Day 1 · Monday
Mathematics
I can review fractions as equal parts and place fractions on a number line.
Builds on: Review of Week 19 Days 1 to 4, Week 20 Days 1 to 3 and Week 24 Day 1. One-minute check: draw a square cut into 4 equal parts and shade 1. Your child names it (1/4).
Materials: Centimeter ruler, Paper, Crayons, Fraction wall from Week 21 Day 1 (six marked strips, each 24 cm long; for support), Pencil
5 min · Warm-Up
Spaced review from Week 26 Day 4. Ask: "9 jars hold 3 liters each. How many liters is that in all?" (9 × 3 = 27 liters) Then practice ×6 facts with no timer. Ask 6 × 4, 6 × 7 and 6 × 9 (24, 42, 54).
10–15 min · Mini-Lesson
Say: "This week we review Quarter 3. Today is fractions as equal parts and on a number line." Draw a rectangle. Split it into 8 equal parts and shade 6. Say: "From Week 19 Day 1: the denominator tells how many equal parts make the whole. The numerator tells how many parts we count." Ask: "What fraction is shaded?" (6/8) Say: "From Week 19 Day 3: 6/8 is six parts of size 1/8." Now use a number line, from Week 20 Day 2. Say: "I place 4/6. The whole is the distance from 0 to 1." Draw a 0 to 1 line 12 cm long. Make a mark every 2 cm for 6 equal spaces. Jump 4 spaces from 0. Say: "So 4/6 is at 8 cm." Next, from Week 20 Day 3, draw a 0 to 2 line 16 cm long. Write 1 at 8 cm. Make a mark every 2 cm for fourths. Count 5 jumps from 0. Say: "So 5/4 is at 10 cm, one jump past 1." Now your child does more. Your child places 5/8 on a 0 to 1 line 16 cm long. (at 10 cm; 5 jumps of 2 cm)
10–15 min · Guided Practice
Your child draws each one. Each answer names the lesson where the skill was first taught. 1) Split a square into 8 equal parts. Name one part. (1/8; Week 24 Day 1) 2) How many pieces of size 1/4 make 3/4? (3; Week 19 Day 3) 3) Place 2/3 on a 0 to 1 line 12 cm long. (at 8 cm; Week 20 Day 1) 4) Ask: "Is 6/6 less than, equal to or more than 1? What about 7/6?" (Equal to 1; more than 1; Week 19 Day 4) If stuck, say: "The denominator tells how many equal parts or spaces. The numerator tells how many to count."
15–20 min · Independent Practice
Your child draws on paper and uses the ruler for every number line. 1) You draw a rectangle with 3 equal parts and shade 1. Your child names it. (1/3) 2) You draw a rectangle with 8 equal parts and shade 7. Your child names it. (7/8) 3) Split a square into fourths in two different ways. (Sample: 4 strips; a 2-by-2 grid.) 4) How many pieces of size 1/6 make 5/6? (5) 5) Place 2/6 on a 0 to 1 line 12 cm long. (at 4 cm) 6) Place 6/4 on a 0 to 2 line 16 cm long. (at 12 cm; 2 jumps past 1) 7) A pan of cornbread is cut into 8 equal pieces. The family eats 5 pieces. What fraction is eaten? What fraction is left? (5/8; 3/8) 8) A trail is 1 mile long, with a sign at every fourth. Nia stops at the third sign. How far has she walked? (3/4 mile)
5 min · Exit Ticket
Read each question aloud. Your child answers on paper and may draw.
Watch for: Drawing unequal spaces on a number line, or counting marks instead of spaces.
Try: Your child measures each space with the ruler before labeling, and counts jumps from 0.
Exit ticket (3 questions)
- What does the denominator of a fraction tell you?
- On a 0 to 2 line in halves, how many jumps from 0 is 3/2? Is it past 1?
- A square is split into 6 equal parts. 2 parts are shaded. What fraction is shaded?
Show answers
- How many equal parts the whole is split into.
- 3 jumps; yes, one jump past 1
- 2/6
Support: Your child draws each 0 to 1 line 24 cm long. Lay the matching strip of the fraction wall under it. Your child copies the lines on the strip as marks.
