Forest Ridge Academy
Second Grade Newsletter
Week of November 30 - December 4
We welcome back all of our students, thankful that we have them to experience second grade with us. This week, we had a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Willy, a farming family from Cedar Lake. They shared with us all of the ways that we get food from farms and the machinery that help harvest this food. Did you know that corn from their farm was sent to Hammond to be made into corn syrup for pop? It was amazing to learn that all of the ingredients in a pizza come from farms in some way. Also this week, we began our social studies unit on China. The children were each given a China booklet from which we will read and do activities from. During the unit, we will be learning how to use chopsticks, paint with calligraphy, and taste Chinese food. This week, we located China on a map, highlighted several important landforms and cities, and began reading about the dynasties and general information about the country. We have a lot of enthusiasm going into this unit, and I am sure that it won't disappoint a single student!
In energy class, we talked about the relationship between our energy usage and global warming. Then, we decided to focus on ways that we can conserve electricity at home. Did you know that leaving an appliance plugged into the wall still draws energy when it is turned off? Get rid of the energy vampires by simply unplugging them. We blogged to our partner school in Ecuador about the Indiana ecosystems and weather in our area. We also received weather information from Ecuador taken from the month of November. We will use this to go back in the online almanac to see if there have been any noticeable changes in our area and in Ecuador, possibly caused by climate change. We were interested to learn that Ecuador is going through a record draught and is currently experiencing 3 - 4 hours a day with no power. What would we do with daily power outages?
Finally, this week, we received pen pal letters from two schools located on Indian Reservations in Arizona and Iowa. Some questions that they had for us are whether it snows in our area and if the kids need to wear hats. What a perfect time to answer those questions! They told us that they celebrate powwows and see tortoises, coyotes, rattlesnakes, and rabbits near their area. Many of these are used in their diets. Our children decided that they would rather stick with the meat offered at our homes.
Next week, we will continue reading from the chapter books we started in reading groups. (I asked the children to save the worksheets that come home from each chapter that will help them study for the chapter test.) We will also begin learning about the overcrowding in China and the country's solution to it. We will compare China's size and population to that of the United States, and we will also learn about the Great Wall of China and Forbidden City. During energy class, we will walk around the school with our infrared thermometers to check for drafts. Students will then create draft-o-meters to use at home while checking for drafts. Finally, students will learn how blocking the drafts and using insulation will help in energy loss.
Keep warm this weekend and have a good one!