Week 8 — Printable Lesson Packet

Mathematics

Objective: Students add three two-digit numbers by looking for pairs that make a ten or a friendly number (2.NBT.B.6).

1. 10 min — Warm-Up: Revisit any circled problems from last Friday's assessment. Then play 'find the ten': say three one-digit numbers (7, 5, 3) and your child names the pair that makes ten and the total (7 + 3 = 10, plus 5 = 15). Try 6, 8, 2 and 4, 9, 6 and 5, 5, 8.
2. 15 min — Mini-Lesson: Write 23 + 47 + 15 vertically. Point to the ones column: 3, 7, 5. Say, '3 and 7 make a ten, then 5 more is 15.' Write the 5, carry the ten to the tens column as one straw bundle, and add 2 + 4 + 1 + 1 = 8 tens: 85. Repeat with 36 + 28 + 14 (6 + 4 makes ten, total 78), building tens with straws each time.
3. 15 min — Practice: Your child solves 12 + 38 + 25, 41 + 19 + 27, 33 + 33 + 17, and 26 + 54 + 15, circling the pair of ones that makes a ten before adding (answers 75, 87, 83, 95). Build the third problem with straws to prove it.
4. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Ask, 'Does it matter which two numbers you add first?' Test it together on 12 + 38 + 25 by adding 12 + 25 first, then 38 (still 75).

Materials: paper, pencil, straws bundled by ten, loose straws

English Language Arts

Objective: Students identify the main topic of a multi-paragraph nonfiction text and begin developing informational points with facts (RI.2.2, W.2.2).

1. 15 min — Read-Aloud: Say, 'Last week you asked questions about seeds and ants. This week we figure out what a whole book is mostly about.' Read 'What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?' by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, letting your child guess each animal before turning the page. At the end ask, 'If you had to say in one sentence what this book is about, what would you say?'
2. 10 min — Mini-Lesson: Draw a table with one wide top (the main topic) and four legs (details). Explain that the main topic is what the whole book is mostly about, and details are the smaller facts that hold it up. Fill the top with 'Animals use body parts in special ways' and let your child supply four legs from the book (a chameleon's eyes, a skunk's tail, a platypus's nose, a mole's feet).
3. 15 min — Guided Reading: Reread the 'nose' section together. Your child covers the answer page and reads only the question page, then says the main topic of just that section ('Different noses do different jobs'). Repeat with the 'ears' section. Write each section topic on a sticky note and stick it on the page.
4. 15 min — Writing Workshop: Return to last week's informational piece. Say, 'A fact tells something true; a definition tells what a word means.' Your child adds one definition sentence to the piece ('A whisker is a long stiff hair on a cat's face.') and underlines the word being defined.
5. 10 min — Word Study: Introduce the Dolch second-grade list as 'words we need to know by heart because sounding out does not always work.' Practice with flashcards: always, around, because, been, before, best, both, buy, call, cold. Have your child read each card, then trace the tricky part with a finger (the 'au' in because, the 'ee' in been) and write it once.

Materials: What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, chart paper, marker, sticky notes, writing notebook, pencil, index cards

Science

Objective: Students identify the parts of a plant and explain how the stem carries water to the leaves (2-LS2-1, 2-LS4-1).

1. 5 min — Science Question of the Week: Check the two soil cups from last week and compare: the window cup should be green and taller, the cupboard cup pale and leggy. Say, 'Plants have parts that do jobs. This week's question: What are the parts of plants and animals, and what does each part do?'
2. 20 min — Investigation: Celery Straws: Put half a cup of water in a clear glass and stir in 10 drops of red or blue food coloring. Stand a fresh celery stalk with leaves in the glass and predict where the color will go. While waiting, pull a full plant (a weed from outside, or a green onion from the grocery store) and have your child find and name roots, stem, leaves.
3. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Your child draws the green onion and labels roots, stem, leaves, then writes one job for each part: roots drink, stem carries, leaves catch light.

Materials: soil cups from Week 7, index card, celery stalk with leaves, clear glass, food coloring, water, green onion or weed, notebook, pencil

Mathematics

Objective: Students explore adding four two-digit numbers and use grouping to make the addition easier (2.NBT.B.6).

