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    Quarter 2 · Building Meaning: Division, Narratives, Ecosystems & Regions

    Week 12: × and ÷ word problems & unknown numbers · Story arc: problem & solution

    Standards this week

    Social Studies

    • D2.Geo.4 Explain how culture influences how people modify and adapt to their environments.Day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
    • D2.His.2 Compare life in specific historical time periods to life today.Day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
    • D2.His.4.3-5 Explain why individuals and groups during the same historical period differed in their perspectives.Day 2
    • D2.His.5.3-5 Explain connections among historical contexts and people's perspectives at the time.Day 2
    • D2.Geo.10.3-5 Day 5

    Mathematics

    • 3.OA.A.3 Use multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems.Day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
    • 3.OA.A.1 Interpret products of whole numbers as equal groups.Day 1
    • 3.OA.A.2 Interpret whole-number quotients as equal sharing or grouping.Day 2, 3, 5
    • 3.OA.A.4 Determine the unknown whole number in a multiplication or division equation.Day 4, 5
    • 3.OA.B.6 Understand division as an unknown-factor problem.Day 5
    • 3.OA.C.7 Fluently multiply and divide within 100; know products of two one-digit numbers.Day 5

    English Language Arts

    • W.3.3.A Establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence.Day 1, 2
    • RL.3.5 Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza.Day 1, 5
    • L.3.6 Acquire and use grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases.Day 1
    • SL.3.2 Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media.Day 1, 4
    • RL.3.3 Describe characters and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.Day 2
    • W.3.3.D Provide a sense of closure.Day 3, 4
    • W.3.3 Write narratives with established situation, characters, and event sequences.Day 4, 5
    • W.3.3.C Use temporal words and phrases to signal event order.Day 4
    • W.3.4 Produce writing in which development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.Day 4
    • SL.3.3 Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.Day 4
    • RI.3.2 Determine the main idea of a text and recount key details.Day 5
    • W.3.1 Write opinion pieces supporting a point of view with reasons.Day 5

    Science

    • 3-LS4-3 Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.Day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
    • 3-LS4-4 Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes.Day 4, 5
    • 3-PS2-4 Define a simple design problem that can be solved by applying scientific ideas about magnets.Day 5
    • 3-5-ETS1-1 Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or want with specified criteria.Day 5

    See what your state adds or places differently

    Suggested daily schedule
    8:30–8:45 AM15 minMorning Circle / Read-Aloud / Calendar
    8:45–10:00 AM75 minEnglish Language Arts
    10:00–11:00 AM60 minMathematics
    11:00–11:15 AM15 minSnack and Movement Break
    11:15–12:00 PM30–45 minScience (every day)
    12:00–12:45 PM30–45 minSocial Studies (every day)
    12:45–1:30 PM45 minLunch and Choice Time
    1:30–2:15 PM45 minSpecials: PE / Art / Music (rotating)
    2:15–2:45 PM30 minIndependent Reading & Journaling

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    Day 1 · Monday

    Social Studies

    I can describe how Native nations of the Eastern Woodlands used the forest, and that they are living nations today.

    D2.Geo.4.3-5D2.His.2.3-5

    Builds on: Needs Week 6 Day 2: each Native nation used the resources of its own region. One-minute check: ask "What are the Three Sisters?" (corn, beans and squash).

    New words:
    • wigwam – a round home made of bent poles covered with bark or woven mats
    • confederacy – a group of nations that agree to work together

    Materials: U.S. map, 1 sheet of paper, Piece of thin cardboard, such as one side of a cereal box, Tape, Crayons, Notebook, Pencil

    5 min · Warm-Up

    Spaced review from Week 7. Ask: "What was the Trail of Tears?" (In the 1830s the U.S. Army forced the Cherokee people from their homeland to land far west. Thousands died.) Then say: "Long ago there were no stores. In a forest, what could you build a home from?"

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    Sweep a hand over the forests of the East on the map. Say: "Native nations have lived here for thousands of years. They live here today." Say: "Nations of these Eastern Woodlands include the Haudenosaunee, the Wampanoag, the Lenape and the Cherokee." (Say hoh-dee-noh-SHOH-nee.) Say: "Long ago, Haudenosaunee families built longhouses. Wampanoag and Lenape families often built round wigwams." Say: "Many nations grew the Three Sisters together. Corn gives the beans a pole to climb. Beans help feed the soil. Wide squash leaves shade the ground and keep weeds down." Say: "Five Haudenosaunee nations joined in a confederacy, a group of nations working together for peace. A sixth nation joined later. Their council still meets today." Say: "Many Cherokee and Lenape people live in Oklahoma today, because the U.S. government forced their nations west." Ask: "How does corn help the beans?" (Beans climb it.) "Why did forest nations build with poles and bark?" (The forest gave them trees.) If stuck, say: "Look at what grows near the home. What could you cut, bend or peel?"

    15–20 min · Activity / Source Work

    Read and build. 1) Read this source aloud: "A Longhouse. Builders set rows of young trees in the ground and bent the tops together into a rounded roof. They covered the frame with wide sheets of elm bark. A longhouse could be longer than two school buses. Cooking fires burned down the middle, and smoke left through holes in the roof. Families related through their mothers lived along both sides. Haudenosaunee means People of the Longhouse." 2) Ask for evidence: "Which two forest materials did builders use?" (Young trees and elm bark.) "How did smoke get out?" (Through holes in the roof.) 3) Ask: "Why might related families share one long house?" (Answers vary: to share work, food, fires and safety.) 4) Your child bends the paper into a long arch and tapes it to the cardboard. 5) With crayons, add bark sheets, a door at each end and smoke holes. 6) Your child points to where fires burned and where families slept.

    10 min · Notebook Entry

    Your child makes a fact card with five headings: Region, Nations, Homes long ago, Food, Today. Sample: Eastern Woodlands; Haudenosaunee, Wampanoag, Lenape, Cherokee; longhouses and wigwams; the Three Sisters, deer and fish. Under Today, write: "These nations live here today and have their own governments."

    5 min · Exit Ticket

    Read each question aloud. Your child answers in the notebook. Praise sentences about today that use is, are or live.

    Watch for: Talking about Native nations only in the past, as if they are gone.

    Try: Each time your child says "they lived," ask: "Do they live here today?" Your child adds a sentence, such as "The Cherokee Nation has its own government."

    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. How do squash plants help the corn and beans?
    2. What is a confederacy?
    3. Which home was round: a longhouse or a wigwam?
    Show answers
    1. Their wide leaves shade the ground and keep weeds down.
    2. A group of nations that agree to work together.
    3. A wigwam.

    Support: Write the four nation names on paper scraps for your child to copy. Read the source aloud twice before asking the evidence questions.

    Extend: Your child lists the six Haudenosaunee nations: Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora. Find New York on the map, where most of their homelands are.

    Homework: Your child explains the Three Sisters to a family member and draws them. Look for beans climbing the corn and squash covering the ground.

    Mathematics

    I can solve multiplication word problems by finding the equal groups.

    3.OA.A.33.OA.A.1

    Builds on: Needs equal groups and arrays from Week 4 and the multiplication facts from Weeks 6 to 8. One-minute check: your child draws 3 groups of 5 and writes the equation (3 × 5 = 15).

    New words:
    • unknown – the number you do not know yet; write ? in its place

    Materials: 40 counters (dried beans, coins or buttons), Highlighter or crayon, Notebook, Pencil

    5 min · Warm-Up

    Spaced review from Week 11. Ask 45 ÷ 9, 32 ÷ 4 and 42 ÷ 7 (5, 8, 6). Then your child says the ×6 facts in order, with no clock. For a slow ×6 or ×7 fact, name a strategy. Sample: for 6 × 7, think 5 sevens and 1 more seven: 35 + 7 = 42.

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    Say: "A word problem is a short story with a question. Four steps help." Write the steps: Read. Find the groups. Write an equation. Answer in a sentence. Write this story and read it aloud: "Diego has 7 plates. Each plate has 6 cookies. How many cookies in all?" Ask: "Are the groups equal?" (Yes. Each plate has 6.) "How many groups?" (7) "How many in each?" (6) Your child highlights 7 plates and 6 cookies. Sketch 7 circles and write 6 in each. Say: "We do not know the total. The total is the unknown. We write ? for it." Write 7 × 6 = ?. Ask: "What is 7 × 6?" (42) Say: "So 7 × 6 = 42. Diego has 42 cookies." Say: "The answer needs its word, cookies." Now your child does more. Read: "A room has 5 rows of 9 chairs. How many chairs?" Your child sketches, writes the equation and answers. (5 × 9 = 45; 45 chairs)

    10–15 min · Guided Practice

    Write each story on paper. Your child highlights the two numbers, sketches, writes an equation with ? and answers in a sentence. 1) Amara buys 6 packs of juice boxes. Each pack has 4. How many juice boxes? (6 × 4 = 24; 24 juice boxes) 2) A garden has 5 rows of 8 tomato plants. How many plants? (5 × 8 = 40; 40 plants) 3) Each ribbon is 3 feet long. Lena lays 9 ribbons end to end. How long is the line? (9 × 3 = 27; 27 feet) 4) Mia has 7 red beads and 6 blue beads. How many beads? Ask: "Are these equal groups?" (No. Add: 7 + 6 = 13 beads.) If stuck, say: "Build it with beans. How many groups? How many in each group?"

    15–20 min · Independent Practice

    For problems 3 to 8, your child writes an equation with ?. Problems 5 to 8 also need an answer sentence. 1) 7 × 7 = ? (49). 2) 9 × 6 = ? (54). 3) Draw 3 groups of 9 as circles with dots. (3 × 9 = 27) 4) Draw an array with 4 rows of 6. (4 × 6 = 24) 5) 8 vans carry 7 children each. How many children? (56 children) 6) Kenji reads 9 pages every day for 7 days. How many pages? (63 pages) 7) 9 spiders have 8 legs each. How many legs? (72 legs) 8) Each fence piece is 6 feet long. How long are 6 pieces end to end? (36 feet) Check that each sentence names its unit, such as children or legs.

    5 min · Exit Ticket

    Put the beans away. Read each question aloud; your child answers on paper and may sketch.

    Watch for: Adding the two numbers, such as 7 + 6 = 13, instead of multiplying.

    Try: Your child sketches the groups first. Ask: "Is every group the same size?" If yes, multiply.

    Fact fluency: ×6, ×7 facts
    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. In "Each box has 6 crayons," which word tells you the groups are equal?
    2. Leila sets out 8 plates with 4 cookies on each. How many cookies? Write the equation.
    3. A wall has 3 rows of 7 photos. How many photos?
    Show answers
    1. "Each." Every box holds the same number.
    2. 8 × 4 = 32; 32 cookies
    3. 21 photos

    Support: Use smaller numbers, such as 3 bags of 2. Your child builds each story with beans before sketching.

    Extend: Your child writes two stories for 5 × 8 = ?, one with equal groups and one with an array. Both answers are 40.

    Homework: Your child writes one multiplication story from home, sketches the groups and solves it. Sample: 2 cartons of 6 eggs; 2 × 6 = 12 eggs.

    English Language Arts

    I can plan a story with an opening, rising action, climax, falling action and ending.

    W.3.3.ARL.3.5L.3.6SL.3.2

    Builds on: Needs the Week 1 idea of beginning, middle and end, plus the finished draft from Weeks 10 and 11. One-minute check: ask, "What happens in the middle of a story?" (The characters try to solve the problem.)

    New words:
    • story arc – the hill-shaped path a story follows as the problem grows and then works out
    • rising action – the part where the problem builds
    • climax – the biggest, most exciting moment of the story
    • falling action – what happens right after the biggest moment
    • resolution – how the problem works out at the end

    Materials: Writer's notebook, Colored pencils, Narrative draft

    5 min · Warm-Up

    Word study, about 3 minutes. Say: "This is a review week." Your child reads stopped, swimming, digging, smiled, hiding and baked, then sorts them under Double and Drop the e. Ask: "What are the base words?" (stop, swim, dig, smile, hide, bake) Spaced review from Week 11. Write: stop shouted Dad. Your child adds the marks. ("Stop!" shouted Dad.)

