Day 2 · Tuesday

Objective: I can map how people and businesses in my own community depend on each other.

Standards: D2.Eco.4.3-5, D2.Civ.6.3-5

Materials: Large sheet of paper, Markers, Local map (a paper map, or a sketch of your main streets), 8 sticky notes, Notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 25. Ask: "What is a producer? What is a consumer?" (A producer makes goods or provides services. A consumer buys or uses them.) Then ask the big question: "Who did you depend on this morning before breakfast was over?" Count the people your child names. (Samples: the cook, power workers, a farmer.)

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Interdependence happens in our town too, and it goes both ways." In the notebook, draw a pizza shop in the middle of the page. Draw arrows pointing in. Say: "The shop depends on a supplier, who delivers cheese and flour. It depends on the power company, its workers and its customers." Now draw arrows pointing out. Say: "The workers depend on the shop for pay. They spend that pay at the shoe store and the barber." Ask: "What does the shop need from its customers?" (Money, to pay workers and buy supplies.) Ask: "If the pizza shop closed for a month, who would feel it?" (Workers, customers, the supplier and even the shoe store.) Say: "Working together has benefits. More gets made, and each worker does what they do best. It also has a hard part. When one link is late, everyone else must wait." Ask: "Name one benefit of depending on others." (We get more than we could make alone.) If stuck, say: "Where does the shop get its money? Where does it get its cheese?"

3. Activity / Source Work · 15–20 min

   Community Web. 1) Your child chooses one real local business or service, such as the grocery store, the library or a restaurant. Write its name in the middle of the large sheet of paper. 2) Find it on the local map. Ask: "Which roads bring people and trucks to it?" 3) On five sticky notes, your child writes people or things it depends on. Samples: workers, deliveries, electricity, water, customers. Stick them around the name and draw arrows pointing in with a marker. 4) On three more notes, write who depends on it. Draw arrows pointing out. 5) Find at least two notes that fit both ways, such as workers. Draw a double arrow for each. 6) Ask for evidence: "How do you know it gets deliveries?" (Sample: we saw a truck unloading.) Webs differ from town to town. Look for arrows in, arrows out and two double arrows.

4. Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Your child writes two cause-and-effect sentences with this frame: "If ___ closed for a week, then ___ would ___." Sample: "If the library closed for a week, then kids could not borrow books for school projects." Look for a real group of people in each sentence.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Ask the three exit questions. Your child answers aloud, then writes the answer to question 3. Praise answers that show both directions.

Homework: On a trip around town, your child spots one business and tells two things it needs from other people. Look for needs that name people, such as drivers or customers.

Objective: I can measure area in square inches, square centimeters, square feet and square meters.

Standards: 3.MD.C.5.a, 3.MD.C.6

Materials: Inch grid paper (or rule 1-inch squares on plain paper), Centimeter grid paper, Paper square 1 foot long on each side (cut from newspaper), 12-inch ruler with centimeters, Scissors, Notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 26 Day 2. Ask: "Would you measure the mass of a paper clip in grams or kilograms?" (Grams. A paper clip is very light.) Then practice ×4 facts with no clock. Ask 4 × 3, 4 × 5, 4 × 9 and 4 × 10 (12, 20, 36, 40).

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Yesterday our squares had no name. Today each unit square gets a name." Cut one square from each grid paper. Your child measures a side of the big one with the ruler (1 inch). Say: "This is a square inch. Each side is 1 inch long." Your child measures the small one (1 centimeter). Say: "This is a square centimeter." On inch grid paper, outline a rectangle 3 squares long and 2 squares tall. Count the squares together. (6) Say: "So the area is 6 square inches. The word square tells us we covered a space." Show the paper square foot. Say: "A square foot is 1 foot long on each side. We use it for rugs and floors." Lay the ruler on the floor 3 times in a line, then a little more. Say: "That is about 1 meter. A square meter is that long on every side. We use it for yards and fields." Now your child does more. On centimeter grid paper, outline a rectangle 5 squares long and 4 squares tall. Your child counts and names the unit. (20 square centimeters)

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Your child counts, then says the number and the unit. 1) On inch grid paper, outline a rectangle 4 squares long and 2 squares tall (8 square inches). 2) On centimeter grid paper, outline a rectangle 7 squares long and 2 squares tall (14 square centimeters). 3) Ask which unit fits the area of a fingernail, a bedroom floor and a soccer field. (square centimeters; square feet; square meters) 4) Say: "Ann says a photo has an area of 6 inches. What is wrong?" (Inches measure length. Area needs square inches.) If stuck, say: "Is one square as small as a fingernail, or as big as a floor tile?"

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   You outline rectangles 1 to 3. Your child writes each area with its unit. 1) Inch grid paper: 5 squares long and 2 squares tall (10 square inches). 2) Centimeter grid paper: 3 squares long and 3 squares tall (9 square centimeters). 3) Centimeter grid paper: 6 squares long and 3 squares tall (18 square centimeters). 4) Best unit for the area of a phone screen (square centimeters or square inches). 5) Best unit for the area of a rug (square feet). 6) Tess covers a photo with 12 one-inch squares, with no gaps or overlaps. What is its area? (12 square inches) 7) A hall floor is covered by 30 tiles. Each tile is 1 square foot. What is the area? (30 square feet) 8) Tess covers the same photo with centimeter squares. Will she need more than 12 or fewer? (More. Centimeter squares are smaller.)

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

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

Fact fluency: ×4 facts

Homework: Your child names the best square unit for a book cover, a bed, a kitchen floor and a park. Sample answers: square inches, square feet, square feet, square meters.

