Monday, November 20, 2017

Dear Second Grade Families,

Hello! We would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves. Our names are
Alexandra Grcic and Jennifer Means, and we have had the wonderful opportunity of working
with Mrs. Drake and your children over the course of the past many weeks. We are both
Early Childhood Education majors at The College of New Jersey, and we are thrilled to be
working with and teaching the second-grade students this semester.
We are very excited to tell you that we have been planning for a two-week science
unit on Matter since the beginning of the semester. We will be teaching the unit from
Monday, November 27th through Friday, December 8th. Within this unit, some of the
concepts we will be covering are the three states of matter solids, liquids, and gases; the
properties of each; and physical and chemical changes in matter. Furthermore, we will be
focusing on how to think like scientists and make observations which will be helpful for all of
the activities we have planned. Our unit will involve numerous hands-on activities,
experiments, and a tasty treat at the end to celebrate! We have worked hard to make our
unit interactive and to keep all of the students engaged and excited to learn about matter.

Matter is everywhere around us, so we would like to make sure our students are
talking about what they have learned from our lessons not only in the classroom, but outside
the classroom as well. Our goal is to create a connection between the classroom and at
home. We encourage you to ask your children about what we are learning, specifically
focusing on experiments we have done together, or discoveries and observations they have
made. We have attached a reading list of books available at Mercer County Library that are
related to our topic of matter. We encourage you to read with the second-graders at home.
We believe these books would be appropriate in helping your children further understand
and explore the topic of matter.

Finally, we would like to thank you for supporting our work in Mrs. Drakes class. It
has been a pleasure watching your children learn and grow, and creating bonds that we will
remember and cherish going forward. This teaching experience has helped to validate our
future profession as educators. We appreciate your participation in our science unit on
matter and we cannot wait for you to hear about the exciting new discoveries your children
will be making! Should you have any questions or concerns relating to our unit, please feel
free to contact us through Mrs. Drake at lorrainedrake@hvrsd.org. Thank you again!

Sincerely,
Alexandra Grcic and Jennifer Means
 Suggested Reading List for Matter
These titles are available through the Mercer County Library
1. Curious Pearl Explains States of Matter by Eric Braun
2. All About Matter by Mari C. Schuh
3. Matter by Kay Manolis
4. Solids, Liquids, and Gases by Louise Osborne, Ray Boudreau, & Carol Gold
5. Solids and Liquids by David Glover
6. States of Matter in the Real World by Roberta Baxter
7. Splat! Wile E. Coyote Experiments with States of Matter by Suzanne Slade
8. Matter Changing States by Tara Haelle
9. Properties of Matter by Katie Dicker
10. Solid, Liquid, or Gas? By Fay Robinson
11. The Simple Science of Matter by Emily James
12. Change It!: Solids, Liquids, Gases, and You by Adrienne Mason & Claudia
Davila
13. What is the World Made Of? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld & Paul Meisel
______________________________________________________________________________
For our culminating lesson in our unit on Matter, we have planned a very exciting
celebration for the students. We will be making root beer floats with the students for a fun
treat, and also to wrap up what we have learned about the three states of matter. The root
beer soda will be the liquid, the ice cream will be the solid, and the bubbles will be the gas!

Please check the line below if you will allow your child to have (caffeine-free) root beer
soda, and please return this bottom portion to school with your child no later than
Thursday, December 7th.

Thank you!

Childs name: ________________________________________

_______ Yes, I give my child permission to have caffeine-free root beer soda on Friday,
December 8th.

_______ NO, I do NOT give permission for my child to have caffeine-free root beer soda.

Parent or guardian signature: __________________________________