I hope that everyone had a nice and relaxing weekend and was able to spend some time out in the beautiful weather we had.  Just a recap of what has been happening in our room and what is coming up:

Our Huggins 5th graders spent a fun-filled week last week in Science STAAR Camp learning, exploring, and reviewing for our test this Wednesday. I know that they are more than ready for this test and will do a great job.  Hopefully this is the last STAAR test they will have to take this year and that we had 100% pass the first administration!!!

This week we are also covering:

Math: We are gearing up for 6th grade math so we are now focusing on the gaps and topics that all 5th graders need to know before next school year.  We are covering financial literacy and taxes this week.

Science: all review this week over all objectives.

Social Studies: We are studying Ch. 20 in the History Alive book which covers Modern America.  There will be a quiz next week over this chapter.

Reading: We have been working on our writing skills and grammar skills.  This week we are doing an in-class project.

Friday is a movie day to let the students relax after finishing up all rounds of testing.

Thank you to all of the parents who volunteered for our Hands-On Science labs last week.  We appreciate all of you!

We have been so busy finishing up all objectives for the STAAR test.  We will be taking the first administration for the math and reading STAAR tests on April 1st and 2nd.  Just a couple of reminders for this coming week and the test days:

Please have your students practice on Study Island nightly.  All of the objectives have been assigned for weeks under "Math STAAR Review" and "Reading STAAR Review".  These games and lessons are designed to help your students master the objectives.

They will be attending camp sessions all week to focus on specific objectives that have been challenging and will be participating in activities with each teacher in their groups.  They will be rotating through all 4 teachers in their respective groups.

A Sign-up Genius email has been sent out.  Each teacher has activities planned that require some hands-on supplies.  We are in need of snack sized Skittles packages (9-10 big bags), Smarties candies (one for each of the 90 students) and then peppermints for their STAAR snack bags (3 peppermints per student for a total of 270 mints). 

They will need their electronic devices with a QR scanner app for reading camps thsi week also. 

Thank you for everything you do for our students!  I am confident that they will all do well.  Please offer encouragement and motivation to help tone down test anxiety leading up to the test. 

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

Phew!  This week has flown by.  Just a couple of reminders before I sadly part with your children for a week.  Mrs. Moreno husband is working on the 5th grade slideshow and is still in need of pictures.  Please send those up if you can.  All pictures will be returned to you when they are done with them.  Study Island should be utilized every evening.  Some homework assignments have been assigned through Study Island and others are practice.  They should be working on the site daily to strengthen their skills.  We only have one week of instruction and one week of STAAR camp before the first round of tests start on April 1st.  Remember that 5th grade is an SSI (Student Success Initiative) year and they MUST pass both the Reading and Math tests in order to be promoted to 6th grade.  Please encourage them at home they need to stay focused, remember to use their strategies and to take the tests very seriously.  We have been working hard and I have no doubt that most, if not all, will do VERY well on these tests.


Math: We are finishing up the last objective before the tests.  We will be working on Probability and Predictions the week we get back.


Social Studies: We are finishing up the Civil War and Reconstruction and the 3rd Nine Weeks Assessment will be given the Friday after we get back.


Science: We have finished up Inherited Traits which is the last objective before the STAAR test.  We will be spending the bulk of the time after the Math and Reading STAAR tests in April getting prepared for the Science STAAR that will occur at the end of April.


Reading: We are still practicing our strategies and have finished up all objectives needed for the test.  Please have your students read nightly in order to meet their AR goal.  The end of the nine weeks will be March 28th.


I hope y'all have a nice and relaxing Spring Break and hopefully the weather cooperates with us and you get a chance to get outside and do some fun activities before your kiddos come back!

This has been busy short week of school, but we accomplished a lot!  We took the Science STAAR benchmark, finished up adaptations in science, started the Civil War in social studies, and discusses themes in Reading.

Next Week:

Math-We have been working hard on measurement and this next week will be taking it a step farther.  We will be working on conversions in measurement with both customary and metric units.  Have your student work on www.studyisland.com at home on a daily basis.

Science: We are now moving into the science objective on Environmental Changes.  We will be doing a couple of fun activities plus spend time on Stemscopes and Edusmart to master this objective.  Remember that science adaptation projects are due Monday and will be 10 points late for every day after with no projects accepted after the 28th.

Social Studies: We are finishing up the causes of the Civil War and our Ch. 18 History Alive quiz will be on Wednesday.

We are in need of chart paper for our anchor charts.  Thank you to all of you for the support you provide that makes this classroom a successful learning zone!

Phew!  The last few weeks have been crazy!  With ice days, benchmarks, and Valentine's Day we have been busy, busy, busy.

In Math we wrapped up Patterns and Expressions and moved into Geometric figures.  We studied the different types of figures and their characteristics.  We then moved into talking about ordered pairs and the coordinate plane and was a skill that all students in my class mastered.  We are currently working on measurement so please practice with your student at home: give them a ruler and have them practice measuring various items throughout the house to the nearest inch, 1/2" and 1/4".  We worked on measuring shapes using area, perimeter, and volume.  The formulas do not have to be memorized but they do need to know how to apply them to problems given a certain set of data. We will begin talking about conversions this week and the differences between the metric and customary systems of measurement.