1. 10 min — Warm-Up: Put 4 index cards on the table: 25, 25, 25, 25. Ask your child how many in all and how they know (100, counting by 25s or two 50s). Then swap in 10, 20, 30, 40 and ask for the total (100) and the fastest grouping (10 + 40 and 20 + 30).
2. 15 min — Mini-Lesson: Write 18 + 32 + 27 + 13. Say, 'With four numbers, I hunt for partners.' Circle 18 + 32 = 50 and 27 + 13 = 40, then 50 + 40 = 90. Show the same problem in a column: ones 8 + 2 + 7 + 3 = 20, so write 0 and carry 2 tens; tens 1 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 9. Both ways land on 90.
3. 15 min — Practice: Your child solves 24 + 16 + 35 + 15, 41 + 22 + 19 + 8, 33 + 27 + 12 + 18, and 15 + 15 + 15 + 15 (answers 90, 90, 90, 60), drawing an arc between the pair they add first. Then they build 33 + 27 + 12 + 18 with straws, bundling every ten loose straws.
4. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Ask, 'What did you notice about the answers to the first three?' (all 90). Ask them to make their own four-number problem that also equals 90.

Materials: index cards, paper, pencil, straws bundled by ten, loose straws, rubber bands

English Language Arts

Objective: Students identify the focus of specific paragraphs within a text and use definitions to develop an informational point (RI.2.2, W.2.2).

1. 15 min — Read-Aloud: Read the back-matter pages of 'What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?' where each animal gets a short paragraph. Read three of the paragraphs (the elephant, the scorpion, the humpback whale). After each one, ask, 'What is this paragraph mostly about?' and have your child answer in one sentence.
2. 10 min — Mini-Lesson: Teach the 'Topic in the First Sentence' clue: nonfiction paragraphs often tell their topic in the first line and then give details. Read the humpback whale paragraph again and have your child point to the sentence that names the topic and then count the detail sentences.
3. 15 min — Guided Reading: Choose a nonfiction library book with clear paragraphs (any Gail Gibbons title or a National Geographic Kids Reader works). Your child reads one page, writes the main topic of that page on a sticky note, and then reads a second page and does the same. Compare: 'Are the two pages about the same big idea?'
4. 15 min — Writing Workshop: Your child starts a new informational paragraph about an animal from the read-aloud, using the table drawing: topic sentence on top, then two facts and one definition as legs. For example, 'Skunks use their tails to warn enemies. A skunk lifts its tail before it sprays. Spray is a smelly liquid that keeps animals away.'
5. 10 min — Word Study: Flash through yesterday's ten cards, then add today's Dolch words: does, don't, fast, first, found, gave, goes, green, made, many. Play Snap: lay cards face up, say a word, and your child slaps it and reads it. Point out that 'does' and 'goes' look alike but sound different.

Materials: What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, library nonfiction book, sticky notes, pencil, writing notebook, index cards, marker

Social Studies

Objective: Students name the seven continents and five oceans and locate them on a globe or world map (D2.Geo.1.K-2, D2.Geo.2.K-2).

1. 10 min — Read-Aloud and Discussion: Read 'Maps and Globes' by Jack Knowlton, focusing on the pages that show the whole Earth. Ask, 'Is there more land or more water?' Point to the continent you live on and say its name. Count the seven continents together on a printed world map: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, Antarctica.
2. 15 min — Hands-On Activity: Continent Cookies: Give your child a paper plate and blue crayon for the oceans. Cut seven rough continent shapes from green paper (trace from the world map) and have your child place each one in the right spot, saying its name. Add labels for the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Southern Oceans on small strips.
3. 5 min — Quick Write: Your child writes: 'I live on the continent of ______. The ocean closest to me is the ______.'

Materials: Maps and Globes by Jack Knowlton, printed world map or globe, paper plate, green paper, scissors, glue, blue crayon, paper strips, notebook, pencil

Mathematics

Objective: Students practice adding three and four two-digit numbers with column addition and check with grouping (2.NBT.B.6).

