What children learn

Math

1. Adding and Subtracting Within 10

   Counting on, partners of ten and take-away stories, acted out with things from home, fingers and a ten frame.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.OA.A.1 Solve add to, take from, put together/take apart and compare problems within 20, unknown anywhere.; 1.OA.B.3 Use properties as strategies: add in either order, or group addends to make a ten.; 1.OA.C.5 Link counting to adding and subtracting, for example counting on 3 to add 3.; 1.OA.C.6 Add and subtract within 20, fluently within 10, with strategies like counting on or making ten.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Count On to AddA picture-book class: the child hears how Bo the beaver's pail of 6 stones gets 3 more, hides 6 things under a cup at home, then adds by saying the bigger number and counting on (6, then 7, 8, 9) and says how out loud.
   2. Partners of TenA picture-book class: the child hears how Tess hides some of Bo's 10 stones under a leaf, splits 10 things from home, then finds the missing partner of 10 by counting the empty spots of a ten frame or the fingers still up, and says how out loud.
   3. Take-Away StoriesA picture-book class: the child hears how 2 of 7 frogs jump off Bo and Tess's log, acts out take-away stories with toys from home, counts back to find how many are left, and says the number sentence, like 7 - 2 = 5.

   Skills

   • Add within 10 by starting at the bigger number and counting on.
   • Know all the pairs of numbers that make 10, and find the missing partner of a number.
   • Act out a take-away story, count back to find how many are left, and say the number sentence.

2. Story Problems

   Mystery-number stories, parts and wholes, adding three numbers and the equal sign, acted out with things from home and drawn before they are written as number sentences.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.OA.A.1 Solve add to, take from, put together/take apart and compare problems within 20, unknown anywhere.; 1.OA.A.2 Solve story problems that add three whole numbers with a total of 20 or less.; 1.OA.B.3 Use properties as strategies: add in either order, or group addends to make a ten.; 1.OA.B.4 See subtraction as a missing addend: 9 - 6 asks 6 plus what makes 9.; 1.OA.D.7 Know the equal sign means both sides are the same; judge equations true or false.; 1.OA.D.8 Find the missing number that makes a three-number addition or subtraction equation true.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Mystery Number StoriesA picture-book class: the child hears how Fig the frog sneaks shells into Luna the fox's sock, acts the story out with a sock and toys, then finds missing numbers like 5 + ? = 8 by counting on from the start to the end, and says how out loud.
   2. Parts and WholesA picture-book class: the child hears how Luna the fox helps Fig the frog find his shy fish without a peek, sorts things from home into two parts of a whole, finds a hiding part by counting on, and adds three numbers by finding two that make 10 first.
   3. Equal Means the SameA picture-book class: the child hears how Fig the frog's party has too few juice boxes, sets up a pretend snack party to compare two groups in pairs, then learns that the equal sign means is the same as, so 7 = 3 + 4 is true, and checks both sides of number sentences out loud.

   Skills

   • Find the missing number in an add-to or take-from story by acting it out or counting on, and write the story with ? for the mystery number.
   • Find the whole or a missing part in a put-together or take-apart story, and add three numbers by adding two first, looking for a ten.
   • Find how many more in a compare story by matching in pairs, and read the equal sign as is the same as to tell true number sentences from false ones.

3. Adding and Subtracting Within 20

   Making ten, doubles and near doubles, and going back to ten, built with toys, chanted and acted out, to add and subtract within 20.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.OA.A.1 Solve add to, take from, put together/take apart and compare problems within 20, unknown anywhere.; 1.OA.B.3 Use properties as strategies: add in either order, or group addends to make a ten.; 1.OA.B.4 See subtraction as a missing addend: 9 - 6 asks 6 plus what makes 9.; 1.OA.C.5 Link counting to adding and subtracting, for example counting on 3 to add 3.; 1.OA.C.6 Add and subtract within 20, fluently within 10, with strategies like counting on or making ten.; 1.OA.D.7 Know the equal sign means both sides are the same; judge equations true or false.; 1.OA.D.8 Find the missing number that makes a three-number addition or subtraction equation true.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Make Ten to AddA picture-book class: the child hears how the Ten Bus fills up with teddy bears, builds it with their own toys, then adds numbers like 8 + 5 by making ten first (8 + 2 + 3, so 10 + 3) and says how out loud.
   2. Doubles and Near DoublesA picture-book class: the child hears how the bears line up their muddy boots on Mo's rack in matching rows, builds two rows of socks, then learns doubles and adds near doubles like 6 + 7 (6 + 6 and 1 more) and says how out loud.
   3. Back to TenA picture-book class: the child hears how 5 bears get off Mo's Ten Bus and its little car at the park, acts it out with a ten box, then takes away by going back to ten first (14 - 5 is 14 - 4, then 1 more) or by thinking addition, and says how out loud.

