Ms. Rumpf's Bat Cave

The Sun, Earth, Moon, and Angry Birds

2012-02-01T13:50:00.003-06:00

This week in Rm 305:

In science, we are learning about the night sky. First, we looked at the Sun. Next, we looked at what causes day and night. Today, we looked at what causes the seasons. The rest of the week we will talk about the moon. We are making a page for each topic and will turn it into a book at the end.
Thursday (tomorrow) is Global Fest. Our class will be learning about Brazil and Malaysia.
In reading, we are working on short passages and focusing on reading comprehension, looking back in the passage to find answer or prove the answer we chose is correct.
In writing, we are continuing to work on descriptive writing. We made a Potato Head. Then we guessed who's Potato Head was who's by the description they wrote. The past couple of days we have designed and a made an Angry Bird to continue using our descriptive writing. (The bird did not have to be angry. We talked about different emotions.) We will write how to make an Angry Bird and write a story about our Angry Bird.
In math, we are continuing on money and review double digit subtraction. Next week we will start on time.

Have a great rest of the week! If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me.

Karen Rumpf

January 9-13

2012-01-09T07:10:00.002-06:00

It is good to be back in the swing of school!

This week we will be working on:
Math- continuing 2 digit subtraction with and without regrouping. I added a link for a website on the right side of blog that helps students visualize what is happening when you are regrouping. It is under link called "Double Digit Subtraction Manipulative". Check it out! Students are also able to access Pearson Math. Their username is :116"their student number" and password is "student number. There is a link on the right side of blog.

Reading- We will be solving mysteries with Jenna and Ranger White. They travel around to National Parks to solve mini-mysteries. Students will work on background knowledge, making predictions, vocabulary, writing sentences, main idea, drawing conclusions, analogy, inference, cause and effect, reading for details, fact or opinion, and predicting outcomes. WOW!! All in a one page reading passage.

Writing- Last week we read Duck on a Bike. We are using the text to help us write our own version of the story. We are working on idea development and organization. We will revise, edit, and publish into a book. They have great ideas!

Science- Last week we worked on natural and manmade resources. This week we will spend a few days on saltwater and freshwater and then go into the water cycle.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.

Thanks!
Karen Rumpf

Happy 2012!

2011-12-28T18:23:00.002-06:00

I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing winter break!
I am looking forward to our spring semester!

Two weeks left until Winter Break! We will be busy!

2011-12-02T15:33:00.004-06:00

Thanks to Mrs. Hanson for coming in today to do a lesson on minerals! Students learned what minerals are used in every day life. They also learned how minerals are mined. They learned this by mining chocolate chips out of cookies with toothpicks and paperclips. There was discussion about how mining effects the earth and the different jobs (geologist, accountant, engineer, environmental scientist) that are involved with mining. So much fun and they got to eat a cookie! What a great day.

Next week:

In reading, we are going to be talking about folktales and understanding characters.

In math, we will continue on double digit addition in story problems.

In science, we will start talking about natural and man made resources. Mrs. Hanson's lesson was a great intro.

In social studies, we will be researching our heritage (culture and traditions) of our students in our class. Please look for an email with the interview questions attached.

In writing, we will continue to write procedural (how to) writing. We are writing about something we can teach someone to do or make.

It's time for our 2nd annual Holidays and Festivals Around the World!

On Tuesday, December 6 at 6 p.m. in the LME Cafeteria, we invite families to learn about holiday and festival celebrations in the U.S. and around the world that occur throughout the year. The evening offers musical performances by our 2nd graders and our LME choir! Most interesting and fun will be the opportunity to visit many displays to learn about different holidays and festivals. There will be crafts, games, and food to taste! The event begins at 6:00 p.m. to allow for enjoyment of the displays and activities. There will be a brief official PTA meeting* at 6:45. The musical performances will follow this meeting.

BoxTop Mania
Join our school to help raise money through collections of boxtops. In your child' Monday folder, you will find a form that will help your child keep track of the number of boxtops your family collect. One complete form will raise $1 and every dollar counts. You may turn the form in when you've collected 10 tops. Please visit the school's site to learn about other ways you can help us raise money.

Learning about Cultures and Traditions.
This week, the class will learn about cultures and traditions. What better way to learn about it then from our classmates. On Monday, your child will interview you about your family's culture and traditions. Please have them return the form by Wednesday. We will use this information to create a booklet. Your child will also need one regular photo-size picture of the family to put on the cover of their booklet. On Friday, they will present their family to the class. Your child is welcome, to bring items from your culture like clothing, dolls, or food to show or share with the class during his/her presentation. This will be fun!!!

Spelling: A New Spelling Program. YAHOO!!!
This week we will start our new spelling program. I will give a pre-test on Friday’s and then send home the words with your child in their Homework Folder. Please make sure that your child has their homework folder in their backpack every day. Based on off their pretest, they will receive one of two word lists for the week. Each day at school, we will practice the spelling pattern and you can practice with the words at home. We will have an assessment over these words on Friday.

The test will also include 10 "surprise words" that they have not studied but match the spelling pattern. This is not a program that focuses on memorization. The goal is to learn a spelling pattern that you can apply to other words in hopes of improving each child's spelling in their writing. Many spelling programs have students memorize a list of words just for the test on Friday. They might get all the words right, but then they may forget them or never transfer them to their writing. Other students might do poorly on Friday spelling tests because they have difficulty with memorization, but in their writing they might be stronger at sounding out words then their peers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-21T18:36:00.003-06:00

I hope you have a wonderful relaxing Thanksgiving! I will see you all on Monday, Nov. 28th.

We will be starting double digit addition in math.
We will be working on reading response in reading.
In science, we will study classifying rocks. We will also look at natural resources.
In social studies, we will continue with government and character traits.
In writing, we will work on procedural writing.

Happy Happy Thanksgiving!!

Ms. Karen Rumpf

What's been happening in room 305!

2011-11-15T07:09:00.002-06:00

Our behavior system seems to be working. It has only been 3 days but so far so good. It has made a big difference.
I hope everyone had a great time at the carnival. What a beautiful day for it!

In reading, we have been working on finding the main idea. In writing, we are working on writing paragraphs. We have also been looking at non-fiction text features: Table of contents, glossary, index, photographs, captions, pronunciations, special type, headings, diagrams.

This week we are working on writing paragraphs about a non fiction topic. Students will be finding the main idea and 3 details. Then writing paragraphs about the topic. We will also be working on dictionary skills.

In math, we have been working on patterns (complete a table, find the pattern, and answer a question). This week we are working on problem solving using 7 strategies. We do a couple problems together and then students complete a couple independently.

In science, we are learning about magnets.
In social studies, we are learning about the 3 branches of government in the city, state, and country.

Have a great week!

Karen

Monster week

2011-10-30T17:20:00.002-05:00

We started off our week reading Where the Wild Things Are. Students completed a story map. In math, we graphed our favorite Wild Thing.

In writing, we drew and wrote a story about a monster.

In science, we did a lab book on Sound. We also started talking about force and motion.

In social studies, we finished up our maps and globes. This week we will start government.

In math, we surveyed the class about a question we had. Students made a bar graph with that information. Then we made a pictograph using the same information. In computer lab, we made a bar graph using Microsoft Excel.

This week in math, we will continue practicing reading graphs and work on probability.

In reading, we also read I Need My Monster and There's a Monster Under My Bed. As a class we practiced comparing and contrasting with two monsters. Then students compared and contrasted the two monster books using a Venn diagram.

Students drew and watercolored a monster. They turned out very cute! The next day we brainstormed problems and setting for monster story. We started the story on Friday. We will continue developing the story this week.

In writing, we will work on revising and editing a personal narrative about a time they got hurt.

On Friday we read a story about Spookley the Square Pumpkin. Students completed a story map. Then we did an adjective sheet about Spookley. Students had to write 6 sentences.

Have a safe Halloween!

Karen Rumpf

Last week of the 9 weeks Oct.17-21

2011-10-22T20:40:00.002-05:00

We have finished the 9th week of school.
In math, we have finished place value and will start graphing and probability for the next two weeks.
In reading, we are working on drawing conclusions with the story The Ugly Vegetable.
In writing, we worked on writing different leads to a story. So far we have done question and sound effects leads.
In social studies, we are finishing up maps and globes. Students did well on their home to school route map. We shared them on Friday.
In science, we will continue to work on forms of energy.

This week we will have some fun with monsters in all content areas (reading, math, and writing).

What's Happening!

2011-10-17T07:49:00.002-05:00

We have had another productive week in 2nd grade.
In math, we have been working on place value. This includes comparing numbers with <, >, =. We have learned to expand numbers like the expanded form of 352= 300+50+2. We have learned the value of each place like the value of 9 in 93 is 90. This week we will also learn to write number. We will review all we have learned and take the place value post test on Wednesday or Thursday.
In science, we have finished changes from heat. We will start forms of energy.
In social studies, we have been working on maps and globes. We have learned about map symbols, map keys, cardinal directions, and routes. In computer lab, we created a power point on where we are in the world. We started with Earth and went down to our neighborhood. We will continue with maps. There will be a home project that will be due Friday. It is a route to school map. Look for this in your child's folder or backpack.
In reading, we learned about story structure:round and flat characters, setting, and plot. This week we will work on drawing conclusions and inferences.
In writing, we worked on spelling, stretching words out to spell. This week we will work on story leads.

This is the last week of the 1st nine weeks. We will be doing reading, writing, and math assessments.

Book Fair is this week!

Week of Sept 25-30 and Oct. 3-7

2011-10-02T09:01:00.002-05:00

Last week Sept. 25-30
Reading: We read Diary of a Spider. If you have not read it, it is pretty funny! We worked on cause and effect.
Math: We looked at patterns in the 100s chart; used the chart to skip count; worked on odd and even numbers. We review number sense with a Jeopardy game. Then took the number sense post test.
Science: We looked at how something of a different temperature changed when put into something hot. We used hot cocoa and marshmallows. Then the students wrote about what happened.
Bat research: We turned our note facts into paragraphs. We decided on what our product will be: play, game, poster, puppet show. Students are excited to final get started on it. They are working well in their groups.
Writing: We have been writing about our personal experiences.

Oct. 3-7
Reading: We will read Teacher's Pet. We will look at story structure and visualize to help with comprehension.
Math: We will start place value.
Science: Continue with Bat Research product; Physical changes
Writing: Making a plan when we write.

Sept. 19-23 and Sept. 25-30

2011-09-25T09:01:00.003-05:00

Last week Sept. 19-23
Reading: We began an author's study on Kevin Henkes. We read books by the author. Then did a story map of a book. We talked about the author's purpose and made connections with ourselves and other books.
Math: We worked on subtraction strategies like counting back, using a number line, counting up, drawing a picture and practiced subtraction math facts. Later in the week we talked about fact families, related numbers of addition and subtraction facts.
Science: We finished up classifying matter with an assessment. We started on Changes from Heat how heat can change matter. We experienced melting crayons. We will continue changes from heat.
We have finished our note facts on our bat research. We have organized our research and will work on turning those note facts into sentences and paragraphs and deciding on our product.
Social Studies: Finished US symbols

This week Sept. 25-30
Reading: Reading Diary of a Spider working on cause and effect.
Math: 100 chart, patterns, skip counting, and odd/even
Science: Physical Science:Changes from Heat, starting Physical changes; Bat research
Writing: making a plan before writing.

*Don't forget to turn in Registration form.
*Please turn in Enrichment envelope by Sept. 30.
*Scholastic Book orders due this Friday.

Save the date: Our class' Bat Research will be displayed at the Zilker Park Botanical Gardens on the following date.
Saturday-Sunday, Oct 8-9:
1-4:30pm Saturday, 1-4pm Sunday
More information to come.

