Day 2 · Tuesday

Objective: I can choose a real community issue for my project and explain who it affects.

Standards: D4.6.3-5, D2.Civ.10.3-5, D4.8.3-5, D1.1.3-5, D1.2.3-5

Materials: Civic Action Project planner, Step 2 (or a notebook page titled Step 2), Noticing list and Step 1 ideas from Day 1, 1 sheet of paper (issue-choosing chart), 3 small paper slips (for a family vote if two ideas tie), Notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 7. Ask: "What is a point of view?" (How one person or group sees and feels about something.) Then ask the big question: "Which problem on your noticing list bothers you the most, and why?"

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "An issue is a problem that affects many people. A good project issue passes five tests." "Is it real? We saw it ourselves." "Is it local? It is in our town, school or neighborhood." "Is it kid-sized? We can do something in two weeks with an adult." "Does it help others?" "Is it safe?" Say: "Idea 1: end all pollution. It is not local and not kid-sized. It scores 3 out of 5." Say: "Idea 2: litter by the Oak Street bench. It passes all five tests." Say: "People can see one issue differently. A new dog park may please dog owners. Neighbors may worry about barking. Their views come from what they care about. A good citizen listens to both." Say: "Next, turn the issue into a compelling question, such as 'How can we keep our playground clean?' People may answer it in different ways." Ask: "Who else would care about the answer, and why?" (Sample: families who play there.) Ask: "Which tests does 'stop all littering everywhere' fail?" (Local and kid-sized.) Ask: "Why might the neighbors and the dog owners disagree?" (They care about different things: quiet, or a place for dogs to run.) If stuck, say: "Could we work on it this week, near home, with a grown-up?"

3. Activity / Source Work · 15–20 min

   Choose an issue. 1) On the sheet of paper, draw a chart with seven columns: Idea | Real | Local | Kid-sized | Helps others | Safe | Score. 2) Your child writes the top three ideas from Step 1 in the first column. 3) For each idea, mark one point for every test it passes. Write the score out of 5. 4) Choose the idea with the highest score. If two tie, hold a family vote. Each person gives one reason first, then votes on a paper slip. 5) Your child names two groups the issue affects. 6) Your child names one person or group who might see it differently and tells what they care about. Sample: "The park workers may say they have too few helpers." 7) Ask for evidence: "Show me on the chart why this idea won." Look for an issue that scores 5, such as playground litter or a food bank that needs supplies. If no idea scores 5, shrink one together until it does.

4. Notebook Entry · 10 min

   On Step 2, your child writes an issue statement. "In our ___, ___ is a problem because ___. It affects ___." Below it, write the compelling question: "How can we ___?" Sample: "In our park, litter by the bench is a problem because it blows into the playground. It affects kids and families."

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read the questions aloud. Your child answers aloud, then writes question 1. Praise listening to another point of view.

Homework: Your child reads the issue statement to a family member and asks who else it affects. Look for one new group added to the notebook.

Objective: I can count the sides and vertices of polygons.

Standards: 3.G.A.1

Materials: 24 toothpicks (or straws cut short), 24 small balls of clay or dough (or mini marshmallows), Grid paper, Ruler, Notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 30 Day 3. A pentagon has sides of 4, 6, 3, 5 and 7 cm. Your child finds the perimeter (25 cm). Then practice ×4 facts with no clock. Ask 4 × 4, 4 × 7 and 4 × 8 (16, 28, 32).

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "A side is a straight edge of a polygon. A vertex is a corner where two sides meet. More than one are called vertices." Build a square with 4 toothpicks and 4 clay balls. Touch each toothpick. Ask: "How many sides?" (4) Touch each clay ball. Ask: "How many vertices?" (4) Build a pentagon the same way. Count together: 5 toothpicks and 5 clay balls. Ask: "What do you notice?" (The two numbers match.) Say: "So a pentagon has 5 sides and 5 vertices. Every polygon has the same number of sides and vertices." Now pull one toothpick out of the pentagon. Ask: "Is it still a polygon?" (No. It is not closed.) Say: "A polygon must be closed, with every side joined at a vertex." Now your child does more. Your child builds a hexagon and counts both. (6 sides; 6 vertices)

