Week 18 — Printable Lesson Packet

Mathematics

Objective: Students will build rectangular arrays with up to 5 rows and 5 columns, describe them by rows and columns, and count the total (2.OA.C.4).

1. 10 min — Warm-Up: Spiral from Week 17: hand your child 12 beans and ask, 'Odd or even? Prove it.' Then say, 'Instead of two rows, make three equal rows.' Let them arrange 3 rows of 4 and notice it looks like a neat rectangle.
2. 15 min — Mini-Lesson: Lay out 3 rows of 4 beans. Trace a finger across each row: 'Rows go across, like reading.' Trace down each column: 'Columns go up and down, like pillars.' Say, 'This is an array: 3 rows, 4 in each row, 12 in all.' Build a 2 by 5 array and a 4 by 3 array and describe each the same way. Show that an egg carton is a 2 by 6 array.
3. 15 min — Practice: Give array cards to build with beans: 2 rows of 3, 4 rows of 4, 3 rows of 5, 5 rows of 2, 1 row of 5. For each, your child builds it, writes 'rows: __, in each row: __, total: __,' and counts. Then hunt the kitchen for arrays (muffin tin, ice cube tray, tiles, a window with panes) and record two.
4. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Ask, 'What makes an arrangement an array?' Listen for 'equal rows and straight columns.' Add array, row, and column to the word wall.

Materials: dried beans, index cards, egg carton or muffin tin, paper, pencil

English Language Arts

Objective: Students will identify the lesson of a folktale and read prose aloud with accuracy and expression (RL.2.2, RF.2.4b).

1. 15 min — Read-Aloud: Read 'Stone Soup' by Marcia Brown. Say that last week they compared fact books; this week they will meet the oldest kind of story, the folktale, which people told out loud long before it was written down. Ask: 'Did the soldiers trick the villagers, or teach them something?'
2. 10 min — Mini-Lesson: Introduce three genre words on a card: folktale (an old story passed down by telling), fable (a short story with animals that teaches a lesson), and moral (the lesson). Write the moral of Stone Soup together in one sentence, such as 'When everyone shares a little, there is enough for all.'
3. 15 min — Guided Reading: Reread the part where the villagers bring one ingredient at a time. Your child reads the villagers' lines with a different voice for each, and you keep a list of what goes into the pot. Ask why the soldiers say 'a stone soup would be better with' instead of just asking for food.
4. 15 min — Writing Workshop: Introduce formal and informal English. Your child writes the same message two ways: a note to a friend about Stone Soup ('This book is so cool, you gotta read it!') and a note to a librarian ('I recommend Stone Soup because it teaches sharing'). Talk about which words changed and why.
5. 10 min — Phonics: Fluency: Read story words fast and smooth: soldiers, village, hungry, hidden, stone, pot, barley, delicious, feast, clever. Your child reads the list three times while you time it, then reads one sentence from the book that contains two of the words with expression.

Materials: Stone Soup by Marcia Brown, index cards, pencil, marker, paper, writing paper, folder, timer

Science

Objective: Students will retrace every step of the engineering design process using their own project as the example (K-2-ETS1-1, K-2-ETS1-2, K-2-ETS1-3).

1. 5 min — Science Question of the Week: Ask: 'What are the steps an engineer follows, in order?' Let your child try from memory, then check against the notebook: ask, imagine, plan, build, test, improve, share. Note that last Friday's Design C sketch was another 'improve' step.
2. 20 min — Investigation: Make a Design Process Path on a long strip of paper: seven stepping stones labeled with the steps, and under each glue a copy or small drawing of the matching notebook page (the problem statement, the brainstorm list, the final plan, the prototype photo, the Test Sheet, the before-and-after comic, the recommendation). Then build Design C from Friday's sketch in the remaining time, using the best parts of A and B.
3. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Walk the path together, saying one sentence per stone about what you did. Ask: 'Which stone would you skip if you were in a hurry, and what would go wrong if you did?'

Materials: long strip of paper, glue stick, scissors, markers, recycling-bin materials, tape, Engineering Notebook

Mathematics

Objective: Students will write a repeated addition equation to find the total in an array by adding the rows (2.OA.C.4).

