Why this book: This week your child learns what a community is and names a story's characters, setting and central message, and this bus ride through a city shows all of them.
Monday
Who are the main characters, and where does the story take place?
Tuesday
What does CJ wish he had? How does his grandmother answer him?
Wednesday
List three places or people CJ sees on the ride. Which ones help the community?
Thursday
Tell the story in order: beginning, middle and end.
Friday
What is the central message? What lesson does Nana want CJ to learn?
Why this book: Your child is studying character traits and how characters change, and Ramona shows her traits through what she says and does all through her third-grade year.
Monday
Ramona is starting third grade. How is her school year like yours? How is it different?
Tuesday
Name one trait that describes Ramona. What did she do that shows it?
Wednesday
How does Ramona feel about what her teacher thinks of her? How do you know?
Thursday
Compare Ramona with her sister Beezus. How are they alike and different?
Friday
How has Ramona changed from the start of the book to now?
Why this book: This week's ELA lessons are about asking questions and answering with words from the text, and Julian's short stories are full of moments to wonder about.
Monday
Before we read, look at the cover and title. What questions do you have?
Tuesday
Why does Julian tell his little brother Huey a story that is not true? Find the part that tells you.
Wednesday
Ask a 'why' question about today's chapter. Then find words in the story that help answer it.
Thursday
How does Julian feel when he meets Gloria? What words or actions show it?
Friday
Which story was your favorite? Use details from the book to explain why.
Why this book: Your child is comparing folktales, fables and myths this week, and this Chinese folktale pairs well with the Aesop fables in the lessons.
Monday
What kind of traditional tale is this? What clues tell you?
Tuesday
How does the wolf trick the girls at first?
Wednesday
What does Shang notice that tells her something is wrong?
Thursday
How do the sisters work together to beat the wolf?
Friday
What lesson does this tale teach? How is it like or unlike a fable you read this week?
Why this book: In this flex week, a trickster tale from Ghana lets your child practice finding a lesson and retelling a story, the skills from Weeks 1 to 4.
Monday
Where does this tale come from? Find Ghana on a map or globe.
Tuesday
Name Anansi's sons. What special skill does each one have?
Wednesday
Retell the rescue in order, using first, next, then and last.
Thursday
Why do the sons argue at the end? What would you have done?
Friday
This tale explains something in nature. What does it explain?
Why this book: This week your child learns that Native nations are still here today and practices using text features, and this book shows a Cherokee Nation community today, season by season.
Monday
The author is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. What do you think the book will tell us?
Tuesday
Name one way the Cherokee families in the book give thanks.
Wednesday
Look for the Cherokee words. What clues help you learn what they mean?
Thursday
Pick one season. What do people in the book do in that season?
Friday
What is one thing you learned about Cherokee life today? What text feature helped you?
Week 7
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Picture Book Edition)
Why this book: Your child is learning the engineering design steps in science and main idea in reading, and William's windmill is a true story of defining a problem, building and improving.
Monday
What problem did William's village face?
Tuesday
Where did William get his idea, and where did he find parts?
Wednesday
What problems did William have to solve while he built his windmill? How did he solve one of them?
Thursday
What is the main idea of this book? Name two details that support it.
Friday
Which engineering design step did William use the most? Explain.
Why this book: This week your child studies how communities began and writes opinions, and this story shows a farm family long ago making and trading goods.
Monday
When and where does this story happen? What clues tell you it is long ago?
Tuesday
Name some things the family makes or grows during the year.
Wednesday
What does the man sell at the market, and what does he buy?
Thursday
Why do you think he sells the ox too?
Friday
Which job in the family would you want? Give two reasons.
Why this book: In this review week, an adventure with a map, a clear problem and clever solutions lets your child review story elements and map skills.
Monday
Look at the map in the book. Trace the boy's path. Which places does he pass?
Tuesday
What is the boy's problem? Why does he go to the island?
Wednesday
Pick one animal he meets. How does he solve that problem?
Thursday
What traits does the boy show? Give an example of each.
Friday
How is the problem solved at the end? Tell the story in five sentences.
Why this book: Your child begins ecosystems this week, sorting producers, consumers and decomposers, and this book shows how living things depend on each other for food.
