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Quarter 1 · Weeks 1–9

Week 1 Lesson Packet

Foundations: Place Value, Stories, Forces & Communities

Day 1 · Monday

Social Studies

Objective: I can explain what a community is and name places and people that make my community work.

Standards: D2.Civ.6.3-5

Builds on: Needs only everyday knowledge of your own street and town. One-minute check: your child names your town and one place you both visit often (any real place).

New words:

community – a group of people who live, work or play in the same place and share things

Day 1 — What Is a Community? — Big Question Warm-Up (5 min) — This is the first week, so review an everyday idea. Ask: "What is the name of our town or city?" (Your town's name.) Then ask the big question: "When you walk or ride down our street, what do you see?" Write each answer on its own sticky note. Aim for 6 notes and keep them.
Mini-Lesson (10–15 min) — Say: "A community is a group of people who live, work or play in the same place. They share things like parks, roads and schools." Hold up three fingers. Say: "A community has three parts: people, places and things we share." Give an example. Say: "Our library is a place. The librarian is a person. Everyone shares the books." Ask: "Is an empty building with no people a community?" (No. A community needs people.) Ask: "Name one thing our town shares." (Roads, sidewalks, a park or the library.) Say: "Communities come in many sizes. A neighborhood is the streets near home. A neighborhood, a town and a city are all communities." Ask: "Which is bigger, a neighborhood or a city?" (A city.) If stuck, say: "Think of a place we go every week. Who works there? Who else uses it?"
Activity / Source Work (15–20 min) — 1) Write PEOPLE, PLACES and THINGS WE SHARE on three new notes. Set them in a row. 2) Your child sorts the warm-up notes under the three labels. 3) For each note ask: "Why does it go there?" 4) Add notes until there are 10 in all, with at least two in each pile. 5) Your child counts each pile and writes the three numbers in the notebook. 6) Point to each place note and ask: "Who uses this place?" Expect the places pile to be the biggest at first. Some notes fit two piles, such as a park. Either pile is fine if your child gives a reason.
Notebook Entry (10 min) — Title a page "My Community." Your child finishes three frames: "A community is ____." "Three places in my community are ____." "My community is called ____. It is a good community because ____." Then your child draws one shared place with crayons. Sample: "A community is people who live and play in one place and share things."
Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket (5 min) — Ask the three exit questions aloud; your child answers in full sentences. Praise answers that name people as well as buildings.

Watch for: Listing only buildings and forgetting that a community is made of people who share those places.

Try: Ask "Who uses this place?" for each building. Add a people note next to it.

Exit ticket:

What three parts make up a community?
A playground has swings, but nobody ever comes. Is the playground alone a community? Tell why.
Name two people and two places in your community.

Answers: 1) People, places and things we share. 2) No. A community needs people who use and share the place. 3) Answers vary. Look for: real local people, such as a neighbor or mail carrier, and real local places.

Mathematics

Objective: I can tell the value of each digit in a 3-digit number.

Standards: 2.NBT.A.1, 2.NBT.A.3

Builds on: Review of Grade 2 place value, needed for rounding and adding this year. One-minute check: ask how many ones make 1 ten (10) and how many tens make 1 hundred (10).

New words:

digit – one of the symbols 0 to 9 that we use to write numbers
place value – what a digit is worth because of where it sits
expanded form – a number written as its hundreds plus its tens plus its ones

Warm-Up (5 min) — Grade 2 review, since this is the first week. Ask: "What is 10 more than 45?" (55) Then count by 10s from 230 to 290 together. Count by 100s from 150 to 950. Ask: "Which digit changed when we counted by 10s?" (The tens digit.) "Which changed when we counted by 100s?" (The hundreds digit.)
Mini-Lesson (10–15 min) — Lay 10 beans in a row. Say: "Ten ones make 1 ten. I draw a ten as a stick." Draw one stick. Say: "Ten tens make 1 hundred. I draw a hundred as a square." Draw one square. Write 348 in the chart, one digit in each column. Draw 3 squares, 4 sticks and 8 dots. Say: "A digit's value depends on its place." Point to the 3. Ask: "How many hundreds? What are they worth?" (3 hundreds; 300) Ask: "What is the 4 worth?" (4 tens; 40) "What is the 8 worth?" (8 ones; 8) Write 348 = 300 + 40 + 8. Say: "This is expanded form. It shows what each digit is worth." Next write 507. Ask: "How many tens?" (0) Say: "The 0 holds the tens place. Without it, the number would read 57." Write 507 = 500 + 7. Now your child does more. Write 256. Your child draws it, tells each digit's value and writes the expanded form. (2 squares, 5 sticks, 6 dots; 256 = 200 + 50 + 6)
Guided Practice (10–15 min) — Your child draws each number, then writes its expanded form. 1) 431 (4 squares, 3 sticks, 1 dot; 431 = 400 + 30 + 1). 2) 620 (6 squares, 2 sticks, no dots; 620 = 600 + 20). 3) You draw 2 squares, no sticks and 9 dots. Ask: "What number is this?" (209) 4) Ask: "What is the 5 worth in 705? In 518? In 153?" (5, 500, 50) If stuck, say: "Point to the digit. Which column is it in? How many squares, sticks or dots is that?"
Independent Practice (15–20 min) — Your child writes the value of each digit and the expanded form. 1) 124 (100, 20, 4; 124 = 100 + 20 + 4). 2) 380 (300, 80, 0; 380 = 300 + 80). 3) 615 (615 = 600 + 10 + 5). 4) 999 (999 = 900 + 90 + 9). 5) Ask: "In 999, are all three 9s worth the same?" (No. They are worth 900, 90 and 9.) 6) You draw 5 squares, 3 sticks and 8 dots. Your child writes the number (538). 7) A jar holds 3 bags of 100 buttons, 6 strips of 10 and 5 loose buttons. How many buttons? (365) 8) Maya has 208 stickers. She says the 2 is worth 20. Is she right? (No. The 2 is in the hundreds place, so it is worth 200.) Your child checks each line by reading the expanded form back as one number.
Exit Ticket (5 min) — Put the drawings away and read each question aloud; your child writes the answers, then you check them together.

Watch for: Naming the digit instead of its value, such as calling the 4 in 348 just 4.

Try: Ask "4 of what?" Your child points to the 4 sticks and counts them by tens: 10, 20, 30, 40.

Exit ticket:

What is the value of the 7 in 374?
Write 562 in expanded form.
What digit is in the hundreds place in 408, and what is it worth?

Answers: 1) 70 2) 500 + 60 + 2 3) 4; it is worth 400

English Language Arts

Objective: I can set up my reader's notebook and name the parts of a book.

Standards: RL.3.10, RI.3.5, L.3.2.A

Builds on: Needs Grade 2 work with book covers, titles and authors. One-minute check: hand your child any book and ask for the title and the author. (Your child points to both on the cover.)

