Day 1 · Monday

Objective: I can explain communities, needs, helpers, and community types.

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

Materials: Notebook, Large paper for a concept map, Markers, Week 1 and Week 2 notebook pages, Tape, Pencil

1. Day 41 — Q1 Review: Communities and Helpers — Big Question Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Weeks 1 and 2, in four recall questions. Ask: "What is a community?" (People who live, work or play in the same place and share things.) "Name one need every community has." (Any one: safety, health, learning, getting around, food and supplies, gathering.) "Name a helper." (Sample: a nurse.) "Name the three community types." (urban, suburban, rural) Put a dot beside any miss and begin there. Then ask the big question: "What makes our community work?"

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Today is review. Open the Week 1 and Week 2 notebook pages. Review five skills, one at a time. First, your child tells what a community is. Second, draw five circles, one inside the next. Your child labels them from the inside out: family, neighborhood, town, state, country. Third, your child names the six needs. Fourth, match helpers to needs. Ask: "A librarian helps people with which need?" (learning) "A road crew fixes a bridge. Which need is that?" (getting around) Fifth, sort community types. Say: "Omar sees tall towers, crowded sidewalks and a train under the street." (urban) "Lena's street has houses with yards, and the city is a short drive away." (suburban) "Tess's nearest neighbor is a mile away, past corn fields." (rural) Last, ask about working together: "What gets easier when neighbors work together? What can be hard?" (Sample: a cleanup goes faster, but people must agree on a plan.) If stuck, say: "Find it on your Week 1 or Week 2 page and read it to me."

3. Activity / Source Work · 15–20 min

   Build a one-page concept map on the large paper with markers. 1) Your child writes COMMUNITY in the middle and circles it. 2) Draw a branch named NEEDS. Add the six needs, with one helper beside each. (Sample: safety, firefighter. Health, nurse. Learning, teacher. Getting around, bus driver. Food and supplies, grocer. Gathering, park worker.) 3) Draw a branch named TYPES. Add urban, suburban and rural, with one clue for each. (Sample: tall buildings; houses with yards near a city; farms and open land.) 4) Draw a branch named MY COMMUNITIES. Add the five circle labels from the mini-lesson. 5) Your child stars the type that fits your own community. Ask: "What two clues are your evidence?" Write them by the star. 6) Check the map together. Look for: every need has a helper that fits, and every type has a true clue. Fix any that do not match.

4. Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Your child copies the concept map neatly into the notebook, or folds the large page and tapes it in. Circle the hardest branch. Then finish: "The hardest branch was ____ because ____. To remember it, I will ____." Sample: "The hardest branch was types because suburban and rural seem alike. I will ask if a city is close."

5. Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read the exit questions aloud; the concept map stays closed. Praise answers that give a clue or a reason.

Homework: Quiz a family member on three words from your concept map. Look for: your child gives a clue when an answer is wrong.

Objective: I can round and add within 1,000 using place value.

Standards: 3.NBT.A.1, 3.NBT.A.2

Materials: Grid paper, Notebook, Pencil

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 8. Ask 7 × 6 and 8 × 7 (42, 56). Your child names the strategy for each. Then your child writes 507 in expanded form (500 + 7).

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "This week we review the whole quarter. Today is rounding and adding." Say: "Rounding finds the nearest ten or hundred. A number line shows which one is nearer." Write 347. Draw a number line from 340 to 350 and mark 345 in the middle. Ask: "Which two tens is 347 between?" (340 and 350) "Is it before or after halfway?" (After, so it rounds to 350.) Draw a second line from 300 to 400 and mark 350. Ask: "Where is 347 now?" (Before halfway, so it rounds to 300.) Next, write 356 + 278 in columns on grid paper, one digit in each square. Say: "Ones first." 6 + 8 = 14. Write 4 and a small 1 above the tens. Ask: "Why did we write a small 1 above the tens?" (14 ones is 1 ten and 4 ones.) Tens: 5 + 7 + 1 = 13. Write 3 and a small 1 above the hundreds. Hundreds: 3 + 2 + 1 = 6. The sum is 634. Check with an estimate: 400 + 300 = 700, which is close. Now your child does more. Round 682 to the nearest 10 and the nearest 100 (680, 700). Add 247 + 136 (383).

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   Your child draws a number line for each rounding problem. 1) Round 465 to the nearest 10 and the nearest 100 (470, 500). 2) Round 761 to the nearest 10 and the nearest 100 (760, 800). 3) 518 + 294 (812). 4) 365 + 478 (843). If stuck on rounding, say: "Name the two tens. What number is halfway?" If stuck on adding, say: "Start with the ones. Is the total 10 or more? Then regroup."

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   1) Round 128 to the nearest 10 and the nearest 100 (130, 100). 2) Round 394 to the nearest 10 and the nearest 100 (390, 400). 3) Round 905 to the nearest 10 and the nearest 100 (910, 900). 4) 609 + 287 (896). 5) 199 + 456 (655). 6) Your child draws 264 + 153 with squares, sticks and dots. Circle 10 sticks to regroup them as a hundred (417). 7) One room has 346 books. Another room has 279 books. How many books in all? (625) 8) A farm picked 584 apples on Monday and 167 on Tuesday. Estimate the total by rounding each number to the nearest 100. Then find the exact total. (600 + 200 = 800; 751)

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read each question aloud; your child answers on paper and may draw a number line.

Fact fluency: ×7 and ×8 facts

Homework: Your child adds 238 + 409 in columns, then rounds the sum to the nearest 100. Answer: 647, which rounds to 600.

Objective: I can review characters, setting, sequence and central message using a new story.

