Week 21 — Printable Lesson Packet

Mathematics

Objective: Students will solve addition word problems about lengths in the same unit by drawing a picture and writing an equation (2.MD.B.5).

1. 10 min — Warm-Up: Your child estimates and then measures a piece of string you cut to 15 inches. Ask: 'If I tie on another string that is 10 inches, how long is the whole string?' Let them add and then tie and measure to check (about 25 inches).
2. 15 min — Mini-Lesson: Adding Lengths: Read this problem aloud: 'Maya has a ribbon that is 24 inches long. She buys another ribbon that is 18 inches long. How many inches of ribbon does she have altogether?' Draw one long bar split into a 24 part and an 18 part, write 24 + 18 = ?, solve it (42 inches), and check by cutting real ribbon or string to those lengths and measuring the total.
3. 15 min — Practice: Length Stories: Your child draws a bar model and writes an equation for each of these three problems. 1: 'A garden row of carrots is 36 inches long and a row of beans is 27 inches long. How long are both rows together?' (63 inches). 2: 'Jonah walks 45 meters to the mailbox and then 38 more meters to the park. How far did he walk?' (83 meters). 3: 'A caterpillar crawled 19 centimeters, rested, then crawled 32 more centimeters. How far did it crawl?' (51 cm).
4. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Ask: 'What did all three problems have in common?' (putting two lengths together, same unit). Your child writes 'Add lengths when you put them together' in their journal.

Materials: string cut to 15 inches and 10 inches, ribbon or string, ruler or tape measure, paper, pencil, crayons, math journal

English Language Arts

Objective: Students will ask and answer who, what, where, when, why, and how questions about a nonfiction text (RI.2.1).

1. 15 min — Read-Aloud: Introduce 'Penguins!' by Gail Gibbons and read the first half (kinds of penguins, where they live, how they swim). Remind your child that last week they asked thick and thin questions; this week the questions get a name: who, what, where, when, why, how. After reading, ask one of each and let your child find the answer on the page.
2. 10 min — Mini-Lesson: The Six Question Words: Write the six question words on six index cards. Show that 'where' answers point to places, 'when' to times, 'why' to reasons, and 'how' to steps. Put the cards in a cup; draw one and ask a question about penguins using it.
3. 15 min — Guided Reading: Your child reads a nonfiction book at their level for 12 minutes, then draws two question cards from the cup and asks you a question about their book with each. You answer using only what they read to you.
4. 15 min — Writing Workshop: Collective Nouns: Say: 'A group of penguins is a colony. English has special group words.' List on chart paper: colony of penguins, flock of birds, herd of cows, school of fish, pod of whales, pack of wolves, team of players, class of students, crowd of people, bunch of grapes. Your child writes three sentences about penguins using 'colony' and two other collective nouns.
5. 10 min — Word Study: Irregular Words in Sentences: Review the wall cards 'said, were, come, some, again, friend, because' and add 'there, where, their.' Your child reads each, then writes 'The penguins were cold, so some of them said, come again, friend' from dictation. Circle every irregular word spelled correctly.

Materials: Penguins! by Gail Gibbons (library), leveled nonfiction book, index cards, marker, cup, chart paper, irregular word wall cards, paper, pencil

Science

Objective: Students will make a map of a model landscape, using a key with symbols for land and water features (2-ESS2-2).

1. 5 min — Science Question of the Week: Show your child last week's hill sketch and ask: 'If a friend had never seen our pan, how could a drawing help them find the lake?' Introduce the goal: a map is a drawing of a place seen from above, with a key that explains the symbols.
2. 20 min — Investigation: Map the Pan: Build a fresh pan landscape with a mountain, a river, a lake, and a flat field, and add a pebble 'boulder' and a twig 'tree.' Your child stands on a chair to look straight down and draws what they see on a sheet, then makes a key box with a symbol for each feature (blue wavy line for river, brown triangle for mountain, green dot for tree). Trade places and see if you can find the boulder using only the map.
3. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Ask: 'What does the key do? Why do maps use symbols instead of pictures?' Say together: 'A map shows the shapes of land and water from above.'

Materials: last week's sketch, baking pan, damp sand or soil, water, pebble, twig, paper, colored pencils, sturdy chair

Mathematics

Objective: Students will solve subtraction word problems about lengths (cutting off, using up, comparing) with drawings and equations (2.MD.B.5).