Extend: Your child draws a 0 to 2 line 12 cm long with a mark every 1 cm. Your child places 7/6, 9/6, 10/6 and 11/6 on it. Then your child tells which is closest to 2 (11/6).
Homework: Your child draws a 0 to 2 line 16 cm long in fourths and places 1/4, 3/4, 5/4 and 7/4. (at 2 cm, 6 cm, 10 cm and 14 cm)
English Language Arts
I can review opinion writing by planning and writing a short opinion piece with reasons, evidence and linking words.
Builds on: Needs the opinion essay parts from Weeks 19 to 21. One-minute check: ask, "What does evidence do for a reason?" (It proves the reason with a fact or an example.)
- homophones – words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings
Materials: Writer's notebook, Highlighter, Pencil
5 min · Warm-Up
Word study: homophones. Say: "Homophones sound the same. Their spellings and meanings are different." Write there, their, they're, to, too, two. Your child reads them and matches each to a meaning you say. (There: a place. Their: belongs to them. They're: they are. To: toward. Too: also, or more than enough. Two: the number.) Say: "There has the word here inside. Both name places." Spaced review from Week 11. Write: Mom said Come and eat. Your child adds the marks. (Mom said, "Come and eat.")
10–15 min · Mini-Lesson
Say: "This week we review Quarter 3. Today is opinion writing." Read this model aloud. "A Tree for Every Schoolyard": Have you ever stood in line on a blazing hot playground? I think every school should plant shade trees. First, trees keep kids cool. For example, the bench under our one oak is always the first seat taken. In addition, trees bring nature close. Last spring our class watched robins build a nest outside the window. Shade trees make a schoolyard better. So grab a shovel and ask your principal for a planting day! Think aloud: "The first sentence is the hook. It is a question. The second sentence states the opinion." Point to the opinion. Say: "The body gives two reasons. Each reason has evidence. I ask, 'How do I know?' The crowded bench answers that." Point to First, For example, In addition and So. Say: "These linking words connect the ideas." Say: "The ending restates the opinion and tells readers what to do."
10–15 min · Guided Practice
Plan a new piece together: "Should kids write thank-you notes by hand?" Draw four boxes in the notebook: Opinion, Reason 1, Reason 2, Reason 3. 1) Your child says and writes the opinion. (Sample: "Kids should write thank-you notes by hand.") 2) Your child lists three reasons. (Samples: a note shows you care; people keep notes; it is good writing practice.) 3) For each reason ask: "How do you know?" Your child jots one piece of evidence. (Sample: "Grandma keeps my note on her fridge.") 4) Your child says a hook aloud and stars the two strongest reasons. If stuck, say: "Tell me why. Now tell me something that happened that proves it."
15–20 min · Independent Practice
Your child writes the piece in four short paragraphs of 2 or 3 sentences each. Plan on about 20 minutes. It is a guide, not a race. Paragraph 1: hook, topic and opinion. Paragraphs 2 and 3: one starred reason each, with evidence and a linking word. Paragraph 4: restate the opinion and end with a call to action. Then your child highlights the opinion and circles the linking words. Checklist: 1) A hook and one opinion sentence. 2) Evidence for both reasons. 3) At least three linking words. 4) An ending that tells readers what to do.
5 min · Exit Ticket
Your child keeps the finished piece open and answers each question from it.
Watch for: Writing reasons with no evidence when writing quickly.
Try: Before writing, your child says "How do I know?" for each starred reason and jots the answer in its box.
Exit ticket (3 questions)
- Read the sentence in your piece that states your opinion.
- Read one piece of evidence. Which reason does it support?
- What does your conclusion ask the reader to do?
Show answers
- Answers vary. Look for: one clear sentence, often starting with "I think."
- Answers vary. Look for: a fact, example or experience that matches the reason before it.
- Answers vary. Look for: a call to action, such as "Write one thank-you note this week."
Support: Your child writes the introduction and one body paragraph, then says the other two paragraphs aloud while you write.
Extend: Your child adds one sentence that answers the other side: "Some people think ___, but ___."
Homework: Your child reads the opinion piece to a family member, who names the strongest reason (10 minutes). Look for a reader who can retell the opinion.
Science
I can review weather tools, weather versus climate and climate regions.