   Skills

   • Add within 20 by making ten first: split the other number to fill the ten, then add the rest.
   • Know the doubles, and add near doubles by doubling the smaller number and adding 1.
   • Subtract within 20 by going back to ten first, or by thinking of the addition that goes with it.

4. Counting to 120

   Counting big piles of things from home by tens, solving hundred chart puzzles, and counting, reading and writing numbers all the way to 120.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.NBT.A.1 Count to 120 from any number; read, write and match numerals to objects up to 120.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Count a Big PileA picture-book class: the child hears how Otto the otter counts a big pile of shells in rows of ten, counts a pile of their own, then counts by tens and on by ones, writes the total with two digits and counts on across a new ten.
   2. Hundred Chart PuzzlesA picture-book class: a wave washes numbers off Otto the otter's hundred chart, and the child builds a row of the chart, learns its patterns, fills the holes from the numbers next door and reads numbers to 100 with the tens first.
   3. Counting Past 100A picture-book class: Otto the otter's hundred chart is full but his bucket isn't, so Nell draws new rows, and the child counts on past 100 all the way to 120, then reads and writes the numbers from 101 to 120 with three digits.

   Skills

   • Count a big pile by making groups of ten, then counting by tens and on by ones, and match the count to its numeral.
   • Read numbers on a hundred chart, use its rows to find missing numbers, and count on across a new ten.
   • Count on past 100 to 120 from any number, and read and write the numbers from 101 to 120.

5. Tens and Ones

   Making tens with things from home, solving tens and ones riddles, and comparing two-digit numbers with >, = and <.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.NBT.B.2 Know two-digit numbers are tens and ones, including 10 as one ten, teens and decades.; 1.NBT.B.3 Compare two-digit numbers by their tens and ones, and record with >, = and <.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Bundle a TenA picture-book class: the child hears how Ruby the squirrel puts ten nuts on a string, makes a ten of their own in a cup, then builds, names and writes the teen numbers as 1 ten and some ones.
   2. Tens and Ones RiddlesA picture-book class: the child hears Hazel's riddle and watches Ruby lay out strings of ten, draws numbers as tens and ones, solves riddles like I have 5 tens and 3 ones, and finds out what each digit means, even the 0 in 70.
   3. Greater or LessA picture-book class: the child hears how Chomp the crocodile picks the pile with more, compares two-digit numbers by looking at the tens first and then the ones, and shows which is greater with >, = or <, using crayons and crocodile arms.

   Skills

   • Make a ten from 10 ones, and show the teen numbers as 1 ten and some ones.
   • Tell what the tens digit and the ones digit mean in a two-digit number, including tens with 0 ones.
   • Compare two-digit numbers, tens first, and record the result with >, = or <.

6. Adding and Subtracting Tens

   Finding 10 more and 10 less, adding tens and ones in sticker stories, and taking away tens with balloons.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.NBT.C.4 Add within 100 (two-digit plus one-digit or tens) with models: tens with tens, ones with ones.; 1.NBT.C.5 Find 10 more or 10 less than a two-digit number in your head, and explain how.; 1.NBT.C.6 Subtract tens from tens, like 70 - 30, with models and strategies, and explain.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Ten More, Ten LessA picture-book class: Beep the robot Ten Machine bakes cookies in trays of 10, and the child finds 10 more and 10 less by changing only the tens, flashing 10 fingers and saying why the ones stay.
   2. Add Tens and OnesA picture-book class: Pip the panda fills a sticker book with full sheets of 10 and loose stickers, and the child adds tens with tens and ones with ones, makes a new ten when 10 loose ones pile up, and says which tool helped.
   3. Take Away TensA picture-book class: at Pip the panda's park party the wind takes whole bunches of 10 balloons, and the child takes away tens with socks or fingers as tens (7 tens take away 3 tens is 4 tens, 40), and checks by adding back.