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    Draw a hill in the notebook. Say: "A story climbs as the problem builds. It reaches the top at the most exciting moment. Then it comes down as things work out. This shape is the story arc." Label five parts on the hill. Opening: meet the characters and setting. Rising action: the problem builds. Climax: the biggest moment. Falling action: the events just after the climax. Ending, or resolution: how the problem works out. Your child repeats each term and uses climax in a sentence. Read aloud "The Cardboard Boat Race" while your child only listens: On the morning of the Miller Pond boat race, Lena and her cousin Abe carried their cardboard boat to the dock. They had built it from two refrigerator boxes and a whole roll of silver tape. The whistle blew, and they paddled hard. Soon a strip of tape peeled loose. Then cold water crept over Lena's sneakers. Next, the boat beside them pulled ahead. Just before the finish line, the soggy front folded, and the boat began to sink! Lena and Abe jumped into the waist-deep water and shoved their boat across the line. After that, they dragged the dripping heap onto the grass and flopped down beside it. They came in last. Still, the judge handed them a ribbon that said Best Sinking, and they laughed all the way home. Your child retells it in 4 or 5 sentences. (Look for: the race, the leaks, the sinking, the push and the ribbon.) Think aloud: "Opening: I meet Lena and Abe at the pond. Rising action: tape peels, water creeps in and a boat pulls ahead. Each event makes things harder."

    10–15 min · Guided Practice

    1) Ask: "What is the climax?" (The boat starts to sink, and they jump out and shove it across the line.) 2) Ask: "What is the falling action?" (They drag the boat onto the grass and flop down.) 3) Ask: "What is the resolution?" (They come in last but win a ribbon and laugh.) 4) Ask: "How does the rising action lead to the climax?" (The loose tape lets water in, so the boat gets soggy and sinks.) If stuck, say: "After this moment, could things still get worse? If yes, we are still climbing."

    15–20 min · Independent Practice

    1) Your child labels the five arc parts in the margin of the old draft, one color for each part. 2) Your child draws a new hill and plans a new story about a different small moment. Each part gets one sentence. 3) Your child tells you the plan, using all five terms. Sample plan. Opening: On Saturday morning, I set up a lemonade table. Rising action: Nobody stopped, and the ice melted. Climax: A soccer team jogged around the corner. Falling action: I poured as fast as I could. Ending: I gave the last cup to my sister. Look for: five sentences, a problem that grows, and a climax that is the biggest moment.

    5 min · Exit Ticket

    Ask the three questions. Your child points to the plan and the old draft while answering.

    Watch for: Labeling the first exciting event as the climax, even though the problem keeps building after it.

    Try: Ask: "After this moment, could things still get worse?" If yes, it is rising action, not the climax.

    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. Say the five arc parts in order, from the first step up the hill to the last step down.
    2. In your new plan, what is the climax? Why is it the biggest moment?
    3. Find the rising action in your old draft. How does the problem grow there?
    Show answers
    1. Opening, rising action, climax, falling action, ending (resolution).
    2. Answers vary. Look for: the moment the character faces the problem head-on, after which things calm down.
    3. Answers vary. Look for: one or two events that make things harder for the character.

    Support: Write the five boat-race events on slips of notebook paper. Your child lays them along the hill before labeling.

    Extend: Your child plans a story whose climax is a surprise, then names one earlier clue that hints at it.

    Homework: Read your own book for 15 minutes. Then tell a family member which part of the story arc you are in, and why. Look for: your child uses a term such as rising action or climax.

    Science

    I can build a food chain and draw arrows that show energy moving from the food to the eater.

    3-LS4-3

    Builds on: Needs Week 10 Day 3: producers make food and consumers eat. One-minute check: ask, "Is grass a producer or a consumer? Is a frog?" (Producer. Consumer.)

    New words:
    • food chain – a line of living things that shows who eats whom and how food energy moves
    • predator – an animal that hunts and eats other animals

    Materials: 11 index cards, 6 paper arrows cut from scrap paper, Science notebook, Pencil

    5 min · Day 56 — Food Chain Basics — Wonder Warm-Up

    Spaced review from Week 11. Ask: "Name a physical adaptation of an owl and how it helps." (Large eyes for dim light, soft feathers for quiet flight, or sharp claws for grabbing.) Then ask: "What does a frog eat? What eats a frog?" Say: "Today we line those up."

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    First write one name on each card: clover, grasshopper, frog, snake, hawk, acorn, squirrel, bobcat, grass, rabbit, fox. Say: "A food chain shows how food energy moves from one living thing to the next." Lay clover, grasshopper and frog in a row with an arrow between each pair. Point to an arrow. Say: "Read each arrow as the words is eaten by. It points to the eater, the way the energy goes." Read it: "The clover is eaten by the grasshopper. The grasshopper is eaten by the frog." Add the snake and the hawk. Say: "A chain starts with a producer. The hawk is the top predator here. Nothing in this chain eats it." Ask: "Which one is the producer?" (Clover.) Ask: "What eats the frog in this chain?" (The snake.) Ask: "Could a frog survive well in a place with no insects?" (No. It would have no food.) If stuck, say: "Touch the arrow and read it: is eaten by."

    15–20 min · Investigation / Hands-On

    Card Chains. 1) Mix the cards. Your child rebuilds the clover chain with 5 cards and 4 arrows, reading each link aloud. 2) They build a second chain: acorn, squirrel, bobcat. The acorn is a seed from an oak tree, a producer. A bobcat is a wild cat. 3) Mistake hunt. Turn one arrow backward, so it points from the squirrel to the acorn. Your child finds it and fixes it. 4) They build a third chain: grass, rabbit, fox. 5) Check with a table: Chain, Producer, Top predator. Expect clover and hawk, acorn and bobcat, grass and fox. Every arrow must point toward the eater. If your child builds a different true chain, accept it and ask for each link read aloud.

    10 min · Science Notebook Entry

    Your child draws the 3 food chains with arrows. They label the producer P and each consumer C, and circle the top predator. Then give the frame: "In my chain, the ___ is eaten by the ___." Look for: "the squirrel is eaten by the bobcat."

    5 min · Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket

    Ask the three questions; your child draws for question 1. If an arrow is backward, your child says "is eaten by" while tracing it. Praise chains that start with a producer.

    Watch for: Pointing arrows from the eater to the food, such as frog to grasshopper, because it reads as "the frog eats."

    Try: Say: "The arrow carries the energy." Your child traces with a finger the energy leaving the clover and going into the grasshopper.

    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. Draw a food chain that uses a robin, a leaf and a caterpillar.
    2. In your chain, what does the arrow from the leaf to the caterpillar mean?
    3. Why must a food chain start with a producer?
    Show answers
    1. leaf → caterpillar → robin
    2. The leaf is eaten by the caterpillar, so energy moves from the leaf to the caterpillar.
    3. Producers make food. Animals cannot make their own, so all the food energy starts with producers.

    Support: Use 3-card chains only. Say "is eaten by" aloud together every time an arrow is placed.

    Extend: Your child builds a 5-link ocean chain on paper: tiny algae, tiny drifting animals, small fish, seal, orca. Look for a label on each link.

    Homework: Build one food chain from your yard or a local park with at least 3 links. Look for a plant first and arrows pointing to the eater.

    Day 2 · Tuesday

    Social Studies

    I can explain how Plains nations depended on the bison and how they live today.

    D2.Geo.4.3-5D2.His.2.3-5D2.His.4.3-5D2.His.5.3-5

    Builds on: Needs Week 6 Day 2 (tipis and bison) and Week 7 (people can see one event from different points of view). One-minute check: ask what a point of view is (how one person or group sees something).

    New words:
    • sinew – a strong, stringy part of an animal that joins muscle to bone
    • earth lodge – a round home with a wood frame covered with soil

    Materials: U.S. map, 1 sheet of paper, Tape, 8 index cards, Notebook, Pencil

    5 min · Warm-Up

    Spaced review from Week 11. Ask: "What is the land like in much of the Midwest?" (Flat or gently rolling, with rich soil.) Then point to the Great Plains on the map. Say: "These are wide grasslands. What if your main food walked away across the grass each season?"

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    Say: "Plains nations include the Lakota, Cheyenne, Comanche, Crow, Kiowa and Pawnee." Say: "Huge herds of bison, often called buffalo, lived on the Plains." Say: "Hunters wasted very little. Meat was food. Hides became clothing and tipi covers. Bones became tools. Sinew became thread." Say: "A tipi is a cone of long poles covered with hides." Say: "Not every Plains nation moved all year. The Pawnee also farmed and lived in earth lodges." Say: "Spanish colonists brought horses. On horseback, hunters could travel farther and faster." Say: "In the 1800s, hunters from the United States killed millions of bison, mostly for their hides. Fewer than 1,000 were left. Plains nations lost their main food. The U.S. government forced them onto reservations." Say: "Today many Plains nations raise their own bison herds." Ask: "Which nation also farmed?" (The Pawnee.) "Who brought horses?" (Spanish colonists.) "What happened to the bison in the 1800s?" (Hunters killed almost all of them.) If stuck, say: "Tell me one thing a family got from a bison."

    15–20 min · Activity / Source Work

    1) Write meat, hide, bones and sinew on four index cards. Write food, clothing and tipi covers, tools, and thread on four more. Your child matches each part to its use. 2) Your child rolls the paper into a cone, tapes it and draws a door. Ask: "Why was a home like this useful for following the herds?" (It was light and quick to take down and move.) 3) Read this source aloud. It was written for this lesson from real history. "Two views of the bison, 1870s. A Lakota mother: The bison give us food, our homes and our tools. Our whole way of life follows the herd. A hide hunter: Each hide sells for about three dollars. I shoot as many as I can before winter." 4) Ask: "What does the bison mean to each speaker? Which words are your evidence?" (To her, food, homes and a way of life. To him, three dollars a hide.) 5) Ask: "Why did they see the bison so differently?" (Her family needed bison to live. He wanted to earn money.)

    10 min · Notebook Entry

    Your child makes a fact card with five headings: Region, Nations, Homes, Main food, Today. Sample: Great Plains; Lakota, Cheyenne, Pawnee; tipis and earth lodges; bison. Under Today, write: "Many Plains nations are bringing bison back to their lands." Then finish the frame: "For Plains nations the bison meant ___. For hide hunters it meant ___."

    5 min · Exit Ticket

    Read each question aloud. Your child answers in the notebook. Praise answers that show two points of view fairly.

    Watch for: Thinking every Native nation lived in tipis.

    Try: Set the Day 1 longhouse model beside the paper tipi. Ask: "Which nations built each one, and why?" Recall the Pawnee earth lodges too.

    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. A Plains family needed a new tipi cover. Which part of the bison did they use?
    2. How did horses change life for many Plains nations?
    3. The bison almost disappeared in the 1800s. What are many Plains nations doing about bison today?
    Show answers
    1. The hide.
    2. Hunters could travel farther and faster, so hunting bison and moving camp became easier.
    3. They raise their own bison herds and are bringing bison back to their lands.

    Support: Your child draws a simple bison first and labels the four parts. Match the four part cards to the drawing before adding the use cards.

    Extend: Your child writes two sentences on why nations are bringing bison back. Look for food, tradition or healthy grasslands.

    Homework: Your child tells a family member three ways the bison was used and one thing Plains nations do with bison today. Look for the present tense.

    Mathematics

    I can solve sharing word problems where I find how many are in each group.

