Day 1 · Monday

Objective: I can find the United States on a globe and name its neighbors and oceans.

Standards: D2.Geo.1.3-5, D2.Geo.2.3-5

Materials: Globe, Flat map of North America or the United States, 7 sticky notes, Notebook, Pencil and colored pencils

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 3. Ask: "How are a globe and a map different?" (A globe is round like Earth. A map is flat and easy to carry.) Then spin the globe. Say: "Our country is somewhere on this ball. How could you tell a visitor exactly where it is?" Take guesses.

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Find North America on the globe. Say: "The United States is a country on the continent of North America." Trace its edge with a finger. Say: "A border is the line where one country ends and the next begins." Point and name each neighbor. Canada is north. Mexico is south. The Atlantic Ocean is east. The Pacific Ocean is west. Say: "Our country has 50 states. Forty-eight of them touch each other." Show Alaska. Say: "Alaska is far to the northwest. Canada lies between Alaska and the other states." Show Hawaii. Say: "Hawaii is a chain of islands far out in the Pacific." Ask: "Which country is south of us?" (Mexico) "Which ocean is east of us?" (Atlantic) "Which state is made of islands?" (Hawaii) If stuck, say: "Put your finger on the United States. Slide it up. That is north. What do you touch?"

3. Activity / Source Work · 15–20 min

   Globe hunt. 1) Label the seven sticky notes: United States, Canada, Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Alaska, Hawaii. 2) Your child sticks each note in the right place on the globe. 3) For each note ask: "Which direction is it from the 48 states?" (Canada north, Mexico south, Atlantic east, Pacific west, Alaska northwest, Hawaii southwest.) 4) Open the flat map. Many maps print Alaska and Hawaii in small corner boxes. Ask: "Which shows where they really are, the globe or the boxes? What is your evidence?" (The globe. On it, Alaska touches Canada and Hawaii sits far out in the ocean.) 5) Your child moves the notes to the map. If a note lands wrong, go back to the globe and slide a finger from the 48 states.

4. Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Your child sketches a rough outline of North America and shades the United States. Labels: Canada, Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Alaska, Hawaii. Add a compass rose with N, S, E and W. Then finish the frame: "The United States is on the continent of ___. ___ is to the north and ___ is to the south." (North America; Canada; Mexico.) Look for Canada above the shaded part and Mexico below it.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read each question aloud. Your child answers in the notebook, then proves each answer on the globe. Praise every direction word used correctly.

Homework: Your child shows a family member the United States on a globe or map. They name its two neighbors and two oceans. Look for the right direction word with each one.

Objective: I can share a total into equal groups to show what division means.

Standards: 3.OA.A.2

Materials: 30 counters (dried beans, coins or buttons), 6 paper plates or cups, Notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 4. Say: "Build 4 groups of 5." Your child builds it with beans and writes the multiplication sentence (4 × 5 = 20). Then practice ×2, ×5 and ×10 facts with no clock. Ask 7 × 2, 8 × 5 and 6 × 10 (14, 40, 60). Your child tells how one answer was found.

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Today we divide. To divide is to split a total into equal groups." Count out 12 beans and set out 4 plates. Say: "Four friends share 12 cookies. They share equally, so each friend gets the same number. Each plate is one friend." Deal one bean to each plate, round and round. Say "one for you, one for you" until the beans are gone. Ask: "Does every plate have the same number?" (Yes.) "How many are on each plate?" (3) "Are any left over?" (No.) Write 12 ÷ 4 = 3. Point to each part and read: "Twelve divided by 4 equals 3." Say: "12 is the total. 4 is the number of groups. 3 is how many in each group." Say: "So 12 ÷ 4 = 3. Each friend gets 3 cookies." Now your child does more. Say: "Share 20 beans equally onto 5 plates." Your child deals, counts one plate and writes the division. (20 ÷ 5 = 4) Ask: "What does the 4 tell us?" (There are 4 beans on each plate.)

