Day 4 · Thursday

Objective: I can name community helpers and explain how their work helps everyone.

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

Materials: The 6 need cards from Day 3, 3 blank index cards or paper slips, Notebook, Pencil

1. Day 4 — Community Helpers — Big Question Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Day 3. Ask: "Name three community needs." (Any three: safety, health, learning, getting around, food and supplies, gathering.) Then ask the big question: "Who made sure we had clean water and a clear road today?"

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Community helpers are people whose jobs or volunteer work help a community run." Lay out the six need cards. Touch each card and name a helper. Firefighters meet safety. Nurses meet health. Librarians meet learning. Bus drivers meet getting around. Farmers and grocery workers meet food and supplies. Park workers meet gathering. Say: "Some helpers are easy to forget. Sanitation workers collect trash. Water workers clean our water. Volunteers pack boxes at a food pantry." Say: "Helpers use skills they learned. A nurse learned to check a heartbeat. A worker's skills and knowledge are called human capital." Ask: "Which need does a bus driver meet?" (Getting around.) Ask: "What skill does a librarian use?" (Finding books or helping people search.) Ask: "Is a volunteer paid?" (No.) If stuck, say: "Think about breakfast. Who helped get that food to our kitchen?"

3. Activity / Source Work · 15–20 min

   Play "Who Am I?" 1) Read each clue. Your child guesses, then sets a finger on the matching need card. "I drive a big truck each week and take away what you throw out." (Sanitation worker; health.) "I help you find books and sign up for a card." (Librarian; learning.) "I test the water and clean it before it reaches your sink." (Water worker; health.) "I sort cans and pack food boxes, and nobody pays me." (Food pantry volunteer; food and supplies.) "I check on sick people and take their temperature." (Nurse; health.) 2) After each guess ask: "Which words told you?" 3) Your child writes three clue cards for you to guess. Look for clues that name a task or skill, not a uniform. 4) Ask: "Which helper would our town miss first? Why?" (Any helper, with a reason.)

4. Notebook Entry · 10 min

   In the notebook, draw a chart with five rows: Helper | Need they meet | One skill they use. Sample row: Road crew worker | getting around | fills holes and paints lines. Then your child finishes: "Our community would have trouble without ____ because ____."

5. Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Ask the three exit questions aloud. Praise answers that name a real task or skill.

Homework: Write or draw a short thank-you note for one community helper. Look for: the note names the exact job the helper does.

Objective: I can round a number to the nearest 10.

Standards: 3.NBT.A.1

Materials: Paper for drawing number lines, Coin or bean to slide along the line, Notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Day 3. Your child compares 563 _ 536 (>) and 208 _ 280 (<). Then count by 10s from 37 to 97 together. Ask: "What comes after 57?" (67) "Which digit never changed?" (The ones digit.)

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Rounding means finding the closest ten. We round when about how many is good enough." Draw a line from 40 to 50 with a tick for every number. Label 40, 45 and 50. Say: "45 is halfway." Put the coin on 47. Ask: "Which two tens is 47 between?" (40 and 50) "Is 47 before or past halfway?" (Past) Count the jumps: 3 jumps up to 50, 7 jumps back to 40. Say: "47 is closer to 50. So 47 rounds to 50." Move the coin to 43. Ask: "Which ten is closer?" (40) Say: "43 rounds to 40." Put the coin on 45. Say: "45 is the same distance from both tens. Everyone agrees to round halfway numbers up. So 45 rounds to 50." Next draw a line from 340 to 350 and label 345. Put the coin on 348. Ask: "Which two tens is 348 between? Which is closer?" (340 and 350; 350) Say: "348 rounds to 350." Now your child does more. Your child draws a line for 62 and rounds it. (Between 60 and 70; halfway is 65; 62 rounds to 60)

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Your child draws a line for each number, marks halfway and slides the coin. 1) 28 (between 20 and 30; rounds to 30). 2) 81 (between 80 and 90; rounds to 80). 3) 55 (halfway, so it rounds up to 60). 4) 132 (between 130 and 140; rounds to 130). Then ask: "Look at the ones digits. Which numbers went down? Which went up?" (Ones of 1 and 2 went down. Ones of 5 and 8 went up.) Say: "Ones of 0 to 4 sit before halfway. Ones of 5 to 9 sit at halfway or past it." If stuck, say: "Which two tens is it between? Where is halfway? Is your number before halfway or past it?"

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   Your child rounds each number to the nearest 10. 1) 36 (40). 2) 72 (70). 3) 19 (20). 4) 95 (100). 5) 144 (140). 6) 297 (300). 7) A snack costs 68 cents. About how many cents is that, to the nearest 10? (70) 8) A hike is 502 steps long. Round the steps to the nearest 10. (500) Point out that 95 and 297 cross into a new hundred. Your child checks problems 4 and 6 by drawing a number line.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Your child answers without a number line, then checks question 2 by drawing one.

Fact fluency: Counting by 10s from any number

Homework: Find 5 numbers under 100 at home, such as prices in cents or book page numbers. Round each to the nearest 10. Sample: 34 rounds to 30.

Objective: I can tell the central message of a fable and the details that show it.