    3.OA.A.33.OA.A.2

    Builds on: Needs sharing from Week 10 Day 1 and the division facts from Week 11. One-minute check: your child shares 12 beans onto 3 plates and writes the equation (12 ÷ 3 = 4).

    Materials: 30 counters (dried beans, coins or buttons), 6 paper plates or cups, Notebook, Pencil

    5 min · Warm-Up

    Spaced review from Day 1. Read: "3 bags hold 8 apples each. How many apples?" Your child answers with an equation (3 × 8 = 24). Then practice ÷5 and ÷6 facts with no clock. Ask 35 ÷ 5, 30 ÷ 6 and 48 ÷ 6 (7, 5, 8). Your child names the multiplication fact that helps each time.

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    Say: "Today's stories are sharing stories. We know the total and the number of groups. We find how many are in each group." Read aloud: "24 candies are shared equally by 6 friends. How many candies does each friend get?" Ask: "What is the total?" (24) "How many groups?" (6 friends) "What is unknown?" (How many each friend gets.) Set out 6 plates. Your child deals 24 beans, one to each plate, round and round. Write 24 ÷ 6 = ?. Ask: "How many are on each plate?" (4) "Does every friend get the same number?" (Yes.) Say: "So 24 ÷ 6 = 4. Each friend gets 4 candies." Say: "Check with multiplication. 6 groups of 4 is 24." Write 6 × 4 = 24. Now your child does more. Read: "Rosa has 35 beads. She makes 5 bracelets with the same number on each. How many beads are on each bracelet?" Your child sketches 5 circles, writes the equation and checks. (35 ÷ 5 = 7; 7 beads; 5 × 7 = 35)

    10–15 min · Guided Practice

    Your child sketches circles, writes an equation with ? and answers in a sentence. 1) 30 crayons are shared equally by 5 children. How many does each child get? (30 ÷ 5 = 6; 6 crayons) 2) 27 strawberries go equally into 3 bowls. How many are in each bowl? (27 ÷ 3 = 9; 9 strawberries) 3) A ribbon is 32 inches long. It is cut into 4 equal pieces. How long is each piece? (32 ÷ 4 = 8; 8 inches) If stuck, say: "What is being shared? Write that total first. How many plates do we need?"

    15–20 min · Independent Practice

    For problems 3 to 8, your child writes an equation with ? and a multiplication check. Problems 5 to 8 also need an answer sentence. 1) 40 ÷ 5 = ? (8). 2) 54 ÷ 6 = ? (9). 3) Draw 18 dots shared into 3 circles. (18 ÷ 3 = 6) 4) Draw 28 dots shared into 4 circles. (28 ÷ 4 = 7) 5) 49 stickers go equally onto 7 pages. How many are on each page? (7 stickers) 6) Mr. Okafor puts 40 chairs in 4 equal rows. How many are in each row? (10 chairs) 7) 63 marbles are shared equally among 7 jars. How many are in each jar? (9 marbles) 8) A rope is 36 feet long. It is cut into 6 equal pieces. How long is each piece? (6 feet)

    5 min · Exit Ticket

    Put the plates away. Read each question aloud; your child answers on paper.

    Watch for: Writing the numbers in the wrong order, such as 5 ÷ 30.

    Try: Ask: "What is being shared?" That total is written first. Your child points to the plates for the second number.

    Fact fluency: ÷5, ÷6 facts
    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. 45 grapes are shared equally among 5 children. How many grapes does each child get?
    2. 16 muffins are split equally onto 2 plates. Write the equation and solve.
    3. In a sharing story, what do you know and what do you find?
    Show answers
    1. 9 grapes
    2. 16 ÷ 2 = 8; 8 muffins on each plate
    3. You know the total and the number of groups. You find how many are in each group.

    Support: Use totals of 12 or less and 2 or 3 plates. Your child deals real beans for every story.

    Extend: Your child writes a sharing story with a total above 50 and an answer of 8. Sample: 56 cards shared by 7 children.

    Homework: A family member tells 2 sharing stories. Your child sketches and solves each. Sample: 20 grapes shared by 4 people; 20 ÷ 4 = 5 grapes each.

    English Language Arts

    I can create a clear problem that matters to my character.

    W.3.3.ARL.3.3

    Builds on: Needs yesterday's story hill plan and the term rising action. One-minute check: ask, "What does the rising action do?" (It makes the problem build.)

    New words:
    • vs. – short for versus, which means against

    Materials: Writer's notebook with yesterday's plan, Three index cards, Pencil

    5 min · Warm-Up

    Word study, about 3 minutes. Your child writes tiger, music, swimming and digging, then draws a line between the syllables. (ti|ger, mu|sic, swim|ming, dig|ging) Ask: "Why does the first part of tiger say a long i?" (It is an open syllable. It ends in a vowel.) Spaced review from Week 8. Ask: "Fact or opinion: Dogs are the best pets?" (opinion)

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    Ask: "What small problem did you have this week?" (Sample: a lost shoe.) Say: "Problems are the seeds of stories. A story problem must matter to the character." Write three types. Say: "Vs. means against." Person vs. person: Diego and his sister both want the last library copy of a book. Person vs. nature: thick fog rolls in while Ines hikes back to camp. Person vs. self: Hana freezes halfway up a climbing wall, though she practiced all summer. Ask: "Why does Hana's problem matter to her?" (She worked hard and wants to reach the top.) Say: "Rising action makes the problem grow." Read the model: Ines wanted to reach camp before dark, but fog hid the trail. First, she could not find the next trail marker. But then her flashlight flickered. But then the path split in two. Think aloud: "Each sentence makes it harder for Ines. Nothing is fixed yet." Ask: "What might Ines do next? How would that change the story?" (Sample: She stops and listens for the creek by camp, then follows the sound.)

    10–15 min · Guided Practice

    Write each problem type on an index card. Read each one aloud. Your child points to the right card and says why. 1) "A raccoon keeps tipping over Wes's bird feeder." (Nature. An animal causes the trouble.) 2) "Zara and Malik both want to be team captain." (Person. Two people want the same thing.) 3) "June knows the answer, but she is afraid to raise her hand." (Self. The trouble is a fear inside her.) 4) Your child writes the problem in the new plan with the frame "___ wants ___, but ___." Name its type together. If stuck, say: "Who or what is in the way: a person, nature or a feeling inside?"

    15–20 min · Independent Practice

    Your child drafts the rising action for the new story. 1) Copy the problem sentence. 2) Write 3 to 5 sentences. Each one makes things a little harder: a second try fails, time runs out, or someone laughs. 3) Use "but then" twice, or two time-order words. 4) After each sentence, ask: "Is it getting harder?" Look for: the problem is not solved yet, each sentence adds trouble, and the verbs stay in the past tense.

    5 min · Exit Ticket

    Ask the three questions. Your child reads the problem sentence aloud for question 3.

    Watch for: Solving the problem in the very next sentence, so there is no rising action.

    Try: Your child adds two "but then" sentences before anything gets fixed.

    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. Name the three types of story problems.
    2. Person, nature or self? "Hail pounds Eli's garden the week his tomatoes turn red."
    3. Read your problem sentence. Why does this problem matter to your character?
    Show answers
    1. Person vs. person, person vs. nature, person vs. self.
    2. Person vs. nature.
    3. Answers vary. Look for: something the character wants, loves or worked hard for.

    Support: Act out the problem. You play whatever is in the way. Afterward, your child says what made it harder each time.

    Extend: Your child rewrites the problem sentence as a different problem type and says which version is stronger.

    Homework: Ask a family member about a problem they had as a child, and name its type. Then read your own book for 15 minutes. Look for: your child says who or what was in the way.

    Science

    I can explain that the energy in every food chain starts with the sun.

    3-LS4-3

    Builds on: Needs Day 1: a food chain starts with a producer, and arrows point to the eater. One-minute check: your child puts frog, clover and grasshopper in order (clover, grasshopper, frog).

    New words:
    • photosynthesis – the way a plant uses sunlight, air and water to make its own food

    Materials: Flashlight, A houseplant or a leaf, Three kitchen foods: a piece of cheese, an egg and a cracker, Sheet of paper, Science notebook, Pencil

    5 min · Day 57 — Energy from the Sun — Wonder Warm-Up

    Spaced review from Week 10. Ask: "Is the sun living? Use the Living Checklist." (No. It does not eat, grow or reproduce.) Then ask: "Where does grass get the energy to grow?" Write the guess down to check later.

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    Shine the flashlight on the houseplant or leaf. Say: "Pretend this light is the sun. Plants catch energy from sunlight. They use it, with air and water, to make food. That is photosynthesis." Say: "When a cow eats grass, some of that energy moves into the cow. When you drink milk, energy moves again." Draw it on paper: sun, grass, cow, milk, person. Draw a wavy line from the sun to the grass. Say: "The wavy line is sunlight. Nothing eats the sun." Draw arrows for the rest. Say: "An animal can live only where its food can live." Ask: "Which food passed energy to the cow?" (The grass, and before that the sun.) Ask: "Could a rabbit live where no plants grow?" (No. It would have no food.) Ask: "Is the sun a producer?" (No. It is not alive. It is the energy source.) If stuck, say: "Ask what it ate, again and again, until you reach a plant. Then name the sun."

    15–20 min · Investigation / Hands-On

    Trace It Back to the Sun. Safety: handle the egg gently and wash hands after touching it. Nothing is eaten. 1) Your child picks up the cheese and traces it backward aloud. Cheese came from milk. Milk came from a cow. The cow ate grass. The grass used sunlight. 2) Do the egg: a hen laid it, the hen ate grain, the grain plant used sunlight. 3) Do the cracker: it is made from wheat, and wheat used sunlight. 4) Record in a table: Food, Steps back to the sun, Number of steps. Expect cheese 4, egg 3, cracker 2. 5) Ask: "Which chain is shortest? What does every chain pass through?" (The cracker. A plant.) A food with many ingredients has many chains. Pick one ingredient.

    10 min · Science Notebook Entry

    Your child draws two sun-to-me chains, each starting with a wavy line from the sun. Above the wavy line they write "sunlight energy." Then give the frame: "Without the sun, ___ because ___." Look for: "Without the sun, plants could not make food because they need sunlight. Then animals would have nothing to eat." Check the warm-up guess.

    5 min · Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket

    Ask the three questions aloud. Praise any chain that reaches the sun through a plant.

    Watch for: Calling the sun a producer, or saying that plants eat sunlight like food.

    Try: Say: "The sun is not alive, so it is not a producer. The plant uses the sun's energy to make food in its leaves."

    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. Trace a glass of orange juice back to the sun.
    2. A hawk eats only meat. Why can it still not live in a place with no plants?
    3. What three things does a plant use to make its food?
    Show answers
    1. Juice came from oranges, oranges grew on an orange tree, and the tree used sunlight.
    2. The animals it hunts eat plants, or eat plant-eaters. With no plants, the hawk has no food.
    3. Sunlight, air and water.

    Support: Draw the sun, grass, a cow and milk on four scraps of paper. Lay them in order together before your child tries a food alone.

    Extend: Your child traces a whole meal with 3 foods back to the sun. Look for the food with the shortest chain.

    Homework: At dinner, your child picks one food and traces it back to the sun for a family member. Look for a plant just before the sun.

    Day 3 · Wednesday

    Social Studies

    I can describe how Pueblo nations and the Navajo Nation adapted to the desert Southwest.

    D2.Geo.4.3-5D2.His.2.3-5

    Builds on: Needs Week 11 Day 4: much of the Southwest is hot and dry. One-minute check: ask for two landforms of the Southwest (deserts, canyons or mesas).