New words:

title page – the first inside page that gives the title, the author and the illustrator
table of contents – the list near the front that shows each chapter and its starting page
glossary – a small dictionary at the back of some books

Warm-Up (5 min) — Word study, Week 1: closed and silent-e syllables. Say: "A closed syllable ends in a consonant, so its vowel is short. A silent e at the end makes the vowel say its name." Write cap, cape, hop, hope, slid, slide. Your child reads each word, then sorts the words into short vowel and long vowel. (Short: cap, hop, slid. Long: cape, hope, slide.) Spaced review from Grade 2. Ask: "What does every sentence need at its start and at its end?" (A capital letter and an end mark.)
Mini-Lesson (10–15 min) — Say: "Readers keep a reader's notebook. It helps us remember what we read and what we thought." Your child writes Reader's Notebook on the cover and numbers the first 20 pages. On page 1, draw two columns. Label them What I Read and What I Thought. Now open a chapter book. Say: "Books have parts, and each part has a job." Point to each part and say its job. Cover: shows the title and who made the book. Title page: gives the title, author and illustrator again. Table of contents: lists the chapters and their starting pages. Chapters: the parts of the story. Glossary: a small dictionary at the back of some books. Say: "The author writes the words. The illustrator makes the pictures." Your child writes the five parts on page 2. Ask: "Where would you look to find where Chapter 3 starts?" (The table of contents.)
Guided Practice (10–15 min) — Show your child this table of contents from a made-up book called "The Kite on Cedar Hill." Chapter 1: A Gift from Uncle Ray, page 1. Chapter 2: Wind on Cedar Hill, page 9. Chapter 3: The Broken String, page 17. Chapter 4: Up in the Old Oak, page 26. Glossary, page 35. 1) Ask: "You want to reread the part where the string breaks. Which page do you turn to?" (Page 17.) 2) Ask: "What trouble do you think the kite gets into? Which chapter titles tell you?" (Its string breaks and it lands in a tree. Chapters 3 and 4.) 3) Say: "In a title, capitalize the first word, the last word and every important word. Small words like a, the, of, and, in and on stay lowercase in the middle." Ask: "Which word in the book's title is lowercase? Why?" (Only on. It is a small word in the middle.) 4) Write: the Dog and The bone. Ask: "Can you fix my title?" (The Dog and the Bone) If stuck, say: "Is it the first word, the last word or an important word? If yes, use a capital."
Independent Practice (15–20 min) — Your child chooses a book and reads for 15 minutes, then marks the stopping place with a sticky note. Then your child writes on page 1 of the notebook. 1) The title and author, with correct capitals. 2) One full sentence under What I Read. 3) One full sentence under What I Thought. Sample: What I Read: In Chapter 1, Tam moves to a new town. What I Thought: I think she will miss her old friends. Look for: correct title capitals; a capital and an end mark on each sentence; a thought, not a second event.
Exit Ticket (5 min) — Ask the three questions aloud. Your child may hold a book and point while answering. Write the title in question 3 so your child can see it.

Watch for: Mixing up the author and the illustrator.

Try: Open to the title page. Your child points to each name and says its job: "The author writes the words. The illustrator makes the pictures."

Exit ticket:

Which part of a book is like a small dictionary, and where do you find it?
You want to know how many chapters a book has. Which part do you check?
Look at this title: A Day at the Lake. Why are "at" and "the" lowercase?

Answers: 1) The glossary. It is at the back of the book. 2) The table of contents. 3) They are small words in the middle of the title. Only the first, last and important words get capitals.

Science

Objective: I can explain what a force is and give examples.

Standards: 3-PS2-1

Builds on: Needs only everyday experience of moving things by hand. One-minute check: your child moves a book across the table two different ways. (Sample: slide it away, then drag it back.)

New words:

force – a push or a pull
push – a force that moves a thing away from the pusher
pull – a force that moves a thing toward the puller
motion – how a thing moves from place to place

Day 1 — What Is a Force? — Wonder Warm-Up (5 min) — This is the first week, so review from everyday life. Ask: "What makes a playground swing start moving?" (Someone pushes it.) Tape one string to the front of the toy car. Set the car on the table. Wonder question: "How many ways can you make this car move?" Your child tries a finger, a breath and the string. Ask: "What did you do each time?" (pushed or pulled)
Mini-Lesson (10–15 min) — Say: "A force is a push or a pull. A push moves a thing away from the pusher. A pull moves a thing toward the puller." Stand at a door. Push it shut. Pull it open. Ask: "Which one was the push?" (Shutting it. The door moved away from you.) Say: "We cannot see a force. We can see the motion it causes." Lifting can be either one. Lift the book on a flat palm. Say: "My hand is under the book. It pushes the book up." Tie the second string around the book and lift by the string. Say: "Now I am above the book. The string pulls it up." Check: "I slide a plate away from me. Push or pull?" (push) "You tug a blanket up to your chin. Push or pull?" (pull) If stuck, say: "Watch the thing. Did it move toward the one doing the work, or away?"
Investigation / Hands-On (15–20 min) — 1) Your child draws a chart with two columns, PUSH and PULL. 2) Do six actions, one at a time. Open a drawer. Close the drawer. Slide the book away across the table. Roll the ball across the floor. Drag a chair toward you. Lift the book on a flat palm. 3) Before each action, your child guesses push or pull. 4) After each action, your child writes it in a column. Look for one thing each time: did the object move toward the person or away? Expect pulls for opening the drawer and dragging the chair. Expect pushes for the other four. If an answer differs, repeat the action slowly and watch which way the object moves.
Science Notebook Entry (10 min) — Title a page "Forces and Motion" and add the date. Your child writes: "A force is a push or a pull." Then your child draws three of the actions, each with an arrow pointing the way the force went. Use one crayon for push arrows and the other for pull arrows. Sentence frame: "When I ___, I used a ___ because the ___ moved ___ me." Sample: "When I opened the drawer, I used a pull because the drawer moved toward me."
Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket (5 min) — Your child answers the three exit questions aloud or in writing. Praise answers that name the object and which way it moved.

Watch for: Calling every lift a pull, or choosing push or pull by how hard the action felt.

Try: Lift the book from below on a flat palm, then from above by the string. Ask each time: "Is the hand pushing it away or pulling it closer?"

Exit ticket:

You cannot see a force. How can you tell that a force acted on a toy car?
You press a doorbell button. Is that a push or a pull? How do you know?
Name one pull you made today. Which way did the thing move?

Answers: 1) The car moved, or its motion changed. Accept: it started rolling, stopped or turned. 2) A push. The button moved away from my finger. 3) Answers vary. Look for: a real pull where the object moved toward your child, such as pulling a drawer open.

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Day 2 · Tuesday

Social Studies

Objective: I can name the different communities I belong to, from smallest to largest.

Standards: D2.Civ.6.3-5

Builds on: Needs the Day 1 meaning of community. One-minute check: ask "What three parts make up a community?" (People, places and things we share.)