Sept. 12-16 and Sept 19-23

2011-09-18T08:51:00.003-05:00

Last week in the Bat Cave:
Reading: We discussed author's purpose of stories. We read Henry and Mudge and Chester's Way to determine that author's have purposes for writing stories. One purpose may be to teach the reader a lesson or give a message. Another purpose is to entertain or give information like in non-fiction books.
Math: We have worked on problem solving steps when solving word problems. We also practice writing our own word problems.
Science: We continued to work on physical properties. We looked at frozen versus liquid apple juice. We guess what objects were by touch and then described their physical properties. Then we picked an object around the room to describe using physical properties and guess what they were.
We also started our bat research. We are taking note facts.
Social Studies: We learned about US and State symbols. We talked about the Constitution and listened to School House Rock song The Preamble.
Writing: We have started to write about something we know a lot about like family, chess, legos. We started with drawing a simple picture and then writing.

Next week Sept. 19-23
Reading: Author's study on Kevin Henkes. We will read books by the author. Then do a story map of the book. We will talk about the author's purpose and make connections.
Math: We will work on subtraction strategies and work on 100 chart (looking at patterns, odd and evens, skip counting, adding, and subtracting)
Science: We will finish up classifying matter and move on to changes from heat. We will continue our bat research and hopefully start working on product Friday.
Social Studies: Finish US symbols
Writing: Adding more details to our picture and writing we started last week.

Sept 6-9 and Sept 12-16

2011-09-10T08:56:00.002-05:00

Sept 6-9

Looking back at our week! We were busy, busy, busy!

In reading, we worked on comprehension strategies on questioning while reading, checking for understanding, and compare and contrast with the story My Family.

In math, we are continuing to work on number sense. We have worked on doubles, near doubles, adding 3 addends, and making ten to add 9. Next week we will work on problem solving steps and solving word problems or story problems.

In social studies, we looked at character trait of famous people, like Mother Teresa, Helen Keller, Jackie Robinson, and others.

In science, we have started working on physical properties. Then we did a milk experiment with food coloring and dishwashing soap. Video coming soon!

In writing, we are continuing to work on writing complete sentences.

Sept 12-16

Reading: Henry and Mudge under the Yellow Moon, strategies author's purpose and analyzing and evaluating text.

Science: Physical Properties

Social Studies: National and State symbols; Celebrating Freedom week

Math: fact families and problem solving steps

Library on Thursdays from 11:15-11:45

Have a great week!!

Ms. Rumpf

Aug. 29-Sept.2 and Sept. 6-9

2011-09-03T10:25:00.003-05:00

Week of Aug.29 - Sept. 2
We had a busy week!
We learned vocabulary for the book Henry and Mudge. We read the story together, with a friend, and listened to it. We practiced comprehension by answering questions about the story. We connected the fiction story to the nonfiction story All in the Family. We reviewed the vocabulary words by playing a game. Ask you student about it!

During Daily 5, we built our stamina in Read to Self. We started with 3 minutes and worked up to 15 minutes. Work on writing, we are still building stamina. We are only on 3 minutes. We have been working on coming up with ideas. We have also worked on comprehension strategies like Check for Understanding, back up and reread. Vocabulary strategies, we worked on being a voracious reader, looking for interesting words and using them when speaking and writing.

In math, we are working on number sense. We worked on addition strategies like combinations of ten, counting up, and doubles.

In writing, we work on subject and predicate. We watched School House Rock song "Mr. Morton" which helps students understand subject and predicate.

In social studies, we have been working on what PRIDE looks like. Students are writing and drawing examples of how they show their PRIDE.

In science, we have been learning about being safe in science. We have talked about different types of scientist.

Next Week: Sept. 6-9
In reading, we will start a new story, My Family, learn new vocabulary. We will work on rhe comprehension strategy questioning.

We will continue to build stamina in Read to Self and Work on Writing. We will introduce Read to Someone.

In writing, we will continue with writing sentences and review subject and predicate. We will also work on nouns. We will watch a School House Rock song about nouns. Then make a list of nouns.

We will also work on short vowel sounds and words with short vowels.

In math, we will continue with number sense. We will play games with doubles and learn more about near doubles. We will also worked on writing story problems and problem solving strategies.

In social studies, we will work on characteristics on good citizenship.

In science, we will continue to talk about safety and then start on physical properties.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me!

Have a great long weekend!!

Take care,
Karen Rumpf

Looking back and looking ahead!

2011-08-27T12:35:00.003-05:00

We have had a wonderful first week. We have learned a lot about each other!
We did many getting to know you activities. We are learning procedures and expectations. We made a bracelet about ourselves. I hope your student shared it with you. We have come up with expectations and a mission statement for our class.

Classroom Expectations

1. Be respectful to yourself and others

2. Be confident and proud of who you are

3. Keep desk and room organized and clean

4. Listen to teacher

5. Raising hand to talk

6. Take turns

7. Be a friend

8. Keep body parts to yourself

9. Have fun

10. Show our PRIDE

The mission of Ms. Rumpf’s Respectful Bats is to learn and work hard together as a team in a happy, safe, and respectful classroom. We will do this by listening to each other. We will use teamwork. We will keep trying and never give up. We will encourage each other with our kind words. This will help us move on to third grade. It will make the future and challenging things easier.

Next week:
Math: Math assessment, math facts assessment, number sense pre- assessment, making ten, addition games and subtraction games
Science: science safety, setting up science journal
Social Studies: good citizenship and PRIDE lessons
Writing: Coming up with Ideas, writing a complete sentence with capitalization and punctuation
Grammar: Nouns, subject and predicate
Reading: Reading assessment, Picking good fit books, Daily 5- Read to Self building stamina

Have a great week!
Karen Rumpf

Respectful Bats of 2011-2012

2011-08-12T16:23:00.003-05:00

Welcome to the Respectful Bats Room! I'm am excited for the upcoming school year and the opportunity to be your child's teacher. I look forward to meeting you at School Supply Drop Off on Monday, August 22 from 8:00 - 9:00.

Our first day of school will begin at 7:45 on Tuesday, August 23.

Parent night is Thursday, August 25 at 6:30.

Please use this web-site as a tool to keep you updated on the latest classroom and school wide information.

Thanks,

Karen Rumpf
464-4364

Summer 2011

2011-06-14T11:42:00.003-05:00

I wish you all a happy restful summer break! Be safe!
Thanks for a great year!

Love,
Ms. Rumpf

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-03T08:00:00.001-06:00

I hope everyone had a relaxing break with family and friends!
I am looking forward to an exciting Spring Semester!

What is happening the first week back?
In science and social studies, we are going to learn about natural hazards and how they effect our environment.
In writing, we will write New Year's resolutions and continue working on out "All about..." book.
In math, we will start working on double digit subtraction.
In read, we will do an author's study on Helen Lester. She wrote the Tacky Penguin books. We will focus on retell and making connections to the books.

Here are some dates to remember:
January 4 Classes Resume
January 10 Report Cards Go Home
January 27 LME Science Fair 2011

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” –John F. Kennedy

2010-11-24T10:05:00.002-06:00

I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Karen Rumpf

End of the 1st 9 weeks

2010-10-23T10:49:00.002-05:00

The first 9 weeks is at an end. We have learned many things.

We have finished all of our end of the 9 weeks reading, writing, math, soc. studies, and science assessments.

In science, we have finished forms of energy (light, heat, and sound). We will start magnets on Monday.
In social studies, we will start government. We are participating in a Mock Gubernatorial Election on Wednesday. We will learn about the history of voting. We will read about the candidates and their issues. My mom (who is an election judge) will come in a talk about her job and help us with the voting process.
In writing, we are working on writing in booklets, breaking a down a memory and adding details. We will also talk about different ways we can write: making lists and writing letters.
In reading, we have been working on asking questions about the story, predicting what will happen, using prior knowledge, retelling the story, and comparing and contrasting characters.
In math, we have been working on graphing and probability. Then we will move on to problem solving strategies.

We have received and responded to our pen pals in New York. We finally got the letters from our pen pals in Oregon. We will respond to them sometime next week.

The week of Oct. 25th is red ribbon week.

The carnival is Nov. 6th.

On Wednesday, Oct. 27th, we will be participating in a webinar with Taylor Swift. She will be talking about why reading is important. We will be having lunch early and in the room.

I think that is all for now!

Have a great week!

Karen Rumpf

Friday, October 1, 2010

2010-10-01T14:52:00.002-05:00

We made through another week. We have finally finished our bat research and video. Your children are wonderful little actors. They take direction well.

If you are out and about this weekend... it is suppose to be beautiful... please come by the Zilker Botanical Gardens on Saturday 1-4:30 (I will be there at 4:00) and Sunday from 1-4:00 (I will be there at 1:00.) They have done such a wonderful job. After I finish typing, I am heading to Zilker to set the display up! Yesterday, students suggested we enter it into the science fair. What a great idea!!

Yesterday,we wrote our New York pen pals a letter. They did such a wonderful job! On Monday, I thought it would be fun to find the schools on Google Earth. Then we can use one of tips that Mr. Kuttuva (Nivrithi's dad) shared with us on measuring the distance from on location to another.

This week we started Target Math. It is a set of math activities that cover all the concepts we will learn in 2nd grade. There are 10 colors. We do 2 colors each day. For example, Monday is gold and red. We look at place value blocks, ordering numbers, probability, number sentences, odd and even, geometry. Students enjoy it. We are doing the first 2 weeks together. After that students do it on their own before we start math.

In computer lab I introduced Pearson Success Math. This is something I explained at parent night. Each student received an intro letter with their username and password. If they did not give it to you please ask for it. There is a link on my blog on left side to the Pearson website. I have assigned 6 lessons. We did the first on together. If they had time they worked on the 2nd one.

We made salt dough landforms today. We will paint on Monday.

We are starting place value next week.
Continuing with physical changes in science.
Writing, we will work on narrowing an idea and stretching to add more details.

I look forward to conferencing with all of you in 10 days.

If you have any questions about anything, let me know.

I hope to see you this weekend!!

Karen Rumpf

LME Celebrates!

2010-09-25T12:00:00.002-05:00

Thanks to all the students who came to our LME 25th Anniversary Celebration! It was great fun!

We had fun yesterday turning our pumpkins into globes. I will post some pictures soon. Students were very excited to bring them home. I have one small thing to do with them on Monday. They will be able to take it home at the end of the day.

Our bat research is almost finished. We finished our survey. We survey 650 students, teachers, and staff. Out of those, we found out that 466 'like' bats, 107 'don't like' bats, 77 'don't know' if they like bats. Our goal is to change the minds of the 'don't likes' and 'don't knows'. You should have been there to see all the groups adding up their numbers. We did use a calculator.
After that, we took our note facts and turned them into sentences. They used a computer for this. I was very impressed how well they worked together. Then they revised and edited their section. After that, we rotated and another group revised and edited a section. Yesterday, we took what we wrote and decided what information was the most important to share with LME. We are in the process of recording it on video and putting it on KPAW. We have to be done with this research by Friday. I have to bring it down to Zilker Park Botanical Gardens Friday afternoon. If you are out and about on Saturday or Sunday, go down to the Zilker Garden for the flower show (You can see what a fabulous florist my mom is!) I will be there part of the day. We can arrange a time and day to meet. I am very excited to show you what your students have created.

In math, we are still working on number sense. We will be moving on to place value.
In science, we are continuing to work on physical changes. Then go on to Changes from Heat.
In writing, we are working on writing sentences using capitalization and punctuation. Then we will work on descriptive sentences.

Have a great weekend!

Karen Rumpf

Friday, September 17, 2010

2010-09-17T15:00:00.002-05:00

Where has the week gone!

Friday Sept 24th is our 25th Anniversary celebration. Look for info in Monday folder. I hope to see everyone there. You child gets a cupcake if that sweetens the deal at all :).

Parent Teacher conference are on Oct 11. I will have a sign up on the computer. I will email you all when it is up and running.

The last two Fridays eslots we have been practicing our dance, school song, and parade.

Our bat research is coming along nicely. We will work on organizing our notefacts and making our products. We started off our research by finding out how we each feel about bats. After we did our research, we assessed our feels again. Some feeling did change. We also decided to see how our school feels about bats by going to each classroom and asking the students to vote. Before we could go we had to be prepared. We wrote a script of what to say. Then students were put into 6 groups. They practiced in the classroom. Then the other 2nd grade classrooms were our guinea pigs. Everyone did a fabulous job. After the dance practice today, we went around the school to 1,3,4. On Monday we will go to 5 and K. They did a fabulous job. I can't wait to tally the results. We will let you know as soon as we know.

