Day 1 · Monday

Objective: I can explain scarcity and how it forces people and communities to choose.

Standards: D2.Eco.1.3-5, D2.Eco.3.3-5

Materials: 20 play dollars (or 20 coins that each stand for $1), 8 index cards, 4 sticky notes, Notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 24. Ask: "What is the difference between a need and a want?" (A need is something you must have to live and be safe. A want is nice to have.) Then ask the big question: "Name five things you want. Could you buy them all today? Why not?"

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Scarcity means there is not enough of something for everyone to have all they want." "Money, time, land, water and materials are all limited." "Scarce does not mean rare, like gold. Everyday things are scarce too." Say: "We have 30 minutes before dinner. You want to draw, read and play outside for 30 minutes each." Ask: "Can you do all three?" (No.) Say: "Time is scarce, so you must choose." Say: "Scarcity makes everyone choose: people, families and whole towns." "A town has enough money this year to fix its old pool or to open the library on Sundays. It cannot do both." "Whatever the town does not choose is its opportunity cost." Ask: "Is time scarce? How do you know?" (Yes. A day has only 24 hours.) "Is a thing scarce only when it is rare?" (No. Anything limited is scarce.) "The town picks the library. What is its opportunity cost?" (Fixing the pool.) If stuck, say: "Is there enough for everyone to have all they want? If not, it is scarce."

3. Activity / Source Work · 15–20 min

   Part 1, a personal choice. 1) Write eight item cards with prices. Board game $12, book $6, art set $8, soccer ball $10. Puzzle $5, kite $7, headphones $15, movie ticket $9. 2) Give your child the 20 play dollars. Your child picks cards without going over $20 and pays you. 3) Your child fills a chart: Item | Price. Then write the total and the money left. 4) Ask: "Which card did you want most but could not buy?" That next-best card is the opportunity cost. Your child writes it on a sticky note. Part 2, a town's choice. 5) Read the pool or library problem again. On two sticky notes, your child lists who benefits from each choice. (Pool: swimmers and families in summer. Library: readers, students and job seekers.) 6) Your child decides, writes the choice on the last note and gives a reason. Choices vary. Look for a total of $20 or less and a named opportunity cost.

4. Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Your child completes: "Scarcity means ___. At home, ___ is scarce, so we ___. In a town, ___ is scarce, so leaders ___." Sample: "Scarcity means there is not enough for everyone to have all they want. At home, the bathroom is scarce in the morning, so we take turns. In a town, money is scarce, so leaders choose which projects to pay for."

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read each exit question aloud. Your child answers in the notebook. Praise answers that name what is limited.

Homework: Your child asks a family member about a choice made because money or time was limited. Look for what was chosen and what was given up.

Objective: I can estimate and measure mass in grams.

Standards: 3.MD.A.2

Materials: Kitchen scale that shows grams, 10 small paper clips, 4 nickels, 6 small objects: crayon, eraser, key, marker, fork, small toy, Large dry sponge, Paper with a 3-column table: object, estimate, measured mass, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 25 Day 3. Ask: "How many minutes is it from 2:45 to 3:10?" (15 + 10 = 25 minutes) Then practice ×4 facts with no timer. Ask 4 × 6, 4 × 7 and 4 × 9 (24, 28, 36).

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Mass is how much stuff is in an object. We measure light objects in grams." Put a paper clip in your child's hand. Say: "This is about 1 gram." Then hand over a nickel. Say: "A nickel is about 5 grams." Put the nickel on the scale and read it together. Say: "We estimate first. Then we measure to check." Hold up 4 nickels. Ask: "Each nickel is about 5 grams. What should the scale show for 4 nickels?" (About 20 grams.) Write 4 × 5 = 20. Put the 4 nickels on the scale and read it. Say: "So 4 nickels have a mass of about 20 grams." Now your child does more. Your child holds a crayon in one hand and a nickel in the other. Ask: "Is the crayon lighter, about the same or heavier?" Your child estimates the crayon in grams, then measures it. Write both numbers in the table.

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Your child estimates first, then measures, and writes both in the table. 1) An eraser. 2) A key. 3) A marker. Ask after each: "Was your estimate close?" 4) Ask: "Which object has the most mass? How many more grams is it than the lightest?" (Subtract the two masses. Sample: 14 − 6 = 8 grams.) If stuck, say: "Hold a nickel in your other hand. How many nickels does this feel like? Count by 5s."

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   Your child keeps using the table. 1) Estimate and measure a fork. 2) Estimate and measure a small toy. 3) Estimate and measure 10 paper clips together. (About 10 grams.) 4) Order every object in the table from least to greatest mass. Check the scale readings for problems 1 to 4 together. 5) A marker is 9 grams and a key is 14 grams. How many more grams is the key? (14 − 9 = 5 grams) 6) A nickel is about 5 grams. About how many grams are 6 nickels? (6 × 5 = 30 grams) 7) A slice of apple is 35 grams. A cube of cheese is 20 grams. What is the mass of both together? (35 + 20 = 55 grams) 8) A bunch of 8 grapes has a mass of 40 grams. Each grape has the same mass. What is the mass of one grape? (40 ÷ 8 = 5 grams)

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Put the scale away. Read each question aloud; your child answers on paper.

Fact fluency: ×4 facts

Homework: Your child reads the grams on 3 food packages and orders them from least to greatest. Sample: 28 grams, 150 grams, 454 grams.

Objective: I can tell when words mean exactly what they say (literal) and when they mean something else (nonliteral), and explain what they really mean.