1. 10 min — Warm-Up: Skip-count by 2s to 20, by 5s to 50, and by 3s to 15 (3, 6, 9, 12, 15) while pointing to rows of beans as you count. Ask, 'Why does counting by 5s work for 5 beans in each row?'
2. 15 min — Mini-Lesson: Build 3 rows of 4 beans. Touch each row and say '4 plus 4 plus 4.' Write 4 + 4 + 4 = 12 and say, 'Each row is an addend. Three rows means three 4s.' Build 4 rows of 2 and write 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 8. Build 2 rows of 5 and write 5 + 5 = 10. Emphasize: 'The number of rows tells you how many times to write the addend.'
3. 15 min — Practice: Draw 6 arrays on a page using dots (3 by 3, 2 by 4, 5 by 3, 4 by 5, 1 by 4, 3 by 2). Your child writes a repeated addition equation for each by rows and finds the total (9, 8, 15, 20, 4, 6). Then reverse it: give the equation 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 20 and have your child build the array with beans.
4. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Ask, 'How many 3s did you add for 5 rows of 3?' Listen for 'five 3s, that is 15.' Ask what skip-count matched.

Materials: dried beans, array page with dot arrays, paper, pencil

English Language Arts

Objective: Students will identify the moral of a fable and read it aloud with expression and appropriate rate (RL.2.2, RF.2.4b).

1. 15 min — Shared Reading: Read 'The Tortoise and the Hare' (Jerry Pinkney's picture book version or any Aesop collection). Your child reads the Hare's boasting lines with a bragging voice and the Tortoise's with a slow, steady one. Ask: 'What is the moral? Is it the same lesson as Stone Soup?'
2. 10 min — Mini-Lesson: Start a Morals chart with columns Story and Moral. Add Stone Soup and The Tortoise and the Hare, then read two more one-page Aesop fables ('The Lion and the Mouse', 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf') and add their morals in your child's words. Point out that fables say the moral right at the end, and folktales make you figure it out.
3. 15 min — Independent Reading: Your child rereads 'The Tortoise and the Hare' alone, then reads the race scene aloud to you at a speed that matches each animal: rushing for the Hare, slow and steady for the Tortoise. Ask them to explain why changing speed helps a listener understand.
4. 15 min — Writing Workshop: Your child writes a short fable of their own with two animals and a moral at the end (three to six sentences). Model the frame: a boastful animal, a quiet animal, a contest, a surprise, and 'The moral is'.
5. 10 min — Phonics: Fluency: Phrase reading: write these phrases on strips and have your child read each smoothly as one chunk, not word by word: slow and steady, ran ahead, took a nap, crossed the finish line, laughed at the tortoise, wins the race. Then they read two strips in a row with no pause between.

Materials: The Tortoise and the Hare by Jerry Pinkney or an Aesop's Fables collection, Stone Soup by Marcia Brown, paper, pencil, writing folder, paper strips, marker

Social Studies

Objective: Students will review what government does, how leaders are chosen, and what national symbols mean, and explain why people follow shared rules (D2.Civ.1.K-2, D2.Civ.5.K-2, D2.Civ.8.K-2, D2.Civ.10.K-2).

1. 10 min — Read-Aloud and Discussion: Read 'I Pledge Allegiance' by Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson, which explains the pledge one phrase at a time. Stop at 'republic' and 'liberty and justice for all' and connect them to the unit: a republic means we choose our leaders by voting, and justice was the word from 'We the Kids'. Ask: 'Which parts of the pledge are about symbols, and which are about promises?'
2. 15 min — Hands-On Activity: Play Civics Bingo: make a 3 by 3 board with the words government, mayor, governor, president, vote, ballot, flag, eagle, symbol. You read a clue ('the leader of a state', 'a paper you mark to choose') and your child covers the matching word with a dried bean; three in a row wins and then the roles swap so your child reads clues to you.
3. 5 min — Quick Write: Your child writes two sentences: 'A government ___.' and 'I can be a good citizen by ___.' Support: provide word bank cards from the bingo board. Stretch: add a third sentence explaining why a community needs rules everyone follows, even people who voted the other way.

Materials: I Pledge Allegiance by Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson (library), paper for a bingo board, marker, dried beans, pencil, writing paper

Mathematics

Objective: Students will write two repeated addition equations for one array, adding by rows and by columns, and show both give the same total (2.OA.C.4).

