Day 2 · Tuesday

Objective: I can name the leaders of a local government and explain how they are chosen.

Standards: D2.Civ.1.3-5, D2.Civ.5.3-5

Materials: Notebook, Pencil, 2 index cards, Prep notes on your own local government: its name, the leader's title and name, how many council or board members it has and how long a term lasts. Use a town newsletter, a voter guide, a call to town or city hall, a librarian or the official website.

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 6. Ask: "The Cherokee Nation has its own government. Who picks its leaders?" (Its citizens vote for them.) Then ask: "Who leads our town or city? How did that person get the job?"

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Many cities and towns have a mayor. The mayor leads the local government." Say: "They also have a council. A council is a small group that votes on local laws and on how to spend the town's money." Say: "Voters elect the mayor and the council members. To elect means to choose by voting." Say: "Each serves a term, a set number of years, often two or four. Then voters choose again." In the notebook, draw a chart with three rows. Leader: mayor. Lawmakers: council. Workers: police officers, librarians and road crews. Say: "Not every place works this way. Some councils hire a town manager. Some places have a select board or a county commission." Say: "Native nations are not towns. Each nation has its own government and deals with the United States nation to nation. Many nations elect a council and a leader." Ask: "Who votes on local laws?" (The council.) "Why do leaders serve terms and not forever?" (So voters can keep them or choose someone new.) If stuck, say: "Look at the chart. Which row leads? Which row votes?"

3. Activity / Source Work · 15–20 min

   Two towns. 1) Read this made-up fact sheet aloud. "Welcome to the Town of Cedar Hollow. Voters elect our mayor every four years. The mayor leads the town staff. Our town council has five members. Voters elect them to two-year terms. The council meets each month at Town Hall. It votes on town laws and on how town money is spent. Anyone who lives here may attend and speak." 2) Ask for evidence: "Who chooses Cedar Hollow's mayor, and how often? Which words tell you?" ("Voters elect our mayor every four years.") "Who serves longer, the mayor or a council member?" (The mayor: four years, not two.) 3) Your child fills in the first index card for Cedar Hollow. "Our local government is called ___. Our leader's title is ___. Our council or board has ___ members. A term lasts ___ years. Leaders are chosen by ___." 4) Open your prep notes. Your child fills in the second card for your own town, city or county. 5) Ask: "What is the same in both places? What is different?" Leave unknown blanks for homework. Towns vary. Look for the pattern: voters choose the people who decide.

4. Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Your child copies the three-row chart and your own town's facts. Finish the sentence: "A mayor is different from a council member because ___." Sample: "A mayor leads the town. A council member votes on laws with the group."

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read the three questions aloud. Praise answers that use elect and term correctly.

Homework: Your child asks a family member to help fill one blank left on your town's card. Look for a title or a number, not only a person's name.

Objective: I can read and write fractions in words and numbers.

Standards: 3.NF.A.1

Materials: 6 paper strips, each 24 cm long and about 3 cm wide. Cut them from the long side of a sheet before the lesson., Centimeter ruler, Crayons, Envelope for the strips, Notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 16. Your child solves 7 × 30 (7 × 3 tens = 21 tens = 210). Then practice ÷3 facts with no clock. Ask 12 ÷ 3, 21 ÷ 3, 24 ÷ 3 and 27 ÷ 3 (4, 7, 8, 9).

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "The denominator gives the parts their name." Write this chart in the notebook: 2 parts, halves. 3 parts, thirds. 4 parts, fourths. 6 parts, sixths. 8 parts, eighths. Write 3/4. Say: "We read the numerator first. Then we say the name of the parts." Point to the 3, then the 4. Say: "So 3/4 is three fourths." Write the words beside the number. Say: "Five eighths." Ask: "Which word names the parts?" (Eighths, so the denominator is 8.) "How many parts do we count?" (5) Write 5/8. Say: "So five eighths is 5/8." Say: "With 1 on top, we name just one part: one half, one third, one sixth." Now your child does more. Write 2/6. Your child reads it and writes the words (two sixths). Say: "One fourth." Your child writes the number (1/4).

