I hope everyone enjoyed the short school week and long weekend and hopefully everyone was able to get out and enjoy the fair parade and or the Fort Bend County Fair!  Here is what is going on this week:

Math: We are studying how to multiply decimals and students are expected to be able to multiply them in a multitude of ways: using base 10 blocks, using pictorial representation, hundredths grids and the standard algorithm.  I have posted several videos to my Facebook class page.  If you are unsure of how to help your student on homework please take a minute to view the videos to see the different methods we are using.  We will also be multiplying with money this week and will end the week on Friday with a spiral review test over multiplication with decimals.

Science:  In science we are studying electricity and the uses of it.  We will be doing a hands-on lab this week.   We will also be discussing electrical circuits, conductors and insulators.  We will have an electricity assessment on Friday over this lesson.

Social Studies: We are moving rather quickly through History Alive as we have a lot of material to cover this nine weeks.  We have finished up Ch. 5 and are starting Ch. 6, Early English Settlements and will be taking a quiz over this chapter on Wed.  Please have your students visit the History Alive site and take the practice quizzes. Success on these guarantee success on the quizzes in class.

ELAR: We have finished our first written composition for the nine weeks and will be starting our second this week.  In reading, we are discussing foreshadowing and incidents in the plot that help to advance the story.  We will also be continuing our novel study on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Don't forget that progress reports go out this week and need to be signed and returned promptly. 

Also, we are currently in the process of earning Class Dojo points for good behavior and citizenship.  The students can use these to turn in for different incentives throughout the nine weeks.  Please encourage your student to practice great citizenship!
Have a great week!

We had another great week here at Huggins.  Thank you to all of you who came out and supported the school at our first Spirit Night at Pepperoni's!  We had a great turn-out and all money raised from Spirit Nights comes back to benefit your students!

Here is what is going on this week:

Math: We are still working on long division and then will be moving into patterns with decimals.  We will have a Module 2 test on Wednesday over multiplication and division.  If you haven't had a chance to "like" our class Facebook page please do so.  I know, just from feedback from your students, that some of you are having problems helping them with homework because of the new methods we are using to help them decompose numbers and make it easier to multiply and divide large numbers. I have videotaped me working two different division problems and posted them on our class Facebook page to help you better understand how we are working the problems.  Some students are very familiar with the "old way" we learned also known as the standard algorithm method, but we still want them to understand the "why" behind the computation.  This is where the concrete and pictorial methods come in.  Please take a moment to look at the videos.  I am in the process of uploading them to my YouTube channel for those who don't have access to Facebook.

Science: In science we have finished up "Classifying Matter" and are now moving into "Uses of Energy".  We will be going to the Computer Lab to work on an assignment this week and then starting our unit on energy.

Social Studies: We have finished Chapter 3 in History Alive on European explorers.  Please have your students visit the tutorial page to take the practice quizzes.  We will have the Ch. 4 quiz on Tuesday.  (It seems to be a pattern so far for Tuesday but it has just happened to work out that way.) We will start Ch. 5: Routes of Exploration on Monday.

ELAR: We are starting our novel study on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and are finishing up our final drafts for our first compositions this week.  They are due by Thursday.  We have to write two major compositions a nine weeks grading period.  We will be talking about inferencing this week in reading as well.

Have an awesome weekend and don't forget that this is a short week.  Friday is a student/staff holiday for the Fort Bend County Fair.  I hope to see some familiar faces out at the parade at the fairgrounds on Friday! 

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email me or call me at the school. Agendas need to be checked and signed daily. 

We have a BUSY week ahead of us with a lot of learning planned! 

In Math, we have finished our lesson on multiplication and have started on division.  We have showed the students a method using concrete math to help them see the visual on how we divide.  I will be posting a video on my class Facebook page to help parents with this method.  I know it is new and is something you have probably never seen before. We have a spiral review on Friday over everything we have covered.

In Social Studies: We are still studying Native American and why Europeans left for the new world. Please continue to remind your students to visit the History Alive tutorial page to help study for quizzes.

In Science: We are studying mixtures and solutions and how we separate matter by their physical properties.  The students have all been working on their note-taking skills and all new vocabulary can be found in their science journals. We have a test on Friday over Mixtures and Solutions.

In ELAR, we are working diligently on our rough drafts for the first composition of the year.  We are also starting a novel study with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. We are continuing our study of root words and making new words with affixes.

Don't forget that this Thursday is our first Spirit Night at Pepperoni's in Fulshear.  A part of the sales comes back to the school to benefit your children.  Please don't forget to mention Huggins while you are there!

Once again we had a fantastic week last week and accomplished A LOT of learning!