1. 10 min — Warm-Up: Flash cards with quick repeated addition: 2 + 2 + 2, 5 + 5 + 5 + 5, 3 + 3 + 3 + 3, 4 + 4, 10 + 10 + 10. Your child answers and names the matching skip count.
2. 15 min — Mini-Lesson: Build 3 rows of 5 beans. Add by rows: 5 + 5 + 5 = 15. Now turn the paper sideways so the columns become rows and add by columns: 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 15. Say, 'Same beans, two equations, same total.' Repeat with 2 rows of 4: 4 + 4 = 8 and 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 8. Ask which equation is quicker to write and why.
3. 15 min — Practice: For four arrays (4 by 3, 2 by 5, 5 by 4, 3 by 3) your child builds each, writes the by-rows equation and the by-columns equation, and circles the total. Then draw a 4 by 5 array on grid paper and write both equations (5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 20 and 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 20). Support: build only 2 by 3 and 3 by 2 with beans and physically rotate them. Stretch: draw a 5 by 5 array and write both equations, then explain why they look the same.
4. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Ask, 'If I turn an array sideways, does the total change?' Listen for 'no, the same beans are still there.'

Materials: dried beans, grid paper or paper, index cards, pencil

English Language Arts

Objective: Students will compare a folktale from another culture with fables already read and read a poem aloud with rhythm (RL.2.2, RL.2.9, RF.2.4b).

1. 15 min — Read-Aloud: Read 'Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti' by Gerald McDermott. Explain that this folktale comes from the Ashanti people of Ghana in West Africa and explains how the moon got into the sky. Ask: 'Which of the six sons did the most to save Anansi? Why could Anansi not choose?'
2. 10 min — Mini-Lesson: Add Anansi to the Morals chart and compare: Stone Soup and Anansi both show that a group does what one person cannot. Show that this folktale also explains something in nature (the moon), which fables do not do. Support: you name the story, your child names the moral. Stretch: they explain why Anansi is a trickster and the Hare is not.
3. 15 min — Guided Reading: Reread the six sons' pages with your child reading each son's name and job in a strong, even beat (See Trouble, Road Builder, River Drinker, Game Skinner, Stone Thrower, Cushion). Point out that the repeating pattern reads like a poem, and have them clap the beat on a second read.
4. 15 min — Writing Workshop: Your child revises their fable from yesterday, then rewrites its moral two ways, informal ('Don't brag, you'll lose!') and formal ('Boasting often leads to losing'). They choose which one fits the end of a fable and explain why.
5. 10 min — Phonics: Fluency: Poetry fluency: return to 'Where the Sidewalk Ends' from Week 13 and have your child read 'Hug O' War' aloud twice, once for accuracy and once for beat. Word list to warm up first: son, spider, trouble, river, moon, forest, cushion, globe, sky, night.

Materials: Anansi the Spider by Gerald McDermott, Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, paper, pencil, writing folder, index cards, marker

Science

Objective: Students will prepare a showcase display that communicates the problem, the solutions tested, and the evidence for the final choice (K-2-ETS1-2, K-2-ETS1-3).

1. 5 min — Review: Test Design C once with the tilt test and record the number of escaped crayons next to A's and B's numbers. Ask: 'Did combining the best parts actually help?'
2. 20 min — Deeper Investigation: Build a trifold showcase board from a cut cereal box or three taped sheets. Left panel: the Problem Brief and 'before' picture. Middle panel: the three prototypes' names with the Comparison Table and the picture graph. Right panel: the recommendation sentence and the Design Process Path. Practice a two-minute talk that starts with 'Our problem was' and ends with 'We recommend', and time it.
3. 5 min — Data Discussion: Ask: 'If a visitor only looks at the middle panel, can they tell which design was best? What number proves it?' Add a big circle around the winning number.

Materials: Designs A, B, and C, 8 crayons, hardcover book, large cereal box or 3 sheets of card stock, tape, glue stick, scissors, markers, Engineering Notebook, timer

Mathematics

Objective: Students will solve word problems about arrays by drawing the array and writing a repeated addition equation (2.OA.C.4, 2.OA.A.1).

