Day 1 · Monday

Objective: I can describe how Native nations of the Eastern Woodlands used the forest, and that they are living nations today.

Standards: D2.Geo.4.3-5, D2.His.2.3-5

Materials: U.S. map, 1 sheet of paper, Piece of thin cardboard, such as one side of a cereal box, Tape, Crayons, Notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 7. Ask: "What was the Trail of Tears?" (In the 1830s the U.S. Army forced the Cherokee people from their homeland to land far west. Thousands died.) Then say: "Long ago there were no stores. In a forest, what could you build a home from?"

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Sweep a hand over the forests of the East on the map. Say: "Native nations have lived here for thousands of years. They live here today." Say: "Nations of these Eastern Woodlands include the Haudenosaunee, the Wampanoag, the Lenape and the Cherokee." (Say hoh-dee-noh-SHOH-nee.) Say: "Long ago, Haudenosaunee families built longhouses. Wampanoag and Lenape families often built round wigwams." Say: "Many nations grew the Three Sisters together. Corn gives the beans a pole to climb. Beans help feed the soil. Wide squash leaves shade the ground and keep weeds down." Say: "Five Haudenosaunee nations joined in a confederacy, a group of nations working together for peace. A sixth nation joined later. Their council still meets today." Say: "Many Cherokee and Lenape people live in Oklahoma today, because the U.S. government forced their nations west." Ask: "How does corn help the beans?" (Beans climb it.) "Why did forest nations build with poles and bark?" (The forest gave them trees.) If stuck, say: "Look at what grows near the home. What could you cut, bend or peel?"

3. Activity / Source Work · 15–20 min

   Read and build. 1) Read this source aloud: "A Longhouse. Builders set rows of young trees in the ground and bent the tops together into a rounded roof. They covered the frame with wide sheets of elm bark. A longhouse could be longer than two school buses. Cooking fires burned down the middle, and smoke left through holes in the roof. Families related through their mothers lived along both sides. Haudenosaunee means People of the Longhouse." 2) Ask for evidence: "Which two forest materials did builders use?" (Young trees and elm bark.) "How did smoke get out?" (Through holes in the roof.) 3) Ask: "Why might related families share one long house?" (Answers vary: to share work, food, fires and safety.) 4) Your child bends the paper into a long arch and tapes it to the cardboard. 5) With crayons, add bark sheets, a door at each end and smoke holes. 6) Your child points to where fires burned and where families slept.

4. Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Your child makes a fact card with five headings: Region, Nations, Homes long ago, Food, Today. Sample: Eastern Woodlands; Haudenosaunee, Wampanoag, Lenape, Cherokee; longhouses and wigwams; the Three Sisters, deer and fish. Under Today, write: "These nations live here today and have their own governments."

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read each question aloud. Your child answers in the notebook. Praise sentences about today that use is, are or live.

Homework: Your child explains the Three Sisters to a family member and draws them. Look for beans climbing the corn and squash covering the ground.

Practice page · Week 12, Day 1

Social Studies

I can describe how Native nations of the Eastern Woodlands used the forest, and that they are living nations today.

Show answers

People of the Longhouse

The Haudenosaunee are six nations: the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora. Their homelands are in the forests of what is now New York and nearby. Long ago, many families lived together in longhouses made of wooden poles covered with bark. They planted the Three Sisters: corn, beans and squash. Today the six nations have their own governments, and Haudenosaunee teams play lacrosse, a game their people have played for hundreds of years.

Read about the Haudenosaunee. Answer each question.

1. 1.

   What did builders use to make a longhouse?
2. 2.

   What are the Three Sisters?
3. 3.

   How many nations are in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy today?
4. 4.

   Name one Haudenosaunee nation.

Show what you learned.

1. 5.

   Draw a longhouse. Label the poles and the bark.
2. 6.

   Write one sentence about the Haudenosaunee today. Use the present tense.

Challenge: Why might corn, beans and squash grow well together?

Objective: I can solve multiplication word problems by finding the equal groups.

Standards: 3.OA.A.3, 3.OA.A.1

Materials: 40 counters (dried beans, coins or buttons), Highlighter or crayon, Notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 11. Ask 45 ÷ 9, 32 ÷ 4 and 42 ÷ 7 (5, 8, 6). Then your child says the ×6 facts in order, with no clock. For a slow ×6 or ×7 fact, name a strategy. Sample: for 6 × 7, think 5 sevens and 1 more seven: 35 + 7 = 42.