We have been working on number sense, 100 chart, odd and even and writing story problems.
We have carried over our math into computer lab. Students have created a 10x10 table and number it 1-100. We then talked about the patterns we see in the 100 chart. This past Thursday we worked on skip counting. They changed the font of the 2s; changed the size and italicized the 3s, and highlighted the 5s, and underlined the 10s.
Next week in math, we will work on fact families, number line, and patterns. I will also introduce them to Pearson Success online. We will practice getting on and exploring so they will be able to do it at home when lessons are assigned.

Reading we continue to work on our reading strategies.

Science we are continuing to work on physical science. We have finished physical properties and will be working on physical changes and changes from heat.

Social studies we are moving to globes and continents and continue talking about maps and cardinal directions.

Writing, we are continuing to work on writing complete sentence and writing sentence with different punctuation(. ? !).

Friday, Sept. 10, 2010

2010-09-10T15:38:00.002-05:00

Students did great with Mrs. Solomon for three days.

Attention:
**Please have your student wear a red t-shirt or top on Monday, Sept 13 for a school wide picture. I hope I don't forget!
*Book sale Saturday at Canyon Vista MS from 8-3. All books are $1. I will be there helping set up. Hope to see you there!!

As a class, we have been researching bats using the IIM research method. We have finished Step 3 which is research. We have taken notefacts on a book and DVD. Our next step will be to organize our info. and decide on a product. My mom asked me to do this research for her garden club flower show on OCT. 2. Please save this date to go by the Zilker Park Botanical Gardens to see what the students have created. I will give more info. as we finish our project.

In science, we have been working on physical properties of matter. We started by taking off one of our shoes and deciding how we can group or classify them. The physical properties that we have been learning about are size, flexibility, texture, mass, shape, color, texture, and if it is a solid or liquid. Last week, students did an activity with frozen and liquid apple juice. They had to describe the physical properties of the juice boxes using the properties listed above. Today we review a lot. After recess, students were asked to find 10 items around the playground. We came back in the room and students decide what physical property to group their objects. Then they were asked to pick one of their items and give clues to what it is by writing sentences about their physical propeties. For example,"It is small. It is not flexible. It is smooth. It is light. It is oval shaped. It is green." That is where we left off this week. Feel free to pick an object at home and have your student describe it using the physical properties listed above or play I spy and use the physical properties as clues.

In social studies, last week, we talked about character traits and read about famous people who showed that character trait. For example, Mother Teresa showed compassion.
This week we have started talking about maps and globes, cardinal directions, compass rose. We explored with compasses. We played cardinal direction simon says. I love it because it helps with listening skills which is something the majority of the class needs to work on.

Next week I will be doing reading assessments to see what level your student is reading.
We have been working on building our stamina for Daily 5 read to self. We are up to 9 minutes.

Writing, we have been working on drawing a picture, adding a background, and writing about our picture. We will work on coming up with ideas so we can't say "I don't know what to write about."

Grammar, we are working on subject and predicate.
Next week we will work on end marks and plurals adding -s, -es, -ies.

I think that is it! I am glad to be back. Next week will be the first full week for me!

Have a great weekend!

Karen Rumpf

What's Happening!

2010-08-31T20:14:00.002-05:00

Let me catch you up on what has been happening.

Friday
We spent our first eslot in the preserve. We explored the trails. We went to the fossil dig. While at the fossil dig, Eric found a hatched egg. Mr. Earley was in the preserve with his class so we stopped to ask him about it. He said it looked like a spiny tailed lizard egg. We will continue to research it so we can put it in the display case in the preserve.

This week we have working on developing our stamina in Read to Self.
We are learning about subject and predicates in sentences.
In math we are working on number sense, focusing on making ten and doubles and doubles +1.
We wrote about our summer vacations and working on stories with beginning, middle and end.
we will work on coming up with ideas.

Reminder:
*I will be out starting Thursday Sept. 2 and return Sept. 7. Please remind your student to be on their best behavior. We will talk about it more tomorrow.
*If you have any transportation changes please call the office.
*Book orders due Sept. 10

If you have any questions or concerns please call or email me.

Have a great long weekend!

Karen Rumpf

First Day of School!

2010-08-24T15:31:00.002-05:00

I was so excited to see every one's bright and smiling faces. We started to learn many routines today- how to do our lunch; write our number, name, and date on our papers;where to line up for specials (chaotic today but it will get better); how to line up for lunch; where the bathrooms are (very important!);making our class puzzle; recess rules; coloring our birthday bats; looking through and labeling folders and spirals. I am sure I forgot something.

We have talked about general rules. We will work on those more tomorrow! It is only the first day.

Tomorrow is our 2nd day of second grade and students have homework to decorate their visors.

There is a ton of things to go through in the Monday folder. Please take time to fill out the forms that need to be returned (Student handbook, class roster) Those ar the only two that I can think of off hand.

There is a form for Book Orders. I will go over that tomorrow night at Parent Night.
I do it all online. No paper copies will come home.

I think that is it for right now!

It was a good day! It flew by!

Have a great evening!

Karen Rumpf

Monday, August 23, 2010

2010-08-23T19:56:00.002-05:00

Hello!
I am so excited to have met you this morning! If you were not able to come, I look forward to meeting with you tomorrow!

A couple of things you need to know for this school year:
1. Please keep a pair of PE sneakers in your child's backpack or just wear sneakers everyday. There are 2 reasons for this. One... our class will be split between the other 6 second grade classes so some will be going to pe while other are going to music or art. It would be too confusing for me to keep up with who goes where. Second... last year we explored the preserve and planted a wildflower garden so I would like to take the students down there at least once a week.
2. Please make sure your child has a snack. Second grade has the last lunch. Our class eats at 12:24. At the beginning of the year, students are not used to eating this late so it is helpful if they have a healthy and filling snack that does not need utensils.
3. It is hot. Our recess is at 1:05. Please have your child bring a water bottle.
4. Please make sure to check the blog every week. This is my first year to add a guestbook. On the right side of the blog. Please sign the guestbook.
5. Parent Night is from 6:00-7:30. You will be starting off in the cafeteria and then move to our classroom 305. I will go over the Parent Handbook. I have attached the PDF if you are interested in reading it ahead of time. Please feel free to ask questions.
6. If you did not come to meet the teacher/school supply drop off, please come to the room. I have some info for you to fill out.

Respectful Bats 2010-2011

2010-07-24T12:26:00.001-05:00

Welcome Respectful Bats of 2010-2011!
Looking forward to meeting you!

Ms. Rumpf

The Great Kapok Tree Play

2010-05-26T14:18:00.002-05:00

Last week, we read The Great Kapok Tree. We watched a couple of videos about the rainforest. We also practiced a play "The Great Kapok Tree". On Monday, I filmed the performance. I hope you enjoy.

Wiki

2010-05-03T10:51:00.002-05:00

CLick on the link to the right to go to the wiki.

Philippe Cousteau and the Environment

2010-04-15T15:49:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, we joined hundreds (maybe even thousands) of students from around the world on the internet to listen to Philippe Cousteau (Jacques Cousteau's grandson) talk about the oceans and the environment. It is part of Discovery Education's and Siemens STEM Academy celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day coming up April 22, 2010. We had lunch in the classroom. Students came up we questions and I typed them up in the chat section of the webinar. I am going to try to post the webinar on the blog.

Don't forget to come to Pride Night. Our Spring Showcase is the same night from 5:30 to 7:00. Students have a check list of what they are going to show you and talk about. They have been working hard to get everything ready.

Students have been seeing me get a couple of aquariums ready for some friends to join us. If they arrive on time tomorrow. It will be a surprise at Pride Night. Students have been guessing all day. What could they be? Hint: They are living things.

See you tomorrow night!!
Karen

Respectful Bat Inc. is in full swing!

2010-03-31T11:19:00.002-05:00

As you know, we have been working on economics in Social Studies. We have talked about wants and needs,goods and services, producers and consumers, and income. Yesterday we have decided what we are going to produce: pet rocks/ rock magnets and treat walk (like a cake walk). Students earned money for doing work, participating, and good behavior. Students were paid after recess. In total the class earned $370.50. We brainstormed names and voted. Our two businesses within the Respectful Bat Inc. are Rock Mart and Little WIllie Wonka Treat Walk. Next, we discussed the expenses of a real business (rent, supplies, wages for employees, etc.) Finally, we listed expenses for our two businesses and voted for an account to keep track of the business expenses. Today, businesses will buy supplies from the Rumpf Supply Co. ( I will try not to bankrupt them!)and start making their product.

Our economics fair is April 7th from 11:00-12:00. Your child may have asked you to make treats for the treat walk. Feel free to ask for payment since you are providing a service. I will let you decide how your child can pay you. You might want to volunteer the service. It is up to you!

Thanks for helping!
Karen

Back from Spring Break

2010-03-24T10:46:00.002-05:00

Welcome back! I hope you all had a restful spring break! I enjoyed SXSW music and just hanging out at home. I actually did a little cleaning.

What is happening in out class!
We are back into the swing of things. In writing, we are starting poetry! In math, we are finishing up geometry and next week we will be moving on to measurement. Our culminating activity for measurement is our Measurement Olympics. Details to come. In social studies we learning about economics. We have talked about goods and services, producers and consumers, income, wants and needs. We will end our unit with an Economics Fair. Second grade classes will make products (a good and a service) and at the fair students will be consumers. Fun is had by all! More details to come next week!

Pride Night is April 16th.

Have a great week!

Karen

Valentine's and Chinese New Year

2010-02-16T13:39:00.004-06:00

Thank you so much for all the wonderful Valentine's gifts! I think all the candy was eaten before I got home. I shared with Alex.

What a busy day! After enrichment clusters, we had a fun Valentine's party in the morning. Students got to eat breakfast, play bingo, open valentines, and play Sparkle with the parents that came to help. Mr. Tindall won!! Thank you all for coming in to help with the party!

In the afternoon, Amit's, Joshua's, and Dylan's moms came to celebrate Chinese New Year with the class. Mrs. Sundaram, Mrs. Louie, and Mrs. Dong shared a powerpoint about the history and traditions of Chinese New Year. We learned how to use chopsticks by picking up different food items. Then we made snowflakes by folding and cutting oragami paper. Students also got lucky money envelopes after they said "Happy New Year" in Chinese. Thank you all so much for celebrating your culture with the class.

Looking ahead to this week:
Writing: persuasive writing
Reading: Watermelon Day, simile, and predicting outcomes
Math: finishing fractions and moving on to temperature
Science: weather, seasons, water cycle, night sky

Field Trip has been moved to March 3rd from 9:30-2:00.

Have a great week!

Karen

Research and Enrichment

2010-02-07T18:19:00.002-06:00

We have finished the IIM research project on a famous person. Students Finished Step 3 which is the research. They read their person's biography and wrote short facts about that person. Step 5 is organizing their notefacts. Students read their notefacts and make categories. Once they make their categories they read each notefact and determine what category it belongs in. Then they cut their notefacts and put each notefacts for the category in an order that makes sense to them. Once this is done it is time for Step 6. Step 6 is making their product. This time I decided what product they were to do. Step 6 was done individually. Step 7 is presentation. This was done in their group. Each student had a part. They had time to practice and then they presented. Overall the IIM was a success. I realized through this process that we need to practice taking notefacts (important information rephrased in own words).

On Fridays we have been having enrichment clusters and they are enjoying them. Students have invented new indoor games. They have also created ping pong carriers. I took pictures of their inventions and used them in writing procedural text. If you are interested in reading them they are in the hallway.

In reading, we are working on reader's theatre to work on fluency and expression.

In math, we are working on fractions. Last week we were working on parts of a whole. This week we will work on parts of a group.

We start a unit on media and advertising. We will work on persuasive writing.