1. 10 min — Warm-Up: Hold a 30-centimeter strip of paper and cut off 12 centimeters. Ask: 'How long is what is left?' Your child writes 30 - 12 = 18 and measures the leftover piece to confirm.
2. 15 min — Mini-Lesson: Taking Lengths Away: Read: 'A rope is 50 feet long. Dad cuts off 23 feet to make a swing. How much rope is left?' Draw a 50 bar, shade the 23 part that is cut away, and write 50 - 23 = ? (27 feet). Then read a comparison problem: 'Lena jumped 42 inches. Ben jumped 35 inches. How much farther did Lena jump?' Draw two bars lined up at the left, and write 42 - 35 = 7 inches.
3. 15 min — Practice: Cut It, Compare It: Your child solves three problems with a bar drawing and an equation. 1: 'A string is 64 centimeters long. Priya uses 29 centimeters for a bracelet. How much string is left?' (35 cm). 2: 'A snake is 58 inches long. A lizard is 21 inches long. How much longer is the snake?' (37 inches). 3: 'A hallway is 90 feet. Sam has walked 47 feet. How many more feet until the end?' (43 feet). Support: act out problem 1 with real string and scissors. Stretch: write a fourth subtraction length problem and solve it.
4. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Ask: 'How did you know each problem was subtraction?' Listen for 'cut off,' 'used,' 'how much longer,' and 'how many more.'

Materials: paper strip cut to 30 cm, string, ruler, scissors, paper, pencil, crayons, math journal

English Language Arts

Objective: Students will answer questions with evidence from a nonfiction text and use irregular plural nouns correctly (RI.2.1, L.2.1b).

1. 15 min — Shared Reading: Read the second half of 'Penguins!' (nests, eggs, chicks, dangers). Your child reads the labels on the diagrams while you read the paragraphs. Ask 'How does a father emperor penguin keep the egg warm?' and 'Why do chicks huddle?' and have your child put a finger on the sentence that answers each.
2. 10 min — Mini-Lesson: Prove It: Write 'The book says...' on an index card. Ask a why question and model answering with 'The book says penguins huddle because they share warmth.' Say: 'An answer is not done until you can say where it came from.'
3. 15 min — Independent Reading: Your child reads their nonfiction book for 12 minutes and answers one why or how question you write on a sticky note before they begin. Their answer must start with 'The book says.'
4. 15 min — Writing Workshop: Irregular Plurals: Write 'one foot, two feet; one tooth, two teeth; one mouse, two mice; one child, two children; one goose, two geese; one man, two men; one woman, two women; one fish, two fish; one sheep, two sheep; one deer, two deer.' Your child reads the pairs, then writes four sentences about penguins and their neighbors using at least three irregular plurals (for example, 'Penguins have two feet and no teeth.'). Support: provide sentence frames with the plural blank. Stretch: add two more pairs they know (mouse and mice already given, so try 'person, people' and 'leaf, leaves').
5. 10 min — Word Study: Irregular Past Tense Verbs: Write 'go, went; come, came; run, ran; see, saw; give, gave; take, took; eat, ate; have, had.' Read the pairs, then say a present verb and have your child say and write the past form. Dictate 'The penguin went to the sea and ate some fish.'

Materials: Penguins! by Gail Gibbons, leveled nonfiction book, index card, marker, sticky notes, paper, pencil

Social Studies

Objective: Students will name specific Native American nations, describe how the Cherokee people expressed gratitude across the seasons, and understand that these nations exist today (D2.His.2.K-2, D2.His.3.K-2, D2.Geo.5.K-2).

1. 10 min — Read-Aloud and Discussion: Read 'We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga' by Traci Sorell, who is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Point out that the family in the book lives today, with cars and basketball and ceremonies all at once. Ask: 'What are the Cherokee people grateful for in each season? Which of those things does your family also enjoy?'
2. 15 min — Hands-On Activity: Nations Map: On a printed outline map of the United States, help your child label four nations and their homelands: Lenape (around the Delaware River, New York and New Jersey), Haudenosaunee (New York), Cherokee (southern Appalachian Mountains, with the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma today), and Navajo, or Dine (Arizona, New Mexico, Utah). Then find your own state and look up together which nation's homeland it is. Explain that many nations were forced to move, and that all four still have governments and citizens today.
3. 5 min — Quick Write: Your child writes: 'The ___ people live in ___. Today they ___.' using one nation from the map.