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "A word problem is a short story with a question. Four steps help." Write the steps: Read. Find the groups. Write an equation. Answer in a sentence. Write this story and read it aloud: "Diego has 7 plates. Each plate has 6 cookies. How many cookies in all?" Ask: "Are the groups equal?" (Yes. Each plate has 6.) "How many groups?" (7) "How many in each?" (6) Your child highlights 7 plates and 6 cookies. Sketch 7 circles and write 6 in each. Say: "We do not know the total. The total is the unknown. We write ? for it." Write 7 × 6 = ?. Ask: "What is 7 × 6?" (42) Say: "So 7 × 6 = 42. Diego has 42 cookies." Say: "The answer needs its word, cookies." Now your child does more. Read: "A room has 5 rows of 9 chairs. How many chairs?" Your child sketches, writes the equation and answers. (5 × 9 = 45; 45 chairs)

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Write each story on paper. Your child highlights the two numbers, sketches, writes an equation with ? and answers in a sentence. 1) Amara buys 6 packs of juice boxes. Each pack has 4. How many juice boxes? (6 × 4 = 24; 24 juice boxes) 2) A garden has 5 rows of 8 tomato plants. How many plants? (5 × 8 = 40; 40 plants) 3) Each ribbon is 3 feet long. Lena lays 9 ribbons end to end. How long is the line? (9 × 3 = 27; 27 feet) 4) Mia has 7 red beads and 6 blue beads. How many beads? Ask: "Are these equal groups?" (No. Add: 7 + 6 = 13 beads.) If stuck, say: "Build it with beans. How many groups? How many in each group?"

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   For problems 3 to 8, your child writes an equation with ?. Problems 5 to 8 also need an answer sentence. 1) 7 × 7 = ? (49). 2) 9 × 6 = ? (54). 3) Draw 3 groups of 9 as circles with dots. (3 × 9 = 27) 4) Draw an array with 4 rows of 6. (4 × 6 = 24) 5) 8 vans carry 7 children each. How many children? (56 children) 6) Kenji reads 9 pages every day for 7 days. How many pages? (63 pages) 7) 9 spiders have 8 legs each. How many legs? (72 legs) 8) Each fence piece is 6 feet long. How long are 6 pieces end to end? (36 feet) Check that each sentence names its unit, such as children or legs.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

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

Fact fluency: ×6, ×7 facts

Homework: Your child writes one multiplication story from home, sketches the groups and solves it. Sample: 2 cartons of 6 eggs; 2 × 6 = 12 eggs.

Objective: I can plan a story with an opening, rising action, climax, falling action and ending.

Standards: W.3.3.A, RL.3.5, L.3.6, SL.3.2

Materials: Writer's notebook, Colored pencils, Narrative draft

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Word study, about 3 minutes. Say: "This is a review week." Your child reads stopped, swimming, digging, smiled, hiding and baked, then sorts them under Double and Drop the e. Ask: "What are the base words?" (stop, swim, dig, smile, hide, bake) Spaced review from Week 11. Write: stop shouted Dad. Your child adds the marks. ("Stop!" shouted Dad.)

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Draw a hill in the notebook. Say: "A story climbs as the problem builds. It reaches the top at the most exciting moment. Then it comes down as things work out. This shape is the story arc." Label five parts on the hill. Opening: meet the characters and setting. Rising action: the problem builds. Climax: the biggest moment. Falling action: the events just after the climax. Ending, or resolution: how the problem works out. Your child repeats each term and uses climax in a sentence. Read aloud "The Cardboard Boat Race" while your child only listens: On the morning of the Miller Pond boat race, Lena and her cousin Abe carried their cardboard boat to the dock. They had built it from two refrigerator boxes and a whole roll of silver tape. The whistle blew, and they paddled hard. Soon a strip of tape peeled loose. Then cold water crept over Lena's sneakers. Next, the boat beside them pulled ahead. Just before the finish line, the soggy front folded, and the boat began to sink! Lena and Abe jumped into the waist-deep water and shoved their boat across the line. After that, they dragged the dripping heap onto the grass and flopped down beside it. They came in last. Still, the judge handed them a ribbon that said Best Sinking, and they laughed all the way home. Your child retells it in 4 or 5 sentences. (Look for: the race, the leaks, the sinking, the push and the ribbon.) Think aloud: "Opening: I meet Lena and Abe at the pond. Rising action: tape peels, water creeps in and a boat pulls ahead. Each event makes things harder."

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   1) Ask: "What is the climax?" (The boat starts to sink, and they jump out and shove it across the line.) 2) Ask: "What is the falling action?" (They drag the boat onto the grass and flop down.) 3) Ask: "What is the resolution?" (They come in last but win a ribbon and laugh.) 4) Ask: "How does the rising action lead to the climax?" (The loose tape lets water in, so the boat gets soggy and sinks.) If stuck, say: "After this moment, could things still get worse? If yes, we are still climbing."