New words:

neighborhood – the streets and homes close to where you live
interest community – a group of people who come together because they like the same thing

Day 2 — You Belong to Many Communities — Big Question Warm-Up (5 min) — Spaced review from Day 1. Ask: "Is an empty building a community? Why?" (No. A community needs people.) Then ask the big question: "Can you belong to more than one community at the same time?" List every group your child names, such as family, a team or a class.
Mini-Lesson (10–15 min) — Say: "You belong to many communities at once. Some fit inside each other." Lay the four circles in a row, smallest to largest. Touch each one. Say: "Our family lives in our neighborhood. Our neighborhood is in our town. Our town is in our state. Our state is in our country." Ask: "Which is bigger, our town or our state?" (Our state.) Ask: "Is our neighborhood inside our town or outside it?" (Inside.) Say: "Some communities are not places. A team, a class or a club is an interest community. People join because they like the same thing." Ask: "Is a chess club a place community or an interest community?" (An interest community.) Say: "Each community gives you something, and you give something back." If stuck, say: "Start at our front door. What is all around our home? What is all around that?"
Activity / Source Work (15–20 min) — 1) With a marker, your child writes FAMILY and your family name on the smallest circle. 2) NEIGHBORHOOD and your street name go on the next circle. 3) TOWN or CITY and its name go on the third. Use your county if you live outside a town. 4) STATE and its name go on the largest circle. 5) Glue the circles in a stack, smallest on top. Glue the stack onto the sheet of paper. 6) Write COUNTRY and its name on the sheet. 7) Beside the stack, list two interest communities. Look for circles that grow from the center out. Ask: "Point to every community you are in right now." (Your child points to all of them.)
Notebook Entry (10 min) — In the notebook, draw a three-column chart: Community | Who is in it | What I do there. Your child fills in four rows, with at least one interest community. Sample row: Art class | 8 kids and Ms. Ruiz | I paint on Thursdays.
Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket (5 min) — Ask the three exit questions aloud. Praise answers that tell what your child gives to a community, not only what it gives back.

Watch for: Thinking a person can belong to only one community at a time.

Try: Put a finger on the FAMILY circle. Show that the finger is also inside every bigger circle under it.

Exit ticket:

Jada sings in a choir with children from many towns. Is the choir a place community or an interest community? Tell why.
Which is larger, your neighborhood or your state? How do you know?
Name one thing you do or give in one of your communities.

Answers: 1) An interest community. The singers share singing, not one place. 2) The state. The neighborhood is inside the town, and the town is inside the state. 3) Answers vary. Look for: a specific action, such as setting the table at home or cheering for teammates.

Mathematics

Objective: I can read and write 3-digit numbers in standard form, word form and expanded form.

Standards: 2.NBT.A.3

Builds on: Review of Grade 2 place value, needed for rounding and adding this year. It uses the digit values from Day 1. One-minute check: ask what the 6 is worth in 563 (60).

New words:

standard form – a number written with digits, like 248
word form – a number written in words, like two hundred forty-eight for 248

Warm-Up (5 min) — Spaced review from Day 1. Your child writes 482 in expanded form (482 = 400 + 80 + 2). Then play Making 10 with 10 beans. Hide some beans under your hand and show the rest. Ask: "You see 7. How many are hidden?" (3, because 7 + 3 = 10.) Show 4 next. (6 are hidden, because 4 + 6 = 10.) Then show 9. (1 is hidden.)
Mini-Lesson (10–15 min) — Say: "Today we write one number three ways." Write 248 in the chart. Say: "This is standard form. It uses digits." Read it slowly: two hundred forty-eight. Write those words. Say: "This is word form. We say the hundreds first, then the tens and ones." Point to the short line in forty-eight. Say: "A short line joins the tens word and the ones word." Your child writes the expanded form: 248 = 200 + 40 + 8. Next write 305. Ask: "How many tens?" (0) Say: "We do not say the zero. We say three hundred five, with no and." Write 305 = 300 + 5. Say: "In digits, the 0 must stay. It holds the tens place." Now your child does more. Say "four hundred twelve." Your child writes all three forms. (412; four hundred twelve; 412 = 400 + 10 + 2) Ask: "Why is it not 4012?" (Twelve already fills the tens and ones places.)
Guided Practice (10–15 min) — Your child works in the notebook and reads each answer aloud. 1) Write 736. Your child writes word form and expanded form (seven hundred thirty-six; 736 = 700 + 30 + 6). 2) Say "five hundred sixty." Your child writes standard and expanded form (560; 560 = 500 + 60). 3) Write 900 + 4. Your child writes standard and word form (900 + 4 = 904; nine hundred four). 4) Ask: "Which is six hundred seventeen: 670 or 617?" (617) If stuck, say: "Say the number slowly. How many hundreds do you hear? What tens and ones come next?"
Independent Practice (15–20 min) — For problems 1 to 5, your child makes three cards: standard form, word form and expanded form. 1) 519 (five hundred nineteen; 519 = 500 + 10 + 9). 2) 240 (two hundred forty; 240 = 200 + 40). 3) 803 (eight hundred three; 803 = 800 + 3). 4) 117 (one hundred seventeen; 117 = 100 + 10 + 7). 5) 666 (six hundred sixty-six; 666 = 600 + 60 + 6). 6) Shuffle the 15 cards. Your child matches each set of three and reads it aloud. (5 sets, as in problems 1 to 5) 7) A sign says a trail is four hundred fifty-two steps long. Write that number in digits. (452) 8) A book has 390 pages. Leo writes "three hundred nine." Is he right? (No. Three hundred nine is 309. The book has three hundred ninety pages.)
Exit Ticket (5 min) — Put the cards away; your child writes the answers, and you check how each zero is handled.

Watch for: Writing three hundred five (305) as 3005 or 35, because the zero in the tens place is not spoken.

Try: Draw three boxes for hundreds, tens and ones. Your child fills each box and puts 0 in any empty box.

Exit ticket:

Write 472 in word form.
Write six hundred seven in standard form.
Write 350 in expanded form.

Answers: 1) four hundred seventy-two 2) 607 3) 300 + 50

English Language Arts

Objective: I can name the characters and the setting of a story and use pictures to learn more about them.

Standards: RL.3.3, RL.3.7, RF.3.4.B

Builds on: Needs Day 1's book parts and Grade 2 work naming who is in a story. One-minute check: ask who is in a story your child knows well. (Your child names the characters, such as three pigs and a wolf.)