Monday
What do you think a food chain is? Make a guess before we read.
Tuesday
Where does a food chain begin? Why?
Wednesday
Choose one food chain from the book. Name each link in order.
Thursday
Which living things in the book are producers? Which are consumers?
Why this book: 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.)
Monday
Who tells this story, and where does the family live?
Tuesday
What does the family hope for when Papa writes to Sarah?
Wednesday
What does Sarah miss about her home? How do you know?
Thursday
What is the family's big worry? How does the story build up to the answer?
Friday
How is the problem solved at the end? How did the ending make you feel?
Why this book: This week your child learns why people move and how travel has changed, and this book follows a man who crossed an ocean by steamship and came to love two homes.
Monday
Where does the grandfather start his journey, and how does he travel?
Tuesday
What does he see in his new land? Which places does he like most?
Wednesday
Why does he go back to Japan?
Thursday
How is the way he traveled different from how people travel today?
Friday
The narrator says he understands his grandfather. What does he mean?
Why this book: Your child studies immigration and compares two texts this week, so read this immigrant family's story and compare it with Grandfather's Journey from Week 13.
Monday
Where does Great-Gramma Anna's family come from? What do they bring with them?
Tuesday
How is the quilt made? Why are those pieces of cloth special?
Wednesday
Name three ways the family uses the quilt over the years.
Thursday
What stays the same in the family across four generations? What changes?
Friday
Compare this book with Grandfather's Journey. How are the two families alike and different?
Why this book: This week your child builds a model of an ecosystem and practices taking notes in their own words, and this book shows the life above and below a pond.
Monday
Where are the boy and his mother, and how are they getting around?
Tuesday
Name some living things that live over the water.
Wednesday
Name some living things that live under the water.
Thursday
Take notes in your own words: write three facts from the book on cards.
Friday
If the pond dried up, which animals would have trouble? Why?
Why this book: Your child studies severe weather and safety plans this week, and this short chapter book begins with a family taking shelter from a tornado.
Monday
Where does the family go when the tornado comes? Why is that a safe place?
Tuesday
Who tells the stories, and why does he tell them?
Wednesday
How did the dog first come to the farmhand?
Thursday
Which story about the dog was your favorite? Retell it.
Friday
What should our family do if there is a tornado warning? Make a plan together.
Why this book: This week's science is clouds, air pressure and forecasts, and this book names the main kinds of clouds and what they can tell us about the weather.
Monday
Name the three main kinds of clouds from the book.
Tuesday
What do cirrus clouds look like? What weather might they mean?
Wednesday
Go outside and look up. Which kind of cloud do you see today?
Thursday
Pick one weather saying in the book. Do you think it is true? Why?
Friday
Use the clouds you see to make your own forecast for tomorrow. Check it tomorrow!
Why this book: Your child starts inherited traits this week, and this public-domain tale by Hans Christian Andersen (any library picture-book or translation works) shows a young bird that grows up to look like its parents.
Monday
Why do the other animals treat the duckling badly?
Tuesday
How does the duckling look different from the other ducklings?
Wednesday
What happens to the duckling as the seasons change?
Thursday
What does he turn out to be? Why does he look like the swans?
Friday
In real life, do young animals look like their parents? Give an example.
Why this book: This week your child sorts inherited traits from learned behaviors and takes notes from sources, and Jada learns a lot about rocks by studying and asking questions.
Monday
What does Jada love to collect? What does she know about it?
Tuesday
What problem does Jada have at school?
Wednesday
How does Jada learn new facts? Is that something she was born knowing or something she learned?
Thursday
How does Jada work with her group?
Friday
Take notes on one fact about rocks from the book, in your own words.
Why this book: In this flex week, start this longer novel together and keep reading it in the weeks ahead. It reviews character traits, change and how animals live together on a farm. Be ready to talk about a sad moment near the end.
Monday
Who is Fern, and what does she do for Wilbur?
Tuesday
Where does Wilbur go to live? Who does he meet there?
Wednesday
What traits does Charlotte show? Give one example.
Thursday
What is Wilbur worried about? How does Charlotte plan to help?
Friday
What does Charlotte write in her web, and how do people react?