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Your child builds or draws each one, then counts sides and vertices. 1) Push the toothpick square sideways so it leans. Is it still a quadrilateral? (Yes. It still has 4 sides and 4 vertices.) 2) Build an octagon. (8 sides; 8 vertices) 3) Draw an L-shape on grid paper with a ruler. Put a dot on each vertex. (6 vertices and 6 sides; a hexagon) 4) Ask: "A polygon has 10 sides. How many vertices does it have?" (10) If stuck, say: "Put a dot on each corner. Touch each side once. Count the dots, then the sides."

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   Your child makes a table with three columns: name, sides, vertices. 1) Draw a quadrilateral that is not a rectangle. (4; 4) 2) Draw a pentagon. (5; 5) 3) Draw a hexagon with sides of different lengths. (6; 6) 4) Draw an octagon. (8; 8) 5) A polygon has 7 sides. How many vertices does it have? (7) 6) You draw a plus-sign shape on grid paper. Your child dots and counts. (12 vertices; 12 sides) 7) Leo builds one polygon with 6 toothpicks, one for each side. How many clay balls does he need? (6) 8) Ana uses 9 clay balls for the corners of one polygon. How many toothpicks does she need? (9) Check that each row of the table has matching numbers.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read each question aloud; your child answers on paper and may build with toothpicks for question 3.

Fact fluency: ×4 facts

Homework: Your child sketches three polygons from around the house and dots each vertex. Under each, your child writes the number of sides and vertices. Sample: a door has 4 sides and 4 vertices.

Objective: I can speak loudly, clearly and at a good pace while looking at my audience.

Standards: SL.3.6, SL.3.4

Materials: Note cards, Mirror, Clock, A family member as audience, Writer's notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Word study (about 3 minutes). Write point, enjoy, cloud, crown and draw. Your child copies each word and circles the two letters that spell the vowel sound. Ask: "Why is it oy in enjoy?" (The sound comes at the end.) "Why is it ow in crown?" (It comes before a last n.) Your child splits en|joy into syllables. Spaced review from Week 2. Ask: "How does your voice change at a question mark?" (It goes up at the end.)

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Warm up the voice. Say this tongue twister slowly, at talking speed, then too fast: "Six sleek seals sat on slippery rocks." Ask: "Which speed was easiest to understand?" (Talking speed.) Teach four voice tips and write them down. Loud enough for the back of the room. Clear, with the ends of words finished. Steady, with a pause at each period. Expression, with a stronger voice on important words. Then teach eye contact: "Look up at the end of each sentence. Meet one listener's eyes." Read aloud this practice card, "Otter Pups," twice: A newborn sea otter pup floats like a cork. Its baby fur holds so much air that the pup cannot sink. The mother floats on her back and carries the pup on her chest. She grooms its fur and feeds it. When she dives, she may wrap the pup in kelp. By about two months, the pup starts to dive too. The first time, mumble and stare at the page. The second time, use all four tips and look up. Ask: "What changed?" (Louder, clearer, pauses, eyes up.) Say: "When a listener asks something, answer in a complete sentence."

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   1) Your child reads "Otter Pups" aloud, loud and clear. 2) Your child marks the card. Draw a slash after each period for a pause. Underline one word to stress in each sentence. (Samples: cork, sink, chest, grooms, kelp, dive.) 3) Your child reads it again and looks up at each slash. Give a thumbs up for each tip you notice. 4) Your child says the hook card three ways: quietly, then loud and clear, then with a pause before the surprising part. Ask: "Which way would a listener like best?" (Loud and clear, with the pause.) If stuck, say: "Read one sentence. Stop. Look at me. Breathe. Now read the next one."

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   Your child practices the full talk three times. 1) In front of the mirror, watching for eyes up. 2) For a family member seated nearby. 3) From the far side of the room, loud enough to reach. After each run, the listener names one strong tip and one tip to work on. Your child writes both in the notebook, along with the clock time. Look for: a pause at each period, eyes up after each sentence, and a time of 3 to 5 minutes.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Ask the three questions. For question 2, your child stands and shows you.