Standards: L.3.5.A, RL.3.4

Materials: Reader's notebook, 8 index cards, Two colored pencils, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Word study: the ending -ture. Write picture. Say: "At the end of a word, -ture says /cher/." Your child reads six words and underlines -ture in each: picture, nature, future, mixture, creature, capture. Ask: "What sound ends all six words?" (/cher/) Spaced review from Week 25. Ask: "Two texts share a topic. What do we call the part each one teaches most about?" (its focus)

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Literal words mean exactly what they say. Nonliteral words mean something else. They help you picture or feel something." Write: "The dog ran across the yard." Say: "That can really happen. It is literal." Write: "The classroom was a beehive." Think aloud: "I ask, 'Could this really happen just the way the words say?' No. No bees live in the classroom. So I ask, 'What does it really mean?' A hive is busy and buzzing. The classroom was busy and noisy." Write the two questions in the notebook. Then write: "The puppy ran into the kitchen." and "Mom ran into an old friend at the store." Say: "The same words can work both ways. The puppy really ran. Mom did not crash into anyone. She met her friend by surprise."

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Write these sentences on the cards. Your child sorts them into literal and nonliteral piles. 1) The snow was a white blanket over the yard. 2) The dog ran fast. 3) He swims like a fish. 4) My brother is a night owl. 5) The soup was too hot to eat. 6) The pond was a mirror at sunrise. 7) Mom bought six apples. 8) The old truck roared like a lion. (Nonliteral: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8. Literal: 2, 5, 7.) Then ask: 1) "What does card 1 really mean?" (Snow covered the whole yard.) 2) "What does card 4 really mean?" (He likes to stay up late.) 3) "What does card 6 really mean?" (The water was still and shiny.) 4) Say: "A lion roared at the zoo." Ask: "Literal or nonliteral?" (literal) If stuck, say: "Could this really happen just this way? If not, what is the writer telling you?"

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   Your child reads this story aloud. "The Big Race": My stomach was full of butterflies as I stood at the starting line. The whistle blew, and I shot off like a rocket. By the second lap my legs were rubber. Ahead of me, Dana ran past the tall oak tree. "Keep going!" Coach shouted. I ran until my lungs were on fire. At the finish line, Mom gave me a bear hug and a cold bottle of water. I came in third, and I was on top of the world. 1) Find four nonliteral phrases and copy them into the notebook. 2) Mark each one N in one color and write "It really means ___." 3) Copy one literal sentence and mark it L in the other color. Look for meanings like these. Full of butterflies: nervous. Like a rocket: very fast. Legs were rubber: tired and wobbly. Lungs on fire: sore from hard breathing. On top of the world: very happy.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read each question aloud. Your child may look back at "The Big Race."

Homework: Your child listens for one phrase at home that does not mean exactly what it says. Your child writes it with its real meaning (10 minutes). Look for a sensible meaning, not a word-by-word one.

Objective: I can explain how an animal's body parts and behaviors help it survive in its climate.

Standards: 3-LS4-3, 3-ESS2-2

Materials: 4 zip-top bags, all the same size, 1 to 2 cups of solid shortening or soft butter (enough to cover the hand all around), and a spoon, Large bowl of cold water with about 12 ice cubes, Clock or watch that shows seconds, Towel, 1 thick sock (for the extension), Science notebook and pencil

1. Day 126 — How Animals Survive in Their Climate — Wonder Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 25. Ask: "What is a forecast?" (A prediction about coming weather, made from data.) Then the wonder. Ask: "Icy water would chill you in minutes. How does a whale stay warm there all year?"

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "An adaptation is a body feature or a behavior that helps a living thing survive where it lives." Say: "Animals survive well where their adaptations fit the climate." Say: "A polar bear has thick fur and a thick layer of fat. Its small ears lose little heat." Say: "Whales have a fat layer called blubber. Fur and fat insulate. To insulate means to slow heat from leaving." Say: "A camel's hump stores fat for times with little food." Say: "A desert jackrabbit has long, thin ears. Warm blood flows through them, and body heat escapes into the air." Say: "Many desert animals are nocturnal. They rest in shade by day and come out in the cool night." Ask: "Fur and fat do the same job in the cold. What is it?" (They slow body heat from leaving.) Ask: "Could a jackrabbit survive well on Arctic ice? Give evidence." (No. Its long, thin ears would lose too much heat, and it would find no plants to eat.) If stuck, say: "Ask two things. What is the climate like? What does this body part do about it?"

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

   Fat Glove Test. 1) Spoon the shortening into one bag. Push a second bag inside it. Squeeze until the fat spreads all around the inner bag. This is the fat glove, often called a blubber glove. 2) Put the last two bags one inside the other, with no fat. This is the plain glove. 3) Your child slides one hand into each glove. An adult holds the tops above the water. 4) Lower both gloved hands into the ice water together. Count the seconds on the clock until each hand feels too cold. Safety: stop at 30 seconds, or sooner if it hurts, and dry both hands with the towel. 5) Record it in a table with two columns: Glove, Seconds until too cold. 6) Swap hands and repeat. Change only one thing: fat or no fat. Keep the bags, the water and the time the same. Expect the plain hand to feel cold within seconds. The fat hand may still feel fine at 30 seconds. Say: "Real results vary. Look for the pattern."

4. Science Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Your child makes a chart in the notebook with four columns: Animal, Climate, Adaptation, How it helps. They fill rows for the polar bear, whale, camel and jackrabbit. Then they finish the frame. "The hand with fat lasted ___ seconds. The hand without fat lasted ___ seconds. This shows ___." Sample: "This shows that fat slows heat from leaving a body."

5. Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Ask the three exit questions aloud. Praise answers that use the word because.

Homework: Find one animal near your home and write one adaptation that helps it in your climate. Look for: a body feature or behavior linked to your weather.