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Make fraction strips together. Keep one strip plain. It is the whole. You measure with the ruler and draw the lines. Your child labels every part and reads it aloud. 1) Halves: draw a line at 12 cm. Each part is 1/2. 2) Fourths: draw lines at 6, 12 and 18 cm. Each part is 1/4. 3) Eighths: draw a line every 3 cm. Each part is 1/8. 4) Thirds: draw lines at 8 and 16 cm. Sixths: draw a line every 4 cm. The parts are 1/3 and 1/6. Line the strips up in rows, left edges even. Ask: "Which part is smallest?" (1/8) "Why?" (The same whole is cut into more parts.) If stuck, say: "Count the parts on the strip. That number is the denominator. It names the part."

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   Your child writes the answers in the notebook. The strips and the chart stay on the table. 1) Write "one sixth" as a number (1/6). 2) Write "two fourths" as a number (2/4). 3) Write "six eighths" as a number (6/8). 4) Write 1/3 in words (one third). 5) Write 5/6 in words (five sixths). 6) Your child colors 2 parts of the eighths strip with a crayon. Write the fraction in numbers and words (2/8, two eighths). 7) A fence has 6 equal parts. Dad paints three of them. Write the fraction in numbers and words. (3/6, three sixths) 8) A ribbon is cut into 8 equal parts. Mia uses four of them. Write the fraction in numbers and words. (4/8, four eighths) Keep the strips in the envelope for tomorrow.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Close the notebook chart but keep the strips out. Your child writes each answer.

Fact fluency: ÷3 facts

Homework: Your child reads each strip part to a family member, then writes 4/4 and 3/3 in words. Answers: four fourths, three thirds.

Objective: I can plan an opinion essay with an organizer that holds my opinion, three reasons and evidence.

Standards: W.3.1, W.3.1.B, W.3.5, SL.3.1

Materials: Writer's notebook, Ruler, Pencil, Opinion sentence from Day 1

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Word study: build -er and -est words. Write tall, clean, strong, high and warm. Your child adds an ending to make taller, cleaner, strongest, highest and warmest. They underline the base word and circle the ending. Ask: "Did any base word change its spelling?" (No.) Spaced review from Week 13. Say: "Fix this sentence: My cousins lives in Texas." (My cousins live in Texas.)

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Builders use blueprints. Writers use plans. A plan uses short notes, not full sentences." With the ruler, draw an organizer. Make a top box for the opinion. Under it, draw three boxes named Reason 1, Reason 2 and Reason 3. Draw one line under each for evidence. Add a bottom box for the conclusion. Say: "Evidence is the proof for a reason. It answers the question How do you know?" Fill in the plan for the swimming essay aloud. Opinion: every kid should learn to swim. Reason 1: keeps you safe. Evidence: swimmers learn to float. Reason 2: great exercise. Evidence: cousin's heart pumps fast after laps. Reason 3: join the fun. Evidence: friend jumped off the dock. Put a star by Reason 3. Say: "The writer saved the strongest reason for last."

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Read this weak plan aloud. "A Plan With Twins." Opinion: our family should get a hamster. Reason 1: hamsters are small. Reason 2: hamsters are tiny. Reason 3: hamsters are fun to watch. 1) Ask: "Which two reasons are twins, the same idea said twice?" (small and tiny) 2) Ask: "What new reason could replace one twin?" (Sample: hamsters cost little to feed.) 3) Your child copies the organizer and writes their own opinion in the top box. 4) Your child says a first reason. Ask: "How do you know?" Write the reason and the evidence together as short notes. Sample for a cat essay: Reason 1, no walks needed. Evidence, neighbor's cat stays inside all day. If stuck, say: "Finish this: I think so because ... Now tell me something you have seen that proves it."