    New words:
    • pueblo – a village of stone and adobe homes joined together; also the name for the nations who build them
    • hogan – a traditional Navajo home of logs and earth, round or many-sided
    • dry farming – growing crops with only rain and melted snow

    Materials: U.S. map, 12 sugar cubes or small boxes, 2 ice cubes of the same size, 2 small plates, Thick towel, Notebook, Pencil

    5 min · Warm-Up

    Spaced review from Week 11. Ask: "Why does land behind a tall mountain often stay dry?" (Wet ocean air drops its rain on the other side.) Then say: "The Southwest has a hot, dry climate. How could people grow food and stay cool in a desert?"

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    Point to Arizona and New Mexico. Say: "Pueblo nations include the Hopi, Zuni, Acoma and Taos. Each one is its own nation." Say: "A pueblo is a village of homes joined together, built of stone and adobe. Adobe is mud mixed with straw and dried hard in the sun." Say: "Some pueblos rise four or five stories, like apartments. Long ago, people climbed ladders to the upper rooms." Say: "Thick walls slow the heat. Rooms stay cooler by day and warmer on cold desert nights." Say: "Water is precious here. Hopi farmers are known for dry farming. They grow corn with only rain and melted snow." Say: "People have lived at Taos Pueblo for about 1,000 years. Families live there today." Say: "The Navajo call themselves Diné. The Navajo Nation has the largest reservation in the country and its own government. A hogan is a traditional Navajo home of logs and earth." Ask: "Is Pueblo one nation or many?" (Many.) "What is adobe made from?" (Mud and straw.) If stuck, say: "Think of mud drying in the sun. What does it turn into?"

    15–20 min · Activity / Source Work

    Thick-wall test and model. 1) Put one ice cube on each plate. 2) Fold the towel thick and cover one cube. Leave the other bare. Change only the cover. Keep the cubes, plates and warm spot the same. 3) Wait 15 minutes. Meanwhile your child stacks the sugar cubes into a stepped pueblo with two or three levels. Ask: "Where would the ladders go?" 4) Your child draws a chart with two columns, Pueblo and Hogan, and three rows: materials, shape, nation. (Stone and adobe, stacked rooms, Pueblo nations. Logs and earth, round or many-sided, Navajo Nation.) 5) Check the ice. Record in a small table: Cube, Covered or bare, Melted a little or a lot. Expect the covered cube to melt less. If not, say: "Real results vary. Look for the pattern." Try once more with a thicker fold. 6) Ask: "How is the towel like a thick adobe wall?" (Both slow the heat getting in.)

    10 min · Notebook Entry

    Your child makes a fact card with five headings: Region, Nations, Homes, Food and water, Today. Sample: Southwest; Hopi, Zuni, Acoma, Taos, Navajo; pueblos and hogans; corn, beans and squash, with dry farming. Under Today, write: "People live at Taos Pueblo and in the Navajo Nation today." Then finish: "Thick adobe walls help because ___."

    5 min · Exit Ticket

    Read each question aloud. Your child answers in the notebook. Praise answers that link a home to the desert climate.

    Watch for: Thinking Pueblo is one single tribe, or calling all Southwest nations by one name.

    Try: Your child writes Hopi, Zuni and Acoma in the notebook. Say: "Three names, three nations, three governments." Your child repeats it.

    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. What is a hogan, and which nation builds it?
    2. What is dry farming?
    3. On a hot afternoon, which room would feel cooler: one with thin walls or one with thick adobe walls? Why?
    Show answers
    1. A traditional home of logs and earth, built by the Navajo (Diné).
    2. Growing crops with only rain and melted snow.
    3. The room with thick adobe walls. Thick walls slow the heat coming in.

    Support: Give a word bank: adobe, pueblo, hogan, corn, ladder. Your child says each word while touching the sugar cube model or the chart.

    Extend: Your child finds the Four Corners on the map, where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado meet. The Navajo Nation lies in three of them: Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

    Homework: Your child tells a family member how a pueblo stays cool in the desert and draws one with ladders. Look for the idea that thick walls slow heat.

    Mathematics

    I can solve grouping word problems where I find how many groups there are.

    3.OA.A.33.OA.A.2

    Builds on: Needs grouping from Week 10 Day 2 and skip-counting. One-minute check: your child puts 15 beans in groups of 5 and tells how many groups (3).

    Materials: 30 counters (dried beans, coins or buttons), 6 small cups or bags, Notebook, Pencil

    5 min · Warm-Up

    Spaced review from Day 2. Read: "32 crayons are shared equally by 4 children. How many each?" Your child answers with an equation (32 ÷ 4 = 8). Then practice ÷4 and ÷8 facts with no clock. Ask 36 ÷ 4, 40 ÷ 8 and 64 ÷ 8 (9, 5, 8). For ÷4, your child may halve twice.

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    Say: "Yesterday we knew the number of groups. Today we know how many go in each group. We find how many groups." Read aloud: "Ana has 24 cookies. She puts 4 in each bag. How many bags does she fill?" Ask: "What is the total?" (24) "How many in each group?" (4) "What is unknown?" (The number of bags.) Your child counts out 24 beans and fills cups, 4 beans in each. Count by 4s as each cup fills: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24. Ask: "How many cups?" (6) "Are any beans left over?" (No.) Write 24 ÷ 4 = ?. Say: "So 24 ÷ 4 = 6. Ana fills 6 bags." Say: "Check: 6 groups of 4 is 24." Now your child does more. Read: "A coach has 36 players. She makes teams of 9. How many teams?" Your child skip-counts by 9s, writes the equation and answers. (9, 18, 27, 36; 36 ÷ 9 = 4; 4 teams)

    10–15 min · Guided Practice

    Your child writes an equation with ?, skip-counts to check and answers in a sentence. 1) 20 apples go in bags of 5. How many bags? (20 ÷ 5 = 4; 4 bags) 2) 42 stickers go 7 on each page. How many pages? (42 ÷ 7 = 6; 6 pages) 3) A board is 30 inches long. It is cut into pieces 6 inches long. How many pieces? (30 ÷ 6 = 5; 5 pieces) 4) Read two stories: "12 pens go in 3 equal cups" and "12 pens go 3 in each cup." Ask: "Which is sharing?" (The first: 4 pens in each cup. The second is grouping: 4 cups.) If stuck, say: "Circle the group size. Count by that number up to the total. Count your jumps."

    15–20 min · Independent Practice

    For problems 3 to 8, your child writes an equation with ?. Problems 5 to 8 also need an answer sentence. 1) 35 ÷ 7 = ? (5). 2) 72 ÷ 8 = ? (9). 3) Draw 16 dots. Circle groups of 4. (16 ÷ 4 = 4) 4) Draw 21 dots. Circle groups of 3. (21 ÷ 3 = 7) 5) 36 chairs are set in rows of 6. How many rows? (6 rows) 6) 45 crayons go 5 in each box. How many boxes? (9 boxes) 7) Some spiders have 56 legs in all. Each spider has 8 legs. How many spiders? (7 spiders) 8) 18 socks are matched in pairs. How many pairs? (9 pairs) Check that each answer names the groups, such as rows or boxes.

    5 min · Exit Ticket

    Put the cups away. Read each question aloud; your child answers on paper.

    Watch for: Answering with the group size instead of the number of groups.

    Try: Before solving, your child writes the word the question asks for, such as bags or rows. The answer must carry that word.

    Fact fluency: ÷4, ÷8 facts
    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. 54 chairs are set in rows of 6. How many rows?
    2. 28 cards go 4 in each pile. How many piles? Write the equation.
    3. How is grouping different from sharing?
    Show answers
    1. 9 rows
    2. 28 ÷ 4 = 7; 7 piles
    3. Grouping finds how many groups. Sharing finds how many are in each group.

    Support: Use totals up to 12. Your child fills real cups with 2 or 3 beans and counts the cups.

    Extend: Your child writes one sharing story and one grouping story for 40 ÷ 5 = 8. Then your child tells what the 8 means in each.

    Homework: Your child puts 24 small objects in piles of 3, then in piles of 6, and writes both equations. Answers: 24 ÷ 3 = 8; 24 ÷ 6 = 4.

    English Language Arts

    I can write an ending that solves the problem and fits my story.

    W.3.3.D

    Builds on: Needs yesterday's problem sentence and rising action. One-minute check: your child reads the problem sentence aloud and names its type. (Answers vary. Look for: person, nature or self.)

    New words:
    • open-ended – an ending that leaves the reader wondering what happens next

    Materials: Writer's notebook, Narrative draft with rising action, Two colored pencils

    5 min · Warm-Up

    Word study, about 3 minutes. Dictate: "The tiger stopped digging by the basket." Your child writes it. Check it together: the capital, the period, and the doubled p and g. Spaced review from Week 11. Ask: "Show excited with two body clues, and do not say excited." (Sample: I bounced on my toes and could not stop grinning.)

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    Say: "Endings can be happy, sad, surprising or open-ended. A strong ending matches the story and settles the problem. It also shows how the character feels or changed." Read aloud "Hana's Climb": All summer, Hana had practiced on the low wall at the gym. Today she stood under the tall one. She gripped the first blue hold and climbed. Halfway up, she looked down, and her legs began to shake. Then her foot slipped. "I can't," she whispered. Below her, Coach Dee called, "One hold at a time!" Hana pressed her forehead against the wall. She reached for the next hold, then the next. Read two endings. Ending A: Hana went home. Ending B: Hana slapped the bell at the top, and it clanged across the gym. Back on the mat, her arms felt like noodles, but she grinned. "Can I go again?" she asked. Ask: "Which ending settles Hana's problem?" (B. She reaches the top.) Ask: "How can you tell Hana changed?" (She grins and wants to climb again.) Think aloud: "The problem was her fear. Ending B answers it. It shows her feeling with a body clue and a line of dialogue. It is a happy ending."

    10–15 min · Guided Practice

    1) Ask: "How could Ending B become open-ended?" (Sample: Hana looked over at the taller wall next door and wondered.) 2) Write the climax of your child's story together in one or two sentences. It is the moment the character faces the problem head-on. 3) Draft two possible endings, one in each color. Read both aloud. 4) Your child picks one and explains why it fits better. If stuck, say: "Read your problem sentence. What would your character do or say once it is over?"

    15–20 min · Independent Practice

    Your child adds 4 to 6 sentences to the draft. 1) The climax: one or two sentences. 2) The falling action: one sentence about what happens right after. 3) The ending: solve or wrap up the problem. 4) The last sentence shows a feeling or a change with a body clue or dialogue. Frame: At last, ___. I ___ (body clue). "___," I said. Checklist: it answers the problem sentence. It fits what came before. It shows a feeling. It does not stop with "The end."

    5 min · Exit Ticket

    Ask the three questions. Your child reads the last sentence of the draft for question 3.

    Watch for: Stopping suddenly with "and then I woke up" or "The end," so the problem is never solved.

    Try: Your child rereads the problem sentence aloud and asks, "Does my ending answer this?"

    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. Name four kinds of endings.
    2. Max cannot find his library book. Which ending fits best? A: Max ate dinner. B: Max found the book under his bed and zipped it into his backpack.
    3. Read your last sentence. How does it show your character's feeling or change?
    Show answers
    1. Happy, sad, surprising, open-ended.
    2. Ending B.
    3. Answers vary. Look for: a body clue or a line of dialogue that fits how the problem worked out.

    Support: Start with the frame "At last, ___. I felt ___ because ___." Then your child swaps the feeling word for a body clue.

    Extend: Your child writes a surprising ending that still makes sense, then names the earlier clue that hinted at it.

    Homework: Read your own book for 15 minutes. Then think of the ending of a book you know. Tell a family member whether it is happy, sad, surprising or open-ended, and why. Look for: a reason from the story.

    Science

    I can connect several food chains into a food web.

    3-LS4-3

    Builds on: Needs Days 1 and 2: chains start with a producer, and the energy comes from the sun. One-minute check: your child tells what an arrow in a food chain means (is eaten by).