New words:

setting – where and when a story happens
nonliteral – words that do not mean exactly what they say

Warm-Up (5 min) — Word study: mark the vowels. Write kit, kite, cub, cube, plan, plane. Your child puts a dot under each short vowel. Your child crosses out each silent e and draws a line over the long vowel. Ask: "What job does the silent e do in kite?" (It makes the i say its name.) Spaced review from Day 1. Ask: "Which part of a book lists the chapters and their pages?" (The table of contents.)
Mini-Lesson (10–15 min) — Say: "Characters are the people or animals in a story. The setting is where and when the story happens." Write Characters, Where and When across a notebook page. Read "The Indoor Park" aloud. 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. After reading, think aloud. Say: "Who is in this story? I see Rosa and her brother Teo. They are the characters." Write the names under Characters. Say: "Now the setting. Where? The words apartment window and small kitchen tell me." Write an apartment kitchen under Where. Say: "When? The first sentence says a gray Saturday morning." Write it under When. Say: "A setting always has two parts, where and when."
Guided Practice (10–15 min) — 1) Ask: "Who is the main character, the one the story follows most?" (Rosa. She has the idea and builds the park.) 2) Ask: "How does the rainy setting cause the problem?" (Rain means no trip to the park.) 3) Reread the sentence about rain on the fire escape. Ask: "Was the rain really playing a drum?" (No. It made loud tapping sounds.) Say: "Words that do not mean exactly what they say are nonliteral." 4) Open the picture book to one picture. Ask: "Look closely. What does the picture tell you about the place or a character that the words leave out?" (Sample: snow on the ground, or a worried face.) If stuck, say: "Cover the words. What can you tell about the place and the time from the picture alone?"
Independent Practice (15–20 min) — 1) Your child draws and colors the setting of "The Indoor Park" as they picture it. 2) The drawing shows at least three details from the story. 3) Your child labels where and when on the drawing. 4) Under it, your child writes: My picture shows ___ because the story says ___. Good details: rain on the window, the box tunnel, the cardboard slide, the paper sun. Sample: My picture shows a paper sun because the story says it was taped to the fridge. Look for: every detail can be found in the story. Last, your child reads the story aloud once and sighs Teo's line.
Exit Ticket (5 min) — Ask the three questions aloud. Your child may look back at the story. Answers should be full sentences.

Watch for: Giving only where for the setting and forgetting when.

Try: Ask two questions every time: "Where are they?" and "What time, day or season is it?"

Exit ticket:

Which words in the story tell you Rosa's home is in a building with other homes?
By the end, one part of the setting has changed. What changed, and what stayed the same?
The story says "a mountain of empty boxes." Was it a real mountain? What does it mean?

Answers: 1) The words "apartment window" and "fire escape." 2) The rain stopped, so the weather changed. The place stayed the same: they are still in the kitchen. 3) No. It means a very big pile of boxes.

Science

Objective: I can compare gentle and strong pushes and tell how they change motion.

Standards: 3-PS2-1

Builds on: Needs Day 1: a force is a push or a pull. One-minute check: slide a cup away from yourself and ask, "Push or pull? How do you know?" (Push. It moved away from you.)

New words:

prediction – a careful guess about what will happen, made before you test
fair test – a test where you change only one thing and keep everything else the same

Day 2 — Many Kinds of Pushes — Wonder Warm-Up (5 min) — Review from Day 1. Say: "Finish my sentence. A force is a push or a ___." (pull) Ask: "I shove a box away from me. Which one is it?" (a push) Then roll the ball gently to your child. Wonder question: "Does a harder push always send a ball farther? How could we find out?"
Mini-Lesson (10–15 min) — Say: "Pushes can be gentle or strong. A stronger push changes motion more." Tap the ball gently. Then push it firmly. Ask: "Which push made the ball start off faster?" (the strong one) Say: "Air can push too." Blow through the straw at the cotton ball. Ask: "What pushed the cotton ball?" (moving air from your breath) Say: "Scientists make a prediction before they test. Then they run a fair test. In a fair test we change only one thing. Today we change how strong the push is. We keep the same ball, the same floor and the same start line." Check: "What one thing will we change?" (how strong the push is) "Name one thing we keep the same." (the ball, the floor or the start line) If stuck, say: "If we also changed the ball, could we tell what made the difference?"
Investigation / Hands-On (15–20 min) — Work on a rug or low carpet if you can. Balls roll very far on bare floors. Safety: roll the ball, never throw it, and clear the floor first. 1) Tape a start line. 2) Your child predicts which push sends the ball farthest. 3) Your child gives a gentle one-finger push from the line. 4) Mark where the ball stops with tape. Measure from the line to the nearest inch. 5) Do a second gentle try. 6) Repeat with two medium pushes, then two strong pushes. Record in a chart with rows Gentle, Medium and Strong and columns Try 1 and Try 2. Expect the strong pushes to go farthest. If the ball hits a wall, write "hit wall." Real results vary. Look for the pattern.
Science Notebook Entry (10 min) — Your child copies the chart neatly, then finishes these frames. "The ball went farthest with the ___ push. My numbers were ___ and ___ inches. A stronger push made the ball ___." Sample: "The ball went farthest with the strong push. My numbers were 80 and 92 inches. A stronger push made the ball go faster and farther."
Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket (5 min) — Ask the three exit questions. Your child points to the chart row that proves the first answer. Praise any answer that uses a measured number.

Watch for: Pushing with a different strength than the one named, then feeling puzzled by the numbers.

Try: Your child says "gentle," "medium" or "strong" aloud before each push. Redo any try that did not match its name.

Exit ticket:

A girl gives a toy truck a gentle push, then a strong push on the same floor. Which push sends it farther? Why?
Why did we use the same ball for every push?
Wind slides a paper cup across a picnic table. What is doing the pushing?

Answers: 1) The strong push. It makes the truck start off faster, so it usually goes farther. 2) To keep the test fair. Only the strength of the push changed. 3) The wind, which is moving air.

Print Day 2 practice pages →

Day 3 · Wednesday

Social Studies

Objective: I can name the needs every community has and who meets each need.

Standards: D2.Civ.13.3-5, D2.Civ.6.3-5

Builds on: Needs Days 1 and 2: communities are people who share places. One-minute check: your child names two communities they belong to (such as family and town).

New words:

need – something a whole community must have to work well
local government – the people chosen to run a town or city
volunteer – a person who helps without being paid

Day 3 — What a Community Needs — Big Question Warm-Up (5 min) — Spaced review from Day 2. Ask: "Is a soccer team a place community or an interest community?" (An interest community.) Then ask the big question: "What does any community need to work well? Picture a town with no roads or no clean water."
Mini-Lesson (10–15 min) — Say: "Every community has needs. A need is something the whole community must have. A want is nice to have, like a toy store. A town can still run without it." Write six needs on six cards as you teach them. SAFETY: a fire station. HEALTH: a clinic. LEARNING: schools and the library. GETTING AROUND: roads and buses. FOOD AND SUPPLIES: a grocery store. GATHERING: parks. Say: "Local government runs some services, like roads and the fire service. Businesses run others, like stores. Volunteers run some too, like a food pantry." Ask: "Which need does a sidewalk meet?" (Getting around.) Ask: "Who usually takes care of town roads?" (Local government.) Ask: "Who runs a grocery store?" (A business.) If stuck, say: "Would the whole town have trouble without this? Then it meets a need."
Activity / Source Work (15–20 min) — 1) Write six real local places on six more cards, one for each need. 2) Mix all 12 cards. Your child matches each need to a place. 3) For each match ask: "Who runs it: government, a business or volunteers?" 4) Read this notice aloud. "Notice from the Town of Maple Hill. Families told the town council that children walk in the street to reach Oak Park. Pine Road has no sidewalk. The council will meet on Tuesday to hear ideas. One plan is to build a sidewalk. It costs a lot and takes months. Another plan is to add warning signs and a lower speed limit. That costs less, but children still walk in the street. Everyone may come and speak." 5) Ask: "What is the problem? Find the words." (Children walk in the street.) "Who will decide?" (The town council.) "Name one plan and its cost." (Either plan, with its downside.) "Which plan would you pick? Why?" (Any choice with a reason.)
Notebook Entry (10 min) — In the notebook, draw a chart: Need | Who meets it here | How I have used it. Your child fills in at least four rows. Sample row: Learning | our public library | I borrowed books about sharks.
Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket (5 min) — Ask the three exit questions aloud. Praise answers that name both a need and who meets it.