   Skills

   • Find 10 more and 10 less than a two-digit number without counting by ones.
   • Add a one-digit number or a multiple of 10 to a two-digit number, making a new ten when needed.
   • Subtract a multiple of 10 from a multiple of 10, and explain it with tens.

7. Measuring Length

   Lining things up to compare lengths, measuring with paper clips laid end to end, and putting measured things in order.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.MD.A.1 Order three things by length, and compare two lengths by way of a third thing.; 1.MD.A.2 Measure a length with same-size units laid end to end, with no gaps or overlaps.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Line Them UpA picture-book class: the child hears how Lulu the llama and Rocco the raccoon find whose kite tail is longer, lines up three things from home at a start line, then puts things in order two at a time and uses a string as a go-between, saying how they know out loud.
   2. End to EndA picture-book class: the child hears how Lulu and Rocco measure a kite tail with paper clips, measures a spoon or crayon with clips at home, then learns why gaps, a late start and clips on top give the wrong count, and says how to measure out loud.
   3. Measure and OrderA picture-book class: the child hears how Lulu and Rocco measure three drawn snakes for a parade, measures three things from home with one kind of unit, then puts things in order by their numbers, checks every number, and explains why the unit must be the same.

   Skills

   • Put three things in order by length by lining up their ends, and compare two things by way of a third.
   • Measure a length with copies of one unit laid end to end, with no gaps or overlaps, and say it with its unit.
   • Measure three things with the same unit and put them in order by their lengths.

8. Telling Time

   Reading and writing o'clock and half past times on clocks with hands and on digital clocks, with a crayon-and-spoon clock, an arm clock and a stepping game.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.MD.B.3 Read and write o'clock and half past times on clocks with hands and digital clocks.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. O'ClockA picture-book class: the child hears how Snail and Rabbit, the short and long hands of a park clock, tell Frog the time, makes a clock with a crayon and a spoon, or with their arms, then reads and writes o'clock times like 3 o'clock and 3:00 and says how out loud.
   2. Half PastA picture-book class: the child hears how Snail and Rabbit, the hands of the park clock, race from 3 o'clock, runs the race on a crayon-and-spoon clock, then reads and writes half past times like half past 3 and 3:30 and says how out loud.
   3. What's the Time?A picture-book class: the child hears how Frog's little clock with only numbers helps Snail and Rabbit set the stopped park clock to 4:30, makes times on a crayon-and-spoon clock, matches clocks with hands to digital times both ways, and plays a stepping game.

   Skills

   • Read and write o'clock times, like 3 o'clock and 3:00, by finding the short hand first.
   • Read and write half past times, like half past 3 and 3:30, by reading the number the short hand has just passed.
   • Match clocks with hands to digital times, and make a time on a clock of their own or with their arms.

9. Sorting and Graphs

   Sorting things from home into groups, reading picture graphs and bar graphs, and finding how many more, how many fewer and how many in all.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.MD.C.4 Sort and show data in up to three groups, then total and compare the groups.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Sort and CountA picture-book class: the child hears how Gus the goat's wash ends up all over his room and how Fern the fox sorts it, sorts their own things from home by one rule, lines each group up to count it, then finds which group has more and how many there are in all, and says how out loud.
   2. Read a GraphA picture-book class: the child hears how Gus and Fern's mixed-up pet votes become a graph, lines up things from home into a real graph, then reads picture graphs and bar graphs (how many in each row, which has the most or the fewest, how many in all) and says what a graph shows out loud.
   3. How Many More?A picture-book class: the child hears how Fern and Gus match their beach shells in pairs, matches socks and shoes at home, then finds how many more and how many fewer in rows and graphs, tells that apart from how many in all, and asks and answers a question about a graph out loud.

   Skills

   • Sort things into up to three groups by one rule, count each group and find how many in all.
   • Show sorted things in a picture graph or a bar graph, and read how many are in each row, which has the most or the fewest, and how many in all.
   • Find how many more or how many fewer one group has than another, and ask and answer questions about a graph.

