Day 1 · Monday

Objective: I can explain what economics is and give examples of choices people make with money and time.

Standards: D2.Eco.1.3-5

Materials: Notebook, Pencil, 5 sticky notes or paper slips, A store flyer or an old receipt (or 2 pantry items with price slips you write)

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 19. Ask: "What do taxes pay for?" (Services everyone shares, such as schools, roads and parks.) Say: "Money is one thing people must choose how to use. Time is another." Then ask the big question: "Why can't we have everything we want?" Accept any answer.

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Economics is the study of how people use limited things to meet their needs and wants. Limited means there is only so much." Draw a clock in the notebook and shade one hour. Say: "Priya has one hour after school. She can practice piano or ride bikes with friends. She cannot do both." Say: "Every choice has benefits and costs. A benefit is a good thing you get. A cost is what you pay or give up." Draw a chart with three columns: Option, Benefit, Cost. Fill it in together. "Piano: she is ready for her lesson, but she misses her friends." "Bikes: she has fun and exercise, but she gets less practice." Ask: "What is limited for Priya?" (Her time.) Ask: "Name one benefit of riding bikes." (Fun or exercise.) Ask: "Is choosing piano right or wrong?" (Neither. She weighs the benefits and costs.) Say: "Families, businesses and towns make economic choices too. A town may choose between fixing a road and building a park." If stuck, say: "Ask two things: What do I get? What do I give up?"

3. Activity / Source Work · 15–20 min

   Choice hunt. 1) Your child remembers five choices from this week. At least two are about money and two about time. 2) Write one per sticky note: the two options, with a circle around the one chosen. Sample: "Saved my dollar or bought gum." 3) Your child sorts the notes into two columns: Money choices, Time choices. 4) Pick two notes. For each, your child names one benefit and one cost of the option chosen. 5) Source work. Open the flyer or receipt, or set out the two priced items. Your child picks two items with prices. 6) Draw a chart with four columns: Item, Price, Benefit, Cost. Fill in a row for each item. 7) Ask: "If you could buy only one, which would it be? What evidence from the flyer helps you decide?" (Sample: the price, the size or how long it lasts.) Your child chooses and says what is given up. Choices vary. Look for a benefit and a cost named for each item.

4. Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Your child finishes: "Economics is ___." Then list the five choices and star the hardest. Add: "It was hard because ___." Sample: "Economics is how people use limited money and time to get what they need and want. The hardest choice was soccer or the party because I wanted both."

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read the three questions aloud. Your child answers in full sentences without notes. Praise answers that name both a benefit and a cost.

Homework: Your child asks a family member about one economic choice from this week and writes it down. Look for: two options, the choice made and one cost.

Objective: I can split shapes into equal parts and name each part as a unit fraction.

Standards: 3.G.A.2, 3.NF.A.1

Materials: 2 paper squares, 1 paper circle (trace a cup), Grid paper, Ruler, Scissors, Notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 22 Days 1 and 2. Your child compares 2/6 and 4/6, then 1/2 and 1/8 (2/6 < 4/6; 1/2 > 1/8). Then practice ÷6 facts with no clock. Ask 12 ÷ 6, 36 ÷ 6, 48 ÷ 6 and 60 ÷ 6 (2, 6, 8, 10).

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "To partition a shape is to split it into parts with equal area. Area is the flat space a part covers." Fold one paper square side to side. Fold the other corner to corner. Cut each square on its fold with the scissors. Stack the two parts of each square. Say: "They match, so the areas are equal. Each part is 1/2 of the area of its square." Next, draw a rectangle 4 squares long and 2 squares tall on grid paper. Say: "I want 4 equal parts." Draw a line down after every square. Ask: "How many squares are in each part?" (2) Say: "Every part covers 2 squares. So each part is 1/4 of the area of the rectangle." Now your child does more. Your child draws a rectangle 6 squares long and 2 squares tall. Your child partitions it into 3 equal parts. Ask: "How many squares in each part? What fraction is each part?" (4 squares each; 1/3)

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Say: "A 4 by 2 rectangle is 4 squares long and 2 squares tall." Your child uses the ruler for straight lines. 1) Your child partitions an 8 by 2 rectangle into 8 equal parts (2 squares each; 1/8). 2) Your child partitions another 8 by 2 rectangle into 2 equal parts (8 squares each; 1/2). 3) Your child folds the paper circle in half, then in half again. Ask: "What fraction is each part?" (1/4) 4) Draw a bar 8 squares long. Draw lines after squares 1, 4 and 6. Ask: "Is each part 1/4?" (No. The parts cover 1, 3, 2 and 2 squares.) If stuck, say: "Count the squares in each part. Do they all match?"

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   Your child draws each shape on grid paper, partitions it and labels every part. 1) A 4 by 3 rectangle into 2 equal parts (6 squares each; 1/2). 2) A 3 by 3 square into 3 equal parts (3 squares each; 1/3). 3) A 4 by 4 square into 8 equal parts (2 squares each; 1/8). 4) A 6 by 6 square into 6 equal parts (6 squares each; 1/6). 5) A 4 by 2 rectangle into 2 equal parts, in two different ways (4 squares each; 1/2). 6) You draw a bar 8 squares long with lines after squares 2, 4 and 6. Ask: "What fraction is each part?" (1/4) 7) Dad splits a garden bed into 3 equal parts. What fraction of its area is one part? (1/3) 8) A pan of cornbread is cut into 8 equal pieces. What fraction of the pan is 1 piece? (1/8)

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read each question aloud; your child answers on grid paper.

Fact fluency: ÷6 facts

Homework: Fold 3 sheets of paper to show halves, fourths and eighths. Label every part (1/2, 1/4, 1/8).