Watch for: Mixing up a want, such as a toy store, with a need the whole community shares.

Try: Ask "Would the whole town have trouble without this?" If not, it is probably a want.

Exit ticket:

Sort these into needs and wants for a whole town: clean water, a candy shop, a fire station.
In most towns, who decides how to fix a problem such as a missing sidewalk?
Tell one way neighbors can help their town solve a problem.

Answers: 1) Needs: clean water and a fire station. Want: a candy shop. 2) The local government, such as a town or city council, after hearing from people. 3) Answers vary. Look for: speaking at a council meeting, sharing ideas, volunteering, or adults voting.

Mathematics

Objective: I can compare two 3-digit numbers using <, > and =.

Standards: 2.NBT.A.4

Builds on: Review of Grade 2 place value, needed for rounding and adding this year. It uses the digit values from Day 1. One-minute check: ask which is worth more, 3 hundreds or 9 tens (3 hundreds; 300 is more than 90).

New words:

compare – to decide which number is greater, or whether they are equal
greater than (>) – bigger than
less than (<) – smaller than

Warm-Up (5 min) — Spaced review from Day 2. Your child writes 609 in word form and expanded form (six hundred nine; 609 = 600 + 9). Then practice 10 more and 10 less aloud. Say 45, then 128, then 390. Your child gives 10 more and 10 less each time (55 and 35; 138 and 118; 400 and 380).
Mini-Lesson (10–15 min) — Say: "To compare, start with the biggest place. Hundreds are worth the most." Write 348 above 354 in the chart. Draw both with squares, sticks and dots. Ask: "How many hundreds in each?" (3 and 3) Say: "The hundreds match, so we look at the tens." Ask: "How many tens in each?" (4 and 5) Say: "4 tens is less than 5 tens. So 348 is less than 354." Write 348 < 354. Say: "The open side faces the greater number. The point faces the smaller number." Write 354 > 348. Read both aloud: 348 is less than 354, and 354 is greater than 348. Next write 712 twice. Ask: "Which is greater?" (Neither. Every place matches.) Write 712 = 712. Now your child does more. Write 625 and 652. Your child compares place by place and puts a symbol card between them. (Same hundreds; 2 tens is less than 5 tens; 625 < 652)
Guided Practice (10–15 min) — Your child says each step aloud and places a symbol card. 1) 901 and 899 (9 hundreds is more than 8 hundreds; 901 > 899). Ask: "899 has bigger tens and ones. Why is it still less?" (Hundreds are worth the most.) 2) 437 and 431 (hundreds and tens match; 7 ones is more than 1 one; 437 > 431). 3) 506 and 560 (0 tens is less than 6 tens; 506 < 560). 4) 283 and 283 (every place matches; 283 = 283). If stuck, say: "Cover the tens and ones with your finger. Which hundreds digit is bigger? If they match, slide your finger over."
Independent Practice (15–20 min) — Your child writes <, > or = in each blank. 1) 245 _ 254 (<). 2) 600 _ 600 (=). 3) 137 _ 173 (<). 4) 910 _ 109 (>). 5) 480 _ 408 (>). 6) Order 417, 471 and 174 from least to greatest (174, 417, 471). 7) Ben read 325 pages. Rosa read 352 pages. Who read more? (Rosa; 352 > 325) 8) One jar holds 198 beans. Another jar holds 201 beans. Which jar holds fewer? (The first jar; 198 < 201) Your child checks each answer by naming the first place where the digits differ.
Exit Ticket (5 min) — Put the symbol cards away; your child writes the answers, then tells you the comparing rule in their own words.

Watch for: Comparing the ones digits first, or choosing 899 over 901 because its digits look bigger.

Try: Draw both numbers. Your child counts the squares first and sees 9 squares against 8 squares before counting any sticks.

Exit ticket:

Compare 519 and 591 using <, > or =.
Which place do you check first when you compare two 3-digit numbers?
Which is greater, 706 or 670? How do you know?

Answers: 1) 519 < 591 2) The hundreds place 3) 706. Look for: 7 hundreds is more than 6 hundreds.

English Language Arts

Objective: I can retell a story in order using beginning, middle and end.

Standards: RL.3.5, RL.3.2, L.3.1.D, L.3.1.E

Builds on: Needs Day 2's story, "The Indoor Park," with its characters and setting. One-minute check: ask who the characters are and what the problem is. (Rosa and Teo. Rain means no park.)

New words:

sequence words – words that show order, such as first, next, then and finally
past tense – the verb form that tells what already happened
scene – one part of a play
stanza – a group of lines in a poem

Warm-Up (5 min) — Word study: dictation. Say this sentence twice: "The cub slid down the slide." Your child writes it. Check the capital T, the period, and the words cub, slid and slide. Ask: "Why does slide end in e?" (The silent e makes the i long.) Spaced review from Day 2. Ask: "What two parts does a setting have?" (Where and when.)
Mini-Lesson (10–15 min) — Say: "Stories have three parts. In the beginning we meet the characters and the problem. In the middle they try to solve it. In the end the problem is solved." Reread "The Indoor Park" aloud. 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. Write one line for each part. Beginning: It rains, so Teo cannot go to the park. Middle: Rosa builds a park from boxes. End: The rain stops, and Teo does not notice. Ask: "How does the middle build on the beginning?" (Because of the rain, Rosa needs an indoor idea.) Write the sequence words on a sticky note: first, next, then, after that, finally. Say: "Longer texts have named parts. A chapter book has chapters. A play has scenes. A poem has stanzas, which are groups of lines." Copy this poem, "Box Park," leaving a blank line at the double slash. Rain taps the glass, / the sky hangs low, / no swings, no grass, / no place to go. // But boxes bend / and tape holds tight. / A slide, a friend, / a paper light. Ask: "How many stanzas? How does stanza 2 build on stanza 1?" (Two. Stanza 1 tells the rainy problem, and stanza 2 tells the fix.)
Guided Practice (10–15 min) — Retell the story together while you write. 1) Ask: "What happened first?" (First, Teo was sad because it rained.) 2) Ask: "What happened next?" (Next, Rosa saw Grandma's boxes.) 3) Ask: "Then what?" (Then they built a slide and a tunnel.) 4) Ask: "How did it end?" (Finally, the rain stopped, and Teo kept playing.) Say: "A retelling tells what already happened, so its verbs are in the past tense." Underline rained, saw and built. Say: "Many verbs add -ed, like rain and rained. Some verbs change, like see and saw, or build and built." Say one event three ways: "Rosa built a park. Rosa builds a park. Rosa will build a park." Ask: "Which one tells about the future?" (Rosa will build a park.) If stuck, say: "Touch the Beginning line. Tell me only that part, and start with First."
Independent Practice (15–20 min) — Your child uses a story from their own book. 1) Fold a notebook page into three boxes: Beginning, Middle, End. 2) Sketch each part. 3) Under each sketch, write one past-tense sentence that starts with a sequence word. 4) Below the boxes, finish this sentence: Chapter ___ builds on the chapter before because ___. Sample: First, Tam moved to a new town. Next, she looked for a friend. Finally, she met Rui at the library. Look for: events in story order; a middle that shows work on the problem; past-tense verbs.
Exit Ticket (5 min) — Ask the three questions aloud. Your child answers in full sentences and may look back at "The Indoor Park."

