rules, science tools and the scientific method. We visited the lab twice and did two labs: one measuring using scientific tools, a bubble gum lab (YUMMY!!!) to introduce the scientific method and measuring mass. We also did a lab in the classroom the first week, "Marble Ramp" where the students had to use only what they were given and their problem solving skills to build a ramp for their marble out of one sheet of newspaper, a meter long piece of masking tape, one marble and the ramp had to be no more than 25 cm high and the ramp had to change direction once. The students had a blast and I was so excited to see all of the creative ways they built their ramps!
Communication: I have set-up a Sign-Up Genius account and have sent out the first invite. We are needing some supplies for our upcoming science labs. Please check your emails! I will also be setting up a Remind101 account just for our class. Be on the lookout for the link.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Howdy and welcome to my classroom! I am beyond excited to be "Wild About Huggins" this year and cannot wait to see what this school year will bring. I am brand new to Huggins but not to teaching. This is my 10th year of teaching. I am originally from Angleton, TX. I graduated from Angleton HS and the University of Houston. I spent the first 8 years of my teaching career in Columbia-Brazoria ISD where I taught everything from 6th grade social studies/science to 4th grade math, science and language arts to PK-6 art. I then spent my 9th year of teaching at Spring HS as a CTE/Global Business teacher. After my husband's career moved us out to Katy, I decided to join the wonderful community of LCISD. I cannot wait to work alongside you to help make your scholar's 5th grade year a complete success!
I will be using this blog, as well as a class Facebook page, to help better communicate the exciting things happening in my classroom. Please also feel free to check out my class list at www.teacherlists.com as we are always needing the "gear" to help make this year a success! Check back often as I will also be posting pictures and videos from our classroom!
I will be using this blog, as well as a class Facebook page, to help better communicate the exciting things happening in my classroom. Please also feel free to check out my class list at www.teacherlists.com as we are always needing the "gear" to help make this year a success! Check back often as I will also be posting pictures and videos from our classroom!
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