Events this week:
Tuesday: Field Trip to Austin Nature and Science Center
Wednesday: Early Release 12:45
Friday: Valentine's Party 9:15: Chinese New Year Presentation 1:30

Research has begun

2010-01-25T10:45:00.002-06:00

Last week we start the IIM ( Independent Investigative Method)research model. There are 7 steps. It teaches students the steps to becoming better researchers. On Tuesday, we started with our topic(step 1). Our research topic goes with our social studies unit on biographies. Each group of students made a concept map of what they know and want to learn about their person. Step 2 is goal setting. We decide how many notefacts we want to write; glossaries words to learn; resources to use; and write our guiding questions. Step 2 can be a little challenging. This is the step where they come up with the good questions that will guide their research. We use question word dice to help us. We have started Step 3 today. Step 3 is the research step. Students get their source and write their notefacts. We have talked about plagarism (not to copy from the author). They are working together to read the source and write short facts that make sense. As they read they will be answering the questions from Step 2. This will be one of our longest steps.
The goal of the group research project is for the students to become familiar with the steps so they will be able to do it on their own next time.

More to come later!

What happened the week of Jan. 11?

2010-01-15T11:17:00.002-06:00

We have been reading about Jan Brett. She has a great website: www.janbrett.com. She has a lot of videos about what inspires her to write. Did you know it takes her a year to finish a book? She also show how she draws some of her animals. With reading Jan Brett's book, we have been working on inferring. We learned a song about what inferring is. Here is the website that has the song and the activity we did: http://www.reading.ecb.org/teacher/downloads.html.

In writing, we have been working on personal narratives. We are taking this piece of writing through the writing process. We did a prewrite, draft, revise. Today we will edit and publish.

Next week we will start on our group biography IIM research project.

In math, we took the pretest for time. We have been looking at an analog clock and talking about what we already know about clocks. We working on telling time to the 5 minutes. Any practice you can give them at home will be help. The tricky part of telling time on an analog clock is when you get past the 30 minutes or the half hour. They want to read the next hour. We are still working on this. We will spend next week continue to work on telling time and solving problems with elapsed time.

Today was our first enrichment cluster! All the second graders were really excited. When students got back at 9 am we shared. Your kids were so excited about their clusters and what they did. I am facilitating the young inventors club. I do not have any of my own students in my cluster. I am so excited about this topic that I decided to do the enrichment cluster with my class. So your kids are getting a double dose of enrichment clusters on Fridays. They will go to their cluster from 8-9 and then we will have the inventors cluster from 9-10 ish.

Have a great three day weekend!

Karen Rumpf

First Week Back!

2010-01-09T19:06:00.002-06:00

We started our first week back with a reading comprehension activity. We read the book "The Biggest Best Snowman". After reading students worked in small groups to recreate the details of the snowman from the book. I have posted some pictures to the right. Later we wrote 4 New Year's resolutions.

In math, reviewed the 2 digit subtraction. We took the post test Friday. Students did very well. Look for the tests in the Monday folder. We will start fractions this week.

In social studies , we have started talking about the past (history, calendars, timelines, artifacts). Then we will start working on biographies. We will start our IIM research model with biographies. We will also working on our autobiographies in computer lab.

On Wednesday, we went to hear the Watoto Children's Choir from Uganda. I have posted some pictures to the right. Later that day, 5 of the orphans from 8-13 years old came to visit us. We got to ask the students questions about their lives.

In writing, we are working on writing about something we did over winter break. We will work on procedural and persuasive writing. We will also continue to work on writing with details (showing and not telling).

I have also added pictures of our marvelous creature, heritage projects, and some e-slot Fridays.

Karen Rumpf

Happy 2010!!

2010-01-05T10:34:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing time. During our share time today, it sounds like some of you had some adventures (hospitals and boats).

We have some changes in store for the homework. Look for the green sheet in your Monday folder today for details. In short, second grade teachers decided this semester we will focus on reading and math facts. Each child should read 15 minutes a day and practice math facts for 5 minutes. There is a recording sheet in there homework binders today. They should bring their homework binders every Friday. This is a change. It is not Monday anymore. There will be other assignments as needed for those that need a little extra teaching on a subject. If you feel this is not enough of a challenge for your child feel free to look on Renzulli. Students have bookmarked a couple of independent projects. If your child chooses to do one of the projects at home, they will be welcome to share their finished project with the class.

You are getting book orders today. They are due on Friday, Jan. 9th. To order online, username:rumpf
password:bats
Thanks to those that order from Scholastic. Each time you order, we get to choose new books for our library.

Last School Week of 2009

2009-12-14T09:29:00.004-06:00

I can't believe that this semester is almost over. It has been a great year so far!

I hope you all have a safe and relaxing winter break!

We are finishing up our assessments so we can get ready for our Polar Express Day tomorrow. Don't forget to wear pajamas, and bring a pillow or stuffed animal. It all must fit in your backpack.

Thanks to Sharon Deol for sharing Hanukkah with us. We all enjoyed learning the meaning of Hanukkah and playing the dreidel.

Winter Party is Friday from 1-2 pm.

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas!

Karen Rumpf

Snowstorm arrives at LME, Friday December 4th, 2009

2009-12-04T16:03:00.004-06:00

We were so excited to see snow! It started to snow during lunch! I was so excited! I had to get them out of lunch early (I made sure they were finished eating!)! We got bundled up and went to play outside. Third grade joined us. It was so fun watching the kids pretend to make snow angels and catch snowflakes on their tongue. We even had our little scientists catching the snowflakes on black paper and looking at them with magnifying glasses. At the beginning of recess it was snowing by the end the sun was shining and their were blue skies! CRAZY!!! I thought about my son who is at Westwood. I wondered if they let them go outside to play in the snow. Probably not!

Back to what is going on in the classroom. We are working on 2 digit subtraction with regrouping. This includes 2 step problem solving. I have assigned Pearson topic 9-8. It is due on Friday. Next week we will move on to money so you can have your student start counting coins.

Science we have been working with sound. We have concluded that sound is vibrations of objects. We will finish up next week.

Writing we will start looking for the main idea of stories and writing paragraphs. We will use the Weekly Reader and National Geographic Explorer.

The next couple of weeks, I will start assessing students on reading.

Books orders due on Monday at 3pm so we can get them before the break.

Seussical performance at 6:45 on Tuesday December 8th in the cafeteria.

Book Report Projects due on December 11, 2009.

Have a great weekend!

Karen Rumpf

Monday, November 23, 2009

2009-11-23T18:21:00.003-06:00

For the majority of the day today we shared our Heritage projects. This is my favorite project! I think it is so important to hear about where you came from and who your ancestors are. Another reason I like this project is getting to try the food! I hope you all enjoyed sharing your history with your kids. I am having trouble downloading pictures. i will try to get all the pictures up soon.

Those that are doing science fair. There is a mandatory form to fill out and turn in tomorrow. It should be on the website.

Coming up in math: double digit subtraction without regrouping and money. You can help by having student count coins.

Social studies and science: natural resources, natural disasters, and sound.

Writing: continue to write stories with beginning, middle, and end. The taking it through the writing process by revising, editing, and peer conferencing.

Reading: we have been reading fairy tale, fables, and legends.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. If you are traveling, have safe journey.

We have a new addition to our 2nd grade family. Mrs. Smith had a baby boy, Beckett Jay Smith on Saturday at 7:46. I went to see Mrs. Smith yesterday. He is cute!!!

Karen Rumpf

What's Happening in Room 305

2009-11-13T15:08:00.002-06:00

Well... today I have been told that it was the best e-slot ever! We made slime. Students had so much fun with the slime. Then we put together flimsy wood airplanes. We went outside to fly them. Some flew very well.

Student completed a group project on US Symbols. The students read a book on the subject and together put a presentation together to teach the class about it. Some made power points or used the computer to type the info. . Others thought it was better to write it out. Students were given time to practice and then presented. Everyone did a good job. Next week we will talk about Texas symbols.

We have started working on 2 digit addition. Students did well on the pretest. We will spend next week working on word problems.

We are moving from social studies to science. We are studying natural resources, renewable and nonrenewable, physical systems and sound.

In reading, we are still working on comprehension strategies. We have been reading fairy tales and will be talking about fables and folktales.

In writing, we have written a fairy tale. We have talked about revising (green pen) and editing (red pen) stories. We have worked on peer conferencing. Students read a piece of writing to a friend and the friend gives a compliment to the writer and suggestions for enhancing their writing.

Have a great weekend!

Karen Rumpf

Monday, November 2, 2009

2009-11-02T15:47:00.002-06:00

Today, I explained the homework and project for November. Please read Molly's Pilgrim with your student. If you have any questions about the project let me know.

We also started spelling. This weeks spelling words are:
like
made
dime
hope
huge
are
friend
they
come
have
Today students wrote the words and then wrote them again in ABC order.
If you want to practice these words at home, there is a link on my blog of 40 spelling activities.

We have started talking about Fairy Tales. We read Cinderella and Dogerella. We looked the characteristics of fairy tales. The good and evil characters, the magical happenings and the happy ending. We will read Goldilocks and the 3 Bears tomorrow.

We have talked about another way to plan a story using a pizza slice to narrow our story. We will write it tomorrow.

We are continuing with our problem solving. We did guess and check today and will do act or use objects tomorrow.

Carnival is this Saturday. You can buy your tickets online.

Happy Monday!

Karen Rumpf

What if...? What if...?

2009-10-31T11:56:00.003-05:00

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we shared our marvelous creature traps. I loved listening to all the discussion on the creatures and the traps. Students did well telling about their creatures and traps. Students had many questions about their traps and creatures. It was as if the creatures were real. A lot of 'what if..." questions about ways the creatures might escape from the trap. I will add pictures later.

In social studies, we have been discussing government. We have talked about our city, state, and country's government. This week we will talk more about specific branches of government and what kind of character traits each person must have to be in that position. We will talk about elections and campaigns. We may have our own little election.

In math, we will continue working on problem solving skills.

In reading, we will start working on fairy tales. Then work on writing our own.

Wednesday, Oct. 28th, 2009

2009-10-28T15:57:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we read as a class Molly's Pilgrim. It is a story of a girl who feels she does not fit in to her school because looks and language. Today students read it with a partner and then wrote a summary of the story.

In math, we are working on problem solving strategies. So far we have worked on using logical reasoning, making an organized list, and making a table. We read the story. We ask questions to make sure we understand what is going on. We read the problem again taking it step by step. Once we get the answer, we make sure that the answer fits our clues in the problem.

In the morning, we have been reading our Weekly Readers and writing letters to Whiskers to give him advice. We are practicing our friendly letter format.

We have moved on from science to social studies. In social studies, we are taking a look at the different branches of government. We have talked about our city and state government so far. Tomorrow, we will finish with our country government. We are making flip book that includes pictures of the citizens in charge of our government.

Friday, Oct. 23, 2009 END of the 1st 9 weeks

2009-10-23T17:00:00.004-05:00

Today we went to the preserve to check on our garden. We wanted to see if anything has grown. It did get a nice dose of rain but not sprouts. We did notice a deer track in our garden but only one hoof. It puzzled us! How can there only be one? One suggested was the deer hopped through. It is mystery!! We hiked through the woods (staying on the path). We almost went to Amit's house! Quite an adventure! We saw snails and deer.

The online math homework went well for the first round some technical difficulties with the tools. I do not think I was clear on the expectations. The next time I will write a more specific note on what to do. I have been exploring more on the site and I can also assign reading which is totally awesome!

We are switching from science to social studies for a few weeks. We will be starting government next week. I am thinking of starting a Science Friday. It is still in the works but I love science and want to do it more.

I am also thinking about starting spelling tests. I will let you know what I come up with.

Don't forget the marvelous creature report and trap are due next week! I can't wait to see what you have created!

Have a great weekend!

Karen Rumpf

Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009

2009-10-21T20:31:00.002-05:00

Monday and Tuesday we had a good discussion on our science test on force and motion. We have been working on 7 components of the science process (Question, Prediction, Planning, Data, Claims and Evidence, Drawing conclusions, Reflections). Today, Aiden brought in Bill Nye's Motion and Friction video. Bill is always fun to watch.

In math, we have been working on graphing specifically interpreting graph information. In computer lab, we gather information on students favorite fruit. With that info. , we made a graph using Excel. Students did a fabulous job!

Friday is the end of the 1st 9 weeks. We have been doing assessments in math, reading comprehension, writing, and timed math facts.