Watch for: Retelling every small detail instead of the most important events.

Try: Limit the retelling to one sentence for the beginning, one for the middle and one for the end.

Exit ticket:

In a retelling of "The Indoor Park," which event comes right after Rosa sees the boxes?
Change this sentence to the past tense: Rosa tapes a paper sun to the fridge.
How does the end of the story build on the middle?

Answers: 1) Rosa says they can build their own park, and they build a slide and a tunnel. 2) Rosa taped a paper sun to the fridge. 3) Teo is so busy in the box park that he does not notice the rain has stopped.

Science

Objective: I can describe pulls, including pulls that act without touching.

Standards: 3-PS2-1

Builds on: Needs Days 1 and 2: pushes, pulls and stronger pushes. One-minute check: ask, "What does a stronger push do to a ball?" (It starts off faster and usually rolls farther.)

New words:

gravity – the pull of Earth that brings things down toward the ground

Day 3 — Many Kinds of Pulls — Wonder Warm-Up (5 min) — Review from Day 2. Your child shows a gentle push and a strong push on the eraser. Ask: "Which push moved it more?" (the strong push) Then ask: "What did you pull this morning?" (a blanket, a drawer, a sock) Wonder question: "Can something be pulled when nothing is touching it?"
Mini-Lesson (10–15 min) — Say: "A pull moves a thing toward whatever is pulling. Often the puller touches it, like a hand on a wagon handle. Some pulls work without touching." Hold the eraser up and let go. Ask: "Which way did it move?" (down) "Did anything touch it to make it fall?" (no) Say: "Earth pulls things down toward the ground. That pull is called gravity." Next, set the paper clip on the table. Lower the magnet slowly from above until the clip jumps. Ask: "Was the magnet touching the clip when it began to move?" (no) Say: "The magnet pulled across a gap." Check: "Which way does gravity pull?" (down, toward Earth) "Name a pull that needs touching." (pulling a drawer or a wagon) If stuck, say: "Look for a gap. Was there space between the puller and the thing?"
Investigation / Hands-On (15–20 min) — Safety: stretch the rubber band only a little and keep it away from faces. 1) Tie the string to the toy. Your child pulls it slowly across the table. 2) Loop the rubber band onto the loose end of the string. Your child pulls gently by the band. 3) Your child pulls harder. Compare the band each time. 4) Your child lowers the magnet toward the clip and says "now" when the clip jumps. 5) Your child drops the eraser twice from shoulder height. Record in a chart with columns Pull, Touching or Not Touching, and What We Saw. Use four rows: string, rubber band, magnet, gravity. Expect a longer band with the harder pull. The size of the magnet's gap depends on your magnet. A weak magnet must come very close.
Science Notebook Entry (10 min) — Your child sketches the toy, the string and the stretched band. An arrow shows the pull, pointing toward the hand. Frame: "The rubber band stretched more when ___." Sample: "The rubber band stretched more when I pulled harder." Your child adds a sketch of the magnet and clip, labeled "pull without touching." The arrow points from the clip toward the magnet.
Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket (5 min) — Ask the three exit questions. Praise answers that say which way the object moved and what pulled it.

Watch for: Thinking gravity pulls only on things that are falling, not on things sitting still.

Try: Your child holds a book on a flat hand. Ask: "What do you feel pressing down? Gravity is pulling the book right now."

Exit ticket:

You drop a spoon. Which way does it move, and what pulls it?
A toy crane has a magnet. A steel washer jumps up to the magnet before they touch. Did that pull need touching?
Name one pull you made today that did need touching.

Answers: 1) Down. Gravity pulls it toward the ground. 2) No. The magnet pulled the washer across a gap. 3) Answers vary. Look for: pulling the toy by the string, or pulling a drawer, blanket or sock.

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Day 4 · Thursday

Social Studies

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

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

Builds on: Needs the six community needs from Day 3. One-minute check: ask "Which need does a library meet?" (Learning.)

New words:

community helper – a person whose job or volunteer work helps a community run
human capital – the skills and knowledge a worker uses to do a job

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?"
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?"
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.)
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 ____."
Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket (5 min) — Ask the three exit questions aloud. Praise answers that name a real task or skill.

Watch for: Naming only helpers in uniforms and skipping water workers, store clerks and volunteers.

Try: Ask "Who made sure you had clean water and food today?" Add those helpers to the chart.

Exit ticket:

Name a helper who does not wear a uniform. Which need does that helper meet?
What is one skill a bus driver needs?
What could happen in a town if nobody cleaned the water?

Answers: 1) Answers vary. Look for: a helper such as a librarian, store clerk or volunteer, with a matching need. 2) Answers vary. Look for: driving safely, knowing the route, or reading signs and schedules. 3) The water could be dirty and make people sick.

Mathematics

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

Standards: 3.NBT.A.1

Builds on: Needs place value from Days 1 to 3 and Grade 2 counting by 10s. One-minute check: ask which two tens 83 sits between (80 and 90).

New words:

round – to swap a number for the closest ten, so it is easier to work with
halfway – the number in the middle of two tens, like 45 between 40 and 50

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.)
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)
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?"
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.
Exit Ticket (5 min) — Your child answers without a number line, then checks question 2 by drawing one.

Watch for: Rounding 297 to 290 or 200, because the tens digit seems unable to go past 9.

Try: Your child writes the two tens first (290 and 300), then circles the closer one. Count by 10s together: 280, 290, 300.

Exit ticket:

Round 64 to the nearest 10.
Round 175 to the nearest 10.
A number is exactly halfway between two tens. Do you round it up or down?

Answers: 1) 60 2) 180 3) Up, to the greater ten

English Language Arts

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

Standards: RL.3.2, SL.3.2

Builds on: Needs Day 3's retelling with beginning, middle and end. One-minute check: your child retells "The Indoor Park" in three sentences. (Rain keeps Teo inside. Rosa builds a box park. The rain stops, and Teo keeps playing.)

New words:

fable – a short story, often with animals, that teaches a lesson
central message – the big lesson a story teaches
key detail – a part of the story that helps show the message

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.)
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.
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."
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.
Exit Ticket (5 min) — Ask the three questions aloud. For question 3, your child reads from the notebook.

Watch for: Writing an event, such as Tortoise won, instead of a lesson.