    New words:
    • food web – many food chains joined together in one ecosystem

    Materials: 10 index cards, Large sheet of paper, or 4 sheets taped together, Markers in 3 colors, Science notebook, Pencil

    5 min · Day 58 — Food Webs — Wonder Warm-Up

    Spaced review from Week 11. Ask: "A bear rests in a den all winter. Is that something it has or something it does?" (Does. It is a behavioral adaptation.) Then ask: "Does a fox eat only rabbits?" (No. Foxes also eat mice, birds, insects and berries.)

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    First write one name on each card: sun, clover, berry bush, grasshopper, mouse, rabbit, robin, snake, fox, hawk. Say: "Most animals eat more than one food. Many are eaten by more than one predator. So food chains connect. Many connected food chains make a food web." Lay two chains: clover, rabbit, fox, and below it clover, grasshopper, robin, hawk. Say: "We have only one clover card. Both chains share it." Slide the chains together at the clover. Add the mouse. Say: "A mouse eats berries. A snake, a fox or a hawk may eat the mouse." Ask: "Which card do both chains share?" (Clover.) Ask: "Name two things a fox eats." (Rabbits, mice or berries.) Ask: "A hawk cannot find a mouse. What else could it eat?" (A rabbit, robin or snake.) If stuck, say: "Pick one animal. Ask what it eats. Draw an arrow from each food to it."

    15–20 min · Investigation / Hands-On

    Build a Forest-Edge Food Web. 1) Spread the cards on the big paper. Put the sun at the bottom and the clover and berry bush just above it. 2) Draw a wavy line from the sun to each producer. 3) Your child draws an arrow from each food to each eater. From clover: to rabbit and grasshopper. From berries: to mouse, robin and fox. From grasshopper: to robin and mouse. From mouse: to snake, fox and hawk. From rabbit: to fox and hawk. From robin and from snake: to hawk. 4) Count arrows in a table: Animal, Arrows in, Arrows out. Expect hawk 4 in, fox 3 in, mouse 2 in and 3 out. 5) Your child traces 3 different chains, each in its own color. A web with other true arrows is fine.

    10 min · Science Notebook Entry

    Your child copies the web into the notebook, or tapes in a photo of it. Under it they write 2 food chains found inside the web. Look for chains like: berries → mouse → snake → hawk. Then give the frame: "A food web is ___."

    5 min · Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket

    Ask the three questions with the web in view. Praise answers that follow the arrows.

    Watch for: Drawing arrows between any two animals that live near each other, even when one does not eat the other.

    Try: Before each arrow ask: "Does it really eat that?" Check a library book together. If unsure, leave the arrow out.

    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. How is a food web different from a food chain?
    2. In today's web, name two foods the robin eats.
    3. Why is it helpful for a fox to eat more than one kind of food?
    Show answers
    1. A food chain is one path of energy. A food web is many food chains joined together.
    2. Berries and grasshoppers.
    3. If one food is hard to find, it can eat another.

    Support: Start with the sun, clover, rabbit and fox already joined. Add 3 more cards together, one arrow at a time.

    Extend: Add a mushroom card. Your child draws an arrow to it from every living thing and explains why. (Decomposers break down all of them after death.)

    Homework: Your child shows the web to a family member. Look for two different paths the sun's energy can take to reach the hawk.

    Day 4 · Thursday

    Social Studies

    I can describe how Northwest Coast and Alaska Native nations used the ocean and land, and how they live today.

    D2.Geo.4.3-5D2.His.2.3-5

    Builds on: Needs Week 11 Day 4: the West has a rainy coast with giant forests and tundra in northern Alaska. One-minute check: ask what tundra is (cold land with no trees and frozen ground).

    New words:
    • totem pole – a tall cedar pole carved with animals and figures that tells a family's history or honors a person
    • potlatch – a big gathering where a host family feeds guests and gives gifts to mark an important event
    • sod – the top layer of soil, held together by grass roots

    Materials: U.S. map, 8 index cards, Notebook, Pencil and markers

    5 min · Warm-Up

    Spaced review from Week 11. Ask: "Which region has both a rain forest and tundra?" (The West.) Then say: "Picture a place where forest meets ocean and salmon fill the rivers. What would you eat and build with?"

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    Trace the coast from Oregon up to southeast Alaska. Say: "Giant cedar trees grow in the rain here. Nations of this coast include the Tlingit, Haida, Chinook and Coast Salish peoples." Say: "Builders split cedar into wide planks for large houses. Salmon was a main food, and it still is." Say: "Carvers make totem poles. A pole can tell a family's history or honor a person. It is not worshipped." Say: "At a potlatch, a host family feeds guests and gives gifts to mark an important event." Point to northern and western Alaska. Say: "Alaska Native peoples here include the Inupiat, Yupik and Unangan. Few trees grow on the tundra." Say: "Long ago, many families built homes partly underground. Frames of driftwood or whale bone were covered with sod." Say: "In Alaska, snow houses were mostly short-stay shelters for hunters. Inuit in Canada used them more." Say: "Today families live in modern homes, and many still fish, hunt and carve." Ask: "Why cedar on the coast but sod in the far north?" (The coast has forests. The tundra has few trees.) "Did everyone in the Arctic live in snow houses?" (No.) If stuck, say: "What grows or lives there? People used that."

    15–20 min · Activity / Source Work

    Read, sort and draw. 1) Read this source aloud: "A Salmon Year. Each summer, salmon swim from the ocean up the rivers of the Northwest Coast. Long ago, families caught them with nets and wooden traps. They dried and smoked the fish on racks so it would last all winter. Many nations hold a First Salmon ceremony to give thanks. Today tribal fishers still catch salmon, and their nations work to keep the rivers healthy." 2) Ask for evidence: "How did families make salmon last all winter?" (They dried and smoked it.) "Which sentence tells about today?" (The last one.) 3) Write these on eight index cards: cedar planks, salmon, totem pole, potlatch, sod, kayak, caribou, tundra. 4) Your child sorts them into Northwest Coast and Northern and Western Alaska. (The first four are Northwest Coast.) 5) With markers, your child draws a cedar plank house beside a sod-covered house. Ask: "What is each made from, and why?"

    10 min · Notebook Entry

    Your child makes two fact cards, Northwest Coast and Northern and Western Alaska. Each has four headings: Nations, Homes long ago, Foods, Today. Sample for the first: Tlingit and Haida; cedar plank houses; salmon and shellfish; "Tribal fishers catch salmon today." Sample for the second: Inupiat and Yupik; sod-covered homes; seal, fish and caribou; "Families still hunt and fish today."

    5 min · Exit Ticket

    Read each question aloud. Your child answers in the notebook. Praise answers that link a home or food to the land.

    Watch for: Believing all Arctic peoples lived in igloos all the time.

    Try: Reread the mini-lesson sentence about snow houses. Your child corrects this aloud: "Everyone in Alaska lived in igloos."

    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. Why did builders in far northern Alaska use sod instead of cedar planks?
    2. What happens at a potlatch?
    3. How did Northwest Coast families keep salmon to eat in winter?
    Show answers
    1. Few trees grow on the tundra, so there was little wood. Sod was close at hand.
    2. A host family feeds guests and gives gifts to mark an important event.
    3. They dried and smoked the fish.

    Support: Sort only four cards first: cedar planks, salmon, sod and caribou.

    Extend: Your child finds Juneau and Utqiagvik on a map of Alaska and uses the map scale to estimate the distance. Expect about 1,100 miles.

    Homework: Your child tells a family member what a totem pole is and is not. Look for: it tells a family's history or honors a person, and it is not worshipped.

    Mathematics

    I can choose × or ÷ for a word problem and find the unknown number in an equation like 6 × ? = 42.

    3.OA.A.33.OA.A.4

    Builds on: Needs fact families from Week 10 Day 4. One-minute check: your child writes the fact family for 3, 8 and 24. Look for 3 × 8 = 24 and 8 × 3 = 24. Look also for 24 ÷ 3 = 8 and 24 ÷ 8 = 3.

    Materials: 30 counters (dried beans, coins or buttons), Sticky notes, Notebook, Pencil

    5 min · Warm-Up

    Spaced review from Days 1 to 3. Ask: "5 groups of 4. Multiply or divide?" (Multiply; 20) "20 split into 5 equal groups?" (Divide; 4) Your child explains each choice. Then practice ×6 and ÷6 facts with no clock. Ask 6 × 8, 48 ÷ 6 and 54 ÷ 6 (48, 8, 9).

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    Say: "A story with equal groups has three numbers. They are the groups, how many in each, and the total." Say: "One of them is the unknown. Ask first: do I know the total?" Say: "If the total is unknown, multiply. If the total is known, divide." Say: "The unknown can sit in any spot of an equation." Write 6 × ? = 42. Read aloud: "Nia has 6 strings with the same number of beads on each. She uses 42 beads." Ask: "What does the ? stand for?" (The beads on each string.) "6 times what number is 42?" (7) Cover the ? with a sticky note. Your child writes 7 on the note. Read it back: 6 × 7 = 42. Say: "So the unknown is 7. Each string has 7 beads." Next write ? ÷ 3 = 7. Say: "Some marbles are shared into 3 bags. Each bag gets 7." Ask: "What does the ? stand for?" (All the marbles.) Say: "The total is unknown. Use the fact family." Say: "3 × 7 gives the total." (21) Say: "So the unknown is 21, because 21 ÷ 3 = 7." Now your child does more. Write 45 ÷ ? = 9. Your child tells what the ? could stand for, then solves and checks. (Groups, or how many in each; 5; 45 ÷ 5 = 9)

    10–15 min · Guided Practice

    Your child covers each ? with a sticky note, writes the number on it and reads the equation back. Ask each time: "Which fact family is this?" 1) 5 × ? = 40 (8). 2) ? ÷ 2 = 7 (14). 3) 54 = 9 × ? (6). 4) Theo has 8 bags with 3 marbles in each. How many marbles? Ask: "Is the total known?" (No. Multiply: 8 × 3 = ?; 24 marbles) If stuck, say: "Read it as a question. What number makes this true? Try one and check."

    15–20 min · Independent Practice

    Your child puts each answer back in the equation to check. For problems 1 to 5, the answer is the unknown. Afterward, your child picks one of those equations and tells a story for it. 1) 8 × ? = 24 (3). 2) ? × 7 = 28 (4). 3) 63 ÷ ? = 9 (7). 4) ? ÷ 5 = 5 (25). 5) 32 = ? × 8 (4). 6) Draw an array to show 4 × ? = 20. (4 rows of 5; the unknown is 5) 7) Priya has 32 stamps in 4 equal rows. How many are in each row? Write an equation with ?. (4 × ? = 32 or 32 ÷ 4 = ?; 8 stamps) 8) 9 plates hold 6 strawberries each. How many strawberries? (9 × 6 = ?; 54 strawberries)

    5 min · Exit Ticket

    Read each question aloud; your child answers on paper and puts each number back to check.

    Watch for: For ? ÷ 3 = 7, answering 7 or trying 7 ÷ 3. The total is being mistaken for a part.

    Try: Say: "The first number in division is the total." Your child rewrites it as 3 × 7 = ? and solves (21).

    Fact fluency: ×6 and ÷6 facts
    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. 6 × ? = 36. What is the unknown number?
    2. ? ÷ 6 = 4. What is the unknown number?
    3. Write and solve an equation: 4 shelves hold 10 books each. How many books?
    Show answers
    1. 6
    2. 24
    3. 4 × 10 = ?; 40 books

    Support: Build each equation with beans and keep totals to 30 or less. For 3 × ? = 12, your child shares 12 beans into 3 rows (4 in each).

    Extend: Your child writes two unknown-number equations for a family member, one with ? first. Sample: ? × 9 = 81; the unknown is 9.

    Homework: Your child solves 7 × ? = 49, ? ÷ 5 = 8, 18 ÷ ? = 9 and ? × 8 = 80. Answers: 7, 40, 2, 10.

