Day 3 · Wednesday

Objective: I can build a salt-dough map that shows U.S. landforms and regions.

Standards: D2.Geo.2.3-5, D2.Geo.3.3-5

Materials: Salt dough made ahead (2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, about 3/4 cup water) or modeling clay, Cardboard base, about 12 by 18 inches, U.S. map that shows landforms, 8 toothpicks and 8 small paper flags, Tape, Ruler, Markers or paint (for the next day, when the dough is dry), Notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 4. Ask: "What is a plain?" (A wide area of flat land.) Then ask the big question: "If you ran your hand across the whole country, where would it bump?"

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Today you are a mapmaker. You will build a map that shows high land and low land." Plan in pencil on the cardboard. Your child copies the outline of the United States from the map. A simple shape is fine. Then mark the plan together. Draw zigzags in the West for the Rockies, from Canada toward New Mexico. Draw small humps in the East for the Appalachians, from Maine toward Alabama. Write "plains" in the middle. Draw a line for the Mississippi from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. Draw five small shapes for the Great Lakes. Say: "Rivers start on higher land and flow downhill to bigger water." Ask: "Which range will you build taller?" (The Rockies.) Ask: "Why are the Appalachians lower?" (They are older and worn down.) Ask: "Where does the Mississippi end?" (At the Gulf of Mexico.) If stuck, say: "Point to it on the printed map first. Then mark the same spot on yours."

3. Activity / Source Work · 15–20 min

   Safety: do not taste the dough, because raw flour is not safe to eat. Wash hands afterward. 1) Your child presses a thin layer of dough over the whole outline. 2) Pinch up the Rockies, tall and pointed. 3) Build the Appalachians, low and rounded. 4) Smooth the Great Plains flat. 5) Draw grooves with a toothpick: the Mississippi, the Missouri joining it from the west, and the Colorado in the Southwest. 6) Press five small dents for the Great Lakes. 7) Tape flags to toothpicks. Label the five regions, the Great Lakes and both mountain ranges. Stand them in the dough. 8) Measure. Hold the ruler beside each landform and fill in a chart with two columns: Landform, Height on my map. Rows: Rockies, Appalachians, Great Plains. Expect the Rockies to be tallest and the plains lowest. If not, add or press down dough. Heights will differ from map to map. Look for the pattern: West high, middle flat, East low hills. Check that every river groove runs toward bigger water.

4. Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Your child writes a map key for the 3D map. Tell what each shape and color will stand for. Sample: "Tall points are the Rockies. Low bumps are the Appalachians. Grooves are rivers. Blue is water." Then finish the frame: "Building in 3D helped me see that ___." Sample: "The West is much higher than the middle of the country."

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read the questions aloud. Your child points to the 3D map, then writes a short answer. Praise correct landform names.

Homework: When the dough is dry tomorrow, your child colors it with markers or paint: brown mountains, green plains, blue water. Then show a family member. Look for: your child explains the key.

Objective: I can use arrays to plan equal groups in the Party Planner Challenge.

Standards: 3.OA.A.3, 3.OA.A.1, 3.OA.B.5

Materials: 40 counters (dried beans, coins or buttons), Grid paper, Notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 13. Ask: "If 3 × 9 = 27, what is 9 × 3?" (27) Then try ×4 and ×6 facts with no clock. Ask 4 × 7, 4 × 9, 6 × 6 and 6 × 5 (28, 36, 36, 30). Your child tells how one answer was found.