1. 10 min — Warm-Up: Bean count: scoop three small handfuls of beans onto three index cards. Your child counts each pile (write the numbers, for example 14, 21, 17), then adds all three (52). Recount all the beans in one pile to check.
2. 15 min — Mini-Lesson: Model a tricky column problem: 29 + 38 + 17. Ones: 9 + 8 + 7 = 24, write 4, carry 2 tens (draw two small sticks above the tens column). Tens: 2 + 3 + 1 + 2 = 8. Answer 84. Emphasize that the carried number can be 2 or even 3 when adding many numbers. Do 46 + 37 + 28 + 19 together (130).
3. 15 min — Practice: Your child solves 6 column problems: 15 + 27 + 38, 42 + 29 + 13, 56 + 17 + 19, 11 + 22 + 33 + 44, 25 + 35 + 18 + 12, 39 + 28 + 17 + 26 (answers 80, 84, 92, 110, 90, 110). They solve each a second way by grouping and compare answers.
4. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Ask, 'Which problem had the biggest carry?' (39 + 28 + 17 + 26, ones sum 30). Have your child explain what the carried 3 stands for (3 tens).

Materials: dried beans, index cards, pencil, paper

English Language Arts

Objective: Students compare the main topics of two nonfiction texts about animal body parts and develop informational writing with facts and definitions (RI.2.2, W.2.2).

1. 15 min — Shared Reading: Read 'Feathers: Not Just for Flying' by Melissa Stewart, reading both the large text and the smaller notebook-style captions. Stop after the first four feather jobs and ask, 'What is the main topic so far?' Guide your child to 'Feathers do many jobs besides flying.'
2. 10 min — Mini-Lesson: Put both books side by side. Say, 'Both books are about animal body parts, but each has its own main topic.' Write two circles on chart paper, 'Tails, eyes, noses do jobs' and 'Feathers do jobs,' and one shared idea in the middle: 'Body parts help animals survive.' Connect this to science this week, where you are looking at plant and animal structures.
3. 15 min — Independent Reading: Your child reads a self-chosen nonfiction book for 12 minutes, then writes 'This book is mostly about ______' on a sticky note and names two details that prove it. Support: Read the first two pages together and stop to name the topic before your child continues alone. Stretch: Write the main topic of two different pages and tell how they connect to the whole book.
4. 15 min — Writing Workshop: Your child writes a second paragraph about a feather job from today's book ('Some feathers keep birds warm.'), including one fact and one definition. Model the definition frame 'A ______ is ______' on the board first, then let your child choose a word such as 'down' or 'preen' to define.
5. 10 min — Word Study: Add ten more Dolch words: off, pull, read, right, sing, sit, sleep, tell, their, these. Have your child write each word in a sentence about a bird ('Birds sleep in their nests.') for three of the words, then read all thirty cards so far as fast as they can while you time it.

Materials: Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart, What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, chart paper, marker, library nonfiction book, sticky notes, writing notebook, pencil, index cards, kitchen timer

Science

Objective: Students compare animal body structures, such as beaks and feet, and explain how each structure helps the animal get food (2-LS4-1).

1. 5 min — Review: Cut the celery stalk across and look for colored dots in the stem; snap a leaf and find colored veins. Say, 'The stem has tiny tubes, like straws, that carry water up to the leaves.' Add 'tubes' to yesterday's drawing.
2. 20 min — Deeper Investigation: Beak Tools: Set out four 'foods' in bowls: dry rice (seeds), gummy worms or cooked spaghetti (worms), marbles or grapes in water (fish), and a cup with a few raisins at the bottom (nectar). Set out four 'beaks': tweezers, a spoon, a clothespin, and a straw. Your child tests each beak on each food for 30 seconds and tallies how many pieces it picked up, then decides which beak is best for each food. Support: Test only two beaks on two foods. Stretch: Match each beak to a real bird using 'What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?' by Steve Jenkins.
3. 5 min — Data Discussion: Read the tally chart together. Ask, 'Which beak got the most rice? Which got the worm? Why does the shape matter?' Write the sentence 'A ______ beak is good for ______' twice.

