Each January we talk about Martin Luther King, Jr. and diversity. The Montgomery Bus Company bus has each adult and child of the Primary Family riding! The bus is surrounded by shields which describe what makes each of us special and what we'll each do to make the world a better place.
One of our major Primary Family (Grade 2/3) Social Studies units is Immigration. Students were divided into cooperative learning groups and assigned a topic. The large posters displayed below are the result of group research.
Each student and teacher also interviewed an immigrant and created a brief report which was shared. A world map was labeled to show where the immigrants researched came from.
After reading Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen each student and teacher created a clothes pin doll to represent a child from somewhere in the world. Each doll was then placed on the appropriate continent and if possible, country on a tabletop map created by the class.
Above students wrote about the tundra. In both pictures cooperative groups of students created posters about the seasons of the Arctic.
Student partners wrote facts about the Arctic on polar bears and facts about the Antarctic on penguins.
After reading Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown we begin our Flat Person Project. Each student creates and then writes in a journal for several weeks. Journals with "Flat People" on the covers are then sent to family, friends, relatives and other schools across the United States and if possible other countries. When the journals are returned we share the journal entries and souveniers that the Flat People have collected.
Included in our wall display are postcards and journal entries some of our Flat People brought back. You can also see the photographs of our adventures with a visiting Runaway Bunny!
100 Valentines Exchange
We created and then mailed valentines to 102 other schools in the USA and other countries.
This is a photograph of some of the valentines and postcards received.
A local map is used to locate the addresses of class members.
Students travel around the world by reading fiction and nonfictional books. Book reviews are completed and posted.
For a life science unit we observed the eggs in their incubator until they hatched. Chick Chit-Chat shows what the eggs might say to each other if they could communicate or what they might be thinking. Above the display are life cycles and egg poetry.
Ocean Habitat Study
(1) Student created bulletin board of ocean floor with important definitions.
(2) On wires are student mobiles and ocean life reports.
(3) Sand castles created with a mixture of real sand and glue.
(4) Ocean Banner created - different year - Facts written and researched by students
Coral Reef Study
(1) Fish as displayed in our underwater "bubble" that you can enter.
(2) Coral reef diorama made of macaroni.
Rainforest on cafeteria stage
Whole School Project
Flat People Travels
Another year of Flat Stanley travels!
Second Grade students created a banner for rural, suburban and urban communities.
Landforms and Bodies of Water Models
Integrated Themes for Social Studies
Integrated Themes for Science
Literature Based Themes
Citizenship or Constitution Day - September 17
Desert Habitat Banner
Drawn and Researched by Gr. 2 Facts on index cards
Each January we talk about Martin Luther King, Jr. and diversity. The Montgomery Bus Company bus has each adult and child of the Primary Family riding! The bus is surrounded by shields which describe what makes each of us special and what we'll each do to make the world a better place. 