Objective: I can write a strong research question and three smaller questions to guide my reading.

Standards: W.3.7, L.3.6

Materials: Writer's notebook, "Why I Picked This Topic" paragraph from Day 1, 3 index cards, Highlighter, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Word study, contractions. Write these pairs: is not, did not, she is, we have, you are, she will. Your child writes each contraction and circles the apostrophe (isn't, didn't, she's, we've, you're, she'll). Ask: "Which letters did the apostrophe replace in we've?" (h and a) Spaced review from Week 22. Ask: "Mia grabbed her umbrella and her boots. What can you infer?" (It is raining, or rain is coming.)

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Your child reads the Day 1 paragraph aloud. Say: "A research question is the big question your report answers. A strong one is open-ended. It needs more than yes or no." Write the recipe: How, Why or What + exact topic + question mark. Think aloud: "My topic is honey. 'Do bees make honey?' Yes. Done. That question is too thin. I'll start with How. 'How do honeybees make honey?' Now I need many facts to answer it." Write both questions and cross out the first. Say: "A big question breaks into subtopics. A subtopic is one smaller part of the topic." Write three subtopic questions under the bee question. 1) Where do bees get nectar? 2) What happens to nectar inside the hive? 3) Why does a hive need so many bees? Say: "Each subtopic will become one paragraph of the report." Ask: "Would 'Which bee is the biggest?' fit here?" (No. It does not help explain how honey is made.)

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Write one question on each index card as you go. 1) Write "Do otters swim?" Ask: "Open-ended or yes/no?" (Yes/no) 2) Write "What do otters do?" Ask: "It is open-ended. Is it exact?" (No. It is too broad.) 3) Write "How do sea otters stay warm in cold water?" Ask: "Why is this one the strongest?" (It is open-ended and exact. Reading can answer it.) Your child lines up the cards from weak to strong. 4) Your child says three versions of a question for their own topic, weak to strong. Ask: "Can you answer the last one by reading?" (Yes) If stuck, say: "Start with How. Add your exact topic. Can I answer it with yes or no?"

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   1) Your child writes the final research question at the top of a new notebook page. 2) Under it, your child writes three subtopic questions. 3) Your child highlights the question word in all four. 4) On a word bank page, your child writes research question, subtopic and open-ended with their meanings. Sample for otters: "How do sea otters stay warm in cold water? What is otter fur like? How does eating help an otter stay warm? How do otters care for their fur?" Checklist: no question can be answered yes or no; each starts with How, Why or What. Each subtopic helps answer the big question; each ends with a question mark.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Ask the three questions. Your child answers aloud and uses the words research question and subtopic.

Homework: Read your research question to a family member. Ask them to guess one of your subtopics and write down the guess. Look for whether the guess matches one of your three. About 10 minutes.

Objective: I can explain that many traits are passed from parents to their offspring.

Standards: 3-LS3-1

Materials: Pictures of 2 animal families, each showing a parent with its young (library book, magazine or pet photos), Seed packet with a picture of the grown plant, or a few seeds from a fruit you know, Plain paper and colored pencils, Science notebook and pencil

1. Day 137 — How Traits Are Inherited — Wonder Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 15. Ask: "What does a tadpole have that an adult frog does not?" (Gills and a tail.) Now the wonder. Ask: "Why do puppies grow up to look like dogs and never like cats?" Write down the idea to check at the end.

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Offspring are the young of a living thing. A puppy is the offspring of two dogs." Say: "Many traits are inherited. That means they are passed from parents to offspring." On plain paper, draw a brown mother guinea pig and a white father guinea pig. Say: "Each pup gets traits from both parents. So it looks like them, but not exactly like either one." Your child draws three pups and colors each one brown, white or patched with colored pencils. Say: "Plants inherit traits too. A pumpkin seed grows into a pumpkin vine, never a rose bush." Note for you: families form in many ways, including adoption. Inherited traits come from birth parents, so today's examples are animals and plants. Ask: "A duckling hatches with webbed feet. Where did that trait come from?" (Its parents.) "Can we be sure what color each guinea pig pup will be?" (No. It may be brown, white or patched.) "What will an acorn from an oak tree grow into?" (An oak tree.) If stuck, say: "Look at the parents. Which of their features do you see again in the young?"

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

   Trait Detective. 1) Choose the first animal family picture. 2) Your child finds 3 traits the young share with the parent. Samples: body shape, ear shape, beak shape. 3) They find 1 way the young look different, such as size or fluffy down. 4) Repeat with the second family. 5) Look at the seed packet or the seeds. Ask: "What will these grow into? How do you know?" (The same kind of plant as the parent plant, because seeds inherit its traits.) Record in a table with three columns: Family, 3 shared traits, 1 difference. Nothing is changed; your child observes. Keep one rule the same: a shared trait must be seen in both parent and young. Expect body shape, legs and body covering to match. Size often differs because the young are still growing. If one picture shows few shared traits, say: "Real results vary. Look for the pattern across both families."

4. Science Notebook Entry · 10 min

   In the notebook, your child makes a 3-column chart titled "Passed Down": Trait, Parent, Offspring. They fill in 3 rows from the investigation. Then they finish the frames: "Offspring inherit traits from their ___. I know because ___." Sample: "Offspring inherit traits from their parents. I know because the ducklings have webbed feet like the mother duck."

5. Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read the three exit questions aloud. Then reread the warm-up idea about puppies, and praise checking it against today's evidence.

Homework: Find a young animal and its parent in a book or in the neighborhood. Write 2 traits they share. Look for: body features seen in both.