In science, we have covered the different biomes, ecosystems, and how the different parts of a food web/chain depend on each other to keep the ecosystem flourishing.  They have a science at-home project that was assigned last Monday and will be due on Monday, Feb. 24th.  Any day it is late, 10 points will be deducted with NO projects being accepted after the 28th.  They were given a rubric with the requirements.

In social studies, we finished up the first Industrial Revolution and discussed how America made great gains in industry during the 1800s.  We are now moving into the Civil War and will be spending the next couple of weeks discussing it.

In reading we have finished discussing Author's Purpose and will now be moving into the genre of drama.  Please make sure that your students are reading at least 30 minutes every night to meet their AR goal for the 9 weeks.

We took benchmarks in reading and math last week and scores were sent home in the HOWL folders.  We will be testing on Tuesday the 18th in Science.  Please make sure your scholars are well-rested and have had a good breakfast.  Only a few more weeks until the STAAR and we will be super busy brushing up on our skills in preparation for these very important tests!

We've had a fun couple of weeks in my room despite the frigid temperatures outside!  Here's a recap of what we have been studying and what is coming up over the next few weeks:

Math: We finished up patterns and expressions and moved into the coordinate plane, ordered pairs, and transformations.  Please have your students practice at home on graph paper drawing reflections, translations, and rotations of geometric shapes.  Practice makes permanent!  We are currently working on assignments on www.studyisland.com. We will be assigning assignments on this site to be worked on at home.  The countdown to STAAR has begun and the more practice your student has, the better prepared they will be for the test.  Their usernames are firstinitiallastname@huggins (i.e. tmefford@huggins) and their passwords are the same as their AR password.  It can be accessed anywhere where there is an internet connection.  We are also visiting the computer lab for 40 minutes each week for those students who do not have internet access outside of school.

Social Studies: We finished up the "Diverse Peoples of the West" in the History Alive book and will be spending the next several weeks studying the Industrial Revolution with one project in the coming weeks: a brochure on the different inventions of the 1800s.  This will be both a take home/in-school project and will be due on Thursday, Feb. 13th.  We have also been building our ecocolumns and have the aquarium and terrarium sections set up.  We have fish and snails and are currently waiting on our plants to grow!

Science: We finished up the Earth and Moon with a neat Hands-On Science day in the lab.  We will spend the next several weeks studying the biomes of the world.  They are currently working in class in partners on a poster project that will be due Feb. 6th.  They were given a rubric and know the expectations for the project.

ELAR: We have been discussing Author's Purpose and point of view in Reading.  We are also working on persuasive texts and their characteristics.  The new nine weeks grading period has started and students should be reading for at least 30 minutes each night in order to reach their AR goal.  The AR goal is ONE grade that goes in on the last day of the nine weeks and is calculated based on the percentage of their goal that they met.

We are still needing supplies in class: 6 crates for organizing their work with hanging file folders, posterboard, and dry erase markers.  If you can provide any of these that would be greatly appreciated!

I will be starting STAAR tutuorials for those students that need it in Feb. I will send more information as soon as I have everything scheduled.  Don't forget that tonight is "Sonnapalooza" and that you still have time to sign up for our 5K, "Sweetheart Stroll" which will be held in Cross Creek Ranch next Saturday morning!

I hope that all of my families enjoyed the time off from school and that your scholars got plenty of rest!  I am also very thankful for the many generous gifts that were brought up here for me in celebration of Christmas.  I feel truly blessed to be a part of this community and school and am looking forward to many years as a Huggins Hound.  Thank you for all that you do in support of us and the children!

We are gearing up for a very busy semester in preparation for our STAAR tests in April.  This last week was busy and your children hit the ground running as soon as they hit the doors on Tuesday.  Just a recap of what has been going on:

Math: We have finished up patterns and expressions and are moving into geometry.  We took a spiral review last week and a post test to gauge how much progress your child has made thus far.  We are starting geometric shapes this week and will be taking our math 9 weeks assessment on Wednesday.

Science: We finished up climate and weather before the break and we dove into the Earth, Sun, and Moon and their characteristics.  We are also starting our terrariums next week so please be on the lookout for a SignUp Genius email since we will be needing a few supplies for our lab.  Our Science 9 weeks assessment is Tuesday, Jan. 14th.

Reading: In reading we have moved into poetry and figurative language.  We will be studying what characteristics make up a poem and the students are learning words like hyperbole, rhyme scheme, meter, simile and metaphor.  Remember that Friday is the last day of the 9 weeks and is the last day for AR points.  Please encourage your students to read at least 30 minutes per night and to take their AR tests. Reading 9 weeks assessment will be on Wednesday.

Social Studies: We have finished up the early beginnings of our country.  We studied the American Revolution, Manifest Destiny and settling the west, and are now moving into the Mexican-American War and the Industrial Revolution.

Remember that tonight is Huggins Spirit Night at Buffalo Wild Wings Bella Terra!  Come out and support Huggins!  Please be sure to tell them that you are there for Huggins and they will donate 10% back to the school.

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!!!!

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!

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!