Materials: We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell (library), printed outline map of the United States, colored pencils, notebook, pencil

Mathematics

Objective: Students will solve mixed addition and subtraction length problems, including finding an unknown part (2.MD.B.5).

1. 10 min — Warm-Up: Read two quick problems and your child says 'add' or 'subtract' before solving: 'A 16-inch ribbon and a 9-inch ribbon are tied together' (25 in); 'A 40-cm board has 15 cm sawed off' (25 cm). Ask why both answers are 25 even though one was adding and one was subtracting.
2. 15 min — Mini-Lesson: The Missing Piece: Read: 'A fence needs to be 75 feet long. So far, 48 feet are built. How many more feet need to be built?' Draw a 75 bar with a 48 part labeled and a question mark for the rest, and show both ways to think: 48 + ? = 75 (count up: 48 to 50 is 2, 50 to 75 is 25, total 27) and 75 - 48 = 27. Say: 'When you know the whole and one part, you can add up or subtract to find the other part.'
3. 15 min — Practice: Mixed Length Problems: Your child solves four problems, drawing a bar for each and labeling the whole and the parts. 1: 'A kite string is 85 meters. Rosa lets out 60 meters. How much is still wound up?' (25 m). 2: 'Two boards together are 92 inches. One is 55 inches. How long is the other?' (37 in). 3: 'A trail is 34 kilometers on day one and 29 on day two. How long is the whole trail?' (63 km). 4: 'A giraffe is 18 feet tall. A horse is 6 feet tall. How much taller is the giraffe?' (12 ft).
4. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Your child picks the problem that was hardest and explains to you how the bar drawing helped. Write one sentence in the journal about it.

Materials: paper, pencil, crayons, math journal

English Language Arts

Objective: Students will ask and answer questions across two nonfiction texts about the same animal and note where they agree (RI.2.1, RI.2.9).

1. 15 min — Read-Aloud: Second Text: Read 'Penguins!' by Anne Schreiber (National Geographic Kids Readers). Before reading, ask, 'What did Gail Gibbons tell us about penguin chicks? Let us see if this book agrees.' Read the whole book, pausing at the photos to compare them with Gibbons's drawings.
2. 10 min — Mini-Lesson: Two Books, One Answer: Ask 'How fast can penguins swim?' or 'Where do emperor penguins live?' and find the answer in both books. Say: 'When two books agree, you can trust the fact even more. When they differ, you have a new question.'
3. 15 min — Guided Reading: Your child reads three pages of the National Geographic book aloud to you, then reads their leveled book for 10 minutes. They write one question the NatGeo book answered that Gibbons did not.
4. 15 min — Writing Workshop: Penguin Fact Paragraph: Your child writes a five-sentence paragraph answering 'How do penguins take care of their chicks?' using both books. Require one collective noun and one irregular plural, underlined. Read it aloud and check that each fact can be found in a book.
5. 10 min — Word Study: More Irregular Past Tense: Write 'make, made; do, did; get, got; know, knew; grow, grew; fly, flew; throw, threw; swim, swam.' Point out that penguins cannot fly but the word pair is still useful. Dictate 'The chick grew and then swam' and check the two past-tense verbs.

Materials: National Geographic Kids Penguins! by Anne Schreiber (library), Penguins! by Gail Gibbons, leveled nonfiction book, paper, pencil

Science

Objective: Students will read and compare real maps to identify mountains, rivers, lakes, and oceans and explain how color and symbols show them (2-ESS2-2).

1. 5 min — Review: Hold up Monday's pan map and ask your child to explain the key to you as if you have never seen it. Then say: 'Real mapmakers use a key too. Let's find it.'
2. 20 min — Deeper Investigation: Real Map Hunt: Open a road atlas, a library map book, or a printed physical map of your state. Your child hunts for and circles with a finger: one river, one lake, one mountain or hill area, and the nearest ocean or large body of water, saying how the color or symbol told them. Then compare to the globe: ask where the biggest water shapes are and which continent has the most land near your home. Support: give the child a two-item hunt (river and lake) with the key pointed out. Stretch: trace a river from where it starts in the mountains to where it ends in a lake or the ocean.
3. 5 min — Data Discussion: Your child adds a row to a chart: Feature / Color on the map / Symbol. Fill in river, lake, mountain, and ocean. Say: 'Blue almost always means water on a map.'