This week we are studying:

Math: We are finishing up decimals and diving into multiplication with two-digits.  We will be taking a spiral review on Friday.

Science: We have started our unit on Matter and finished up Scientific Tools. Quiz your students on the differences between the different states of matter, how density affects objects (Do they sink or float?), and please make sure to log in to the STEMscopes website at:

https://n11074d41264.acceleratelearning.com/login

Several assignments have been assigned for homework and they are due by the end of the week.  The user name is first initial and last name (one word) and their password is "student". This website works best with Google Chrome.

Social Studies: We have finished up the geography refresher chapter in History Alive and are now in our Native American unit.  Please have your student visit the History Alive website at http://teachtci.tutorial.com (also use Google Chrome) to take the practice quizzes.  Student success on our quizzes is definitely impacted by the amount of time they spend taking the practice quizzes.

ELAR: We are studying "schema" and how to me thoughtful readers and to make connections in our reading.  Students should be reading 20 minutes every night in order to meet their AR goal for the nine weeks.

Don't forget:
Tonight is our Watchdogs kick-off at 6 pm for kids and dads! Come check out this wonderful program and enjoy some free pizza!

Thank you to everyone for coming out to our Parent Information Night last week!  Have a great week!

Wow! What an awesome first week we had!  I am thoroughly enjoying getting to know your children!  I just know that this year will be nothing short of fantastic. 

Just a recap of last week:

Math: We talked about place value and decimals to the thousandths place.  We also reviewed standard and word form.  This week will continue to talk about decimals and how to order them.

Science: We have hit the ground running with our science and are studying the Scientific Method and the scientific process.  We did one lab and one observation teacher-led lab.  We talked about the different types of science tools and how to use them.

Social Studies: We talked about geography and how to read maps.  We have a History Alive quiz tomorrow. Please utilize the tutorial link I sent last week for your child to practice.  This will ensure that they know the proper material for the quiz.  This week we will be starting our unit on Native Americans.

Reading: We talked about picking "just right" books and started reviewing about why we read, metacognition and our schema.  This week we will continue to review these terms and will practice our reading strategies. Your student has already take the AR Star test to set their reading levels. They will need to read 30 minutes every night in order to meet their AR goals for the 9 weeks.  It is a reading grade.

Writing: We are in our Writer's Workshop and talking about why we write and the writing process.  We will continue to delve into the writing process and will begin the first of two writing compositions for the 9 weeks.

Don't forget to sign up for Remind to receive text reminders.

Tonight from 6 - 7:30 we will have our Parent Information Night.  This is strictly for parents only and there will not be any activities for students. 

Thank you for your continued support and I am looking forward to seeing you all tonight!

Thank you to everyone for the sweet cards and snacks for Teacher Appreciation Week.  It was very thoughtful of all of my students!

 

Just a few reminders for next week:

 

STAAR Math is Wednesday and STAAR Reading is Tuesday for those that didn’t pass the first administration. Please make sure your student, if they are testing, has a good night’s rest and a good breakfast.  Please have them dress in layers as it may be cold in the room they are testing in.

 

I am attaching 2 information sheets about Austin’s Week next week.  He is a 5^th grade student in Ms. Suttles’ class and has muscular dystrophy.  He is raising funds to help support his charity of choice.  It is only $1 per day and is for a good cause.  Please see the attached fliers for information.

 

In Math we finished up our personal financial literacy unit and your student should now be able to tell you the difference between gross and net income, the different types of taxes and how to balance a budget.

 

We are talking still about the world wars in social studies and will be delving deeper in the coming weeks.

 

In reading we are finishing up Number the Stars and will be starting another novel right after.

 

In science we are still working on our health unit and learning about our bodies.

 

Please check your student’s HOWL folder as there were many informative notes that went home for the coming weeks!

 

Have a great weekend!

First I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to Mrs. Vargas, Jeri Condit, and Rob Condit for all of the volunteering that you have provided my classroom this year.  The Volunteer Luncheon was a lot of fun on Monday and it was nice to see so many faces here enjoying the afternoon.

Couple of reminders:
Those that did not pass the 1st administration of the STAAR are rocking Reading Camp, Part 2 this week and I have no doubt we will have a 100% pass.  Please return the STAAR SSI letters that went home last Friday.  I need those signed copies to return to the office.  Thank you for helping make this a very successful year!

Math: We are covering Personal Financial Literacy and the students are working hard to understand the different types of taxes and how they affect purchases and payroll.

Reading: We are still working hard on our reading skills and objectives in preparation for 6th grade along with our grammar skills.

Science: We have started our Health unit and the students are learning all about their bodies and how to be healthy.

Social Studies: We are covering WWI, WWII, and present-day. 

Hope everyone has a fantastic week!

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!