Mr. Dearing's Classroom News

2009 School Year

2009-10-18T19:22:00.001-07:00

I got to thinking about how long it's been since I've posted to my blog. Trouble is, the school district blocks blogs, so current students can't use this blog in the computer lab, and not many use their internet service at home to do school things! Good idea - I wonder how much use it would really get if I kept it up!

Spring Break

2009-03-24T17:41:00.004-07:00

I hope you're all having a wonderful Spring Break. I'm at a wonderful resort in Bear Lake, Utah. It's cold and snowing, but not enough to ruin a great week. See all of you when you return to school!

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-12T05:45:00.002-08:00

Do you know how Valentine's Day began? Click here to see a video from the history channel to learn about it: Valentine's Day History

It's a New Quarter

2009-01-20T21:16:00.002-08:00

Sometimes it seems that we've barely started this year, and yet we've already had a successful first half of 5th grade. Looking back at what we've learned so far, I'm very pleased. With the election of a new president, our class is looking to new beginnings too. What we make of our future is our choice. I challenge you to look ahead to the coming weeks and make a determination to focus on our tasks, continue to practice responsibility by doing your daily work, and improve in our citizenship and the way we treat ourselves and each other. As your teacher, I also promise to do everything I can do to help you reach your potential. You have a wonderful future in store for you, and it's my job to help you prepare for it. Let's begin the new quarter strong together!

Happy New Year

2009-01-03T19:50:00.001-08:00

Welcome back to class on Monday. It's been a wonderful, snowy Christmas break, and now we're ready to finish up the first two weeks of the school year strong! These upcoming two weeks are the last two weeks of the second grading quarter, and the report cards will show your success in all of the areas we've worked so hard since 5th grade started. You'll appreciate the new seating arrangement too, with friends in your working group that you may not have spent much time with before. Come back with a smile - and excited to learn!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-22T08:13:00.003-08:00

I can't give away the secret of the gifts that we made in class for parents, but I can let you know that our class has been invited to share some of these treasures in a display of recycling in January. I'll let you know more about this when you come back in January.

I hope that your Christmas break is a wonderful one. The snow makes it feel very much like holidays, especially having cold weather outside and hot cocoa inside. Thank you all very much for the special holiday cards and gifts. See you in the new year!

Geometry: Tangrams

2006-03-23T10:38:00.001-08:00

Our class is learning about TANGRAMS as we study geometric shapes. By linking to this site, you can arrange the shapes and learn about tangrams with us. A click of the right mouse button will rotate the shape, and shapes can be arranged to create interesting patterns and pictures!

The Planets

2006-02-08T14:43:00.000-08:00

The class is beginning to study the Solar System and its planets. So far, we've learned about the Inner and Outer planets, as well as a few fact about each planet. We're taking the information we are learning, as well as finding pictures to illustrate each planet, and combining the pictures and information into a PowerPoint presentation in the computer lab. We'll be sharing our presentations with our 3rd grade friends in Mrs. Mahler's class in coming weeks. Ask your child about the PowerPoint presentation he or she is working on!

Instructional Focus - Elapsed Time

2006-01-24T16:07:00.000-08:00

Every week, students study two important subjects that are covered by the ISATs. This week, we're discovering how to figure elapsed time by using both digital and analog clocks. Students are creating their own problems to share and solve. An example of one student's problem is:
I started cooking pancakes at 4:5. I was done 2 hours and twenty minutes later. What time was I done?

Multiplication Facts

2006-01-24T15:58:00.000-08:00

We've started learning our multiplication facts! The facts for x1 and x2 are becoming fairly solid, but most students need to work on the speed at which they can give an answer. These facts can be practiced with a deck of regular cards in much the same way as students play "WAR." A deck of cards is divided between two players, with face cards removed. Students flip the top card of each stack fac up. The student who can gives teh correct product of these two cards wins the cards. Play continues until all cards are used. The player with the most cards is the winner!

IRI scores through the ROOF!

2006-01-24T15:36:00.000-08:00

Our class raised scores from 52% reading at or above grade level in the Fall to greater than 90% of the class reading at or above grade level as of this week! The Winter IRI scores showed that out of the 10 students who needed improvement in order to reach grade level, 8 students gained significantly and reached their goal. The two students who need to improve are working to reach their own goals. It's very important to realize that we have another IRI in the Spring, and our reading fluency will still need to show gains. The Winter fluency goal was 128 words per minute. Our goal for the Spring is 164 words per minute. Every student should continue reading aloud every night to meet this coming goal! To help families understand how to work with their children, the school will sponsor an IRI night for 3rd graders on Thursday, February the 16th. Please plan to attend! We'll work from 6:00 until 7:15 with specific strategies to help you understand what the test covers and how to help your child prepare for the IRI in May. Look for a note this week about the coming IRI night.