Materials: Monday's map, road atlas, state map, or library map book, globe or world map, paper, pencil

Mathematics

Objective: Students will apply length addition and subtraction to a real measuring project and write their own length word problem (2.MD.B.5).

1. 10 min — Warm-Up: Give your child a 40-inch piece of string and ask them to measure and cut it into two pieces where one piece is 16 inches. They predict the second piece's length (24 inches), cut, and measure to check.
2. 15 min — Mini-Lesson: The Paper Chain Plan: Set a goal: build a paper chain to reach across a doorway. Measure the doorway together (for example, 32 inches), then make three links and measure how long the three-link chain is (about 6 inches). Ask: 'How many more inches do we need?' and write 32 - 6 = 26.
3. 15 min — Practice: Build and Track: Your child adds links, stopping every 5 links to measure the chain and write an equation for how much is left (for example, chain is 18 inches, 32 - 18 = 14 inches still needed). When the chain is longer than the doorway, they measure the extra and write the subtraction (for example, 36 - 32 = 4 inches too long). Then they write their own word problem about the chain for you to solve.
4. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Hang the chain and read your child's word problem aloud, solving it while they check your work. Ask: 'Which equation did you use most today, adding or subtracting?'

Materials: string cut to 40 inches, construction paper strips, tape or stapler, tape measure, scissors, paper, math journal, pencil

English Language Arts

Objective: Students will write questions and answers about a nonfiction text and edit their writing for collective nouns and irregular plurals (RI.2.1, L.2.1a, L.2.1b).

1. 15 min — Shared Reading: Reread the pages in Gibbons's 'Penguins!' about the different species (emperor, king, Adelie, rockhopper). Your child reads the species names and one fact about each. Ask, 'Which penguin is the largest? How do you know?'
2. 10 min — Mini-Lesson: Writing a Question and Answer Page: Show a question and answer page from any nonfiction book, or make one on paper: a bold question, then a two-sentence answer. Explain that authors use this format to help readers find facts fast. Model one: 'Q: Why are penguins black and white? A: The book says the colors hide them from predators. From above they look like dark water; from below they look like light sky.'
3. 15 min — Independent Reading: Your child reads their nonfiction book for 12 minutes and writes one question and answer pair in the Q and A format about it.
4. 15 min — Writing Workshop: Penguin Q and A Booklet: Fold two sheets into a booklet. Your child writes three question and answer pairs about penguins (one who or what, one where or when, one why or how), each answer using the book. Then they edit for the week's grammar: at least one collective noun and one irregular plural, both spelled correctly.
5. 10 min — Word Study: Mixed Irregular Verbs and Words: Play a quick game: you say a present verb from this week's lists and your child says the past; then flip and you say a wall word ('friend,' 'because,' 'again') and they spell it aloud. Finish with the dictated sentence 'My friend said the geese flew away again.'

Materials: Penguins! by Gail Gibbons, leveled nonfiction book, paper folded into a booklet, crayons, irregular word wall cards, paper, pencil, marker, both penguin books

Social Studies

Objective: Students will describe how the Haudenosaunee and other nations used and cared for natural resources, and create a gratitude message in the style of the Thanksgiving Address (D2.His.2.K-2, D2.Geo.5.K-2, D2.His.3.K-2).

1. 10 min — Review and Extend: Read 'Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message' by Chief Jake Swamp, a Mohawk elder of the Haudenosaunee. Ask: 'What parts of nature does the message thank? Why would a people who farmed corn, beans, and squash take care of the soil and water?' Connect to science: the same rivers and hills on Wednesday's map are the resources the message names.
2. 15 min — Project Work: Three Sisters Garden Plan and Thanks Poster: Explain that the Haudenosaunee planted corn, beans, and squash together, called the Three Sisters, because the corn holds up the beans and the squash leaves shade the soil. Your child draws the three plants growing together in a mound, labels each one's job, and writes three lines of thanks in their own words for things from nature they use every day (water, sun, a tree).
3. 5 min — Share Progress: Your child reads their three lines of thanks aloud. Ask: 'What is one thing you learned this week about a nation you did not know before?'