Objective: I can name an author's purpose and tell how my own view is different from the author's.

Standards: RI.3.6, L.3.6

Materials: A recipe, an ad or flyer from the mail, and a storybook, Reader's notebook, Pencil, Three colored pencils

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Word study, Week 24: Unit 4 review sort. Write faster, highest, washable, agreement, windy, sidewalk. Ask: "Which words compare?" (faster, highest) "Which word ends in a suffix that makes a noun?" (agreement) "Which is a compound word?" (sidewalk) "Which describes the weather?" (windy) Your child reads all six and underlines each suffix. Spaced review from Week 22. Say: "Dana blew on her fingers and stamped her feet at the bus stop." Ask: "What can you infer?" (She is cold.)

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Hold up the recipe, the flyer and the storybook. Ask: "Why was each one written?" (To tell how to cook; to get you to buy; to tell a story.) Say: "The reason an author writes is the author's purpose." Write PIE down the page. Persuade: get you to think or do something. Inform: teach facts or explain how. Entertain: tell a story or make you laugh. Say: "Authors also have a view. You may have a different one." Read text 1 aloud. "Three Short Texts": 1. Octopuses have three hearts and blue blood. They can change color in less than a second to hide. I think the octopus is the cleverest animal in the sea. Think aloud: "Hearts, blood, color change. These are facts, so the purpose is to inform. The last sentence is different. 'I think' shows the author's view. My view is that dolphins are cleverer, because they can learn tricks." Write the frame: The author thinks ___. I think ___ because ___.

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Read texts 2 and 3 together. 2. Join the Saturday park cleanup! It takes only one hour, and our park will shine. Everyone should help, because the park belongs to all of us. 3. Pip the penguin wanted to fly. He flapped and flapped, then landed beak-first in a snowbank. "Flying is overrated," he said, and waddled home. 1) Ask: "What is the purpose of text 2? How do you know?" (Persuade. It tells you to join and says everyone should help.) 2) Ask: "What about text 3?" (Entertain. It has a funny character and a story.) 3) Ask: "Whose view is in text 2, and what is it?" (The author's. Everyone should help clean the park.) 4) Your child says the frame for text 2, then writes it. (Sample: "The author thinks everyone should help. I think helping should be a choice, because some families are busy on Saturdays.") If stuck, say: "Does the author want you to do something, learn something or enjoy a story?"

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   1) Your child labels the recipe, the flyer and the storybook P, I or E in the notebook. Use one colored pencil for each purpose. 2) Write one sentence for each that tells why. 3) For the flyer, write the author's view and your own view with the frame. 4) Your child finds one more text in the house, such as game rules or a food package, and labels it. Good answers: the recipe informs because it explains steps; the flyer persuades because it wants you to buy; the storybook entertains. Look for the author's view stated fairly. Look for your child's own view with a reason.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read each question aloud. Your child writes the answers alone.

Homework: Find one persuade text at home, such as an ad. Write the author's view and your own view with a reason. Then read for 15 minutes. Look for two separate views.

Objective: I can define an engineering problem by naming what my weather instrument must do and the limits I have.

Standards: 3-5-ETS1-1, 3-ESS2-1

Materials: Rain gauge and wind streamer from Week 19, Science notebook, pencil and ruler, Household recycling bin to look through, Small box or bag for collected parts

1. Day 116 — Define the Problem: Build a Weather Instrument — Wonder Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 23. Ask: "A thermometer has 5 spaces between 60 and 70. How much is each space worth?" (2 degrees.) Then the wonder. Hold up the Week 19 streamer. Ask: "It shows wind direction, but you must hold it. Could an instrument show the wind all by itself?"

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Engineers solve problems by designing things. They start by defining the problem." Read the problem: "Our family needs a homemade instrument that measures one part of the weather." Review two words from Week 7. Say: "Criteria tell what the design must do to succeed. Constraints are the limits, such as materials, time or cost." Try both on a lunch box. Ask: "'It keeps a sandwich cold until noon.' Criterion or constraint?" (Criterion. It tells what the box must do.) Ask: "'It must cost under five dollars.' Which is that?" (Constraint. It is a limit.) If stuck, say: "Does it tell what the design does, or what limits us?" Say: "Good criteria can be tested." Ask: "Which can we test: 'looks cool' or 'turns in a light breeze'?" (Turns in a light breeze.) Show the choices. A wind vane points to where the wind comes from. A cup anemometer spins faster in stronger wind. A better rain gauge is the third choice. Say: "This week's lessons give full steps for the wind vane. Choose it if you are unsure."

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

   Problem Definition Page. 1) Your child studies the Week 19 rain gauge and streamer. Ask: "What job does each one do? What would make it better?" 2) Your child chooses one instrument to build. 3) In the notebook, they rule two columns and write three criteria that can be tested. Wind vane sample: points to where the wind comes from, turns in a light breeze, stays standing in the wind. 4) They write three constraints. Sample: only materials we already have, 30 minutes to build, no money spent. 5) Beside each criterion, they write how to test it. Sample: "Blow from the side and see if it turns." 6) Search the recycling bin and the house for parts. A wind vane needs a drinking straw, thin cardboard and a straight pin. It also needs a pencil with an eraser and a cup of sand or pebbles. Put the parts in the box. Look for criteria that say what the instrument does and constraints that set limits.

4. Science Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Give the frames: "The problem is ___. My instrument will measure ___. Criteria: ___. Constraints: ___." Sample: "The problem is that we need to know the wind direction. My instrument will measure where the wind comes from." Then your child makes a first rough sketch with labels.

5. Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read the three exit questions aloud; your child answers on paper. Praise criteria that can be tested.

Homework: Your child finishes collecting the parts on the list and stores them in the box. Look for every listed part, or a sensible swap.