Remember the graphing assignment 20-03 and 20-04 on Pearson is due on Friday. The link is on the right. Only turn in the after quiz sheets (Reteach, Practice, or Enrichment).

Book orders due Friday at 3 pm.

Thanks!
Karen Rumpf

Nature Friday

2009-10-17T12:21:00.006-05:00

Thanks to all the parents that bought soil. It was the perfect amount. Mr. Earley took it down to the preserve for us (Thank you, Mr.Earley!!!). On our way down to the preserve, we saw a dragonfly on the gate. It was beautiful!

Everyone had a turn spreading soil. Then, we spread the seeds and gentle pressed them down with our feet. I will add pictures later.

Book Release Sun. Oct. 18 at 2 pm

2009-10-17T12:12:00.002-05:00

Last year a mom of one of my students, P.J. Hoover, published her first book called The Emerald Tablet. I have been waiting a year for the next one to come out. I am excited to be going to the book release party on Sunday at Bookpeople on 6th and Lamar at 2pm.
On Wednesday, I ran into Mrs. Hoover and her friend, Jessica Anderson (author of Trudy and Border Crossing), in the hallway by the library. They offered to come to our room and talk about their books and answer questions about being an author.
Mrs. Hoover and Mrs. Anderson invited the class to come to their book release party on Sunday. I hope to see some of you there.

Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009

2009-10-14T10:26:00.003-05:00

I will have a sub tomorrow. Please call the office if you have any transportation changes.

Make sure you bring in plan for your Marvelous Creature on Friday.

Thanks for all of you that volunteered to bring in soil for our garden.

You will get a letter home that explains how to set up and use the Pearson Success. it is our math textbook online. (There is a shortcut link on my blog Pearson Success)I can assign different activities for students to do at home. We practiced in the computer lab today. Some did not finish both assignments so that is something they can do tonight. At the end of the quiz is a worksheet activity. Please print this out, complete sheet and bring it to school tomorrow. If you do not have a printer you may write the answers down on a separate sheet of paper and turn in tomorrow. Please have your child show you what we did in computer lab.

We have also been working on dictionary skills. Feel free to have your child show you what they have learned about the dictionary so far.

We started a little research on ants. Yesterday we took note facts. Today we will organize the facts.

In math, we have been reviewing place value and comparing numbers using symbols. Tomorrow we will take the post test and the pretest for graphing.

I spoke with some of you during conferences about math enrichment opportunities. When we start a new unit of study in math, we give a pretest to see how much they know already. If they get a 100 or miss 1, they have shown me that they know it already. They will get a chance to go with Mrs. Elliott for enrichment on Mondays and Wednesdays until the unit is over. So some of the same students may get to go while some new ones may go. If you have any questions about this let me know.

So much to say! Oct.6, 2009

2009-10-06T21:29:00.002-05:00

Here is a recap since my last post:
Last Thursday, we were lucky to get a visit from Wilberforce Okumu from Mbale, Uganda. He is Mrs. Trudy Marshall's friend. She stays with his family when she goes to Uganda every summer. He helps with Libraries of Love. He came in to talk about Uganda and answer questions. I do not know if you all knew that I traveled with Mrs. Marshall, Mrs. Richards, and Miss Alexander to Uganda a couple of years ago. I was a wonderful experience. We created 4 libraries in a week. Long days but so rewarding when you see the teachers and students so excited to read books and so grateful. It makes you reflect on what we take for granted in our everyday lives.

I had a meeting after school and learned that you can access the math textbook online. I assign homework online for the class and individual students. I am still exploring this resource and will let you know when it is available. Each student will have their own log in and password.

Friday, we went down to the preserve. Mr. Earley and his students created 14 garden plots to be adopted by different classes. We chose one to take care of and observe throughout the year. To get our garden started, I need your help. We need soil to cover our area. It will probably take 10 bags. It should be a mix of soil, dillo dirt, compost, etc. If you are willing and able to help out with the purchase of a bag, please email me. We will need it by dropped off by the 14th (Next Wednesday). You can drop it off in the circle drive by the retain pond where the buses go through. I will buy some wildflowers to plant.

In writing, we are writing a brief story. They started with a plan; wrote a draft; edited; rewrote; and illustrated the story. We still have a couple that have not finished but should be finished Wednesday.

Monday, I was tired from being at ACL. We went to the science lab are continuing to explore the tools to measure length, mass, volume, and temperature.

Continued to work on story. Continuing with Daily 5.

In math, we are expanding number and looking at the value and place of different numbers.

Today, we worked on the 100s chart making pictures with number clues. Yesterday students created their own.
At the end of the day, I had students write down 3 goals that want to work on this year. I will share these at conferences on Monday. I am looking forward to meeting with you on Monday.

Tomorrow, we will go back to the science lab to finish our work on volume. Then start temperature. Mrs. Levitan will come in and do a lesson on divergent and convergent thinking.

Some of your students have probably already told you that my best friend, Jennifer Atkinson, is on the cover of the HEB red pamphlet you go in your Monday folder. She teaches in AISD at Metz Elementary on the east side. I went to the awards ceremony in June. It was inspirational to see all of these teachers and principals honored for what they love doing.

Jennifer and I have know each other since high school. She is actually the one that got me into teaching. She started as the director at the Early Childhood Center I used to work at (It was a mother's day out at the time). She is the one that hired me and suggested i work with 4 and 5 year olds (I didn't have to change diapers! Nice!). If it wasn't for her I don't know what I would be doing right now. Seriously! Anyway, I love teaching. And I love your kids.

It is late I better go to sleep so I can be ready for another full day and learning.

Thanks for reading!

Karen Rumpf

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

2009-09-30T14:17:00.002-05:00

Today, we went to the computer lab to finish the power point. Those that finished went on a typing website to practice keyboarding. I will add it to my links.

We came back and did a gallery walk of our map projects. It was interesting to here their conversations. There was a wide variety of map products. Some I could tell spent more than a day on it and others maybe less that a day. I explained their October project. There is a rubric attached to it. I told them that I expect a 3 or 4 on their project in all areas. Please check the homework link. I will put the forms on that link and I will add due dates to check in to make sure that your child does not wait until the last minute to do the project.

We worked on Target Math today.

We read one of our poems and underlined the nouns, verbs, and adjectives.

We worked on writing and read to self.

Tomorrow we will get back to science and place value.

Karen Rumpf

Monday, September 28

2009-09-28T15:07:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow, I will have a sub. If you have any transportation changes please call the office.

We put in the October calendar and writing prompts. I will give the project directions out on Wednesday.

Safety Sense Contracts went home today. They should be returned tomorrow.

I introduced Spelling/Word work from our Daily 5. They were given a list of words to work on fromtheir writing. They can use clay, wikki stix, magnetic letters, whiteboards, and different activities to practice spelling their words.

When I come back on Wednesday, I will go over how to use the MP3 players to Listen to Reading.

We get Weekly Reader. Today we read a little about Hispanic Heritage Month. Fernanda helped us pronounce some words. We practiced writing a letter to give advice to Whiskers.

Science we are learning about tools to measure distance. We measured a fingers with cubes. We compared the cubes to a ruler and found out that the cubes are 1 cm. Then we looked at different colored Cuisenaire rods and compared them to the centimeter cubes.

In math we have been looking at place value. Partners had a 100 charts and marked different numbers using tens and ones on their chart to make a picture.

In writing, we have been enjoying learning how to draw an picture (like a fish) and then write a story about it using a story starter or their own. This is our 3rd one. I have not sent these home. I use the stories to get their spelling words to work on.

Have a great day! I will see you on Wednesday!

Karen Rumpf

Rainy Wednesday, Sept. 23

2009-09-23T15:18:00.002-05:00

We survived the OLSAT. For those students that missed part or all of the OLSAT, I will let you know when the retake will be.

We went to computer lab to work on a PowerPoint of "where in the world am I". The template for the PowerPoint was already set up. Students had to add sentence to go with the picture. It started on Earth and narrowed down to the Laurel Mountain neighborhood. After students added sentences, they were able to change the font and the background of the slide. And then save to their file.

We continue to work on becoming better readers. We have been working on visualizing stories (having a mind movie going on as we read to help us understand what we are reading. We have also been talking about using prior knowledge (what we already know about the topic) to help us understand what we are reading. Today we used a lot of different strategies to solve "The Mystery of the Missing Ferrets". The series of one page stories is about Jenna, Ranger White (her dad) and Jacob (her twin brother) who travel around to different National Parks and solve mysteries. We did three things. First, we did some activities before we read. We were access our prior knowledge. We made predictions and learned some new vocab. Second, we read the story. We checked our understanding of what we read and guessed who the thief was. This led to a great discussion about the story. Third, we answered some questions about the story. We made inferences, drawing conclusions, reading for detail, and predicting outcomes.
This time we did it together. We will probably do one more together. Then, I think they should be able to do it on their own.

Looking ahead to the next couple of weeks. We will be starting place value tomorrow. Place value includes base ten representations, comparing numbers, expanded form, being able to explain the difference between numbers using words. We will finish up social studies- landforms, bodies of water, continents, countries, states, city, borders, and maps. We will start science by talking about safety. I will send a safety contract home tomorrow and I will post for those that are not here tomorrow. Please read over this contract and send back the next day your child is in class. After talking about science safety. We will go over science tools. We will work on force and motion, changes from heat, and physical changes. In reading, we will continue to work on reading strategies.

D0n't forget September Project Home to School Map is due next week! If you haven't started it please do not wait until the last minute.

Enrichment envelopes are due on Friday!

Make sure that if your child is not feeling well keep them at home. We have had a confirmed case of flu in our class.

Thanks! Have a great rainy afternoon!

Karen

Friday, Sept. 18, 2009

2009-09-18T15:53:00.002-05:00

We had another great week. During e-slot today, Mrs. Deol, Maya's mom, came in to teach us about Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish holiday that celebrates the New Year on the Jewish Calendar. It is the year 5770. Ask your child what they learned about the Shofar and the Challah, apples, and honey. Mrs. Deol read a book about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. She put together a powerpoint that had video of someone playing the Shofar. Mrs. Deol brought in a craft. The students had a choice to make a New Year's card for their family or decorate a paper plate Shofar or both. The class enjoyed it and so did I.

I want to invite any parent to come in and talk about any traditions their family celebrates (for example Diwali, Chinese New Year, Ramadan) You are welcome anytime! Your child would love to see you in class. I know they get very excited when their parents come in for anything.

Around Austin: Sunday is Museum Day. Most museums are free. I am sure their is a website that has a list but I do not know what it is.

Just an FYI... I am the science representative for Laurel Mountain. Throughout the year, I will be going to training off campus and will have a sub. I will let you and your child know when I will be out. I have one coming up on Sept 29th.

Have a great weekend! See you on Monday!

Karen Rumpf

Early Release Wednesday, Sept. 16th

2009-09-16T14:34:00.002-05:00

The day flew by today! We went to the computer lab and worked on making a table. Students followed my directions making a 10x10 table and typing numbers 1-100. After they completed the numbers changed the number by making them bold, italics, underline, size, and font. Check out the homework blog, I am going to add homework that they need to do by Monday when I check homework binders.
We worked on making a super sentence. We went to the library. We practiced our read to someone. We are continuing to work on landforms and bodies of water. We will continue to work on building our stamina in writing the rest of the week.

Thanks to those that came to the fire station on Monday. My goal was to present the banner and leave. We actually go a tour of the fire station and the students got to go in the fire truck.
I will post some pictures of the event.

Karen Rumpf

Fall Conference Schedule

2009-09-12T14:23:00.004-05:00

Please use the link on the right to sign up for a Parent-Teacher Conference. All conferences will be held October 12th between 8:00-3:00 PM. If you need an alternative time, please contact me, and I will do my best to make arrangements.

Click on the children. Then type in the name of your child in the time you would like. Scroll to the bottom and type in the password: batty2009. This will submit the changes to the schedule. If you have any questions email me.

Conferences will take approximately 15 minutes per student. You will be sent a reminder card as we approach. To better facilitate our communication, I ask that you come with specific questions or concerns in mind. This way I can be sure to address the items that are most important to you during our conference time. You can either email these questions to me in advance or bring them the day of your conference.

