Day 1 · Monday

Objective: I can explain how people earn income and why learning new skills can help them earn more later.

Standards: D2.Eco.6.3-5, D2.Eco.3.3-5, D2.Eco.13.3-5

Materials: Notebook, Pencil, 4 index cards, 12 play dollars (paper slips work), 2 bowls, About 60 dried beans, A spoon

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 25. Ask: "What is the difference between a good and a service?" (A good is a thing you can touch. A service is work done for you.) Then ask the big question: "How can a kid earn money?" List the ideas in the notebook.

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Income is money a person earns by working or by selling goods or services." Say: "Lucia earns $4 each time she rakes leaves. She rakes 3 times." Your child counts her pay in play dollars. Ask: "What is her income?" ($12, because 3 × 4 = 12.) Say: "The skills and knowledge in your head are your human capital. Learning costs time now. It can pay off later, because many jobs that need more training pay more." Now teach productivity. Say: "Productivity is how much a worker makes in a set time. A baker mixing dough by hand might make 10 loaves in an hour. With an electric mixer and a bigger oven, the same baker might make 40." Ask: "How many more loaves is that each hour?" (30 more, because 40 - 10 = 30.) Say: "The mixer and oven are capital goods. Better capital goods raise productivity. So does better human capital. A trained baker works faster and wastes less." Ask: "Which is human capital, the oven or knowing how to bake?" (Knowing how to bake.) If stuck, say: "Is it a thing you can touch, or something the worker knows?"

3. Activity / Source Work · 15–20 min

   Bean Mover Test. In Rounds 1 and 2, change only the tool. Keep the same bowls, beans and counting time. 1) Put the beans in one bowl. Draw a table with three columns: round, tool, beans moved. 2) Round 1. Count slowly to 20 while your child moves beans to the empty bowl with two fingers, one bean at a time. Write the number moved. 3) Round 2. Do it again with the spoon. Write the number. 4) Round 3. Your child practices with the spoon for a minute, then tries again. Write the number. 5) Ask: "What raised your productivity?" (A better tool, then practice.) Most children move more in Rounds 2 and 3. Real results vary. Look for the pattern. 6) Job cards. Write four jobs on the index cards: electrician, chef, nurse and bus driver. For each, your child names one skill the worker learned and how they learned it. (Sample: a nurse learned to give medicine at nursing school.)

4. Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Title the page "Earning Income." Your child finishes four frames: "Income is ___. Human capital is ___. With an adult's OK, I could earn money by ___. The skill I need is ___." Sample: "I could earn money by watering plants. The skill I need is being careful." Then solve: "Kenji sells 6 bracelets for $2 each. The beads cost him $5. How much does he keep?" ($7, because 6 × 2 = 12 and 12 - 5 = 7.)

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read the three exit questions aloud. Your child solves question 1 on paper and answers the others in a sentence. Praise answers that use the word productivity.

Homework: Your child asks one adult what skills their job needs and writes down two. Look for skills that were learned, not only tasks.

Objective: I can explain that perimeter is the distance all the way around a shape.

Standards: 3.MD.D.8

Materials: Ruler (inches), String or yarn (about 50 inches), A book and a box lid, 4 sticky notes, Plain paper, Round jar lid (for the extension), Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 29. Ask: "A rug is 6 feet long and 3 feet wide. What is its area?" (18 square feet) Then practice ×4 facts with no clock. Ask 4 × 3, 4 × 6, 4 × 7 and 4 × 9 (12, 24, 28, 36).

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Perimeter is the distance all the way around a flat shape." With the ruler, draw a rectangle 4 inches long and 2 inches tall. Your child walks a finger around the edge, back to the start. Say: "Your finger traveled the perimeter. To find it, we add every side." Label each side. Put a sticky note on each side as you add it. Write 4 + 2 + 4 + 2 = 12. Say: "So the perimeter is 12 inches." Lay string around the edge and pinch where it meets its start. Straighten it along the ruler. Ask: "How long is the string?" (About 12 inches.) Say: "Perimeter is a length. We use inches, not square inches." Ask: "How is perimeter different from area?" (Area covers the inside. Perimeter goes around the edge.) Now your child does more. Draw a rectangle 6 inches long and 2 inches tall. Your child labels four sides and adds. (6 + 2 + 6 + 2 = 16 inches)

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   1) Your child lays string around the book cover, then measures the string along the ruler. Next your child measures each side to the nearest inch and adds. (Answers vary; the two results should be close.) 2) A placemat is 18 inches long and 12 inches wide. Your child sketches it, labels four sides and adds. (18 + 12 + 18 + 12 = 60 inches) 3) A square napkin has 10-inch sides. (10 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 40 inches). If stuck, say: "Put your finger on one corner. Walk around. Say each side length as you pass it."

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   Your child sketches each shape, writes a length on every side, then adds. 1) A rectangle 5 inches long and 4 inches wide (18 inches). 2) A rectangle 9 cm long and 2 cm wide (22 cm). 3) A square with 4-cm sides (16 cm). 4) A rectangle 12 feet long and 3 feet wide (30 feet). 5) Your child draws a rectangle 3 inches long and 1 inch tall with the ruler (8 inches). 6) Your child measures the box lid to the nearest inch and adds four sides. (Answers vary.) 7) Lena walks once around a sandbox 8 feet long and 5 feet wide. How far does she walk? (26 feet) 8) Tape goes around the edge of a square board with 6-inch sides. How much tape is needed? (24 inches)

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read each question aloud; your child may sketch.

Fact fluency: ×4 facts

Homework: Your child measures two rectangles at home to the nearest inch and adds the sides. Sample: a book 10 inches long and 8 inches wide has a perimeter of 36 inches.