    English Language Arts

    I can write a complete short narrative and share it so listeners can retell it and ask questions.

    W.3.3W.3.3.CW.3.3.DW.3.4SL.3.2SL.3.3

    Builds on: Needs the new story's plan, rising action, climax and ending from Days 1 to 3. One-minute check: your child points to each arc part in the plan and names it. (opening, rising action, climax, falling action, ending)

    Materials: Writer's notebook, All drafts and plans from Weeks 10 to 12, Pencil

    5 min · Warm-Up

    Word study, about 3 minutes. Give a clue. Your child says and spells the word. "A big striped cat." (tiger) "Green living things in a garden." (plants) "Songs and tunes." (music) "Staying out of sight." (hiding) Spaced review from Week 10. Ask: "Say the past tense of take and find." (took, found)

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    Say: "You have every part. Today you put them together." Write this checklist in the notebook. 1) An opening with a time, a place, a sense detail and a character. 2) A clear problem that grows, with time-order words. 3) Showing details and at least two lines of punctuated dialogue. 4) A climax and an ending that solves the problem. Read aloud the model, "The Last Cup": On a hot Saturday morning, I set my lemonade pitcher on a table by the sidewalk. Ice clinked against the glass. My sister Rosie taped up our sign. First, a jogger ran past without looking. Then a man waved but kept walking. Soon the ice shrank to slivers. "Nobody is coming," I said, and my shoulders sagged. Suddenly, a whole soccer team jogged around the corner. "Lemonade!" the goalie shouted. I poured as fast as I could while Rosie counted quarters. Finally, one cup was left. I handed it to Rosie, and she clinked it against the empty pitcher. Think aloud: "Point 1: a hot Saturday, the sidewalk, clinking ice and Rosie. Point 2: nobody stops, with first, then and soon. Point 3: sagging shoulders and two spoken lines. Point 4: the team arrives, and the last cup is shared." Ask: "Which sentence is the climax?" (The soccer team jogs around the corner.)

    10–15 min · Guided Practice

    1) Your child points to the place in the plan for each checklist point. 2) Ask: "Where will your two lines of dialogue go?" (Sample: when the problem appears, and at the climax.) 3) Agree on the first sentence aloud. Check that it names a time or a place. 4) Your child tells the whole story aloud once, touching each part of the hill. If stuck, say: "Tell me just the next thing that happened."

    15–20 min · Independent Practice

    1) Your child writes the complete story, about one page or 12 to 15 sentences. The parts from Days 2 and 3 can be copied in. 2) Your child ticks each checklist point and adds what is missing. 3) Your child reads the story aloud to you. 4) You retell it: who, the problem and how it ended. Your child says whether you heard it right. 5) You ask two questions, such as "How did you feel right before the climax?" Your child answers with a detail and may add it to the story. Look for: all four checklist points, and a retelling that matches the story.

    5 min · Exit Ticket

    Ask the three questions. Your child answers with the finished story in hand.

    Watch for: Rushing to finish and dropping the dialogue marks and sense details practiced earlier.

    Try: Your child makes one slow pass with the checklist, ticking each point and adding what is missing before sharing.

    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. Read your first sentence. Does it name a time, a place or both? Which words?
    2. Point to your climax. What happens there?
    3. What question did your listener ask? What detail did you give in your answer?
    Show answers
    1. Answers vary. Look for: exact words that name when or where.
    2. Answers vary. Look for: the moment the character faces the problem head-on.
    3. Answers vary. Look for: the listener's actual question, answered with a detail from the story.

    Support: Your child tells the middle while you write it. Your child writes the opening, the dialogue and the ending alone.

    Extend: Your child writes a second version told by another character in the story.

    Homework: Read your story to a family member. Ask them to retell it in three sentences and to ask one question. Look for: your child answers the question with a detail.

    Science

    I can predict what might happen to a food web when one living thing is removed or the habitat changes.

    3-LS4-43-LS4-3

    Builds on: Needs Day 3: the forest-edge food web. One-minute check: your child traces one chain inside the web and reads each arrow as "is eaten by."

    Materials: Food web from Day 3, About 8 sticky notes, Science notebook, Pencil

    5 min · Day 59 — What If a Link Is Removed? — Wonder Warm-Up

    Spaced review from Week 7. Ask: "A latch must hold a door shut. Is that a criterion or a constraint?" (A criterion. It says what the design must do.) Then ask: "What if a sickness made all the rabbits vanish from our web?" Let your child guess.

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    Say: "A food web is connected. A change to one part can affect other parts." Cover the rabbit card with your hand. Say: "The fox and the hawk have less food. They may eat more mice, or move away. The clover may spread with fewer rabbits eating it." Say: "Some changes are big and some are small. It depends on what else an animal can eat." Tell a real case: "Wolves were brought back to Yellowstone National Park in 1995. Elk changed where they grazed. In some places, young trees by streams grew back. Scientists still study how much the wolves caused." Ask: "Who loses a food if the rabbits vanish?" (The fox and the hawk.) Ask: "Why might the clover spread?" (Fewer animals eat it.) Ask: "Would the fox starve right away?" (No. It also eats mice and berries.) If stuck, say: "Put a finger on the missing card. Follow each arrow in, then each arrow out."

    15–20 min · Investigation / Hands-On

    Remove-a-Link Test. 1) Cover the rabbit with a sticky note marked X. 2) Your child traces each arrow touching the rabbit. For each living thing it reaches, they write a prediction on a sticky note. Samples: "Fox: less food, so it may eat more mice." "Clover: may spread." 3) Ask: "If foxes eat more mice, what might happen to the snake?" (It has less food too.) 4) Habitat change. Say: "A storm knocks down most of the berry bushes. The mouse, robin and fox lose a food." Offer two solutions. A: plant new berry bushes of the kind that grew there. B: put out bread every day. Your child makes a claim and gives a reason. Look for: A, because bushes feed many animals for years. Bread is not their natural food. Predictions will differ. Each needs a what and a why.

    10 min · Science Notebook Entry

    Make a chart with four columns: Change, Who is affected, What might happen, Why. Your child fills 3 rows, including the rabbit and the storm. Look for rows like: "Rabbits gone, fox, eats more mice, because it lost a food." Then give the frame: "The better solution is ___ because ___."

    5 min · Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket

    Ask the three questions with the web in view. Praise predictions that say "might" and give a "because."

    Watch for: Predicting that every other animal in the web will die right away.

    Try: Ask: "Does the fox eat anything else?" Animals with several foods may switch, so changes are often smaller or slower.

    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. In our web, what might happen to the hawk if the snakes were gone? Why?
    2. A pond is drained to build a parking lot. Name one living thing that might leave or die, and tell why.
    3. A field is paved, and people plant flowers nearby for the bees. Is that a helpful solution? Give one reason.
    Show answers
    1. Probably only a small change, because the hawk can still eat mice, rabbits and robins.
    2. Answers vary. Look for: a frog, fish, duck or water plant that lost its water, food or shelter.
    3. Answers vary. Look for a claim with a reason, such as "yes, the flowers give bees food, though less than the field did."

    Support: Walk through the rabbit example together, one arrow at a time. Then your child tries the snake alone.

    Extend: Add a coyote card to the web. Your child draws its arrows and predicts 3 effects on the other living things.

    Homework: Talk with a family member about an animal whose habitat is shrinking, such as monarch butterflies. Look for one way people help, such as planting milkweed.

    Day 5 · Friday

    Social Studies

    I can match Native nations to their regions and show what I learned in Unit 2.

    D2.Geo.4.3-5D2.His.2.3-5D2.Geo.10.3-5

    Builds on: Needs the fact cards from Days 1 to 4. One-minute check: ask your child to name one nation from any card and one thing that nation does today.

    Materials: U.S. map, Fact cards from Days 1 to 4, Notebook, Pencil, Week 12 Social Studies Check (8 items) with answer key, Unit 2 test from the Assessments page

    5 min · Warm-Up

    Spaced review from Week 7. Ask: "Name one thing a Native nation's government does today." (It elects leaders, or runs schools, clinics or businesses.) Then say: "We met many nations this week. Can you match each home to its land?"

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    Lay out the fact cards and open the map. Say a clue. Your child names the region, points to it and names one nation. "Bark-covered longhouses." (Eastern Woodlands; Haudenosaunee) "Tipis and earth lodges." (Great Plains; Lakota or Pawnee) "Adobe villages with ladders." (Southwest; a Pueblo nation such as the Hopi) "Cedar plank houses." (Northwest Coast; Tlingit or Haida) "Sod-covered homes on the tundra." (Northern and western Alaska; Inupiat or Yupik) Say: "Each nation is different. All are living nations today." Model a pair of sentences: "Long ago, Wampanoag families built round wigwams. Today, Wampanoag people live in Massachusetts." Your child says a long-ago and today pair for two more nations. Ask: "Which word tells me it is happening now?" (Today, or a verb such as live or raise.) If stuck, say: "Start with the word today. Name something people do now."

    15–20 min · Activity / Source Work

    Unit 2 test. 1) Find the Unit 2 test on the Assessments page. It covers Weeks 7 to 12 and takes 30 to 35 minutes. 2) Split it over two days. Give the first two sections now, in about 15 to 20 minutes. Give the last two sections tomorrow. 3) If your child is fresh, give the whole test today and move the notebook entry to tomorrow. 4) You may read every item and source box aloud. Your child may answer aloud while you write. 5) Keep the U.S. map open for the road trip section. Put the fact cards away. 6) Score each section with the notes printed under it. If a section earns less than half its points, revisit the weeks it lists.

    10 min · Notebook Entry

    Your child finishes these frames: "One way land shapes how people live is ___. One nation I want to learn more about is ___ because ___." Sample: "Land shapes homes, because forest nations built with bark and desert nations built with adobe." Look for a real example from the fact cards.

    5 min · Exit Ticket

    Ask the three exit questions aloud. Then give the stored Week 12 check: 8 items, about 15 minutes. If your child is tired, give it tomorrow. With 6 or more right, move on. With 4 or 5 right, revisit Day 2, the Plains nations. With 3 or fewer right, reteach Day 3 with the pueblo model, then any other day missed. Praise sentences about today.

    Watch for: Describing all Native peoples as one group with the same homes and foods.

    Try: Lay the fact cards side by side. Ask: "What is different on each card, and why?" Your child links each home to its land.

    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. Which was easier to build on treeless tundra: a cedar plank house or a sod-covered home? Why?
    2. Name one nation from the Great Plains and one from the Southwest.
    3. Finish the pair: "Long ago, Pueblo families climbed ladders to their upper rooms. Today, ___."
    Show answers
    1. A sod-covered home. Few trees grow on the tundra, but sod is close at hand.
    2. Answers vary. Plains: Lakota, Cheyenne, Comanche, Crow, Kiowa or Pawnee. Southwest: Hopi, Zuni, Acoma, Taos or Navajo.
    3. Answers vary. Look for the present tense, such as "families live at Taos Pueblo" or "Pueblo nations have their own governments."

    Support: Read every test item aloud and write down spoken answers, as the test allows. Keep the fact cards open for the mini-lesson only.

    Extend: Your child draws a map showing one nation from each region, with one fact about that nation today.

    Homework: Your child shows the fact cards to a family member and explains one way land shaped life in each region. Look for a different example on every card.

    Mathematics

    I can show what I learned about × and ÷ in Unit 2 on the check and unit test.

    3.OA.A.23.OA.A.33.OA.A.43.OA.B.63.OA.C.7

    Builds on: Needs Weeks 7 to 12: multiplication and division facts, sharing, grouping, fact families and unknown numbers. One-minute check: ask 18 ÷ 2, then the multiplication fact that proves it (9; 2 × 9 = 18).