Materials: colored celery, table knife, dry rice, cooked spaghetti, grapes, raisins, 4 bowls, tweezers, spoon, clothespin, straw, What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins, timer, notebook, pencil

Mathematics

Objective: Students apply multi-addend addition to solve real-world problems about totals from several groups (2.NBT.B.6, 2.OA.A.1).

1. 10 min — Warm-Up: Mental grouping challenge: say 30 + 45 + 20, 15 + 65 + 10, 12 + 8 + 50 + 20 and your child answers without paper (95, 90, 90). Ask each time which numbers they paired first.
2. 15 min — Mini-Lesson: Read aloud: 'At the farm stand, Sam sold 24 peaches on Monday, 36 on Tuesday, 18 on Wednesday, and 22 on Thursday. How many peaches did Sam sell?' Draw four bars end to end labeled 24, 36, 18, 22. Group 24 + 36 = 60 and 18 + 22 = 40, total 100. Then ask a follow-up: 'If Sam started with 100 peaches, how many are left?' (0).
3. 15 min — Practice: Your child solves three story problems with a drawing and equation: 'Three shelves hold 27, 35, and 28 books, how many books?' (90); 'A class collected cans: 19, 31, 26, 14, how many cans?' (90); 'Four kids jumped rope 45, 15, 22, 18 times, how many jumps?' (100). Support: give the first two numbers already added. Stretch: ask how many more cans would make 100.
4. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Have your child pick something in your house that comes in several groups (pantry cans, crayons in boxes, coins in a jar) and estimate then add the groups.

Materials: paper, pencil

English Language Arts

Objective: Students state the main topic of a text and of individual paragraphs in their own words and organize facts and definitions into a clear informational paragraph (RI.2.2, W.2.2).

1. 15 min — Read-Aloud: Reread the ending of 'What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?' and the last spread of 'Feathers.' Play 'Title Maker': cover each book's title and have your child invent a new title that tells the main topic (for example, 'Amazing Animal Parts'). Compare with the real title and decide which is clearer.
2. 10 min — Mini-Lesson: Teach the difference between topic (one or two words, 'feathers') and main idea sentence ('Feathers help birds in many ways'). Write three short paragraphs' topics from this week's books in a column and have your child say a main idea sentence for each.
3. 15 min — Guided Reading: Write four short paragraphs on index cards yourself (three sentences each, about a bee, a frog, a cactus, and an owl, drawn from what you have read this week). Mix them up, and your child reads each and writes a main topic label on top. Then your child chooses one and lists its details as table legs.
4. 15 min — Writing Workshop: Your child rereads both animal paragraphs and adds one describing word (adjective) to each fact ('a long, stiff hair,' 'soft down feathers'). Then check that each paragraph has a topic sentence, two facts, and one definition, using a checklist you write on a sticky note.
5. 10 min — Word Study: Add the final Dolch group: those, upon, use, very, wash, which, why, wish, work, would, write, your. Sort all the cards from this week into 'I can spell it' and 'still practicing' piles and have your child rainbow-write the practicing words with three colored pencils.

Materials: What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart, sticky notes, chart paper, marker, index cards, writing notebook, pencil, colored pencils

Social Studies

Objective: Students build a labeled world map and describe where the continents and oceans sit in relation to each other using direction words (D2.Geo.1.K-2, D2.Geo.2.K-2).

1. 10 min — Review and Extend: Play 'Continent Quiz': name a continent and your child touches it on the paper plate map within five seconds. Then reverse roles. Add the equator with a red line across the middle and say, 'Places near this line are warmest.'
2. 15 min — Project Work: Big Wall Map: Tape two sheets of paper together and have your child draw the continents larger, using the plate map as a guide. Add a compass rose from last week, a title 'Our World,' and a key with green for land and blue for water. Write the continent names in pencil and the oceans in blue.
3. 5 min — Share Progress: Ask, 'Which continent is south of North America? Which ocean is east of Africa?' Your child answers by pointing and speaking in full sentences.