Homework: Give your talk once tonight for a family member who sits across the room. Ask if they heard every word.

Practice page · Week 33, Day 2

English Language Arts

I can speak loudly, clearly and at a good pace with eye contact.

Show answers

Practice Card

Sea stars have no brain. / They can grow a new arm if one breaks off. / Some sea stars have more than 20 arms! / Next time you visit the shore, look closely in the tide pools.

Mark the card above for your talk.

1. 1.

   Underline one word in each line to say with extra expression.

2. 2.

   Put a star where you will look up at the audience.

3. 3.

   Name two voice tips.
4. 4.

   Your listener asks, 'What did you learn?' Do not answer 'Arms.' Answer in a complete sentence.

Write ou or ow to finish each word.

1. 5.

   The c__ ate grass.
2. 6.

   Open your m__th wide.
3. 7.

   The king's cr__n is gold.

Challenge: Read the card three times. Record your time. Which tip got better?

Objective: I can describe the steps of how most fossils form and make a model of a fossil.

Standards: 3-LS4-1

Materials: Modeling clay or salt dough, a ball the size of an orange (salt dough: 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, about 1/2 cup water), A shell, a leaf with thick veins and a small toy animal, Paper plate, Plain paper and pencil, Science notebook

1. Day 162 — How Fossils Form — Wonder Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 10. Ask: "What does a decomposer do?" (It breaks down dead plants and animals.) Then the wonder. Ask: "Most dead things rot away. So how does a bone ever become a fossil?"

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "Most living things never become fossils. Decomposers and weather break them down. A fossil needs special conditions." Draw four boxes on plain paper and sketch as you speak. Say: "One. A living thing dies and is quickly buried by sediment, which is mud or sand, often under water." Say: "Two. Soft parts rot away. Hard parts like bones, shells and teeth last longer." Say: "Three. More layers pile on top for thousands to millions of years. Their weight presses the lower layers into rock. Water carrying minerals seeps into the hard parts. The minerals slowly fill and replace them, so the bone becomes stone." Say: "Four. Much later, the land may be pushed up. Wind and water wear the rock away. The fossil is uncovered." Say: "Sometimes a shell dissolves and leaves only its shape in the rock. That hollow print is a mold fossil." Ask: "Why does quick burial help?" (It keeps animals, decomposers and weather from breaking the body apart.) Ask: "Which lasts longer after death, a snail's body or its shell?" (Its shell.) Ask: "What turns a buried bone into stone?" (Minerals from water.) If stuck, say: "Point to the box. What happens next to the buried bone?"

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

   Model Fossil. 1) Flatten the clay on the plate until it is as thick as a finger. This is the sediment. 2) Your child presses the shell firmly into the clay and lifts it straight up. The print is a model of a mold fossil. 3) In a fresh spot they press the leaf, vein side down. 4) In another spot they walk the toy animal's feet across the clay. These prints model a trace. 5) Your child compares the three prints. Table: Object | Models remains or a trace | Details I can see. Change only the object. Keep the clay thickness and the push the same. A hard, ridged shell often leaves the sharpest print. Real results vary. Look for the pattern. 6) Ask: "Which of the four steps does pressing show?" (Burial in sediment.) Ask: "What can the model not show?" (Rotting, minerals, hard rock or millions of years.) Keep the model flat on the plate for Day 3.

4. Science Notebook Entry · 10 min

   In the notebook, your child draws a four-box comic strip of how a fossil forms. They label the boxes: buried, soft parts rot, minerals turn it to stone, uncovered. Under the strip they finish the frame: "My model shows ___. It cannot show ___." Sample: "My model shows a shell pressed into mud. It cannot show millions of years."

5. Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Ask the three exit questions aloud; your child may point to the comic strip. Praise steps told in the right order.

Homework: Show the model fossil to a family member and explain the four steps. Look for: the steps in order and one thing the model cannot show.