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   Your child finishes the plan alone. 1) Write Reason 2 and Reason 3 as short notes. 2) Write one piece of evidence under each reason. 3) Put a star by the strongest reason. It will go last in the essay. 4) Read the three reasons aloud and check for twins. 5) In the bottom box, write "say my opinion again." A good plan has three different reasons and notes of about six words or fewer. Each piece of evidence is a fact, an example or something that happened. Note for you: Grade 3 writers must give reasons that support the opinion. Evidence under each reason makes the essay stronger, so praise clear, different reasons first.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Your child answers the first two questions aloud. For question 3, they point to their own organizer.

Homework: Read for 15 to 20 minutes. Then ask a family member for one more reason or piece of evidence for your opinion. Add it to the organizer in pencil. Look for: a short note, not a full sentence.

Objective: I can read a thermometer and record the air temperature at different times of day.

Standards: 3-ESS2-1

Materials: Outdoor thermometer with a Fahrenheit scale (liquid or dial is best; digital also works), Two cups of tap water, one cool and one warm (not hot), Plain paper and a red crayon, Watch or clock, Science notebook with the Weather Log, Pencil

1. Day 92 — Measuring Temperature — Wonder Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 4. Ask: "Two north poles face each other. Do the magnets attract or repel?" (Repel.) Then the wonder. Ask: "Is it hot or cold outside?" After the answer, ask: "How hot? Can you say it with a number?" Say: "Warm means different things to different people. Scientists use numbers so everyone agrees."

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Temperature tells how hot or cold something is. A thermometer measures it in degrees." Show the scale. Say: "United States weather reports use degrees Fahrenheit. We write °F. Many other countries use degrees Celsius." Say: "Water freezes at 32°F." On the paper, draw a tall thermometer. Label 40, 50 and 60, with four small marks between each pair. Ask: "The marks split 10 degrees into 5 steps. How much is each step?" (2 degrees.) Color red up to 3 marks above 40. Count together: 42, 44, 46. Say: "Find the top of the liquid. Read the line it touches." Color up to 1 mark below 60. Ask: "What is the reading now?" (58°F.) Now use the real thermometer. Count its small marks first, because some stand for 1 degree. Stand it in the cool water for one minute and read it. Repeat in the warm water. Ask: "Which reading is higher?" (The warm water.) Keep a digital thermometer out of water. Warm it in a closed hand instead. If stuck, say: "Start at the labeled number below the liquid. Count up by the step."

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

   Temperature Through the Day. Safety: use warm tap water, never hot, and carry a glass thermometer with care. 1) Hang or stand the thermometer outside in the shade, about chest high. 2) Say: "Sunshine on a thermometer heats it. Then it reads warmer than the air." 3) Wait five minutes before the first reading. 4) Your child reads it three times today: morning, about noon and late afternoon. Use the clock. 5) They record each reading in a table with two columns: Time, Temperature in °F. 6) Keep the same spot each time. Change only the time of day. 7) Your child circles the warmest reading. Expect the afternoon to be warmest on most sunny days. The sun has warmed the ground and air for hours. Clouds or a change in the wind can alter this. Say: "Real results vary. Look for the pattern over many days."

4. Science Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Your child copies the table and finishes this frame. "The warmest time was ___ at ___°F. The coolest was ___ at ___°F. The difference was ___ degrees." Sample: "The warmest time was 3 p.m. at 61°F. The coolest was 8 a.m. at 48°F. The difference was 13 degrees." Add the noon reading to the Weather Log. Read at about noon each day this week.

5. Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Ask the three exit questions. For question 2, draw a thermometer labeled 70 and 80 with four marks between. Color it to 2 marks above 70. Praise careful counting of the marks.

Homework: Read the thermometer at bedtime and add it to the table. Is it warmer or cooler than noon? Look for: a number with °F and a comparison.