Materials: paper plate map from Tuesday, red crayon, 2 large sheets of paper, tape, pencil, crayons, printed world map

Mathematics

Objective: Students add three or four two-digit numbers accurately and show a grouping strategy (2.NBT.B.6).

1. 10 min — Warm-Up: Partner hunt: lay out index cards 13, 27, 45, 55, 38, 62, 19, 41. Your child finds pairs that make 100 (45 + 55, 38 + 62) and pairs that make 40 or 60 (13 + 27, 19 + 41). Add all eight for a grand total (300).
2. 15 min — Review Mini-Lesson: Review the two tools of the week on 28 + 34 + 16 + 22: grouping (28 + 22 = 50, 34 + 16 = 50, total 100) and column addition with carrying (ones 20, write 0 carry 2; tens 2 + 3 + 1 + 2 + 2 = 10, answer 100). Ask your child which they will use on the assessment and why.
3. 15 min — Weekly Assessment: Give 8 problems: 23 + 45 + 17, 36 + 24 + 29, 58 + 12 + 15, 41 + 19 + 27, 14 + 26 + 33 + 17, 25 + 35 + 21 + 19, 32 + 18 + 46 + 4, 47 + 13 + 29 + 11. Your child shows the pair they grouped first (arc or circle) or the carry marks in the column for each.
4. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Check together (85, 89, 85, 87, 90, 100, 100, 100). Ask, 'How is adding four numbers like adding two numbers from last week? How is it different?'

Materials: index cards, paper, pencil

Assessment: Add 3–4 two-digit numbers; show grouping strategies

English Language Arts

Objective: Students identify the main topic of a text and its paragraphs on an assessment and publish an informational paragraph with facts and definitions (RI.2.2, W.2.2).

1. 10 min — Reading Celebration: Your child chooses the favorite animal body part from the week and teaches it to a stuffed animal or family member in three sentences, starting with the main topic. Remind them that last week's skill, asking questions, helped them find these facts.
2. 15 min — Reading Response or Assessment: Your child reads the two back-matter paragraphs about the platypus and the mole in 'What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?' independently. In writing, they name the main topic of each paragraph, list two details from each, and write one sentence telling the main topic of the whole book.
3. 15 min — Publishing and Author's Chair: Your child chooses the stronger of the two animal paragraphs, copies it neatly, adds a title and a labeled diagram of the body part, and reads it from the Author's Chair. The audience says the main topic back in their own words to check that the writing was clear.
4. 10 min — Phonics Check: Dictate ten high-frequency words from this week and have your child write them: because, their, would, which, does, gave, those, write, always, been. Then flash the full 42-card set and record how many were read correctly in one minute.
5. 15 min — Independent Reading: Your child reads a self-chosen book for 15 minutes and at the end tells you the main topic of the whole book (nonfiction) or what the story is mostly about (fiction) in one sentence.

Materials: What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, writing notebook, pencil, plain paper, crayons, index cards, kitchen timer, self-chosen book, stuffed animal or family member as audience

Assessment: Read two back-matter paragraphs and identify the main topic of each paragraph and of the whole book with supporting details; phonics check on ten Dolch second-grade high-frequency words plus a one-minute timed read of the 42-word set.

Science

Objective: Students conclude that plant and animal parts have specific jobs that help the organism survive and design an imaginary animal with parts suited to a food (2-LS4-1).

1. 10 min — Drawing Conclusions: Make a T-chart with the headings Plant Part and Animal Part. Under each, your child lists the part and its job: roots take in water, leaves catch light, beak grabs food, feet grip branches. Ask, 'What would happen to the celery if it had no stem?'
2. 15 min — Art Connection: Design-an-Animal: Announce one food, for example 'seeds hidden inside pine cones.' Your child invents an animal with a beak or mouth, feet, and body cover that suit that food and its home, draws it in color, and labels three parts with their jobs.
3. 5 min — Week Reflection: Compare the two bean cups one last time and ask, 'Which plant part shows the biggest difference between the light cup and the dark cup?' Your child writes one sentence about the week's question.

Materials: notebook, pencil, paper, crayons or markers, soil cups

Assessment: Child names three plant parts and two animal structures and states the job of each in a sentence or labeled drawing.