10. Shapes and Equal Shares

    Building shapes and finding the rules that make each one, putting shapes together into new shapes, and folding paper into halves and fourths.

    3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

    US curriculum: 1.G.A.1 Tell defining attributes (closed, three sides) from others (color, size); build and draw shapes.; 1.G.A.2 Put flat or solid shapes together into a bigger shape, then build new shapes from it.; 1.G.A.3 Split circles and rectangles into halves and fourths (quarters); more equal shares make smaller shares.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. Shape RulesA picture-book class: the child hears how Pip and Kiko pick a triangle roof for their fort, builds shapes from crayons, then learns the rules that make a triangle and a square, and that color, size and turning don't change a shape.
    2. Build New ShapesA picture-book class: the child hears how Pip and Kiko make a square window from 2 triangles, builds a tower from boxes and rolls, then names new shapes by tracing their outside edge (2 squares make a rectangle) and finds that flat parts stack and round parts roll.
    3. Halves and FourthsA picture-book class: the child hears how Pip and Kiko share a cracker fairly with their friends, folds paper into halves and fourths, names equal shares (half of, a fourth of, a quarter of) on crackers and circles, and finds that more shares make smaller shares.

    Skills

    • Tell a shape by its rules (closed, straight sides, how many sides and corners), not by its color, size or turn, and build or draw shapes that follow them.
    • Put flat and solid shapes together into a new shape, name it, and build bigger shapes from it.
    • Split circles and rectangles into 2 or 4 equal shares, name them halves, fourths or quarters, and tell that more shares make smaller shares.

English Language Arts

1. Sounds and Stories

   Your child plays with the sounds in words (blending them like a robot, hearing first sounds, telling short from long vowels) and listens to a funny story to tell who is in it, where it happens and what happens.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RF.1.2 Hear the sounds in one-syllable words: tell short from long vowels, blend, isolate first sounds (a–c here).; RF.1.3c A final e can make the vowel long, as in hop and hope (by ear in this unit).; RL.1.1 Ask and answer questions about the important details of a story.; RL.1.3 Tell who is in a story, where it happens and what big things happen, with details.; RL.1.2 Retell a story's important parts in order (its lesson or message comes in unit 4).; RL.1.7 Look at a story's pictures and details to tell about its characters, place or events.; SL.1.2 Ask and answer questions about details in something read aloud or shared by voice or media.; SL.1.6 Speak in complete sentences when the task or moment calls for it.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Robot Talk: Blend the SoundsA picture-book class: your child listens to A Robot Named Beep, about a little robot who talks one sound at a time, blends Beep's words, learns robot talk with taps and a sweep, pushes toys into sound boxes, and finds the first sound of words.
   2. Short and Long Vowel SoundsA picture-book class: your child listens to Beep's New Button, where a button with an e turns cap into cape, then hears short and long vowel sounds with a quick clap for short and arms stretched wide for long, and makes their own paper e button to change words.
   3. Who, Where and What HappenedA picture-book class: your child learns the three story-detective questions, listens to a funny story, Grandpa's Noisy Nap, makes the sound effects, and tells who is in it, where it happens and what happens first, next and last.

   Skills

   • Blend sounds heard one at a time into a word, and hear the first sound of a word.
   • Hear whether a vowel is short or long (says its name), and how a final e changes a word.
   • Tell a story's characters, setting and events, and retell it with first, next and last.