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "This is the Party Planner Challenge. It takes two days. You plan a party for 24 guests. Every table must seat the same number." Count out 24 beans as guests. Say: "Try tables of 4." Your child makes rows of 4 beans. Ask: "How many tables?" (6) Write 6 × 4 = 24. Say: "So 6 tables of 4 seat all 24 guests." Say: "Now try tables of 5." Your child makes rows of 5. Ask: "Does this plan work?" (No. 4 guests are left without a full table.) Say: "A plan works only when every guest has a seat and every table matches." Now your child does more. Say: "Try tables of 8." Ask: "How many tables? Which equation fits?" (3 tables; 3 × 8 = 24) Ask: "What if the room had 8 small tables instead?" (8 tables of 3; 8 × 3 = 24)

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Find more plans for 24 guests. No table may seat more than 10. The room holds at most 10 tables. Your child tests each plan with beans. 1) Tables of 6 (4 tables; 4 × 6 = 24). 2) Tables of 2 (12 tables; too many, because the room holds only 10). 3) Tables of 7 (does not work; 3 guests are left over). 4) Your child draws two working plans as arrays on grid paper and writes each equation. If stuck, say: "Make rows of that size. Is any guest left without a full table?"

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   Now plan for 36 guests with the same two limits. Your child tests with beans and writes each answer. 1) Tables of 9 (4 tables; 4 × 9 = 36). 2) Tables of 6 (6 tables; 6 × 6 = 36). 3) Tables of 4 (9 tables; 9 × 4 = 36). 4) Tables of 8 (does not work; 4 guests are left over). 5) Draw the plan with tables of 6 as an array on grid paper. Label it. (6 rows of 6) 6) Tables of 3 need how many tables? Why does that plan break a limit? (12 tables; the room holds only 10) 7) A smaller room fits only 6 tables. Which plans still work? (4 tables of 9, or 6 tables of 6) 8) Each of the 4 tables of 9 gets 2 balloons. How many balloons? (8)

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

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

Fact fluency: ×4, ×6 facts

Homework: Draw a plan to seat 18 guests at equal tables and write its equation. Sample: 3 tables of 6; 3 × 6 = 18.

Objective: I can plan a picture book version of my narrative where the illustrations add to the words.

Standards: RL.3.7, W.3.4, W.3.5

Materials: One picture book from your child's shelf, 2 sheets of plain paper folded together into an 8-page booklet, Colored pencils or markers, Final narrative draft, Notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Flex week, enrichment day 1. Word study, about 3 minutes. Dictate this sentence: "Do not untie the boat, or it will disappear." Your child writes it in the notebook. Check it together. Ask: "Which two words have a prefix?" (Untie and disappear.) Your child fixes any misspelled word. Spaced review from Week 13. Ask: "How do you capitalize the title 'a walk in the rain'?" (A Walk in the Rain)

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Today you start publishing your story as a picture book. In a good picture book, the pictures do not just repeat the words. They add things: a feeling, the setting or a detail the words never say." Open the picture book. Cover the words on one page with your hand. Your child tells what is happening from the picture alone. Uncover the words. Ask: "What did the picture tell you that the words did not?" (Answers vary.) Now read this model page aloud. "The Wobbly Cake", page 2. Words: Nora carried the cake to the table. Picture: Nora's tongue pokes out. The cake leans to one side. Under the table, the dog waits with its mouth open. Think aloud. Say: "The words tell what Nora does. The picture adds her feeling. She is working hard to keep the cake steady. It also adds the dog, which the words never mention." Ask: "What mood does this picture make?" (Tense or funny. Something is about to go wrong.)

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Plan the booklet together. 1) Your child splits the narrative into 6 or 7 chunks of one or two sentences. They draw a pencil line at each break. (Look for: one moment in each chunk.) 2) Save the first booklet page for the title. Your child lightly pencils one chunk at the bottom of each page after it. 3) For each page, ask: "What will this picture show that your words leave out?" Your child writes a tiny note in the corner. (Samples: show my shaking hands; show rain on the window.) 4) Ask: "Which page has the strongest feeling? How will the face and body show it?" (Look for: one body clue.) If stuck, say: "Close your eyes and stand inside that page. What do you see that you never wrote?"