Materials: Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message by Chief Jake Swamp (library), large paper, crayons, pencil

Mathematics

Objective: Students will solve length word problems in the same unit using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown (2.MD.B.5).

1. 10 min — Warm-Up: Say three length facts and your child writes an equation for each, then tells whether it was a 'together,' 'take away,' or 'compare' story: '13 cm plus 28 cm,' '50 in minus 22 in,' '70 ft is how much more than 45 ft.'
2. 15 min — Weekly Assessment: Your child solves four problems with a drawing and an equation using a box or letter for the unknown. 1: 'A blue ribbon is 47 inches and a red ribbon is 36 inches. How long are they together?' (83 in). 2: 'A rope is 80 feet. 34 feet are cut off. How much is left?' (46 ft). 3: 'A bus is 40 feet long and a car is 15 feet. How much shorter is the car?' (25 ft). 4: 'Two pieces of yarn total 72 cm. One is 39 cm. How long is the other?' (33 cm).
3. 15 min — Practice: Measure and Write: Your child measures three items in centimeters (a spoon, a book, a shoe), then writes and solves two word problems using those real numbers: one addition (two items together) and one comparison (how much longer). They read each problem aloud to you.
4. 5 min — Wrap-Up: Ask: 'How is a length problem like the word problems we did in Unit 3?' Preview next week: 'We will put lengths on a number line and hop along it.'

Materials: spoon, book, shoe, ruler, paper, math journal, pencil

Assessment: Solve word problems involving lengths using drawings and equations

English Language Arts

Objective: Students will show they can ask and answer questions about a nonfiction text with evidence and use collective nouns and irregular plurals in writing (RI.2.1, L.2.1a, L.2.1b).

1. 10 min — Reading Celebration: Have your child teach you three penguin facts as if you had never read the books, holding up the page for each. Ask which of the two penguin books they would recommend to a friend and why.
2. 15 min — Reading Assessment: Read the emperor penguin egg pages from Gibbons's 'Penguins!' aloud once. Your child answers four written questions: Who keeps the egg warm? Where does the egg sit? How long does the mother stay away? Why does the father not eat? Each answer must include 'The book says' or point to the page.
3. 15 min — Publishing and Author's Chair: Your child decorates the cover of the Q and A booklet, adds a penguin drawing with a caption, and reads it aloud from the author's chair. Listeners must ask one question the booklet did not answer; your child says where they could find out.
4. 10 min — Phonics Check: Dictate 'said, were, come, some, again, friend, because, went, saw, took, knew, flew.' Then dictate 'Two mice and three geese have feet' to check irregular plurals.
5. 15 min — Independent Reading: Your child reads a book of their choice for 15 minutes. If they can find a collective noun or an irregular plural in it, they add it to the chart from Monday.

Materials: both penguin books, Q and A booklet, crayons, self-selected book, collective noun chart, paper, pencil

Assessment: Four written who, where, how, and why answers with text evidence from Penguins!; Q and A booklet with a collective noun and an irregular plural; dictation of 12 irregular words and verbs plus an irregular-plural sentence.

Science

Objective: Students will conclude that maps use symbols and color to show the shapes and locations of land and water, and will make a map of a real place (2-ESS2-2).

1. 10 min — Drawing Conclusions: Lay Monday's pan map beside Wednesday's chart. Your child writes: 'A map shows ___ from above. The key tells ___. Blue means ___.' Ask what a mapmaker would need to know about a place before drawing it.
2. 15 min — Extension: Map of Our Yard or Block: Walk your yard, block, or nearest park and note every land and water feature: a slope, a low muddy spot, a puddle that always forms, a creek, a storm drain, a big tree. Back inside, your child draws a map from above with a key and a compass rose, then marks where rainwater would flow with arrows (downhill, like the pan).
3. 5 min — Week Reflection: Ask: 'If you gave this map to a neighbor, could they find the low muddy spot?' Preview next week: 'We will find out about the water that is frozen solid, in ice and snow and glaciers.'

Materials: Monday's map, Wednesday's chart, notebook, pencil, clipboard, paper, colored pencils