2. Short Vowel Words

   Your child starts reading on their own: sounding out short words like map and sun, spelling them out loud, and reading a little story about a bug and a pup.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RF.1.3b Sound out and read one-syllable words with short vowels, like map, pig and sun.; RF.1.3g Read a few common words with unusual spellings by heart: the, a, is, and.; RF.1.2b, d Blend sounds into a word, and pull a spoken word apart into all its sounds.; RF.1.1a Know what a sentence looks like: a capital letter first, an end mark last.; RF.1.4a–c Read a short Grade 1 story with understanding, rereading to fix words and sound smooth.; L.1.2a, b Names get capitals and sentences get end marks (noticed here, written in unit 7).; L.1.2d, e Spell short-vowel words by their sounds, one letter for each sound.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Tap and Read: Short Vowel WordsA picture-book class: your child reads short words on their own for the first time (map, pig, sun), tapping one sound for each letter on their arm and sweeping down it to blend the word, then reads a whole little book about a ladybug's messy day and hears true facts about ladybugs.
   2. Word Builder: Spell It Out LoudA picture-book class: your child spells short words out loud by their sounds (bed, fin, hen), one letter for each sound, changes one letter to build a new word, like fin into fan, reads a whole little book about a puppy who digs, and hears true facts about why dogs dig.
   3. Bud and Gus: Read a Little StoryA picture-book class: your child reads a whole little story aloud, Bud and Gus, about a bug and a pup who meet, using letter sounds and four heart words (the, a, is, and), learns what makes a sentence, reads a page again more smoothly, and hears true facts about puppies.

   Skills

   • Read short words with a short vowel by saying each letter's sound and blending them (tap and sweep).
   • Spell short words out loud by their sounds, one letter for each sound, and change one letter to make a new word.
   • Read a short story aloud using letter sounds, heart words and sentence clues, and reread it smoothly.

3. Characters, Settings and Events

   Your child listens to new stories and describes their characters and settings, tells who is talking in each part, and compares two characters' rainy days, while still reading short words and lines.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RL.1.1 Ask questions about a story's important details, and answer them.; RL.1.3 Describe a story's characters, setting and big events, using details.; RL.1.6 Tell whether the narrator or a character is speaking in each part.; RL.1.7 Use a story's pictures and words as clues to characters, setting and events.; RL.1.9 Compare two characters' adventures in two stories: what is alike and different.; RL.1.10 Read short story lines at a Grade 1 level, with help when needed.; SL.1.1a–c Take turns talking, add on to what others say, and ask when unsure.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Picture Clues: Characters and SettingsA picture-book class: your child hears the story Ned Can't Sleep, about a bear cub and an owl on a winter night, learns to test who is a character and to find where and when a story happens from clues in the words and pictures, describes a character and tells how he changes, then finds clues in new pictures.
   2. Who Is Telling the Story?A picture-book class: your child shares the story Pam, Kit and the Big Box, reading every character's line in a speech bubble while the teacher reads the narrator's parts. They learn to tell who is talking at each part and who I means, and practice taking turns and adding on in a talk.
   3. Two Rainy Days: Alike and DifferentA picture-book class: your child reads two short stories about the same rainy morning with the teacher, one about Lin the snail and one about Tad the kitten, reading the characters' lines, retells their days in order, and tells how their days are alike and different.

   Skills

   • Describe a story's characters and its setting, where and when it happens, in their own words, using clues in the words and pictures.
   • Tell whether the narrator or a character is talking at each part of a story, read characters' lines, and take turns and add on in a talk.
   • Compare two characters' adventures in two stories: retell each in order and say what is alike and what is different.

4. Retelling and the Lesson of a Story

   Your child hears old fables and a folk tale, retells them in order, tells their lessons, asks and answers questions about them, and learns how a story differs from a page of facts, while still reading short lines.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RL.1.2 Retell a story's key parts in order, and tell its lesson or message.; RL.1.5 Tell how storybooks differ from books that give facts.; RL.1.10 Read short story lines at a Grade 1 level, with help when needed.; SL.1.2 Ask and answer questions about details in a story read aloud.; SL.1.3 Ask a speaker questions to learn more or understand better.; SL.1.4 Retell who, where and what happened, with details, clearly and in order.; SL.1.6 Speak in complete sentences, with starters like The lesson is …

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Tortoise and the Hare: Retell It in OrderA picture-book class: your child hears the old fable The Tortoise and the Hare, reads the characters' lines, learns to retell a story in order with first, next, then and last and to find a fable's lesson from how it ends, then retells the race to Sam and tells its lesson in a full sentence.
   2. The Lion and the Mouse: Ask and AnswerA picture-book class: your child hears the fable of the lion and the mouse, stops to ask and answer questions about it, reads three of the characters' lines, learns to turn a telling sentence into a question and to answer in a full sentence, interviews the mouse, and tells the fable's lesson with a reason.
   3. The Enormous Turnip: Story or Facts?A picture-book class: your child hears the Russian folk tale The Enormous Turnip, reads its repeated lines, tells the helpers in order and the tale's lesson, then reads a page of true facts about turnips and learns to tell a story from a fact page by asking: could it really happen?

