Day 3 · Wednesday

Objective: I can describe my region's climate and explain how it affects the way people live.

Standards: D2.Geo.5.3-5, D2.Geo.10.3-5

Materials: Notebook, Pencil, Crayons, A globe or world map

1. Day 18 — Climate of Our Region — Big Question Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 2. Ask: "Name the three types of communities." (Urban, suburban and rural.) Then ask the day's wonder: "Why do some children need snow boots every winter and other children never see snow?" Take every idea.

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Look out a window together. Ask: "What is the air like right now?" Say: "That is weather. Weather is what the air is like today. It can change by lunch." Ask: "What are our summers usually like?" Say: "That is climate. Climate is the usual weather in a place over many years." Now your child sorts three sentences. "It is windy right now." (Weather.) "Our winters are usually cold and snowy." (Climate.) "A storm is coming tonight." (Weather.) Show the globe. Run a finger around the equator. Say: "This line is the equator. Places near it get the most direct sunlight, so they are usually warm all year. Places far to the north or south get slanted sunlight, so they are colder." Ask: "Is our home near the equator or far from it?" (Answers vary. Check on the globe.) If stuck, say: "Ask yourself, is it like this most years, or only today?"

3. Activity / Source Work · 15–20 min

   Source work. Read these two climate cards aloud. "Phoenix, Arizona, is in a desert. A usual January afternoon is about 67 degrees. A usual July afternoon is about 106 degrees. Only about 7 inches of rain fall in a year. Minneapolis, Minnesota, is far to the north. A usual January afternoon is about 24 degrees, and snow often covers the ground. A usual July afternoon is about 83 degrees. About 31 inches of rain and melted snow fall in a year." 1) In the notebook, draw a chart with four columns: Place, January, July, Rain in a year. Your child fills in both cities from the cards in pencil. 2) Ask: "Which city needs snow shovels? Give a number as evidence." (Minneapolis. January is about 24 degrees.) "Where would a cactus grow well? Give your evidence." (Phoenix. It gets only about 7 inches of rain.) 3) Find both cities on the globe. Ask: "Which is farther from the equator?" (Minneapolis.) 4) Add a third row for your town. Use what you know. A good estimate is fine.

4. Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Your child finishes these frames. "Our climate is ____. Because of our climate, people ____, ____ and ____." Sample: "Our climate is hot and dry. Because of our climate, people wear sun hats, use air conditioning and water their gardens." Then your child draws clothes for your coldest and hottest months with crayons.

5. Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read the three exit questions aloud. Praise answers that tell what is usual over many years, not what happened today.

Homework: Your child asks a family member how your climate affects their clothes, home or job, then writes the answer. Look for one clear link to usual weather.

Objective: I can use an array of rows and columns to show multiplication.

Standards: 3.OA.A.1, 3.OA.A.3, 3.OA.B.5

Materials: 30 counters (dried beans, coins or buttons), Empty 12-egg carton, Grid paper, Plain sheet of paper, Crayons, Notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review. Write 4 + 4 + 4 + 4. Your child writes it as multiplication (4 × 4 = 16). Then count by 3s to 30 together.

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Show the egg carton. Say: "An array is things lined up in equal rows. Rows go across." Slide a finger along each row. Ask: "How many rows?" (2) "How many in each row?" (6) Write 2 × 6 = 12. Say: "2 rows of 6 is 12." Next, build 3 rows of 4 beans on the plain paper. Run a finger down one column. Say: "Columns go up and down." Write 3 × 4 = 12. Turn the paper a quarter turn. Ask: "How many rows now?" (4) "How many in each row?" (3) Write 4 × 3 = 12. Ask: "Did I add or take away any beans?" (No.) Say: "Turning an array never changes the total." Now your child does more. Your child builds 2 rows of 5 and writes 2 × 5 = 10. Then your child turns the paper and writes 5 × 2 = 10.

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Your child writes one sentence, turns the array, and writes the other. 1) Build 4 rows of 5 (4 × 5 = 20; turned, 5 × 4 = 20). Check by rows: 5, 10, 15, 20. 2) Color 3 rows of 6 squares on grid paper (3 × 6 = 18; turned, 6 × 3 = 18). 3) A muffin pan has 2 rows of 3 cups. How many cups? (2 × 3 = 6) 4) Ask: "5 × 3 = 15. What is 3 × 5?" (15. It is the same array turned.) If stuck, say: "Slide your finger across one row. How many? How many rows like that?"

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   On grid paper, your child colors each array and writes its sentence. 1) 2 rows of 4 (2 × 4 = 8). 2) 3 rows of 5 (3 × 5 = 15). 3) 4 rows of 4 (4 × 4 = 16). 4) 5 rows of 3 (5 × 3 = 15). 5) 6 rows of 2 (6 × 2 = 12). 6) Which two arrays have the same total? Why? (Arrays 2 and 4. One is the other turned.) 7) A garden has 4 rows of 6 plants. How many plants? (4 × 6 = 24) 8) Chairs stand in 5 rows of 5. How many chairs? (5 × 5 = 25)

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Your child answers on grid paper with the beans put away.

Fact fluency: Skip-counting by 3s

Homework: Find 2 arrays at home, such as window panes or floor tiles. Draw each and write its multiplication sentence. Sample: a window with 2 rows of 3 panes, 2 × 3 = 6.

Objective: I can explain what a myth tells about the natural world.