Standards: RL.3.1, RL.3.2, RL.3.3, RL.3.5

Materials: 'The Plain Kite' story (in the lesson), printed or copied onto paper, Reader's notebook, Pencil, Highlighter, A story your child read this quarter

1. Warm-Up · 5 min

   Word study, plurals. Say: "Plural means more than one. Most nouns just add -s. Add -es after s, x, ch or sh. If a noun ends in a consonant and y, change the y to i and add -es." Your child sorts plants, games, boxes, dishes, puppies and stories by ending. (-s: plants, games; -es: boxes, dishes; -ies: puppies, stories) Spaced review from Week 8. Ask: "Fact or opinion: Kites are more fun than bikes?" (Opinion.)

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "This week we review the quarter. Today we review characters, setting, sequence and central message." Read aloud. Title: The Plain Kite. 'Nico built a kite from sticks and newspaper for the town kite contest. On the windy morning of the contest, the other kites were shiny and bright. Nico's looked plain. A boy pointed and laughed, but Nico only checked his knots again. When the whistle blew, a strong gust snapped the strings of two shiny kites. Nico's newspaper kite climbed slowly and steadily. Soon it was the last kite still flying. "Plain is fine," Nico said, "as long as it is strong."' Draw four boxes in the notebook: Characters, Setting, Sequence, Message. Think aloud for the first box: "Who is in the story? Nico, a boy who laughs and the other kite fliers. My proof is 'Nico built a kite.'" Write it in the box and highlight the proof.

3. Guided Practice · 10–15 min

   1) Setting. Ask: "Where does the story happen, and when?" (At the town kite contest on a windy morning.) Your child highlights the words. 2) Sequence. Ask: "What happens first, next and last?" (Nico builds a plain kite. A gust snaps two shiny kites. Nico's kite is the last one flying.) 3) Message. Ask: "What should a reader learn from Nico?" (Being strong or well made matters more than looking fancy.) 4) Ask: "Why does Nico check his knots when the boy laughs?" (He cares more about a strong kite than about looks.) 5) Add a fifth box, Trait. Ask: "What is Nico like inside? Prove it." (Confident or careful. Proof: he "only checked his knots again," or he says, "Plain is fine.") If stuck on the message, say: "Start with 'It is better to ___ than to ___.'"

4. Independent Practice · 15–20 min

   Your child chooses a story they read this quarter. 1) Draw five boxes: Characters, Setting, Sequence, Message, Trait. 2) Fill each box in a few words. 3) Copy a short quote into the Trait box as proof, with quotation marks. 4) Retell the story to you in order, using the Sequence box. Look for: a setting with both where and when. The message is a lesson, not an event. The trait is backed by the character's own words or actions.

5. Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read each question aloud. Your child answers in the notebook and may look back at both stories.

Homework: Your child rereads a favorite story from this quarter for 15 minutes and tells a family member its central message. Look for: a lesson, not a retelling.

Objective: I can explain pushes, pulls and balanced and unbalanced forces with examples.

Standards: 3-PS2-1

Materials: 8 index cards or paper slips, Paper and scissors, to cut 2 short and 2 long arrows, Toy car with two 12-inch strings taped on, one at the front and one at the back, 1 book, Quarter 1 science notebook and pencil

1. Day 41 — Q1 Review: Forces, Balanced and Unbalanced — Wonder Warm-Up · 5 min

   Spaced review from Week 1. Ask: "A force is a ___ or a ___." (Push; pull.) Then your child tells you every force word they remember, with no rush. Listen for: push, pull, balanced, unbalanced, friction, attract, repel, pole, static, pattern. Ask: "Can something sit still and still have forces on it?"

2. Mini-Lesson · 10–15 min

   Say: "A push moves a thing away from you. A pull moves it toward you. Forces can be balanced or unbalanced." Cut 2 short and 2 long paper arrows with the scissors. Lay the book on the table. Say: "Gravity pulls the book down. The table pushes up just as hard. The forces are balanced, so the book's motion does not change." Put two short arrows by the book, one pointing up and one down. Now each of you holds one string on the car. Pull gently and equally. Ask: "The car stays still while we both pull. Balanced or unbalanced?" (Balanced.) Pull harder on your side. Ask: "Which way did it move?" (Toward the stronger pull.) Lay a long arrow on your side and a short one on the other. Say: "Unbalanced forces change motion." Roll the car and tap its side. Ask: "Did its motion change?" (Yes. Its direction changed, so the forces were unbalanced.) If stuck, say: "Is the motion changing? Starting, stopping, speeding up, slowing down or turning means unbalanced."

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

   1) Write one situation on each card. Cards 1 to 4: a parked bike, a ball being thrown, a cup on a shelf, a car turning a corner. Cards 5 to 8: a hanging lamp, a dog starting to run, a sled slowing in snow, a resting book. 2) Your child sorts the cards into two piles, Balanced and Unbalanced. Look for whether the motion is changing. 3) Your child gives a reason for each card. 4) Your child picks one card from each pile and shows it with the paper arrows. Answers: balanced for the bike, cup, lamp and book. Unbalanced for the ball, car, dog and sled. For the turning car, say: "A change in direction is a change in motion." Chart: Card | Is the motion changing? | Balanced or unbalanced.

4. Science Notebook Entry · 10 min

   Your child makes a notebook vocabulary page for force, push, pull, balanced and unbalanced. Each word gets a meaning and a small arrow sketch. Sample: "Balanced: forces that are equal and opposite, so motion does not change." Look for two same-size arrows pointing opposite ways.

5. Wrap-Up & Exit Ticket · 5 min

   Read the three exit questions aloud; your child answers on paper. Praise reasons that say whether the motion is changing.

Homework: Your child quizzes a family member on the 5 vocabulary words. Look for: your child can correct a wrong answer and say why.