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Your child deals beans onto plates, then draws circles with dots and writes the division. 1) Share 15 beans onto 3 plates (15 ÷ 3 = 5). 2) Share 18 beans onto 6 plates (18 ÷ 6 = 3). 3) Share 14 beans onto 2 plates (14 ÷ 2 = 7). 4) Put 5, 4 and 3 beans on three plates. Ask: "Is this a fair share of 12?" (No. Move one bean so each plate has 4.) If stuck, say: "Set out the plates first. How many groups? Now deal one bean at a time until none are left."

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   Your child draws a circle for each group, deals dots one at a time and writes the division. Beans are fine for any problem. 1) 16 ÷ 4 (4). 2) 10 ÷ 5 (2). 3) 18 ÷ 3 (6). 4) 24 ÷ 6 (4). 5) 30 ÷ 5 (6). 6) You draw 3 circles with 7 dots in each. Ask: "What division does this show?" (21 ÷ 3 = 7) 7) Maya shares 16 grapes equally onto 2 plates. How many grapes are on each plate? (16 ÷ 2 = 8) 8) Five children share 25 stickers equally. How many stickers does each child get? (25 ÷ 5 = 5) Check each drawing. All circles must match, with no dots left over.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Put the beans and plates away. Read each question aloud; your child answers on paper and may draw.

Fact fluency: ×2, ×5, ×10 facts

Homework: Your child shares 20 small objects equally into 2 cups, draws it and writes the division. Answer: 20 ÷ 2 = 10, so 10 in each cup.

Objective: I can tell what a narrative is and name its five parts.

Standards: W.3.3, SL.3.1

Materials: Writer's notebook (start a "Narrative Writing" section), A recipe or how-to card from the kitchen, Pencil, Highlighter

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Word study, about 3 minutes. Say: "This week's rule is doubling. A short word that ends in one short vowel and one consonant doubles its last letter before -ed or -ing." Write hop, then hopped. Circle the pp. Your child reads stopped, hugged, hopped, running, swimming and shopping, then sorts them under -ed and -ing. Ask: "Which letter doubled in swimming?" (m) Spaced review from Week 8. Ask: "What are the four parts of an opinion paragraph?" (opinion, reasons, linking words, conclusion)

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Read one step from the recipe card. Then tell a 30-second true story, such as the morning the smoke alarm rang over burnt toast. Ask: "Which one told a story?" (the toast one) Say: "A story is called a narrative. It tells what happened, real or made up. Its job is to entertain or share an experience." Write the five parts in the notebook. Narrator: who tells it. Characters: who is in it. Setting: when and where. Events in order. Ending. Say: "When a writer tells a true story about herself and says I, it is a personal narrative." Think aloud with your toast story: "I told it, so I am the narrator. The characters were you and me. The setting was our kitchen at breakfast. The events were burnt toast, a loud alarm and a waving towel. The ending was cereal." Ask: "Why is the recipe not a narrative? Start with I think." (It only gives steps. Nobody does anything in it.) Add on: "I agree, and also it has no ending."

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Read aloud "The Lost Mitten": On the first snowy Saturday of winter, my little brother Teo and I built a snow fort behind our building. The snow squeaked under our boots, and our cheeks stung from the cold. When we went inside for cocoa, Teo started to cry. His red mitten was gone! We pulled our boots back on and searched the whole yard. Finally, I spotted a tiny red thumb poking out of the fort wall. We had built the mitten right into our fort! Teo laughed so hard he snorted cocoa. Your child highlights each part on the notebook list as you find it. 1) Ask: "Who is the narrator? Which word tells you?" (Teo's older brother or sister; the word I) 2) Ask: "Name every character." (Teo and the narrator) 3) Ask: "What is the setting?" (a snowy Saturday, behind their building) 4) Ask: "Tell three events in order. How does it end?" (They build a fort. The mitten is lost. They find it in the wall. Teo laughs.) If stuck, say: "Listen again for the words that tell when and where."

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   Your child titles a page "Stories I Could Tell" and lists five moments from real life, one line each. 1) A first time. 2) A surprise. 3) A mistake. 4) A proud moment. 5) A funny moment. Sample line: the day the hamster escaped into the couch. 6) Your child circles the one remembered best and adds who was there and where it happened. Look for: one line each, and one short happening rather than a whole trip. The circled idea has a who and a where beside it.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Ask the three questions aloud while your child answers in the notebook. If question 2 is missed, reread the notebook list of five parts together.