Try: Ask: "What should a reader learn from that?" Your child starts the answer with People should.

Exit ticket:

Why is "Hare took a nap" not the central message of the fable?
Hare laughed so hard that he fell over. What does that key detail show about him?
Read your message for "The Indoor Park." Which event did you use as proof?

Answers: 1) It is one event in the story. It is not a lesson for the reader. 2) He is a show-off who is sure Tortoise cannot win. 3) Answers vary. Look for: an event from the story, such as Rosa building a park from boxes.

Science

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

Standards: 3-PS2-1

Builds on: Needs Days 1 to 3: pushes, pulls and gravity. One-minute check: ask, "What pulls a dropped eraser down?" (gravity)

New words:

direction – the way a thing is moving or pointing

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)
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?"
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.
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."
Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket (5 min) — Ask the three exit questions. Praise answers that name the force and tell what it changed.

Watch for: Saying a rolling ball stops "because it gets tired" or "runs out of push."

Try: Roll the ball on the towel and on bare floor. Ask: "What is rubbing on the ball? That rubbing is a force that slows it."

Exit ticket:

A hockey puck slides across the ice. A stick taps it from the side. What does the tap do to the puck's motion?
You ride a scooter and drag one foot on the ground. What does that force do to your motion?
True or false: a force always makes a moving thing stop. Explain.

Answers: 1) It changes the puck's direction. 2) It slows you down, and it can stop you. 3) False. A force can also start a thing, speed it up, slow it down or change its direction.

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Day 5 · Friday

Social Studies

Objective: I can show what I know about communities, needs, and helpers.

Standards: D2.Civ.6.3-5

Builds on: Needs everything from Days 1 to 4. One-minute check: your child says "The need is ____; the helper is ____" for one example (such as safety and firefighter).

Day 5 — Week 1 Check: Communities — Big Question Warm-Up (5 min) — Spaced review from Day 1. Ask: "What three parts make up a community?" (People, places and things we share.) Then ask the big question: "What makes a community work well?" Listen for people working together.
Mini-Lesson (10–15 min) — Review this week's four ideas, one at a time. 1) Ask: "What is a community?" (People who live, work or play in one place and share things.) 2) Hold up the nesting circles. Your child names each circle from smallest to largest. 3) Ask: "A bus stop meets which need?" (Getting around.) 4) Say: "Needs and helpers are different. Safety is a need. A firefighter is a helper." Your child says "The need is ____; the helper is ____" for two more needs. Ask: "Is police a need or a helper?" (A helper. The need is safety.) If stuck, say: "The need is what the town must have. The helper is who does the work."
Activity / Source Work (15–20 min) — Play "Need, Helper, Place." 1) Mix the six need cards face down. 2) Your child flips a card. 3) Your child names a helper, a local place and who runs it. Sample: Learning; a librarian; our library; local government. 4) Play all six cards. 5) Then read this problem aloud. "The town pool has no lifeguard this summer." Ask: "Who is affected?" (Swimmers and families.) "Who could decide what to do?" (Local government, such as the town council.) "Give one plan and one cost." (Hire and train a lifeguard, which costs money. Or open fewer hours, which means less swimming.) Look for answers that show people solving a problem together. Say: "People in a community can fix more together than alone."
Notebook Entry (10 min) — Keep this entry to about 5 minutes so the check fits. In the notebook, your child finishes: "The easiest idea this week was ____. The hardest was ____. I appreciate my community because ____."
Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket (5 min) — Ask the three exit questions aloud. Then give the stored Week 1 check: 8 items, about 15 minutes, not timed. You may read items aloud. Score it with the key. If your child is tired, give the check later the same day. 6 or more right: go on to Week 2. 4 or 5 right: redo the Day 3 chart, then match the need cards to helper names. 3 or fewer right: reteach Day 1 with a street walk and the sticky-note sort. Praise full-sentence answers.

Watch for: Listing needs and helpers as if they were the same, such as writing "police" as a need.

Try: Your child says "The need is ____; the helper is ____" for two examples before the check.

Exit ticket:

The need is learning. Name a helper and a place that meet it.
Who usually runs a town's fire service: a business, volunteers or local government?
Tell one way people in a community work together.

Answers: 1) Answers vary. Look for: a librarian or teacher, and a library or school. 2) Local government. (Many small towns also have volunteer firefighters.) 3) Answers vary. Look for: volunteering, sharing parks, speaking at town meetings, or helpers doing their jobs.

Mathematics

Objective: I can round a number to the nearest 100, and I can show what I learned this week.

Standards: 3.NBT.A.1

Builds on: Needs Day 4 rounding to the nearest 10 and counting by 100s. One-minute check: your child rounds 76 to the nearest 10 (80).

New words:

nearest hundred – the hundred that is closest on the number line

Warm-Up (5 min) — Spaced review from Day 4. Your child rounds 38, 255 and 409 to the nearest 10 (40, 260, 410). Then count by 100s from 130 to 930 together. Ask: "Which digit changes each time?" (The hundreds digit.)
Mini-Lesson (10–15 min) — Say: "Today we round to the nearest hundred. The idea is the same as yesterday." Draw a line from 400 to 500 with a tick for every ten. Label 400, 450 and 500. Say: "450 is halfway." Put the coin on 472. Ask: "Which two hundreds is 472 between?" (400 and 500) "Is it before or past halfway?" (Past) Say: "472 is closer to 500. So 472 rounds to 500." Move the coin to 423. Ask: "Which hundred is closer?" (400) Say: "423 rounds to 400." Put the coin on 450. Say: "Halfway numbers round up, so 450 rounds to 500." Ask: "Which digit showed us before or past halfway?" (The tens digit.) Say: "Tens of 0 to 4 sit before halfway. Tens of 5 to 9 sit at halfway or past it." Now your child does more. Your child draws a line for 681 and rounds it. (Between 600 and 700; halfway is 650; 681 rounds to 700)
Guided Practice (10–15 min) — Your child draws a hundreds line for each number, marks halfway and slides the coin. 1) 219 (between 200 and 300; rounds to 200). 2) 750 (halfway, so it rounds up to 800). 3) 849 (between 800 and 900; rounds to 800). Ask: "Does the 9 in the ones place matter?" (No. 849 is still before 850.) 4) A school has 364 students. About how many is that, to the nearest hundred? (400) If stuck, say: "Which two hundreds is it between? What number is halfway? Is yours before it or past it?"
Independent Practice (15–20 min) — First your child rounds each number to the nearest 100. 1) 245 (200). 2) 489 (500). 3) 612 (600). 4) 875 (900). Then give the stored Week 1 check. Your child works alone for about 15 minutes. Score it with the answer key. Choose a route by the result. 6 or more right: start Week 2. 4 or 5 right: find the kind of item missed. For digit values or expanded form, redo Day 1 Guided Practice. For word form, redo Day 2 Guided Practice. For comparing, redo Day 3 Guided Practice. For rounding, redo Day 4 Guided Practice with number lines. 3 or fewer right: reteach the Day 1 and Day 3 Mini-Lessons with drawings before starting Week 2.
Exit Ticket (5 min) — After the check, your child answers these three questions; then go over any missed check items together.