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   1) Your child labels the five arc parts in the margin of the old draft, one color for each part. 2) Your child draws a new hill and plans a new story about a different small moment. Each part gets one sentence. 3) Your child tells you the plan, using all five terms. Sample plan. Opening: On Saturday morning, I set up a lemonade table. Rising action: Nobody stopped, and the ice melted. Climax: A soccer team jogged around the corner. Falling action: I poured as fast as I could. Ending: I gave the last cup to my sister. Look for: five sentences, a problem that grows, and a climax that is the biggest moment.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Ask the three questions. Your child points to the plan and the old draft while answering.

Homework: Read your own book for 15 minutes. Then tell a family member which part of the story arc you are in, and why. Look for: your child uses a term such as rising action or climax.

Practice page · Week 12, Day 1

English Language Arts

I can find the five parts of a story arc.

Show answers

Look: The story arc hill

1. Opening: meet the characters and setting. Rising action: the problem builds.
2. Climax: the biggest, most exciting moment, at the top of the hill.
3. Falling action: what happens right after. Ending (resolution): how the problem works out.

Squirrel's Big Acorn

Little Squirrel found the biggest acorn in the park, and he wanted to carry it home before dark. He pushed it up the hill, but it rolled back down. He tried again, and a crow swooped in to steal it. Squirrel grabbed the acorn just in time and tumbled into the creek! Holding the acorn tight, he paddled to a log and climbed onto the bank. Dripping wet, he rolled the acorn into his tree hole as the sun set. "Worth it," he squeaked, and he curled up to sleep.

Use the story above to fill in each part of the arc.

1. 1.

   Opening: who and where?
2. 2.

   Rising action: write one way the problem gets harder.
3. 3.

   Climax: what is the biggest moment?
4. 4.

   Falling action: what happens right after?
5. 5.

   Ending: how does the problem work out?
6. 6.

   Use the word 'climax' in a sentence about a story you know.

Draw a line to split each word into syllables.

1. 7.

   tiger

2. 8.

   basket

3. 9.

   music

Objective: I can build a food chain and draw arrows that show energy moving from the food to the eater.

Standards: 3-LS4-3

Materials: 11 index cards, 6 paper arrows cut from scrap paper, Science notebook, Pencil

1. Day 56 — Food Chain Basics — Wonder Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 11. Ask: "Name a physical adaptation of an owl and how it helps." (Large eyes for dim light, soft feathers for quiet flight, or sharp claws for grabbing.) Then ask: "What does a frog eat? What eats a frog?" Say: "Today we line those up."

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   First write one name on each card: clover, grasshopper, frog, snake, hawk, acorn, squirrel, bobcat, grass, rabbit, fox. Say: "A food chain shows how food energy moves from one living thing to the next." Lay clover, grasshopper and frog in a row with an arrow between each pair. Point to an arrow. Say: "Read each arrow as the words is eaten by. It points to the eater, the way the energy goes." Read it: "The clover is eaten by the grasshopper. The grasshopper is eaten by the frog." Add the snake and the hawk. Say: "A chain starts with a producer. The hawk is the top predator here. Nothing in this chain eats it." Ask: "Which one is the producer?" (Clover.) Ask: "What eats the frog in this chain?" (The snake.) Ask: "Could a frog survive well in a place with no insects?" (No. It would have no food.) If stuck, say: "Touch the arrow and read it: is eaten by."

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

   Card Chains. 1) Mix the cards. Your child rebuilds the clover chain with 5 cards and 4 arrows, reading each link aloud. 2) They build a second chain: acorn, squirrel, bobcat. The acorn is a seed from an oak tree, a producer. A bobcat is a wild cat. 3) Mistake hunt. Turn one arrow backward, so it points from the squirrel to the acorn. Your child finds it and fixes it. 4) They build a third chain: grass, rabbit, fox. 5) Check with a table: Chain, Producer, Top predator. Expect clover and hawk, acorn and bobcat, grass and fox. Every arrow must point toward the eater. If your child builds a different true chain, accept it and ask for each link read aloud.

4. Science Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Your child draws the 3 food chains with arrows. They label the producer P and each consumer C, and circle the top predator. Then give the frame: "In my chain, the ___ is eaten by the ___." Look for: "the squirrel is eaten by the bobcat."

5. Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Ask the three questions; your child draws for question 1. If an arrow is backward, your child says "is eaten by" while tracing it. Praise chains that start with a producer.

Homework: Build one food chain from your yard or a local park with at least 3 links. Look for a plant first and arrows pointing to the eater.