Standards: RL.3.2, SL.3.2

Materials: "The Indoor Park" (reprinted in this lesson), Reader's notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Word study: meaning. Ask: "Which word names a set of tools or parts kept together?" (kit) "Which word means moved smoothly, as on ice?" (slid) "Which word names a cloth that hangs from the shoulders?" (cape) Your child uses hope in a spoken sentence. (Sample: I hope we bake today.) Spaced review from Day 3. Ask: "What are the three parts of a story?" (Beginning, middle and end.)

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "A fable is a short story that teaches a lesson. The central message is that big lesson. It is bigger than any one event." Say: "Just listen first." Read "The Tortoise and the Hare" aloud. It is a traditional fable from Aesop of ancient Greece. Hare bragged to everyone in the meadow. "Nobody is faster than I am," he said. Tortoise looked up from her clover. "I will race you," she said quietly. Hare laughed so hard that he fell over. The race began at the old stone wall. Hare shot ahead and was soon out of sight. "I have plenty of time," he thought, so he lay down under a shady tree and fell asleep. Tortoise never stopped. Step by step, she plodded past the tree and up the hill. When Hare woke, the sun was low. He dashed to the finish line, but Tortoise was already there, resting in the grass. Ask your child to recount it in three sentences. (Hare brags and races ahead. He naps under a tree. Tortoise keeps walking and wins.) Now think aloud. Say: "I ask what the characters did and how it turned out. Hare bragged and napped, and he lost. Tortoise kept going, and she won. So the lesson is about steady effort." Write: This story teaches that steady effort beats showing off.

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Write the stem: This story teaches that ___. I know because ___. 1) Ask: "Which key detail shows Hare was too sure of himself?" (He thought he had plenty of time and went to sleep.) 2) Ask: "Which key detail shows steady effort?" (Tortoise never stopped. She plodded step by step.) 3) Your child finishes the I know because part aloud. (I know because Hare napped while Tortoise kept going and won.) 4) Say two sentences: "Hares run fast. Keep going, even when you are slow." Ask: "Which one is a lesson you could use in your own life?" (The second one.) If stuck, say: "What should a reader learn from that? Start with People should."

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   Your child rereads "The Indoor Park," reprinted here. On a gray Saturday morning, Rosa pressed her nose to the apartment window. Rain drummed on the fire escape. "No park today," sighed her little brother, Teo. Rosa looked around the small kitchen. A mountain of empty boxes sat by the door, left over from Grandma's move. "We can build our own park," she said. Soon the kitchen floor had a cardboard slide, a box tunnel and a paper sun taped to the fridge. When the rain finally stopped, Teo did not even notice. 1) Recount the story aloud in three sentences. 2) Write its central message with the stem. 3) Underline the part after because. 4) Check that it names something that really happens in the story. Sample: This story teaches that you can make your own fun with what you have. I know because Rosa built a park from empty boxes. Look for: a lesson, not a retelling; a real event as proof; full sentences.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Ask the three questions aloud. For question 3, your child reads from the notebook.

Homework: Read for 15 to 20 minutes. Then ask a family member to tell a short true story that taught them something. Recount it in three sentences and say its message.

Objective: I can show that a force can make an object start, stop, speed up, slow down or change direction.

Standards: 3-PS2-1

Materials: Small ball, 3 books (1 hardcover for the ramp, 2 to stack), Ruler, Masking tape, Bath towel, Science notebook, Pencil

1. Day 4 — Forces Change Motion — Wonder Warm-Up · 5 min

   Review from Day 3. Ask: "A magnet lifts a paper clip across a gap. Is that a push or a pull?" (a pull) Then roll the ball slowly toward your child. Wonder question: "How many different things can you do to this rolling ball?" (stop it, turn it, send it back, speed it up)

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "A force can change motion in five ways." Show each one on the floor and name it. Start: push the still ball. Speed up: push the rolling ball from behind. Slow down: roll the ball onto the folded towel. Stop: catch it under your hand. Change direction: tap the rolling ball from the side with the ruler. Say: "Direction is the way a thing is moving. A still ball stays still until a push or a pull moves it." Your child now shows all five and names each. Check: "I put my foot on a rolling ball. Which change is that?" (stop) "A ball rolls into tall grass and loses speed. Which change?" (slow down) If stuck, say: "Was it moving before? Is it moving the same way now? What changed?"

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

   Clear the floor first. 1) Lean the hardcover book on the two stacked books to make a low ramp. Tape a start line at the top. 2) Your child holds the ball on the line and lets go without pushing. Ask: "What started it?" (Gravity pulled it down the ramp.) 3) Roll again. Your child taps the rolling ball from the side with the ruler. 4) Roll again. Your child stops the ball with a hand. 5) Roll again. Your child pushes gently from behind at the bottom. 6) Roll again onto the towel. Keep the ramp, the ball and the start line the same. Change only the force you add. Record in a chart with columns Step, What Gave the Force, and What the Force Did. Expect a turn, a stop, a speed-up and a slow-down. If the tap stops the ball, tap more gently.

4. Science Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Your child draws three boxes labeled Start, Change Direction and Stop. Each box shows the ball and an arrow for the force. Frame under each box: "___ gave a force that made the ball ___." Samples: "Gravity gave a force that made the ball start rolling." "The ruler gave a force that made the ball change direction." "My hand gave a force that made the ball stop."

5. Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Ask the three exit questions. Praise answers that name the force and tell what it changed.

Homework: Your child plays catch or watches a ball game, then writes 3 forces and what each did. Look for the words start, stop, speed up, slow down or change direction.