{Dot Day 2017}

The Twosies loved celebrating International Dot Day!

International Dot Day celebrates the message presented in Peter H. Reynold's Book, The Dot, that everyone has the potential to leave their mark on the world. It all begins with being brave enough to start with just a dot.

We of course began the day by reading the book and discussing the author's message.

We also brainstormed and wrote about ways that we as second graders could make our mark in our homes, school, and community.

We made t-shirts to celebrate Dot Day using a really cool Sharpie tye-dye technique!

You can read about it here:

http://busybeeideas.blogspot.com/2012/09/make-it-monday-getting-ready-for.html

They turned out so great! I just love them!

We also celebrated the day with a Dot Towers STEM Challenge. The students were challenged to build the tallest tower they could using Dots candies and toothpicks.

Our winning tower was over 10 inches tall! 

{Georgia Regions}

The Twosies worked so hard during our Georgia Unit to write songs to help them learn the five Georgia regions!

We also learned a lot of information about each region including:

landforms

climate

wildlife

plants/crops

atractions

They completed research booklets for the Five Regions of Georgia and the Rivers of Georgia.

Enjoy the music videos!

{Great American Solar Eclipse 2017}

Wow, wow, wow!

That's pretty much all I can say when I think about experiencing the solar eclipse with my Twosies! We were so lucky to get to experience this once in a lifetime event and turn it into an incredible learning opportunity. 

Our school was so excited, the whole school wore black...BLACKOUT!

The week prior to the eclipse, the Twosies watched several videos and read lots of information about what would happen that day.  On the actual day of the eclipse, we completed rotations through all of the second grade classrooms. 

The Twosies participated in activities like...

creating an eclipse model

making moon sand

learning about circadian rhythm

demonstrating the eclipse with Oreos

the history of (and eating) Moon Pies

discovering what happens to animals in an eclipse

designing corona art

listening to eclipse folktales and storytelling with shadow puppets

We then spent the afternoon observing the sun with our eclipse glasses and tracking the progression of the moon across the sun. We celebrated with Sun Chips and Sunny D!

{Building Bridges}

We had so much fun with our Bridge Unit! We learned the definition of bridges and why they were built. We learned the history of bridges from the Primitive People, to the Roman Empire, to the modern nineteenth century bridges. We also learned about the five major types of bridges (beam, cantilever, truss, arch, and suspension), moveable bridges, and famous bridges. We ended our unit with building bridges of our own! 

Planning and Design Meetings:

Construction Stage:

Final Products:

The Great Fantastic Literally Magnificent Bridge (Cantilever Bridge)

The Vach Bridge (Truss Bridge)

Ponzar Bridge (Beam Bridge)

Archy Bridge (Arch Bridge)

Malcom Bridge (Suspension Bridge)

{First Week}

Mrs. Hilley's Twosies are off to a great start!

We had an awesome week getting to know each other and our classroom routine!

We completed a mini-unit on Peanut Butter and Jelly to kick us off. We collected some data on our favorite type of PB&J, watched how peanut butter is made, and completed a writing on "How to Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich." We talked about how each of us compliment the others in our class and that we make a great blend. The Twosies go together like peanut butter and jelly!

To end our week, the students wrote scripts and used an app called Chaterpix Kids to tell all about themselves. Enjoy the following videos and meet our Twosies!

Allie

Audrey Anna

Charlotte

CJ

Crystal

Dani

Finley

Grady

Hadyn

Hudson

Jack

Levi

Madilynn

Molly

Mitchell

Sawyer

Sky

Tomas

Vidur

{End of the Year Slideshow}

I cannot believe another year has come and gone!

I have had such a great time with your children this year. Thank you for sharing them with me! I truly consider a privilege to be a small part of helping them become their best.

Enjoy this celebration of all that we learned, did, and accomplished together...

{Animal Life Cycles}

For our last project of the year, the Twosies conducted research on a rainforest animal of their choice. They then created a digital presentation using Powtoon that showed the animal's life cycle and shared some facts about the animal.

Rhinoceros Beetle

by Dominic, Reese, and Rowen

Black Panther

by Emry, Katherine, and Lane

Sloth

by Maeve and Sarah

Parrot

by Finley, Collin, and Lily

Jaguar

by Memphis, Evan, and Ben

Scarlet Macaw
by Gabriella, Britton, and Will

Poison Dart Frog
by Knox, Bryson, and Corey

Boa Constrictor
by Ayden, Ashton, and Ming