Watch for: Looking at the ones digit instead of the tens digit, such as rounding 849 up to 900.

Try: Your child marks halfway (850) on the line first, then places 849. It sits just before halfway.

Exit ticket:

Round 738 to the nearest 100.
Round 350 to the nearest 100.
Which digit do you look at to round to the nearest 100? Why?

Answers: 1) 700 2) 400 3) The tens digit. Look for: it shows whether the number is before or past halfway.

English Language Arts

Objective: I can show what I know about book parts, characters, setting, sequence and central message.

Standards: RL.3.1, RL.3.2, RL.3.3, RL.3.5

Builds on: Needs Days 1 to 4: book parts, characters, setting, retelling and central message. One-minute check: ask what a setting is. (Where and when a story happens.)

Warm-Up (5 min) — Word study: spelling check, not timed. Say each word in a short sentence, and your child writes it: cap, kite, hope, cube, plan, slide. Challenge word: pancake. Correct together. For any miss, your child says the vowel sound and rewrites the word. Spaced review from Day 1. Ask: "What does an illustrator do?" (Makes the pictures in a book.)
Mini-Lesson (10–15 min) — Say: "Today you show what you learned this week. First we warm up with a new story." Read "A Cape for Max" aloud. On Friday after school, Dev found his little dog, Max, shaking in the cold garage. "You need a coat," Dev said. He hunted for one and found only an old red towel. First, he cut a hole for Max's head. Next, he tied the corners with string. Max trotted around the yard in his new cape, tail high. "Not fancy," said Dev, "but warm." Think aloud through the week's tools. Say: "Tool 1 is characters. I see Dev and his dog, Max." Say: "Tool 2 is setting. Where? A cold garage and a yard. When? Friday after school." Say: "Tool 3 is order. I can tell it with first, next and finally." Say: "Tool 4 is the central message. I ask what a reader should learn."
Guided Practice (10–15 min) — 1) Your child retells the story in three sentences with sequence words. (First, Dev found Max shaking in the cold. Next, he made a cape from a towel. Finally, Max trotted around, warm.) 2) Ask: "What is the central message? Use the stem." (This story teaches that simple things can fix a problem. I know because Dev made a warm cape from an old towel.) 3) Ask: "Find two past-tense verbs. What is the present form of each?" (Samples: found, find; tied, tie; trotted, trot.) 4) Ask: "Why is the word for lowercase in the title?" (It is a small word in the middle.) If stuck, say: "Look back at the story. Put your finger on the words that tell you."
Independent Practice (15–20 min) — Give the Week 1 English Language Arts Check. It has its own short story and 8 questions. Your child works alone for about 15 minutes. You may read the directions aloud. Score it with the answer key. 6 or more right: your child is ready for Week 2. 4 or 5 right: redo the Day 3 practice page, then retell a favorite movie with sequence words. 3 or fewer right: reteach Day 3, beginning, middle and end, before moving on. Afterward, your child reads their own book and adds one line to page 1 of the notebook.
Exit Ticket (5 min) — Ask the three questions about "A Cape for Max." Your child answers aloud in full sentences and may look back.

Watch for: Answering where but not when on a setting question.

Try: Before the check, your child says: "Setting means where and when." Then your child taps two fingers, one for each part.

Exit ticket:

Why does Dev start hunting for a coat?
Say this sentence in the future tense: Dev tied the corners.
Which key detail at the end shows that Dev's idea worked?

Answers: 1) His dog, Max, is shaking in the cold garage. 2) Dev will tie the corners. 3) Max trotted around the yard with his tail high. (Also accept: Dev says the cape is warm.)

Science

Objective: I can show what I know about pushes, pulls and how forces change motion.

Standards: 3-PS2-1

Builds on: Needs everything from Days 1 to 4. One-minute check: roll a ball and ask your child to change its direction with one tap.

Day 5 — Week 1 Check: Forces — Wonder Warm-Up (5 min) — Review game from Days 1 to 4. Say an action. Your child calls "Push!" or "Pull!" and says "away" or "toward." Kick a ball (push, away). Tug a wagon handle (pull, toward). Press a light switch (push, away). Drag a blanket up to your chin (pull, toward). Wonder question: "Can you invent your own test that proves a force changes motion?"
Mini-Lesson (10–15 min) — Keep this review to 10 minutes and the Investigation to 15, so the check fits at the end. Say: "Let's put the week together." First idea: roll the toy car away, then drag it back. Ask: "Which was the push? How do you know?" (Rolling it away. It moved away from me.) Second idea: say "start, speed up, slow down, stop, change direction." Your child shows each one on the ball. Third idea: drop the eraser. Ask: "What pulled it? Did the puller touch it?" (Gravity. No.) Check: "I blow a feather off the table. Push or pull?" (a push from moving air) "A still toy car sits on a flat table. What must happen before it moves?" (A push or a pull must act on it.) If stuck, say: "Show me with the car first. Then tell me in words."
Investigation / Hands-On (15–20 min) — Keep this to 15 minutes. Your child designs one small test that shows a force changing motion. 1) Choose one change, such as turning a rolling car with one pencil tap. 2) Name the force and write a prediction. 3) Run the test twice in exactly the same way. Keep the same car, floor, start spot and kind of tap. 4) Record in a chart with columns Try, What I Did, and What Happened. 5) Report: "Was the result the same both times?" Expect similar results, not identical ones. Real results vary. Look for the pattern.
Science Notebook Entry (10 min) — Your child sketches the test with an arrow for the force, then finishes two frames. "One thing a force can do is ___. I showed it by ___." Sample: "One thing a force can do is change direction. I showed it by tapping a rolling car from the side."
Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket (5 min) — Ask the three exit questions first. Then give the stored Week 1 Science Check: 7 items, about 10 minutes. Your child works alone. You may read items aloud. Score it with the answer key. 6 or more right: start Week 2. 4 or 5 right: redo the Day 1 push and pull chart, then hunt for pushes and pulls in one room. 3 or fewer right: reteach the Day 1 Mini-Lesson with the toy car, saying "away" or "toward." Then repeat the five changes from Day 4. Praise clear direction words.

Watch for: Saying a still object will start to move by itself with no force.

Try: Set the ball on a flat table and wait 20 seconds. Ask: "Did it move? What would make it move?"

Exit ticket:

You slide a chair back under the table, away from you. Push or pull?
A bowling ball hits a pin, and the pin flies off. What did the force do to the pin's motion?
What pulls a jumping child back down to the ground?

Answers: 1) A push. 2) It started the pin moving. 3) Gravity.

Print Day 5 practice pages →

Worksheets

math — Day 1 — Place Value to 1,000
math — Day 2 — Reading and Writing 3-Digit Numbers
math — Day 3 — Comparing 3-Digit Numbers
math — Day 4 — Rounding to the Nearest 10
math — Day 5 — Rounding to the Nearest 100

Assessments

math — Unit Assessment 1 — Place Value & Rounding