Homework: Read your own book for 15 minutes. Then tell a family member who the narrator is. Look for: your child says whether the narrator uses I or stands outside the story.

Practice page · Week 10, Day 1

English Language Arts

I can name the five parts of a narrative.

Show answers

Look: The five parts of a narrative

1. Narrator: who tells the story. If it says 'I', the writer is the narrator.
2. Characters and setting: who is in it, and when and where it happens.
3. Events in order, then the ending: what happens, and how it works out.

The Pancake Flip

Last Sunday morning, Grandpa Luis let me flip pancakes in his small yellow kitchen. The butter sizzled, and the whole room smelled sweet. I slid the spatula under the first pancake and gave it a big toss. It flew up, spun once and landed on top of the fridge! Grandpa stared at it. Then he grabbed a step stool, climbed up and peeled it off. "Well," he said, "that one is for the fridge." We laughed so hard that the next pancake burned. After that, I flipped more gently, and every pancake landed in the pan.

Use the story above to name each part.

1. 1.

   Who is the narrator?
2. 2.

   Who are the characters?
3. 3.

   What is the setting?
4. 4.

   Write two events in order.
5. 5.

   How does the story end?

Double the last letter, then add the ending.

1. 6.

   grab + ed → ____
2. 7.

   dig + ing → ____
3. 8.

   clap + ed → ____

Challenge: Is a recipe a narrative? Answer with 'I think ___ because ___.'

Objective: I can explain that an ecosystem is all the living and nonliving things in one place and how they affect each other.

Standards: 3-LS4-3

Materials: Science notebook, Pencil, Green and blue colored pencils, Clipboard or hardcover book to write on, Picture of a pond or forest (library book, calendar or photo)

1. Day 46 — What Is an Ecosystem? — Wonder Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 4. Ask: "Name a force that can pull without touching." (Magnetism, static electricity or gravity.) Show the picture. Your child names 5 things in it. Write them in two piles with no labels: living things in one pile, nonliving things in the other. Ask: "How did I sort these?" (Alive and not alive.) Say: "Today's wonder: how do the things in one place need each other?"

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "An ecosystem is all the living and nonliving things in one place. It is also the ways they affect each other." Point to the picture. Say: "Living parts are plants, animals and mushrooms. Nonliving parts are sunlight, water, air, soil and rocks." Trace one link with your finger, such as: "This plant needs sunlight and water. This animal eats the plant." Ask: "What might happen to pond fish if the pond dried up?" (They could not live there.) Ask: "Is sunlight living or nonliving?" (Nonliving.) Ask: "Can an ecosystem be small?" (Yes. A rotting log or a patch of lawn is one.) If stuck, say: "Point to one thing. Does it grow and need food or water? Then it is living. Now find something it needs."

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

   Ecosystem Walk. Safety: an adult stays close, and nothing gets picked or tasted. 1) Go outside, or sit at a window, for 10 minutes. Bring the notebook on the clipboard. 2) Your child lists 10 things they notice. 3) They circle living things in green and underline nonliving things in blue. 4) They draw a line between two things that affect each other and say the link. Sample: "The tree shades the grass." 5) Make a two-column tally, Living and Nonliving, and count each. Expect at least 3 in each column. If every item is living, say: "Look up and look down. What here is not alive?" (Sun, air, soil, a path.) Real results vary. Look for the pattern: every place has both kinds.

4. Science Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Start a section titled "Ecosystems" and write the date. Give these frames: "An ecosystem is ___." "In my ecosystem, the ___ needs the ___ because ___." Look for something like: "An ecosystem is the living and nonliving things in a place and how they affect each other. In my ecosystem, the robin needs the soil because worms live there."

5. Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Ask the three questions aloud, or let your child write the answers. Praise any answer that tells how two parts affect each other.

Homework: Spend 10 minutes at a window or in the yard. Write 3 sentences about one ecosystem. Look for one living thing, one nonliving thing and how they affect each other.