    Materials: Stored Week 12 check and its answer key, Unit 2 test and its answer key (Assessments page), 8 index cards or paper slips; write one on each: 9 × 9 = ?, 5 × 8 = ?, 5 × ? = 45, ? × 2 = 14, 80 ÷ 10 = ?, 25 ÷ 5 = ?, 16 ÷ ? = 4, ? ÷ 3 = 5, Counters, paper plates or cups and scrap paper (allowed on the test), Pencil

    5 min · Warm-Up

    Spaced review from Week 10. Your child writes the fact family for 3, 4 and 12. Look for 3 × 4 = 12 and 4 × 3 = 12. Look also for 12 ÷ 3 = 4 and 12 ÷ 4 = 3. There is no fact routine today. Save energy for the test.

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    Play Flip and Prove for 10 minutes. Mix the 8 cards face down. Say: "Flip a card. Find the unknown. Then prove it with another fact from the same family." Model one turn. Flip 5 × ? = 45. Say: "5 times what number is 45? It is 9." Write 5 × 9 = 45. Say: "My proof is 45 ÷ 5 = 9." Now your child takes every turn: flip, solve, write the full equation, say a proof fact. Ask each turn: "Is the total known or unknown?" A correct turn wins the card. There is no clock. Unknowns for the other cards, in the order listed in the materials: 81, 40, 7, 8, 5, 4, 15.

    10–15 min · Guided Practice

    Give the stored Week 12 check now. Find it with the Week 12 lessons. Do not time it. Your child may sketch or use counters. Score it with the answer key and note the kind of item missed. Choose a route for the Week 14 catch-up days. 6 or more right: no extra work is needed. 4 or 5 right: match each miss to a day. Multiplication stories missed: redo Day 1 Guided Practice. Sharing stories missed: redo Day 2 Guided Practice. Grouping stories missed: redo Day 3 Guided Practice. Unknown numbers missed: redo Day 4 Guided Practice. 3 or fewer right: reteach the Day 1, 2 and 3 Mini-Lessons with counters and cups. If stuck, say: "Skip it for now. Sketch the groups, then come back."

    15–20 min · Independent Practice

    Give the Unit 2 test from the Assessments page. Allow 30 to 40 minutes, so this block runs longer than usual. There is no time limit. Take a short break between parts if your child is tired. Read the directions for each part aloud. Put the multiplication chart away. Your child may use counters, plates or cups and scrap paper. Do not teach or hint. If your child is stuck, say: "Do your best, then we can move on." Score it with the answer key and find the level at the end. Then choose a route by part. Multiplication facts missed: revisit Week 7 Days 1 to 3 and Week 8 Days 1 to 3. What division means missed: revisit Week 10 Days 1 to 3. Division facts or fact families missed: revisit Week 10 Day 4 and Week 11 Days 1 to 4. Word problems or unknown numbers missed: revisit Week 12 Days 1 to 4.

    5 min · Exit Ticket

    After the test, your child answers these three questions aloud or on paper. Then go over missed test items together.

    Watch for: Rushing word problems and multiplying every time two numbers appear.

    Try: Before solving, your child says "The total is known" or "The total is unknown" for each story.

    Fact fluency: None today (test day: rest from timed drills)
    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. 9 × ? = 63. What is the unknown number?
    2. Tomas has 40 cards in 5 equal piles. How many cards are in each pile?
    3. Which part of the test felt easiest, and which skill will you practice?
    Show answers
    1. 7
    2. 8 cards
    3. Answers vary. Look for: one named skill for each part of the question.

    Support: Read each word problem aloud and allow counters. Give the test in two sittings if your child tires.

    Extend: After the test, your child writes three stories with answers: multiplication, sharing and grouping. Sample for sharing: 42 pears in 6 bags, 7 in each.

    Homework: No new work after the test. Your child tells a family member one fact family. Sample for 6, 7 and 42: 6 × 7 = 42 and 7 × 6 = 42. Also 42 ÷ 6 = 7 and 42 ÷ 7 = 6.

    English Language Arts

    I can show what I learned in Unit 2 about main ideas, opinions and narratives.

    W.3.3RL.3.5RI.3.2W.3.1

    Builds on: Needs all of Unit 2: main idea (Week 7), opinion writing (Week 8) and narratives (Weeks 10 to 12). One-minute check: ask, "What is the top of the story hill called?" (the climax)

    Materials: Stored Week 12 check and its answer key, Unit 2 test and its answer key (Assessments page), Pencil, Writer's notebook

    5 min · Warm-Up

    Word study, about 3 minutes. Give an untimed spelling check: tiger, music, boxes, plants, swimming, smiled. Challenge word: sandwiches. Correct it together. Your child names the rule behind each word. Spaced review from Week 7. Ask: "What is a main idea?" (what a whole paragraph or article is mostly about)

    10 min · Review

    Review one skill from each part of Unit 2 in the notebook. 1) Main idea. Read: Most owls hunt at night. Their big eyes gather dim light. Their soft feathers let them fly almost without a sound. Ask: "What is the main idea?" (Most owls are built for hunting at night.) Ask: "Which detail tells how they stay quiet?" (the soft feathers) 2) Opinion. Your child finishes this sentence: "I think families should eat dinner together because ___." Your child adds a second reason with also or another reason. (Look for: a reason after because, then a linking word.) 3) Narrative. Reread "The Last Cup" from Day 4 if needed. Ask: "What was the climax? What was the resolution?" (The soccer team arrives. The lemonade sells, and the last cup is shared.) 4) Write: are you ready asked Mom. Your child adds the marks. ("Are you ready?" asked Mom.)

    10 min · Week 12 Check

    This block is the stored Week 12 English Language Arts Check. It has 8 items. Your child works alone with the notebook closed. You may read the directions aloud, but not the story. Score it with its answer key. 7 or more right: your child is ready for Unit 3. 5 or 6 right: revisit Day 1, then redo the Day 1 practice page. 4 or fewer right: reteach Day 1. Walk two fingers up the hill drawing while you tell a short story.

    about 50 min · Unit Test

    The Unit 2 test, "Main Idea, Opinions & Narratives," is on the Assessments page. It takes 45 to 55 minutes and may be split over two sittings. Today, your child does the article and the story-craft questions. Finish the other sections in a second sitting, later today or tomorrow. If today runs long, give only the weekly check and start the test tomorrow. Your child reads the article alone. You may read the directions and the reading questions aloud. Do not spell words or add punctuation for your child. Say: "Reread each written answer once before you move on." Score it with the test's key. Its notes name the weeks to revisit for each section.

    5 min · Exit Ticket

    After the first sitting, ask the three questions. Your child opens the finished story for question 2.

    Watch for: On main idea questions, choosing one interesting detail instead of what the whole part is mostly about.

    Try: Before the test, practice asking, "Do all the sentences tell about this?" If not, it is a detail.

    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. Which Unit 2 skill feels strongest now: main idea, opinion or narrative? Why?
    2. Open your finished story. Read the sentence you are proudest of. Which skill does it show?
    3. What will you remember to do the next time you write a story?
    Show answers
    1. Answers vary. Look for: a named skill and a reason.
    2. Answers vary. Look for: a named skill, such as showing a feeling, a specific detail or punctuated dialogue.
    3. Answers vary. Look for: a real strategy, such as planning on a story hill or using time-order words.

    Support: Give a break between the weekly check and the unit test. Split the test over two days, and read every direction aloud.

    Extend: After the test, your child writes an opinion paragraph on which Unit 2 story is best. It needs two reasons and linking words.

    Homework: Celebrate finishing Unit 2. Read your best story aloud to someone who has not heard it. Then read your own book for 15 minutes. Look for: a clear voice and a pause at each period.

    Science

    I can show what I know about food chains, food webs and Unit 2 on the Week 12 check and the Unit 2 test.

    3-LS4-33-LS4-43-PS2-43-5-ETS1-1

    Builds on: Needs Weeks 7 to 12: the magnet design, fair tests, ecosystems, habitats and food webs. One-minute check: ask, "Which way does a food chain arrow point?" (To the eater.)

    Materials: Week 12 Science Check (7 items) and its answer key, Unit 2 test and its answer key (Assessments page), Pencil, Ruler, Food chain cards from Day 1, Science notebook

    5 min · Day 60 — Week 12 Check and Unit 2 Test — Wonder Warm-Up

    Spaced review from Week 11. Ask: "What four needs does a habitat meet?" (Food, water, shelter and space.) Then your child builds a 4-link chain from the cards, with no rush. (Sample: clover, grasshopper, frog, snake.) Ask: "Where did its energy begin?" (The sun.)

    10–15 min · Mini-Lesson

    Preview the Unit 2 test. It covers Weeks 7 to 12: designing with magnets, fair tests, ecosystems and food webs. Review three reminders. First say: "A criterion is what a design must do. A constraint is a limit, such as time or materials." Ask: "Think of a paper bridge that has to carry a toy car. Is carrying the car a criterion or a constraint?" (Criterion.) Ask: "You may use only paper and tape. Which is that?" (Constraint.) Second, ask: "In a fair test, what do you keep the same?" (Everything except the one thing you change.) Third, say: "Start every food chain with a producer. Point every arrow to the eater." Your child draws a chain that starts with seeds. (Sample: seeds → mouse → snake → hawk.) If stuck, say: "Start with the plant. Who eats it? Who eats that?"

    30 min · Investigation / Hands-On

    Unit 2 test. Find it on the Assessments page. It has four sections and 19 questions, and it needs the pencil and ruler. It is not a race. The whole test takes about 40 to 45 minutes, so splitting it over two days works well. 1) Today, in this 30-minute block, your child does the first two sections, on magnets and fair tests. 2) Next school day, they do the two ecosystem sections. 3) You may read any question aloud. Do not explain science words or give hints. 4) Offer a stretch break between sections. 5) At the end, your child rereads each answer once. Score later with the key. Scores will differ; use the key's notes to choose what to revisit.

    10 min · Science Notebook Entry

    Give two frames: "The easiest part of this unit was ___." "One fact I am proud to know is ___." Look for a real science idea, such as "a food web is many chains joined together."

    5 min · Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket

    Ask the three questions aloud. Then give the Week 12 Science Check, which has 7 items and takes about 10 minutes. Give it later today or with the second half of the test. With 6 or more right, move on. With 4 or 5, redo the Day 3 web by joining two card chains. With 3 or fewer, reteach Day 1: pass a ball from food to eater and lay a paper arrow each time.

    Watch for: Rushing the test and forgetting to draw arrows or start a food chain with a producer.

    Try: Before starting, say: "For any food chain, start with a plant and point every arrow to the eater."

    Exit ticket (3 questions)
    1. Name a 3-link food chain that ends with a fox.
    2. Why is the sun drawn before the producer in a food chain?
    3. Name one thing you will check on every food chain you draw.
    Show answers
    1. Answers vary. Look for: a plant first and true links, such as berries → mouse → fox.
    2. The producer uses the sun's energy to make its food.
    3. Answers vary. Look for: it starts with a producer, or every arrow points to the eater.

    Support: Read test questions aloud whenever asked. Let your child answer food chain questions by drawing.

    Extend: After the test, your child builds the longest true food chain they can from the cards. Look for each link explained.

    Homework: Read a library book or article about an ocean or forest food web for 10 minutes. Look for one food chain drawn from it.

    Friday Checks & Answer Keys

    Mathematics · Week 12 Mathematics Check

    3.OA.A.33.OA.A.13.OA.A.23.OA.A.43.OA.B.63.OA.C.7

    Goals

    • I can solve multiplication and division word problems.
    • I can find an unknown number in a multiplication or division equation.

    Answer each question. Show your thinking in the box when there is one.