1. 10 min — Warm-Up: Say, 'Picture a muffin tin with 2 rows of 6 muffins. Say the repeated addition and the total without looking.' (6 + 6 = 12). Then a bookshelf with 3 shelves of 5 books (15) and a garden with 4 rows of 4 carrots (16).
2. 15 min — Mini-Lesson: Read: 'Mrs. Lopez put stickers on a chart in 4 rows with 5 stickers in each row. How many stickers are on the chart?' Draw the array with dots, label the rows, and write 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 20. Then read: 'A parking lot has 3 rows of cars with 4 cars in each row. How many cars?' (4 + 4 + 4 = 12). Post the routine: read, draw the array, write the repeated addition, answer in a sentence.
3. 15 min — Practice: Your child solves: 'Deshawn plants 5 rows of tomatoes with 3 plants in each row. How many plants?' (15); 'A window has 2 rows of 4 panes. How many panes?' (8); 'Cookies are on a tray in 4 rows of 4. How many cookies?' (16). Then a two-step: 'A tray had 3 rows of 5 muffins. The family ate 6. How many muffins are left?' (5 + 5 + 5 = 15, 15 - 6 = 9). Build each with beans first if needed.
4. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Ask, 'Which words in the problem told you how many rows and how many in each row?' Have your child underline them.

Materials: dried beans, paper, pencil, whiteboard or large paper

English Language Arts

Objective: Students will choose formal or informal English for different audiences and rehearse a fluent reading of a folktale or fable (L.2.3a, SL.2.6, RF.2.4b).

1. 15 min — Shared Reading: Reread the feast at the end of 'Stone Soup'. Ask your child to find how the villagers talk to the soldiers at the start (suspicious, short answers) and at the end (warm, polite). Talk about how the way people speak changes with how they feel and who they are speaking to.
2. 10 min — Mini-Lesson: Make a two-column chart, Informal and Formal, and fill it with pairs: kids / children, yeah / yes, gonna / going to, wanna / want to, hi / hello, thanks / thank you, cool / excellent. Role-play: your child greets a friend at the park, then greets a school principal, using the right column each time.
3. 15 min — Independent Reading: Your child chooses the story they will perform tomorrow (Stone Soup, The Tortoise and the Hare, or Anansi the Spider), picks a two-page section, and rehearses it aloud three times with expression, marking pauses with a pencil on a sticky note if needed.
4. 15 min — Writing Workshop: Your child writes a formal invitation to the family for tomorrow's Folktale Festival ('You are invited to hear a fable read by ____ at 10 o'clock in the living room') and an informal text-style note to a cousin about the same event. They read both and point to three words that changed.
5. 10 min — Phonics: Fluency: One-minute read: your child reads from their chosen section for one minute while you mark any word they miss on a sticky note. Count words read, practice the missed words (likely candidates: villagers, delicious, tortoise, boastful, Ashanti), and read again to beat the count.

Materials: Stone Soup by Marcia Brown, The Tortoise and the Hare by Jerry Pinkney or an Aesop's Fables collection, Anansi the Spider by Gerald McDermott, paper, clean paper, pencil, sticky notes, writing folder, timer

Social Studies

Objective: Students will complete and present the Government at Work poster, explaining how government, voting, symbols, and shared rules fit together (D2.Civ.1.K-2, D2.Civ.5.K-2, D2.Civ.8.K-2, D2.Civ.10.K-2).

1. 10 min — Review and Extend: Say the pledge together slowly, and have your child explain two phrases in their own words. Then reread the first two pages of 'We the Kids' from Week 13 and ask: 'Now that you know about voting and the three levels, who are We the People?'
2. 15 min — Project Work: Finish the poster: add a title, check that each section (government jobs, three levels, symbols, choosing leaders, days we remember) has a label, and add a final box called 'Rules We Share' with three rules your family follows that also help the whole community (stop at stop signs, recycle, be kind to neighbors). Rehearse a walk-through of the poster, one sentence per section, and time it to under three minutes.
3. 5 min — Share Progress: Your child presents the whole poster to the family and takes two questions. Photograph it for the portfolio and write on the back: 'The most important thing I learned about government is ___.'

Materials: I Pledge Allegiance by Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson, We the Kids by David Catrow, poster, markers, timer, phone camera, pencil

Mathematics

Objective: Students will demonstrate that they can identify rows and columns in an array and write repeated addition equations to find the total (2.OA.C.4).