Builds on: Needs the notebook pages from Weeks 19 to 22. One-minute check: ask "Why must an outdoor thermometer stay in the shade?" (Sunshine on it makes it read too high.)
Materials: Science notebook with the pages from Weeks 19 to 22, and pencil, Thermometer, rain gauge and wind streamer from Week 19, World map or globe, Climate graph from Week 20 Day 2 (Day 97), 6 slips of paper, Review question cards from Week 23 Day 5 (Day 115), if you kept them
5 min · Day 131 — Q3 Review: Weather and Climate — Wonder Warm-Up
Spaced review from Week 26. Ask: "How does a waxy coating help a desert plant?" (It slows water from escaping.) If you kept the review question cards from Week 23, your child answers two of them. Then ask: "Say what weather is and what climate is, one sentence each." (Weather is what the air is like at one place and time. Climate is the usual weather of a place over many years.)
10 –15 min · Mini-Lesson
Say: "Today we check five skills." 1) Tools. Ask: "What does a wind vane show?" (The direction the wind comes from.) Ask: "A streamer blows toward the south. Name the wind." (A north wind.) 2) Reading a thermometer. Say: "Each small mark is 2 degrees. The liquid is 3 marks above 70." Ask: "What is the reading?" (76°F.) 3) Weather or climate. Ask: "Hail fell during soccer practice?" (Weather.) Ask: "July is usually our driest month?" (Climate. The clue word is usually.) 4) Climate types. Ask: "Are all deserts hot? Give an example." (No. The Gobi is a cold desert. Arid means dry.) Ask: "Why is it colder high on a mountain?" (The air gets colder as you climb.) 5) Data. In the notebook, draw a pictograph: 3 suns for April and 5 suns for June. Say: "Each sun stands for 5 sunny days in a made-up town." Ask: "How many sunny days does June usually have? How many more than April?" (25 days. 25 − 15 = 10 more.) If stuck, say: "Find the page for that week. Read me one line."
15–20 min · Investigation / Hands-On
Weather and Climate Stations. Set four stations around the table. Station 1: your child takes a full reading with the thermometer, rain gauge and streamer. They write one report sentence with the time, the temperature in °F, the rain in inches and the wind. Station 2: write these six statements on the slips. "Snow is falling right now." "Our autumns are usually windy." "Tonight will be clear and cold." "The high plains get little rain most years." "The wind knocked over our trash can today." "Summers by this lake are mild every year." Your child sorts them and underlines each clue word. (Weather: 1, 3 and 5. Climate: 2, 4 and 6.) Station 3: on the map, they point to one place for each of the five climate types. (Sample: tropical, the Amazon; arid, the Sahara; temperate, the eastern United States; polar, Antarctica; mountain, the Andes.) Station 4: on the climate graph, they name the warmest and coldest months. Record the stations in a table with three columns: Station, Done, One thing to fix. Readings differ by day and place. Say: "Real results vary. Look for the pattern."
10 min · Science Notebook Entry
Your child writes a one-page summary of Weeks 19 to 22 with three headings. The headings are Weather Tools, Weather and Climate, and Climate Regions. They write two facts under each. Sample: "A rain gauge needs straight sides. Wind is named for where it comes from."
5 min · Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket
Ask the three exit questions aloud; your child may use the map for the last one. Circle any station that needed a fix, and start there tomorrow.
Watch for: Mixing up climate types, most often temperate and tropical.
Try: Tie each type to the map. Tropical lies near the equator. Temperate lies between the tropics and the poles and has four seasons.
Exit ticket (3 questions)
- The marks on a thermometer count by 2s. The liquid rests one mark past 44. What do you write in the log?
- Weather or climate: "Most Octobers here bring the first frost." Which clue word tells you?
- Name two climate types and one place on the map for each.
Show answers
- 46°F
- Climate. The clue word is most.
- Answers vary. Look for: correct pairs, such as polar and Antarctica, or arid and the Sahara.
Support: Do Stations 1 and 2 today and Stations 3 and 4 tomorrow.
Extend: Your child writes 5 quiz questions about climate on paper, with answers on the back, and quizzes a family member.
Homework: Read your summary page to a family member and teach them one fact. Look for: a fact explained in your child's own words.