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   1) Your child sketches the pictures in pencil for at least 4 pages. 2) Each sketch adds at least one detail beyond the words. 3) Your child revises any page where the words now repeat the picture. They cut or change that sentence. Example: if the picture shows a red umbrella, cut "It was red." Look for three things. Each picture adds a feeling, a setting detail or a surprise. The words and the picture do not say the same thing twice. The story still reads in order.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Ask the three questions aloud while your child holds the booklet and points to the pages.

Homework: Finish and color 2 pages of the picture book. Look for: one added detail in each picture.

Practice page · Week 14, Day 3

English Language Arts

I can plan pictures that add to my words.

Show answers

Look: Pictures that add

1. A good picture does not just repeat the words.
2. It can add a feeling, a setting detail or something the words never say.
3. If the picture shows it, you can cut those words.

Page 3 of a Picture Book

Gus stepped into the cave. It was very quiet.

Use the page above.

1. 1.

   Write two things the picture shows that the words do not say.
2. 2.

   What feeling does the picture show? How can you tell?
3. 3.

   The writer added 'Gus held a flashlight.' Should the writer keep it or cut it?

   ○ keep○ cut
4. 4.

   Plan one page of your own book: write the words, then write what your picture will add.
5. 5.

   Sketch that page.

Write what each word means.

1. 6.

   uncover
2. 7.

   dishonest
3. 8.

   refill

Objective: I can investigate how an animal's color can help it survive in its habitat.

Standards: 3-LS4-2, 3-LS4-3

Materials: 45 pieces of yarn or paper strips, each about as long as a finger: 15 green, 15 brown, 15 red, A patch of lawn, or a green or brown rug, towel or blanket, Timer, Science notebook and pencil

1. Day 68 — Flex Challenge: Camouflage Hunt — Wonder Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 11. Ask: "Name one physical adaptation and one behavioral adaptation." (Sample: thick fur; migrating.) Then the wonder. Say: "A green caterpillar and a bright red caterpillar sit on a leaf. Which one might a bird find first? Why?" Take one guess.

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Animals of one kind are not all exactly alike. Some have colors that blend in with their habitat better. Blending in is called camouflage." Say: "Many birds hunt by sight. They find the animals that stand out. The ones that blend in are more likely to live and have young." Say: "Peppered moths come in a light form and a dark form. On pale bark, birds have trouble seeing light moths. On dark, sooty bark, dark moths are harder to see." Hold one red and one green yarn piece against today's background. Ask: "Which is easier to see?" (The one that does not match.) "On dark bark, which moth is safer?" (The dark one.) "Did the moth choose its color?" (No. Its color came from its parents.) If stuck, say: "Squint your eyes. Which piece disappears first?" Say: "Today you are the hungry bird."

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

   Yarn Worm Hunt. Safety: afterward, pick up all 45 pieces so no pet or bird swallows yarn. 1) Your child predicts which color will be picked most and which least. They write it down. 2) Your child looks away. Scatter all 45 worms across the lawn or rug. 3) Set the timer for 30 seconds. Your child, the bird, picks up worms one at a time with one hand. 4) Sort the catch by color and count it. Table: Color | Round 1 picked | Round 2 picked | Total. 5) Scatter all 45 again and repeat. 6) Your child draws a bar graph of the three totals. Change only the worm color. Keep the same number of each color, time, place and picker. Expect the color most like the background to be picked least. If not, say: "Real results vary. Look for the pattern." Ask: "Which color survived best? What is your evidence?" (The shortest bar.)

4. Science Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Your child records the prediction, the table and the bar graph in the notebook. Then they finish: "The ___ worms survived best because ___. This shows that camouflage ___." Sample: "The green worms survived best because they matched the grass. This shows that camouflage helps animals hide from predators."

5. Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Your child answers on paper and uses the data table for question 1. Praise comparing the result with the prediction, even if the prediction was wrong.

Homework: Find one camouflaged animal in a book or outdoors, such as a moth on bark. Draw it on its background. Look for matching colors.