    1. Nia has 6 bags with 7 apples in each bag. How many apples does she have?
    2. 48 crayons are shared equally by 8 kids. How many crayons does each kid get?
    3. Keoni has 27 rocks. He puts 3 rocks in each cup. How many cups does he fill?
    4. 8 × ? = 56
    5. ? ÷ 9 = 4
    6. 30 ÷ ? = 6
    7. Luca has 64 cards in 8 equal piles. How many cards are in each pile?
    8. Write an equation with ? for 4 rows of 9 tiles. Then solve it.
    Show answer key
    1. 42 apples
    2. 6 crayons
    3. 9 cups
    4. 7
    5. 36
    6. 5
    7. 8 cards
    8. 4 × 9 = ?; ? = 36

    What to do next

    Most right
    If 6 or more are right: write three word problems for a family member, one with ×, one with sharing and one with grouping.
    Some right
    If 4–5 are right: redo the Day 4 page, then cover numbers in fact family equations with sticky notes and find them.
    Few right
    If 3 or fewer are right: reteach Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 by acting out each story with counters and cups before writing the equation.

    English Language Arts · Week 12 English Language Arts Check

    W.3.3.ARL.3.5L.3.6SL.3.2RL.3.3W.3.3.DW.3.3W.3.3.C

    Goals

    • I can name the parts of a story arc.
    • I can name a story's problem type and judge its ending.
    • I can use the Unit 2 spelling rules.

    Where Is Biscuit?

    On his first evening in the new apartment, Mateo couldn't find his kitten, Biscuit. He searched every closet. He looked under the bed. He even checked the bathtub, but there was no Biscuit. Boxes were stacked everywhere, and Mateo's throat felt tight. Then he heard a tiny meow. It came from a box marked BOOKS! Mateo pulled open the flaps, and Biscuit blinked up at him. Mateo grinned and hugged her close. "No more hiding in boxes," he whispered.

    Answer each question. Show your thinking in the box when there is one.

    1. What happens in the opening?
    2. Write one rising-action event.
    3. What is the climax?
    4. A storm knocks out the lights in Mateo's new apartment. What type of problem is that?
      ○ person vs. person○ person vs. nature○ person vs. self
    5. Is the ending happy, sad or open-ended? How do you know?
    6. Split into syllables: basket
    7. Write the plural: one puppy, two ____
    8. Add -ing: hop → ____
    Show answer key
    1. We meet Mateo and the setting: his first evening at the new apartment.
    2. His kitten Biscuit is missing, or he searches the closets and under the bed with no luck.
    3. Mateo hears a tiny meow from inside a moving box and opens it.
    4. person vs. nature
    5. Happy: Biscuit is found, and Mateo grins and hugs her.
    6. bas|ket
    7. puppies
    8. hopping

    What to do next

    Most right
    If 7 or more are right: plan a new story on a blank arc hill where the problem is person vs. self, and write one sentence for each part.
    Some right
    If 5-6 are right: redo the Day 1 page, then draw the arc hill and place sticky notes for each part of a favorite picture book.
    Few right
    If 4 or fewer are right: reteach the Day 1 story-arc lesson; walk a toy up and down a pillow 'hill' while you tell a short story and name each part.

    Science · Week 12 Science Check

    3-LS4-33-LS4-43-PS2-43-5-ETS1-1

    Goals

    • I can build a food chain with arrows.
    • I can explain where food chain energy starts.
    • I can read a food web and predict changes.

    Answer each question. Show your thinking in the box when there is one.

    1. Put in order with arrows: sea otter, kelp, sea urchin.
    2. Where does the energy in kelp come from?
    3. Which arrow is the right way?
      ○ grass → grasshopper○ grasshopper → grass
    4. Read the web: cactus → packrat, cactus → beetle, beetle → lizard, packrat → snake, lizard → snake, lizard → hawk, snake → hawk. Which animals eat the lizard?
    5. In that web, how many arrows point into the snake?
    6. If the beetles disappeared, what might happen to the lizards? Why?
    7. Why does a food web show an ecosystem better than one food chain?
    Show answer key
    1. kelp → sea urchin → sea otter
    2. the sun
    3. grass → grasshopper
    4. the snake and the hawk
    5. 2
    6. There may be fewer lizards, because they lose a food.
    7. Most animals eat more than one thing, and a web shows all the links.

    What to do next

    Most right
    If 6 or more are right: make a food web for an ocean with at least 6 living things and 8 arrows.
    Some right
    If 4–5 are right: redo the Day 3 page, then build two chains with food cards and join them into a web.
    Few right
    If 3 or fewer are right: reteach Day 1 (food chains) by passing a ball from food to eater and placing a paper arrow each time.

    Social Studies · Week 12 Social Studies Check

    D2.Geo.4.3-5D2.His.2.3-5D2.His.4.3-5D2.His.5.3-5D2.Geo.10.3-5

    Goals

    • I can match Native nations to the regions where their homelands are.
    • I can explain how land and resources shaped homes and food.
    • I can describe Native nations as living nations today.

    Answer each question. Show your thinking in the box when there is one.

    1. Corn, beans and squash are planted together. What are they called?
    2. Which animal gave many Plains nations food, clothing and tools?
    3. Which region's nations build homes of stone and adobe?
    4. A tall cedar pole is carved with animals that tell a family's story. What is it called?
    5. Name one Alaska Native people.
    6. Why did a tipi suit families who followed the herds?
    7. Fix the sentence so it tells about today: "The Haida made art."
    8. Do Native nations live in the United States today?
      ○ Yes○ No
    Show answer key
    1. the Three Sisters
    2. bison
    3. Southwest
    4. totem pole
    5. Answers vary. Look for: Inupiat, Yupik, Unangan (Aleut), Athabascan, Tlingit or Haida.
    6. It was light and could be taken down and moved quickly.
    7. Answers vary. Look for: "Haida artists make art today."
    8. Yes

    What to do next

    Most right
    If 6 or more are right: Visit the website of one nation you studied and write two facts about its life today.
    Some right
    If 4–5 are right: Redo the Day 2 page (Plains nations), then make a paper tipi and explain why it moved easily.
    Few right
    If 3 or fewer are right: Reteach Day 3 (Southwest nations): stack small boxes into a pueblo model and talk about why thick walls help in the desert.

    Unit tests this week

    Week 12

    Home Connection

    Big ideas

    • Word problems tell us when to multiply or divide.
    • Every story has a problem, a climax and a solution.
    • Energy moves from the sun through food chains.
    • Native nations adapted to the land in every region.

    Mathematics

    Try it (10 min): Make up kitchen word problems, like 6 bags with 5 apples each, or 32 grapes shared on 4 plates. Your child decides whether to multiply or divide and solves for the unknown, like 4 x ? = 32.

    Talk about it: How did you know whether to multiply or divide?

    English Language Arts

    Try it (10 min): Draw a story mountain with five parts: opening, rising action, climax, falling action and ending. Fill it in for a favorite book or movie, then plan one of your own.

    Talk about it: What is the most exciting part, or climax, of your story?

    Science

    Try it (10 min): Draw a food chain from a backyard or a book, like sun to grass to rabbit to fox, with arrows pointing from the food to the eater.

    Talk about it: What would happen if one living thing in your chain disappeared?

    Social Studies

    Try it (10 min): Pick one Native nation from this week, such as a Plains, Pueblo, Eastern Woodlands or Northwest Coast nation. Draw how it used the land long ago and one thing about the nation today.

    Talk about it: How did the land in each region shape the way people lived?

    This week’s words

    unknown · climax · solution · food chain · food web · energy

    Celebrate

    Name three things to celebrate: a word problem you solved, a story you planned, and a food chain you drew.

    This week's read-aloud

    Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

    Your child is planning stories with a clear problem and solution this week, and this short novel builds to one big question: will Sarah stay? (Anna and Caleb's mother has died, so talk about it gently.)

    See the five daily prompts →

    Math catch-up · 3.OA.A.3

    Draw the Groups

    Word problems get easier when your child stops guessing and draws the groups. A picture shows whether the total is known (divide) or is the thing to find (multiply).

    Builds on: 3.OA.A.1, 3.OA.A.2

    Materials: paper and pencil · 20 counters · sticky notes

    1. Read: "There are 7 boxes with 8 crayons in each. How many crayons?" Draw 7 circles and write 8 in each. The total is unknown, so multiply: 7 × 8 = 56.
    2. Read: "42 stickers go in 6 equal rows. How many in each row?" Draw 6 rows and write 42 above them. The total is known, so divide: 42 ÷ 6 = 7.
    3. Write 6 × ? = 54. Cover the ? with a sticky note and ask, "6 groups of what make 54?" Lift it: 9.
    4. Each day, solve 2 word problems. Your child draws the groups first, then writes the equation with a ? for the unknown.

    Try again

    1. There are 5 tables with 9 chairs at each. How many chairs?
    2. 32 cards are dealt equally to 4 players. How many cards does each player get?
    3. ? ÷ 3 = 9. What is the missing number?

    Reading About Our World · Week 12 · Social Studies

    Native Nations Across the Land

    Native nations across regions · This week's Social Studies lessons

    Four small scenes show Native nations in four regions: a longhouse and a Three Sisters garden in the Eastern Woodlands, bison on the Great Plains, an adobe pueblo in the Southwest, and a totem pole and cedar canoe on the Northwest Coast.

    Read it aloud first while your child follows along. Then read it together, and let your child read the parts they can. Talk about the words in the word box.

    Different Lands, Different Ways

    Native nations live in every region of the United States. Over thousands of years, each nation built a way of life that fit its own land and climate. Here are four examples, past and present.

    The Eastern Woodlands

    The Haudenosaunee are a confederacy, or group, of six nations: the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora. Their homelands are in the forests of what is now New York and nearby places. Long ago, families lived together in long wooden houses called longhouses. They grew corn, beans and squash together, called the Three Sisters. Today the Haudenosaunee nations have their own governments and still plant the Three Sisters.

    The Great Plains

    On the wide grasslands of the Plains, nations such as the Lakota followed herds of bison. Bison gave them meat, hides for clothing and coverings for tipis, which could be packed up and moved. Today many Plains nations are bringing bison back to their lands, and dozens of tribes work together to restore herds.

    The Southwest

    In the dry Southwest, Pueblo nations such as the Hopi and Zuni built homes of stone and adobe, a mud brick dried in the sun. These buildings keep people cool in the hot sun. Some pueblos have been lived in for hundreds of years. The Navajo Nation, also in the Southwest, is known for its weaving and its own language, which many families still speak.

    The Northwest Coast

    Along the rainy Pacific Northwest coast, nations such as the Tlingit fish for salmon in rivers and the ocean. They have long built houses and canoes from giant cedar trees. Artists carve tall totem poles that tell family histories and stories. Carvers are still making totem poles today.

    Then and Now

    Native nations are not only part of history. They are living nations today, with their own leaders, schools, languages and art. Their knowledge of the land is still shared from elders to children.

    Word box

    • confederacy: a group of nations that join together
    • A long longhouse with a rounded roof is covered with bark panels and has a door at one end and a smoke hole on top.longhouse: a long wooden house where several families lived together
    • adobe: a brick made of mud and straw dried in the sun
    • totem pole: a tall carved wooden pole that tells family histories and stories

    Questions

    1. What are the Three Sisters?
    2. What did the Lakota use bison for?
    3. Why do you think Northwest Coast nations used cedar to build houses and canoes?
    4. The passage has a section for each region. What does the last section, Then and Now, add?

    Week 12 spelling words →

    This week's specials page

    Water Bottle Boss

    • Art: Paint a sunset with only warm colors.
    • Music: Trace a melody up and down with your hand.
    • PE: Catch a ball with your hands.
    • Health: Water is the best everyday drink.

    Try it (Health)

    1. Make a label for your water bottle with your name and a picture.
    2. Fill your bottle in the morning.
    3. Make a tally mark each time you refill it this week.

    Think about it: My body needs extra water when I ____.

    See this year's specials plans