As a courtesy, please do not delete any names already on the conference request sheet. You may add yourself anywhere that has not already been filled. Also please note that if your conference extends beyond 15 minutes and there is a conference directly following yours, we will need to continue our conference at a later time. This ensures all familes are able to begin their conference at their scheduled time. This being said, if you are more than 10 minutes late to your conference, you will be asked to reschedule. I will be providing a great deal of important information regarding your child's personal, social, and academic development during the fall conference. Therefore, I would hate to short-change you by rushing to fit it all in.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation!

Remember September 11th, 2001

2009-09-11T15:03:00.002-05:00

Today for e-slot we talked a little about the events of 9-11-01. Which happened before the majority of our class was born. It is one of those events that you remember exactly where you were at the time it happened. We talked about the 1st responders. The firefighters, police, and emergency medical technicians. As a class we wrote our local area firefighters from Station 44 and EMS on Four Iron, the police department, and the fire station that Mrs. Petty's (registrar in the office) son, Eric Petty, works. The students also made banners for each special group. I told Mrs. Petty about it. I was going to drive it over to his station but Mrs. Petty had an even better idea of asking her son to come here and talk to us. Firefighter Eric Petty came to our class and Rishob read him the letter we wrote and we took a picture of the students with Mr. Petty. It was great that he took time out of his day to come talk to us especially on short notice. The students had good questions. I will add a picture when I get home.

I would like to give the firefighters and EMT on Four Iron their banner on Monday after school and was wondering if any parents would be interested in meeting me over there with their child. Let me know if you are interested.

I have a couple of housekeeping items:
* Please have your child bring in headphones on Monday.
* Please bring your homework binders on Monday.
* If you have not turned in your pink forms please do that by Monday.
* From Mrs. Richards:
Would you or someone you know like to learn English or improve their English speaking skills?
Who: Anyone wanting to learn or improve their English Language skills
When: Every Tuesday and Thursday, beginning September 22nd
Time: 12:30-2:30
Where: LME Parent Room (210)
Please join us in the Parent Room (210) for FREE English as a Second Language tutoring classes!! LifeWorks teachers will begin teaching class every Tuesday and Thursday from 12:30 – 2:30, starting Tuesday, September 22nd.
This volunteer based LifeWorks program teaches adults how to read and write in English. The program provides instruction to individuals 17 years of age or older and will be available to Laurel Mountain parents who are interested.
Please contact Jen Clitheroe, LME Parent Support Specialist, at jclitheroe@austin.rr.com or 917-9227.

Attention all Dads!!! Calling All Top Dogs!!!
Who: All LME Dads and Students
When: September 24th
Time: 6:00-7:00 p.m.
What: Pizza and Watch D.O.G.S. Kickoff Event
Where: Laurel Mountain Cafeteria
Dads give mom a night off! Bring the children for free pizza and learn about Watch D.O.G.S. LME is launching a Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) volunteer program at our school this year. The Watch D.O.G.S. is a national group designed to facilitate dads’ involvement in their children’s schools.
Coordinator Scott Clitheroe will be discussing the details of the program and how to get involved. The pizza party is intended for LME dads and their LME students. Please RSVP by Monday the 21st to sclitheroe@austin.rr.com letting us know how many will be attending. See you there!

* From Mrs. Levitan:
Excellence Fund Campaign 2009
In order to provide monetary support to implement the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) at Laurel Mountain, the leadership team has set up a fund through Round Rock ISD. Only with the support of our parents and community can we make the SEM educational experience a reality. Last year 70% of our LME families financially supported the SEM Excellence Fund. This year our goal is 100% participation, and we hope to raise the $75,000 required to keep the program going at Laurel Mountain.
The Excellence Fund Campaign kicked off Tuesday, September 8 and continues through Friday, September 25. Of course, donations are accepted at any time of the year. Please refer to the Excellence Fund brochure and envelope that was sent home in last week’s Monday folder which provides more detailed information about SEM at Laurel Mountain. More information is also on our updated website, http://www.lmesem.org.

Have a great weekend!
Karen Rumpf

Wednesday, 9-9-09

2009-09-09T20:34:00.003-05:00

I hope you all had a great Labor Day!

We watched President Obama's speech yesterday. It went perfectly with our study on character traits. We looked at different people that have gone through tough times in their life but persevered. The Foundation for a Better Life has the billboards and quotes on values. It is an awesome site. Check it out. After discussing different character traits with the students. They made a portrait of themselves and wrote a sentence with a trait they possess.

I have started doing reading assessments. I am halfway finished.

We have built our stamina in our Daily 5 Read to Self to 25 minutes. Awesome! We are still working on building stamina in Work on Writing. We are up to 10 minutes. I think this one is hard because they get stuck on what to write. We have brainstormed things to do when we are stuck. I have introduced Read to Someone. We have practiced for 3 minutes. Ask your student what EEKK! means.

We went to computer lab and work on our map skills.

We have been talking about nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Tomorrow we will work on subject and predicate. We have read books and made lists of each. I have had technical difficulties with my laptop today so we were not able to watch School House Rock. I still remember watching the "Conjunction Junction what's your function" or "I'm just a Bill". Do you? OOh nostalgia!

In math we are working with doubles. Tomorrow, we will play a double game and then talk about near doubles.

If you have not brought in headphones please bring them in by the end of the week. We have decided that we can use them in the computer lab and in the classroom.

In the Monday folder, you got the SEM enrichment fundraiser. Please return those by Sept. 25th. If we have everyone return their envelopes (with or without a denotation) our class will get a Fun Friday. Last year we got a 100% and a magician performed for us in the cafeteria. I do not know what will happen this year.

Thanks,

Karen Rumpf

Thursday, Sept. 3rd, 2009

2009-09-03T15:05:00.002-05:00

We have had a busy week so far. We have finished our beginning of the year math assessment and started addition and subtractions strategies. We made combinations of 10 and have played Sum of 10 concentration and addition war. Students have told me the parents are enjoying playing the addition war at home. I am glad. We have built our stamina of read to self to 13 minutes. Awesome!!! We are building our stamina of work on writing. We are up to 6 minutes. During writing students have brainstormed ideas. We have talked about writing about what has happened during the day if they get stuck. They have many ideas they can write about. we have been working on long and short a spelling patterns. Students made maps today of a room in their house or made up their own map. They included a map key, title, map symbols, and compass rose with cardinal directions.

Tomorrow during e-slot we will have some school faculty come in and talk about their jobs and what characteristics they need to have for their job. This will lead into a study on good citizenship and character traits. Have you seen the billboards for The Foundatin for a Better Life? Picture of Abraham Lincoln and next to it says "Failed, Failed, Failed,and then... Persistence Pass It On". There are about 40 different ones. I have them so we can have a good discussion about different character traits.

We discussed work expectations. Icky, Ok, and Fancy work. And what I expect them to aim for.

Remember to have students bring back red binders so I can check. Then they will go home the same day. I just want to do a quick check whether they are finished with all their work or not. I hope most are.

Next week I will start reading assessments. This will help students pick out good fit books.

Have a great Thursday!

Karen Rumpf

Classroom Expectations and Mission Statement

2009-08-29T16:10:00.000-05:00

Classroom Expectations

1. Be respectful
2. Be proud of who you are
3. Keep desk neat
4. Listen to teacher
5. One person talking at a time
6. Take turns
7. Be a friend
8. Keep body parts to yourself

Mission Statement:
The mission of Ms. Rumpf’s Respectful Bats is to learn and work hard together as a team in a happy, safe, and respectful classroom. We are going to encourage our friends; help each other do our best work; be quiet when we should be; and have a positive attitude. This will prepare us for college and reach our goals and dreams in the future.

Thursday, August 27th

2009-08-27T20:43:00.002-05:00

We have had a productive two days. We are continuing to learn the class procedures. We have established classroom expectations and mission statement. We are learning about Kelso problem solving. We took a math facts assessment. We are learning more about each other through different activities.

Reminder: Parent night is Monday August 31st starting in the cafeteria at 6:30. I will email the packet tomorrow. Read it over it and come with questions.

Karen Rumpf

1st Day of School

2009-08-25T21:54:00.002-05:00

Wow! What a wonderful day! We accomplished so much.
Students colored their birthday bats. We each colored a piece of a puzzle. Then put it together showing us that "together we are one" . I will add picture soon. I took pictures of each respectful bat (pictures coming soon!). I read a story about a monster's first day at school which led into a discussion about classroom expectations. We came up with a list and students voted on their top five. We will go over them tomorrow and sign it. We went over many classroom procedures. We choose our top 10 favorite topics to study. This will be used to create enrichment activities and clusters later in the year.

A couple of reminders:
1.Our lunch is at 12:24 (2nd grade has the latest lunch). Please pack a snack for your child. We will have snack around (9:45-9:50).
2.If your child has a transportation change please call the office. I realized at the end of the day that I had not checked my email all day. There will always be someone in the office.
3.If your child is a walker at the end of the day, there is a designated area to pick up walkers between the 3rd grade portable and the music portable.
4.We have library on Wednesdays from 11:00-11:30.

I think that is all for today! Have a great evening! See you tomorrow for the 2nd day of 2nd grade celebrations!

Ms. Rumpf

Thanks for the comments!

Welcome Respectful Bats of 2009-10

2009-08-12T20:42:00.002-05:00

I am looking forward to great new school year with your children!

Karen Rumpf

What a Year!

2009-06-02T20:33:00.004-05:00

We had a great time playing games today! I am looking forward to science day tomorrow and our end of the year party.

I cannot believe this year is over! It seems to have flown by! I have had so much fun with your kids! Have a safe and relaxing summer!

We have tried to finish The Emerald Tablet by Zachary's mom, P.J. Hoover, but it does not look like we are going to be able to do it. So if you don't have a copy of The Emerald Tablet go out and buy one. We are at a very exciting part. We have been trying to figure out who the guardian is. I thought it might be Jack. Then I thought it might be Helios Deimos. Reading today made me think it might be Mr. Burton. When we read tomorrow, my prediction might change. Who could it be? Tricia ... any hints? How long do we have to wait before the next book?

Thanks for a great year!

Karen

Tuesday, May 26,2009

2009-05-26T19:36:00.002-05:00

Can you believe this school year is almost at an end!

I hope you had a restful three day weekend.

We have been working on three reader's theatres. They are funny fairy tales: Rafunzel, The Three Little Elephants, and The Little Red Robin. Students have worked hard memorizing their parts, practicing, and making the props. We would like to invite you come and watch the performances of the plays this Friday at 8:00.

Hope to see you on Friday!

Karen Rumpf

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

2009-05-19T18:32:00.002-05:00

Today, we had a great author speaker, Tim Tingle. He is a Choctaw Indian and a fabulous storyteller. It was very interactive. I took video of some of the interaction. I will try to add asap. At the end he asked some kids to join him playing instruments. Our own Simon and Chase were invited to play with him. I will add those pictures soon! If you still would like to buy a book for Mr. Tingle to sign, you can! He will be back next week to sign them.

Please turn in your race and ethnicity survey form by Friday! Thanks!

Have a great evening!

Karen Rumpf

Friday, May 8th

2009-05-08T13:07:00.002-05:00

Wow! This week seemed to fly by! Thanks you all for a wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week! I loved everything! Monday, arriving to a decorated door with all the thoughtful cards. Then having students come with flowers. I love flowers! They brightened up my week! Tuesday, all the breakfast treats: coffee, tea, donuts, mugs, chocolate chip cookies (yummy!), and giftcards to iTunes, Blockbuster, and Starbuck's. Alex has also enjoyed all the goodies. Wednesday, the delicious variety of fruit. I love fruit! I also received some delicious dumplings. Thursday was gardening items. I don't know if your children share my Rocket stories. Wednesday night I planted 7 banana plants in my backyard. The next morning Rocket had chewed on one of them. Thursday afterschool, she had pulled up 3 of them. Students have helped me brainstorm ideas of how to keep Rocket out of the plants. I will try some of them. Anyway...I will enjoy planning my flower garden with the different seeds and using the gloves and tools I got. Today, I got an enchilada dinner that I am looking forward to eating. If I forgot something I am sorry.