Standards: RL.3.2

Materials: Reader's notebook, Pencil, Crayons, Your child's own book

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Word study, consonant-le. Dictate: "The little candle sat in the middle of the table." Your child writes it, then checks each word against yours. Look at the le endings and the double letters in little and middle. Spaced review, Week 1. Ask: "What two things does a setting tell?" (Where and when a story happens.)

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Ask: "Why do we have winter?" Say: "Scientists explain the seasons with the tilt of Earth as it travels around the sun. Long ago, people told myths instead. A myth is a very old story that explains something in nature. Myths often have gods, goddesses or magical beings." Read aloud "Demeter and Persephone," a myth from ancient Greece: [Demeter was the goddess of the harvest. Wherever she walked, wheat ripened and fruit grew sweet. Her daughter, Persephone, was her greatest joy. One day Hades, king of the underworld, carried Persephone down to his dark kingdom. Demeter searched the whole world, weeping. In her sadness she let nothing grow, and the earth turned cold and bare. At last the gods made an agreement. Persephone would live part of each year below with Hades and part above with her mother. When she returns, Demeter rejoices, and flowers bloom. When she leaves, winter comes again.] Think aloud: "I ask a myth two questions. Who are the magical beings? What in nature does it explain? Here the beings are gods. The story explains why winter comes and goes."

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   1) Ask: "Who are the characters, and how are they different from ordinary people?" (Demeter, Persephone and Hades. They are gods and goddesses.) 2) Ask: "What happens to the earth when Demeter is sad?" (Nothing grows. It turns cold and bare.) 3) Ask: "Which season does Persephone's return explain?" (Spring, when plants grow again.) 4) Draw two columns: The Myth Says and Science Says. Fill in one row about winter together. (Myth: Demeter grieves while Persephone is away. Science: our part of Earth tilts away from the sun and gets less direct light.) If stuck, say: "Find the sentence where the earth changes. What was Demeter feeling then?"

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   Your child works in the reader's notebook. 1) Draw a three-panel comic with crayons: Persephone is taken, the earth turns cold, she returns and flowers bloom. 2) Write one sentence under each panel. 3) Finish: "This myth explains ___." 4) Write one sentence telling how you know it is a myth and not a fable. Look for: panels in story order; a sentence that names winter or the seasons; a reason about gods or explaining nature. Sample: "This myth explains why winter comes each year. I know it is a myth because goddesses cause something in nature."

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read each question aloud. Your child answers in full sentences, aloud or in the notebook. The story may stay open.

Homework: Read your own book for 15–20 minutes. Then make up a short myth, four or five sentences, that explains why the wind blows. Tell it to a family member. Look for a magical being and a clear explanation.

Objective: I can observe that charged objects attract or repel without touching.

Standards: 3-PS2-3

Materials: 2 balloons (or a plastic comb if anyone has a latex allergy), Wool sock or sweater, About 20 tiny bits of tissue paper, 2 pieces of string, each about 2 feet long, 1 magnet and 1 steel paper clip, Science notebook and pencil

1. Day 18 — Static Electricity — Wonder Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Day 2. Ask: "Name one thing a magnet attracts and one metal thing it does not." (Sample: a paper clip; aluminum foil.) Then rub a balloon on the wool sock and hold it just above your child's hair. Ask: "What is happening to your hair? Is the balloon a magnet now?" Say: "Let's find out."

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Safety: an adult blows up the balloons and throws away any popped pieces at once. Say: "Everything is made of bits too tiny to see. Some of those bits carry electric charge. Rubbing moves some of them from the wool onto the balloon." Rub the balloon on the wool 10 times. Say: "Now the balloon has extra charge. We call that static electricity." Hold the balloon just above three tissue bits. Ask: "What did the tissue do? Did the balloon touch it first?" (It jumped up. No.) Say: "A charged object can pull light things without touching." Now hold the magnet over the paper clip, then over the tissue. Ask: "Does the magnet pull the tissue?" (No.) "Is static electricity the same force as magnetism?" (No. They are two different forces.) If stuck, say: "A magnet needs iron. A balloon needs rubbing to get its charge."

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

   Work on a dry day if you can, because damp air weakens static. 1) Draw a chart with three columns: Test, Prediction, Attract or repel. Your child predicts before each test. 2) Tissue test: rub the balloon on the wool 10 times. Hold it a finger-width above the tissue bits. 3) Wall test: rub 10 times again. Press the rubbed side gently on a wall and let go. 4) Two-balloon test: tie a string to each balloon and rub both on the wool. Hold both strings in one hand so the balloons hang side by side. Keep the wool and the 10 rubs the same. Change only what the balloon is near. Expect the tissue to jump up and the balloon to cling to the wall for a while. Expect the two balloons to swing apart. Ask: "Both balloons got the same kind of charge. What do same charges do?" (They repel.) If a test fails, say: "Real results vary. Rub longer and try again."

4. Science Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Your child sketches the three tests and labels each one attract or repel. Then finish two frames. "Rubbing gave the balloon a ___." "The balloon moved the tissue without ___." Sample: "Rubbing gave the balloon a charge. The balloon moved the tissue without touching it."

5. Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Ask the three exit questions aloud. Praise answers that keep static electricity and magnetism apart.

Homework: Show a family member the balloon and tissue test, and explain it using the word charge. Listen for: "Rubbing gave the balloon a charge, and it pulled the tissue without touching."