1. 10 min — Warm-Up: Unit 3 spiral: one word problem ('Ana had 45 shells and gave away 17. How many left?' 28), one fact burst of 10 facts within 20, one odd or even proof (28 is even because it ends in 8 and 14 + 14 = 28). Then say, 'Now show me 28 as an array,' and let your child try 4 rows of 7 with beans.
2. 15 min — Mini-Lesson: Array gallery: your child draws three arrays of their choice (up to 5 by 5) on one page, labels rows and columns, and writes both repeated addition equations for each. Then they explain one to you as the teacher, tracing rows across and columns down.
3. 15 min — Weekly Assessment: Part 1: for three drawn arrays (3 by 4, 2 by 5, 4 by 4), write the number of rows, the number of columns, a repeated addition equation, and the total. Part 2: build an array with beans that matches 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12 and describe it in words. Part 3: solve 'A garden has 5 rows of 4 flowers. How many flowers?' with a drawing and an equation (20). Part 4: write the by-columns equation for the 3 by 4 array in Part 1 (3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12). Score each part for the equation and the answer.
4. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Unit 3 reflection: 'We solved stories, got fast with facts, found odd and even, and built arrays. Which one would you teach a friend first?' Preview next unit: measuring length with rulers.

Materials: assessment page, dried beans, paper, pencil

Assessment: Write repeated addition sentences for arrays; identify rows and columns

English Language Arts

Objective: Students will read a folktale or fable aloud fluently, state its moral, and show they can match formal and informal English to an audience (RF.2.4b, RL.2.2, L.2.3a).

1. 10 min — Reading Celebration: Folktale Festival: your child hands out the formal invitation, then performs their rehearsed two pages for the family with expression. Finish by making real stone soup for lunch later (a clean stone, broth, and whatever vegetables everyone brings to the pot).
2. 15 min — Reading Assessment: Read a new short Aesop fable aloud that your child has not heard ('The Ant and the Grasshopper' works well). They write the moral in their own words, tell whether it is a fable or a folktale and how they know, and name one other story from this unit with a similar lesson. This is the week's reading assessment.
3. 15 min — Publishing and Author's Chair: Your child copies their original fable neatly with an illustration and reads it from the Author's Chair, ending with the moral in formal English. Then look back through the Writing Folder at the opinion pieces from Weeks 13, 15, and 16 and choose the one they are proudest of to put on the refrigerator.
4. 10 min — Phonics Check: Fluency check: your child reads a one-minute passage from 'Stone Soup' they have not rehearsed while you count words and note misses. Then give four informal words (gonna, yeah, kids, thanks) and have them say and write the formal partner for each.
5. 15 min — Independent Reading: Free choice: another folktale or fable from the library, or a reread of any unit favorite. Ask your child to tell you the moral at the end and whether a person or an animal taught it.

Materials: Stone Soup by Marcia Brown, The Tortoise and the Hare by Jerry Pinkney or an Aesop's Fables collection, Anansi the Spider by Gerald McDermott, an Aesop's Fables collection, paper, clean paper, pencil, crayons, writing folder, timer, library books

Assessment: Written moral of an unfamiliar Aesop fable with genre identification and a connection to another unit story, a fluent expressive performance and one-minute cold read, a published original fable, and a four-item formal and informal English check.

Science

Objective: Students will present their engineering project to an audience, answer questions using evidence, and reflect on the whole unit (K-2-ETS1-1, K-2-ETS1-2, K-2-ETS1-3).

1. 10 min — Drawing Conclusions: Hold the Engineering Showcase for the invited family members or friends (in person or by video call). Your child gives the two-minute talk, shows Designs A, B, and C, and runs the tilt test live with the winning design. Prompt the audience to ask 'How do you know?' and coach your child to point to a number on the board when answering.
2. 15 min — Extension or Art Connection: Make an Engineer Certificate for your child with the words 'Asked, Imagined, Planned, Built, Tested, Improved, Shared' around the border and a drawing of the winning design in the middle. Then have your child give the crayon holder to the family member who had the original problem and explain how to use it.
3. 5 min — Week Reflection: Ask: 'Which step of the process was your favorite, and which was hardest?' and 'What problem will you solve next?' Write the answer on the last notebook page with the date, and note that next unit you will use these same skills to study land, water, and weather.

Materials: showcase board, Designs A, B, and C, 8 crayons, hardcover book, audience or video call, card stock or paper, markers, stickers, Engineering Notebook, pencil