It has been a great week! I have enjoyed this year very much. We have done some activites for the first time this year that students are very excited about. I am looking forward to having your student share with you what we have done on Tuesday May 12 from 1:00- 4:30. It is an open house so come whenever and stay as long as you want (but at 4:30 I am going to have to kick you out!).

Reusable bottle project was a great success! The different products made were very creative. Keep an eye out for pictures of the projects. I have been having trouble adding pictures to the blog.

Next week we will start reading Knights of the Round Table by Gwen Gross as a class. We will finish up time and start multiplication. We will continue with our plant unit that we started this week. If you have any questions or concerns or comments about anything email or call me at karen_rumpf@roundrockisd.org or 464-4364.

Thanks again for a great week!!

Karen Rumpf

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

2009-04-28T12:08:00.002-05:00

I have added many slideshows with events we have done this semester. Enjoy!!

Today, we had Madeleine's mom, Dr. Karen Stearman, talk with us about how she started her business. Then, Harsha's dad, Divakar Jandhyala, came to talk about his computer programming business. Students asked very good questions! I particularly enjoyed the part where both Dr. Stearman and Mr. Jandhyala said their children go to their offices and eat their candy. What a coincidence!!

Dr. Stearman, Mr. Jandhyala, Randy and Haleigh Hashem, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to visit us and talk to us about your businesses! We really appreciate it!

Karen Rumpf

Economics

2009-04-24T15:33:00.002-05:00

Next Friday, May 1st, we will be having an Economics Fair. There will be a note that goes home on Monday. We have talked about producers and consumer, good and services, income, business plans, expenses, and profit. Yesterday students were hired by the Rumpf Business and Education Company. Their job title was intern. Their job duties were listening, following directions, and finishing work. They were paid $5 per hour. A dollar was deducted if they were not doing one of their duties. They were paid today.

Since they had an income. They had money to buy materials for their good. They paid $5 to the Laurel Mountain Natural Resources Company to gather rocks for their good. Then they had to buy paint, paper plate, and paint brushes to paint their rock for $3. They also rented to room for $1. We will continue painting rocks next week so we have enough inventory for Friday!

This afternoon my brother-in-law, Randy Hashem, came to talk about how he started his business. He owns and operates Chisholm Trail Icehouse Barbecue Restaurant next to Big Lots. Good barbecue! i especially like the lean brisket and the pork tenderloin! Students asked very good questions. www.chisholmtrailicehouse.com

After Randy spoke, Haliegh Hashem, my 10 year old niece, talked about how she started her doggy treat business. She gave business cards to everyone and samples to students that had dogs. Cookie and Rocket love the dog treats! http://www.doggietreatsbyhaleigh.com

Next Tuesday, Madeleine's mom is coming to speak about her business. Then Harsha's dad is going to talk about his business. If any other parents that own business would like to come and talk. We would love to have you!

Have a great weekend!
Karen

Happy Earth Day!

2009-04-22T14:09:00.002-05:00

What a day we have had!! We cleaned our garden plot. We planted some succulents. It looks do much better. Next we went on a hike in the nature preserve guided by 5th graders. They did a wonderful job! Mr. Early and the 5th graders have added many additions since last year. They built a Chimney Swift habitat and information board. It is awesome!!! I wish we had more time to explore. After the hike we had a recycling presentation. It was very informative!

After specials, we shared. During our share time Dylan brought up a you tube video on technology. Then another student brought up the Britian's Got Talent you tube with Susan Boyle. We watched both videos and had a discussion about first impressions and they are not always correct.

We are having fun learning about economics and how the world works when it comes to money. If there is anyone who started and owns a busines and would like to come and talk to the class. We would love to have you! Let me know!

I will try to include some video from today! Look for it soon!

Thanks,
Karen Rumpf

Today! Thursday, Feb. 26th

2009-02-26T15:30:00.002-06:00

We are continuing to work on our IIM research project. We have 7 groups. Each group has an animal they are researching. Ask your child what their animal is! Mrs. Levitan our Enrichment Coordinator has come in to our class to teach us the steps. There are 7 steps. Step one is the Topic. During this step, students make a concept map about what they know and what they want to know about their animal. Step 2 is Goal Setting. This step involves coming up with how many notefacts, resources, and glossary entries they need to include in their research. I gave them questions I wanted them to answer in their research. Then they rolled two question dice to help them come up with questions that will answer their questions on their concept map. Step 3 is research. Today, Mrs. Levitan modeled how to write notefacts. Mrs. Levitan talked what plagerism is and how to find the important information and write it in their own words. Tomorrow, groups will start taking notefacts on their animal.

In math, we made Gallon Guy. It shows how cups, pints, quarts, and gallons are related. We will finish up the week working on customary capacity and then move on to metric capacity. Then we will finish up our measurement unit with weight.

Monday

2009-02-23T10:25:00.002-06:00

**Class Picture are this Wednesday. If you want to order please send in form.
**Laurel Mountain Elementary PTA Auction Fundraiser is Saturday April 4th at Balcones Country Club.

In math, we are continuing to work on customary capacity, cup, pint, quart, gallon.

In reading, we are starting an Independent Investigative Method Research Model on a specific animal. This is a group project.

We are also finishing our non-fiction text feature with Ann Squire.

In computer lab, we are continuing to work on our autobiographies.

In writing, we are working on paragraphs and writing letters.

It's been a long time

2009-02-19T07:28:00.002-06:00

In reading we have been working on Non-Fiction text features. These features include: table of contents, headings, photographs, captions, index, special type, glossary, diagrams, and pronunciations. Last week we talked about 3 features using Jim Arnosky books. This week we are looking at 3 features using Gail Gibbons books. Next week we will look at the last 3 features with Ann Squire books.

In computer lab we are working on an all about me powerpoint using some of the non fiction features.

In social studies we are finishing up history by presenting our Biography boxes. In computer lab, we went to Bio4Kids to read about one famous person. They had a questionnaire to fill out about their person. Then used the information to make their cereal box. Students will present their person today and tomorrow.

In math we are working on measurement. We finished customary and metric length. We started capacity and weight yesterday by exploring how much rice containers hold using non standard units of measure (small plastic cup).

We have class pictures next Thursday the 26th. If you want to order a class photo please turn your forms in.

Thanks!
Karen

Field Trip

2009-02-08T15:51:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Mrs. Riba and Mrs. Loera for going with us on the field trip.
We had fun learning about mammal, birds, and reptiles.

The White House

2009-01-24T20:39:00.002-06:00

I am catching up on my blogging. I mailed the letters the kids typed to President Obama today! Maybe we will get a letter back! That would be awesome!! Have a great weekend!

Heritage Project Group Photo

2009-01-24T20:35:00.001-06:00

Week in Review

2009-01-24T20:14:00.002-06:00

Tuesday: We watched the inaguration of our new president. We made timelines of President Obama's life.

Wednesday: Last week we had a discussion about guitars. I asked if they had heard of Rodrigo y Gabriela. I brought the cd to listen to and the DVD to watch. They are amazing guitarists. We typed letters that students wrote as homework to President Obama. In science, we created a representation of how the seasons happen.

Thursday: We had the read-a-thon for Libraries of Love.

Friday: We had our first enrichment cluster. It sounds like everyone is excited about what they are doing. We have been working on problem solving strategies in math. Next week we will start on measurement. At the end of the day, Katie Hinko from UT came to do physics demonstrations. She was great!!

Zachary's Mom reads her book, The Emerald Tablet

2009-01-24T20:07:00.001-06:00

Thanks for being our mystery reader!

Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009

2009-01-13T14:38:00.002-06:00

We had a substitute, Mrs. Markins, because Ms. Rumpf was testing.-Vineeth
In science, we read about the moon and answered questions. -Harsha
We did Target Math. -Nathaniel Li
We read a story and Ms. Rumpf asked us questions about the story. -Altan
We played math games with a partner. -Madeleine.
We did stations. - Madison
We wrote a story about when a relative came to visit.- madison
We are answering the blog with what we did. -Olivia
We did a sheet on beginnin, middle, and end and time order words. - Harsha
We read the Language Arts book. -Olivia
We read the Emerald Tablet. -Simon

Karen Rumpf

Thursday and Friday

2009-01-09T15:31:00.000-06:00

Our time got away from us, so I am going to recap Thursday and Friday.

Thursday
We went to computer lab to finish typing our story or work on Renzulli.
We worked on making nouns plural and recognizing when to add -es to the end of nouns.
We created our own constellations. We named them and wrote about them.
We finished up 2 digit subtraction by doing word problems with unknown information.
We started a new round of stations.
I have started reading assessments.

Friday
HEB came to talk to use about making healthy food choices. Students got to sample a variety of fruits and vegetables. I even tried some that I had not had before like daikon. They also talked to us about keeping track of how many fruits and vegetables students eat. I will send that home. HEB is having an essay contest. I will give more details later.
We took a spelling assessment that goes with the state reading assessment, TPRI.
We took the 2 digit post test, today. Look for the pre and post in the Monday folder.
In science, we displayed the constellation on the overhead for students to guess the constellation. They did a great job on this activity.

Have a great weekend!

Karen Rumpf

Wednesday

2009-01-07T14:28:00.002-06:00

We learned about the moon and how craters are made when space rocks and astroids and comets crash into the moon. - Navya
We learned about the moon and that 4 moons fit inside the Earth. -Kate
We learned the moon has no light of its own. It uses sunlight. -Vineeth
Ms. Bolch came to give us a lesson about self talk- good and bad. -Simon
We watched the bus evacuation after KPAW. -Madison
We watched a video on Phases of the Moon. -Harsha
We finished typing our story in computer lab or went to Renzulli. -Olivia

Have a great day!

Karen Rumpf

Tuesday

2009-01-06T15:14:00.002-06:00

We learned how the Sun, Earth, and Moon move. - Matt
We learned a new reading strategy, synthesizing.-Vineeth
Synthesizing is putting together what you know and compare what new information you learned form the story. -Olivia
We learned more about plants. We wrote one the left side of the paper about what we know and on the right side what we learned as we read. - Altan
In math, we worked on 2 question word problems. -Zachary

Have a great day!

Karen Rumpf

Happy New Year!

2009-01-05T19:12:00.002-06:00

Happy 2009! I hope everyone had a relaxing break.

Last year, we said goodbye to Elvira. She moved to Hutto. Today, we welcomed a new student, Nathaniel Li, to our class. Dylan has been showing him how things work in the classroom.

I have asked the class to help me write what we did today. This is what we came up with:
We did Target Math. -Matt
We did word problems after Target Math. -Madison
We learned how to use addition to check subtraction. -Sydney
We watched a video about space. -Harsha
We made New Year's Resolutions. -Malvika
We got a new student, Nathaniel Li. - Simon
We went to art. - Madeleine
We review our classroom rules. -Altan

Students are illustrating and typing their Diary of an Animal stories.

Karen Rumpf

Busy Week

2008-12-15T18:15:00.002-06:00

Today we started working on a story related to Diary of a Worm, Spider, and Fly. They are coming up with their own animal. We will type them up in class and computer lab. Then illustrate.

We are still working on 2 digit subtraction. It would be good for your student to practice using the links on the blog, especially the one with the manipulatives.

We have been working on gifts for the parents. Students have worked really hard. The gifts will go home tomorrow if we finish or Wednesday by the latest. I hope you like them.

Tomorrow, (if we have school) we have a weather presentation by Troy Kimmel.

Wednesday, we have a one man presentation on the Grinch.

Thursday, we are having Polar Express Day. I forgot to send the note home today. It will be Thursday. Your student can wear pajamas and bring a stuffed animal. We will watch The Polar Express movie and have hot cocoa. In the afternoon, we will have a school wide sing a long in the cafeteria.

Last day before our break,Friday, we have our party from 1pm to 2pm.

If you have any questions about any of these activities let me know.

Thanks,
Karen

New Positive Behavior System

2008-12-07T20:45:00.002-06:00

After talking with the students, I have agreed to start a new behavior system in class, individual and table group. We already have compliment system with bats. Students have asked why we don't do what Mrs. Smith and some of the other classes do. I asked if they would like that. They said yes! So over the week I have laminated some batss to put on each desk. This will be their individual behavior chart. They will mark a tally on their bat when they follow directions. Tomorrow, we will establish the # of tallies they earn for a certain reward. We will do the same system for table groups. I will let you know the details tomorrow.