Objective: I can plan the parts of my research report in an outline.

Standards: W.3.2, W.3.2.A, W.3.4

Materials: Writer's notebook, Subtopic pages with big-idea sentences, Colored pencils, Ruler, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Word study, Unit 5 review. Write station, vision, picture, can't, she's, dog's. Say: "The endings -tion and -sion say shun or zhun. The ending -ture says cher. An apostrophe marks dropped letters or an owner." Your child sorts the words under Endings and Apostrophes. Ask: "Which apostrophe word shows an owner?" (dog's) Spaced review from Week 29. Ask: "What is a big-idea sentence?" (One sentence that sums up the notes on a subtopic.)

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "A report is a stack of paragraphs with a plan. The plan is called an outline." Say: "A third-grade research report has six parts." Write them. 1) Title and your name. 2) Introduction: a hook, the topic and what the report will explain. 3) Body paragraphs, one for each subtopic. 4) Conclusion: what you learned. 5) A picture, diagram or chart with a label. 6) Sources page. Think aloud and write this model outline. "Outline: How Honeybees Make Honey. Title: How Honeybees Make Honey. Introduction: hook about how little honey one bee makes. Body 1: where bees get nectar. Body 2: what happens in the hive. Body 3: why a hive needs many bees. Conclusion: what surprised me. Picture: a labeled diagram of a bee carrying nectar. Sources: S1, S2, S3." Say: "Facts that belong together go in the same body paragraph. Each big-idea sentence becomes the topic sentence of one body paragraph." Ask: "Why does Body 1 come before Body 2?" (Bees must get nectar before they can change it in the hive.)

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   1) Ask: "Which bee notes page feeds Body 2?" (What happens in the hive.) 2) Ask: "Where would the note 'fan wings to dry nectar' go?" (Body 2) 3) Ask: "Where would 'bees have six legs' go?" (Nowhere. It does not help answer the research question.) Say: "Save it in a fun facts box for your talk." 4) Your child lays out their own subtopic pages. Ask: "Which page becomes Body 1, Body 2 and Body 3? Why that order?" (Listen for an order that makes sense, such as time order.) If stuck, say: "Which part must a reader understand first? Start there."

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   Your child outlines their own report on one notebook page. 1) Use the ruler to draw a box for each of the six parts, and label each box. 2) Write 2 to 4 words in each box. 3) Under each body box, copy the big-idea sentence and list three notes to use. 4) In the picture box, name what the picture will show. 5) Color the three body boxes in three colors. A body box for otters might read "Fur: thick, traps air, groomed daily." Look for: all six parts; a body box for every subtopic. Also look for notes that match their box and an order your child can explain.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Ask the three questions. Your child points to the outline while answering.

Homework: Explain your outline to a family member and name each part in order. Then read your own book for 15 minutes. Look for all six parts named without peeking.

Objective: I can observe and measure variation among living things of the same kind.

Standards: 3-LS3-1, 3-LS4-2

Materials: 5 leaves, one from each of 5 plants of the same kind, such as clover, dandelions or hedge bushes (or 5 leaves from one tree), Ruler marked in centimeters, Science notebook and pencil, Hand lens or magnifying glass

1. Day 146 — Same Kind, Different Individuals — Wonder Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 29. Ask: "A house finch's red color has two parts. What are they?" (Feathers that can turn red are inherited. The red comes from its food.) Now the wonder. Ask: "All dogs are dogs. Are all dogs the same?" Your child names 3 differences they have noticed.

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "One kind of living thing is called a species. All robins are one species. Each single robin is an individual." Say: "Individuals of one species share many traits, but each one is a little different. Those differences are variation." Give examples: no two people look exactly alike, and no two clover plants are exactly the same size. Say: "Scientists measure variation with numbers." Write three leaf lengths: 9, 12 and 10 centimeters. Say: "The longest is 12. The shortest is 9. The difference is 12 minus 9, which is 3 centimeters." Now your child tries with 7, 10 and 8 centimeters. Ask: "Which is longest? Which is shortest? What is the difference?" (10, 7, and 3 centimeters.) "Are all robins exactly alike?" (No. Individuals vary.) "Do a robin and a blue jay belong to one species?" (No. They are two different kinds.) If stuck, say: "Find the biggest number and the smallest number. Subtract the small one from the big one."

3. Investigation / Hands-On · 15–20 min

   Leaf Variation Investigation. Safety: an adult checks that the plants are safe to touch; wash hands afterward. 1) Collect 5 leaves, one from each of 5 plants of the same kind. If you use one tree, say: "These leaves come from one individual, but they still vary." 2) Number the leaves 1 to 5. 3) Your child measures each leaf from the base of the blade to the tip. They record each length to the nearest centimeter. 4) With the hand lens, they compare color, edges and vein patterns. 5) They find the longest and shortest leaf and subtract. Record in a table with four columns: Leaf, Length in centimeters, Color, Edge or veins. Nothing is changed in this study. Keep the same kind of plant, the same ruler and the same way of measuring. Expect lengths that differ by 1 centimeter or more. If every length matches, compare the widths instead. Say: "Real results vary. Look for the pattern."

4. Science Notebook Entry · 10 min

   In the notebook, your child traces or sketches the 5 leaves in a row and writes each length beneath. They list 3 ways the leaves vary. Then they finish the frame: "Living things of the same kind are alike, but ___." Sample: "Living things of the same kind are alike, but each individual is a little different in size, color and shape."

5. Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read the three exit questions aloud; your child may use paper for question 2. Praise careful subtraction and the word individual.

Homework: Collect 5 acorns, clover leaves or pieces of one kind of fruit. Write 2 ways they vary. Look for: size, shape, color or markings.