We have a busy couple of weeks before the winter break. We have a speakers, authors, sing alongs, plays.

Students took the double digit addition post test on Friday, 12 out of 19 students made 100%. Awesome!!! Look for the pre and post tests in the Monday folders tomorrow! Each word problem is worth 3 points: 1 point -for using the problem solving strategies, 1 point-for writing the number sentence showing regrouping if necessary, 1 point- for writing the answer in a complete sentence. These directions were reviewed the day before the test, the day of the test, and were left on the board.

We will be working on double digit subtraction for the next two weeks. Subtraction is a little more difficult. If you practice at home make sure you use the vocabulary regrouping instead of borrowing. Borrowing makes it sound like we are going to give it back. We are regrouping a ten for 10 ones. I will look for some websites to practice.

Thanks,
Karen

Giving Thanks!

2008-11-25T08:48:00.003-06:00

I am thankful for:

*my dog Chiflada Perez because she is cute, small, and brownish white. –Elvira
*my friends and family and relatives because they give me company. – Madison
*having friends and family because I like them. – Navya
*water because it makes people not faint. –Louis
*video games because they are fun to play. –Dylan
*playing because I like to play. – Sydney
*my mom because when she asks me something I do it. –Vineeth
*books because some help me learn. –Zachary
*my mom and dad because they taught me and are raising me up. – Olivia
*my family and friends because they always keep me company and
they are always there for me. – Matt
*my family and friends because they play and get presents and have lots of fun. –Altan
*going on Halloween because I got lots of candy. –Chase
*my mom and dad because they help me learn. – Celestine
*water because without it I will die of thirst. –Malvika
*my brother because when I am alone he plays with me. –Harsha
*being a teacher because I get to know such wonder children every year. –Ms. Rumpf

I love science!

2008-11-20T15:18:00.003-06:00

Yesterday and today we have gone to the science lab to investigate force and motion. We used the scientific method. First, we asked a question. Next, we guessed what would happen. After that, we wrote down our process for the investigation. We used wood, books, toy car, and a meter stick. We made a ramp with 2, 4 and 6 books. Then we rolled the car down and measured the distance. Student recorded their data and then wrote their conclusion.

Today we used the same materials but we experimented with friction. We wanted to find out what material, sandpaper, towel, or waxpaper had more friction. Two groups found that sandpaper had more friction and one group had the towel. I thought the towel. Then they made a conclusion.

We have been working on the setting of our cooking up a story. We used our 5 senses to describe it. Next, we will be working on the action.

In math, we are working on double digit addition. Students are understanding it. So we will do practice computation facts and focus more on word problems. I will try to find some links that practice this.

We are continuing to work on Molly's Pilgrim. Students partner read today and did a connection sheet and sequencing activity.

Have a great evening!

Karen Rumpf

Monday, Nov. 17th

2008-11-17T15:27:00.002-06:00

If you have not brought back your art please return the picture tomorrow!

We started the day with spelling. I read a passage and the students fill in the blanks on their paper.

We did an intro lesson on using a dictionary. I introduced guide words, entry words, definition, pronunciation, and part of speech. Students looked up words that are in the story we will be reading tomorrow. Please practice dictionary skills at home. Give your child some words and have them look them up. We will continue using dictionary skills throughout the year.

In writing, we are cooking up a story. We are writing a story like you follow a recipe. Students answered 3 questions: What is your favorite animal? If you could travel anywhere, where would you visit? What is activity you enjoy doing? With those answers, students created their main character, setting, and action.

In math, students created a pictograph using info that I gave them. I gave them guidelines. We will take the post test tomorrow and then take the pretest for double digit addition.

In social studies, students finished their mural on U.S. Symbols. They all worked well together.

At the end of the day we are listening to the Tale of Despereaux on CD. We can compare the movie with the book next semester.

Have a great evening!

Karen

Last Week

2008-11-15T11:26:00.002-06:00

Last week, we started graphing. Students took surveys of the class (favorite animal, ice cream, color, etc). Then they created bar graphs to include title, labels, interval, and scale. After that they created questions to go with their graphs. The next day they answered the questions on each graph. Friday, we talked about pictographs. We created a graph on the board using the first initial of our first names. An x represented 2 students. One of the difference between a bar graph and a pictograph is that on a pictograph you have pictures that may represent more than one thing. There is a key to tell you what each picture represents. We will continue with pictographs on Monday.

In reading, we continue with station work and independent reading contracts. We are working on the reading strategy, inference.

In social studies, we are finishing up a unit on US Symbols. They are making a mural in groups. They made their plan yesterday.

In science, this week will be working on forces and motion. We have a force working outside today, strong winds.

This week in reading, we are reading Molly's Pilgrim. I sent home the heritage project (the stapled packet of info.) on Wednesday so your child has plenty of time to work on it. If you have any questions on the project please call or email and I will clarify.

TAG information night is Nov. 18th. Check the LME website for the time.

Have a great weekend!

Karen

Dog Treats!

2008-11-11T10:47:00.003-06:00

I have to advertise for this new business called Gourmet Doggie Treats by Haleigh.
Haleigh is my niece. She is 9 years old and has started a business selling dog treats.
If you are interested in ordering some or just want to check out the website, it is http://doggietreatsbyhaleigh.com/default.html
Thanks for reading!
Karen

E-slot on Friday and Carnival Fun!

2008-11-10T18:32:00.003-06:00

I hope you all had a great weekend having fun at the carnival!

Zachary and Nathaniel won the teacher treasure!! We will be going bowling at Highland Lanes next week!

Last Friday, for e-slot we made get well cards for the Children's Hospital and Ronald McDonald house. Some students made more than one! We hope the cards brighten up the days of the patients!

We also had Judge Gisela Triana come to the school and talk to us about being a judge. I will add some pictures tomorrow.

Today, we wrote about our rock. They should be rewriting their paragraph for homework tonight.

We have finished with place value but it will come up again when we talk about double digit addition and subtraction. We will spend this week on graphing, reading and creating bar graphs and pictographs. We have also worked on our problem solving skill (word problems).

I introduced another reading strategy, inferring. Inferring is drawing conclusions from what is written, reading between the lines.

In social studies, we read about our country's celebrations, landmarks and symbols. Tomorrow we will talk about Veteran's Day.

Wednesday, November 5th

2008-11-05T18:07:00.003-06:00

Today we are finishing up the final draft of our first story. We finished our Monster Trap stories yesterday. Tomorrow we will be starting on another piece of descriptive writing.

We created a concentration game in math that incorporated place value. They wrote 5 numbers. Using those five numbers they needed to write it in expanded notation and then draw it using base ten blocks. They did well. We will play the student created game tomorrow along with other place value games.

We went to computer lab and work on Renzulli. I made note of some of the sites that I thought looked interesting. I will check them out and add it to their favorites.

In social studies, we are finishing up government. We made another concentration game that used the government vocab. words. Pictures coming soon!

Karen

We have gone BATTY!

2008-10-31T15:12:00.002-05:00

Halloween is a great time to talk about the importance of bats. Halloween paints a bad image of mean bats with red eyes and blood.

Today we took some time to learn more about bats. During eslot, we invited Mrs. Briggs and Mrs. Wenum to join us to find out how much we know about bats. Students were given a survey to fill out before we watched a video. They answered true or false statements like: Bats are blind. After watching a short video clip we answered the same questions. Most students learned something new from the video. Then we made oragami bats. Harsha helped us with some of the directions. So image 60 kids in the room making oragami and friends helping each other. It was very cool! I will add some pictures.

Next we played an echolocation game outside. There was one bat, 9 insects, and 10 trees. The bat had 2 minutes to tag as many insects as they could. The bat was blindfolded so they could only say 'beep' and if any one was in their range they would say "insect" or "tree". If they bumped into a tree the hunt was over. Ask your child, I am sure they can explain it better.

We read the Bat Bugle which gave us information. They also did a word search.

We watched a little more of the video before specials.

After specials we did an estimating sheet. Students had a hard time with this because they wanted to count all the bats. Then we did a fact and opinion sheet.

At the end of the day, Madeleine shared some candy. I shared a bat tattoo, sticker and bat ring. I hope they share with you the importance of bats to our environment, especially if you like mangoes, avocados, and other fruits bats help pollinate.

I hope you have a happy and safe Halloween. I have read your survey response and will work on adding the curriculum and more links to the blog.

Look for the pictures of the day to right coming soon!

Have a great weekend!

Karen

It's is Tuesday, Oct. 28th!

2008-10-28T16:13:00.003-05:00

We had a wonderful learning day!

We are continuing to take our first story through the writing process - editing, illustrating, and publishing.

We are continuing our station work and independent reading contracts.

In math, we are making pictures in a hundred chart using clues, like finding the mistake in the pattern. We are also working on the place and value of numbers. For example, 345, 3 is in the hundreds place and its value is 300. We are also working on expanding numbers. For example, the expanded form for 345 is 300+40+5. The last thing we worked on is writing numbers using words: three hundred forty-five.

Since elections are coming up next week, we are taking a break from science and have started talking about government. We talked about the three branches and what each branch does. After talking about it, we watched a video about the three branches of government.

Don't forget about Teacher Treasure. The second grade teachers are going to take two students bowling at Highland Lanes. They even get pizza and a drink! It is fun, fun, fun! I think I have had only one student turn in tickets. So buy, buy, buy!!

Have a great Tuesday evening!

Karen

Added Link

2008-10-26T11:20:00.002-05:00

Sydney's mom sent a link that she uses to practice math facts with Sydney. It lets you pick the parameters so you can make as easy or challenging as you want. Check it out! It is a change from the flash cards we are all tired of!

Thanks, Mary for sending the link!

Karen

Scholastic Teacher Book Wizard

2008-10-23T16:17:00.003-05:00

Thank you all for coming in for conferences! Please have you goal setting form and conference summary sheet returned by Monday or Tuesday so I can make a copy and send it back to you!

During conferences, one parent asked for different genre books on their child's level. Scholastic has something you might be interested in.

If you go to scholastic.com
click on Teachers
click on Teacher Book Wizard
click DRA for Your Reading Level System then click set
go to Leveled Search
set preferences and hit search

It will give you book choices on your child's reading level including different genres. You can even specify the genre you want.

If you have any questions, let me know. If you would like me to do the search for you, I can do that too.

On another book note, I mentioned yesterday Zachary's mom has just published her first book, The Emerald Tablet. She is having a book release party.

Where: BookPeople, 6th and Lamar
When: Sunday, October 26th, 4:00pm
What: Books, Fun, Food, Games

My son and I plan on attending. I heard Mr. Johnston (5th grade teacher) was going to attend.
I hope I will see you there!

Have a great evening!

Karen

Congratulation!

2008-10-21T20:10:00.004-05:00

The Emerald Tablet by P.J. Hoover (Zachary's mom) was released today!
How exciting! I can't wait to read it!
Zachary has shared bookmarks with the class! He has been waiting for the release!
Check out her blog: http://pjhoover.blogspot.com/

What! Homework on the weekend!

2008-10-17T15:22:00.002-05:00

I know! Students shouldn't have homework on the weekends! This should be the only time and I told them when they turn it in they will not have homework on Monday!

We have been working on our philanthropy unit. Today we talked about public and private areas. We learned that common areas are another name for public areas. We focused on school and how we can take care of these areas like the cafeteria, hallways, library, etc. Students chose a common area in the school and wrote how they can take care of that area. The homework is writing down public and private areas you drive by, walk by, or bike by this weekend. It is due on Monday! Parents need to sign the back of the chart!

I introduced another reading strategy, monitoring comprehension. What can you do if you come to a word you do not know. We read When the Wind Stops. Ask your child what they learned from that story.

We solved clues on the 100s chart.

In science, we started talking about matter and the forms of matter. We watched videos on united streaming and then took notes in our science journals. Ask your child what they know about matter. We also learned a song. I will write the words so we can all sing it day and night!

Conferences next week! We have early release on Tuesday and Thursday!

Have a great weekend!

Karen