   Skills

   • Retell a story's key parts in order with first, next, then and last, with details, and tell its lesson in a complete sentence.
   • Ask questions to learn more or understand better, and answer questions about a story read aloud in complete sentences.
   • Tell how a story differs from a page of facts, and retell a folk tale and its lesson.

5. Digraphs and Long Vowels

   Your child learns letter buddies, sh, ch and th, that make one sound, and the magic e that makes a vowel say its name, then puts on a puppet play, reading every line smoothly and with feeling.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RF.1.3a Read words with the letter pairs sh, ch and th: two letters, one sound.; RF.1.3c A silent e at the end makes the vowel say its name: cap, cape.; RF.1.3b Sound out one-syllable words that mix these patterns with short vowels.; RF.1.2a, c, d Tell long from short vowels; find and count the sounds in words.; RF.1.4a–c Read a short play accurately and smoothly, with expression, rereading to fix words.; L.1.2d, e Spell words with sh, ch, th or a silent e by their patterns.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Letter Buddies: sh, ch and thA picture-book class: your child meets letter buddies, sh, ch and th, two letters that make one sound, with an action for each; taps, sweeps and spells words with them, reads a whole story full of buddy words about a chipmunk and a hen playing a finding game, and hears true facts about chipmunks.
   2. Magic e: Make the Vowel Say Its NameA picture-book class: your child learns the magic e (a silent e at the end makes the vowel say its name, so cap becomes cape), builds and spells a word with it, reads a whole story full of magic e words about a rabbit looking for a dry place to live, and hears true facts about burrows.
   3. Our Puppet Play: Read It SmoothlyA picture-book class: your child puts on a puppet play, The Kite, with the unit's rabbit, pup and chipmunk. They read every character's lines, first carefully and then smoothly with feeling, let the end marks lead their voice, fix words that don't make sense, and hear true facts about kites and kite safety.

   Skills

   • Read and spell words with sh, ch and th, giving the two letters one sound, and hear where that sound is in a spoken word.
   • Read and spell words with a silent e, where the vowel says its name, and keep the vowel short when there is no e.
   • Read a short play with these patterns aloud, first carefully and then smoothly with expression, fixing words that don't make sense.

6. Learning from Nonfiction

   Your child reads short fact books and how-tos: says what a book is mostly about, finds facts fast with its contents page, labels and glossary, and compares two how-tos on one topic. Along the way they read new letter teams: wh, ck, ng, ee, ea, ai and ay.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RI.1.1, RI.1.2 Ask and answer questions about facts; say what a book is mostly about.; RI.1.4 Ask questions and use clues in the text to work out new words.; RI.1.3 Tell how two things in a fact book are linked.; RI.1.5 Find facts fast with the contents page, headings, labels, icons and a glossary.; RI.1.6, RI.1.7 Tell what pictures teach apart from words; use both to explain ideas.; RI.1.8, RI.1.9 Find the reason for a step; compare two how-tos on one topic.; W.1.7, W.1.8 Use two how-tos to tell our own steps and answer a question.; RI.1.10 With help, read short fact books and how-tos at a Grade 1 level.; RF.1.3a–c Read words with wh, ck, ng and the vowel teams ee, ea, ai, ay.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Fact Finders: What Is It Mostly About?A picture-book class: your child reads a short fact book about whales with Max the fox and Ivy the hedgehog's Fact Club, meets the letter buddies wh, ck and ng, finds what the book is mostly about with a topic hand, works out a new word from the picture, and looks back at the page to answer a question.
   2. Find It Fast: The Parts of a Fact BookA picture-book class: your child reads a fact book about honey bees with Max the fox and Ivy the hedgehog's Fact Club, uses its contents page, headings, labels, icon and glossary to find facts fast, tells what the pictures show apart from the words and how bees and flowers help each other, reads words with ee and ea, and does the waggle dance.
   3. Two How-To Books: Alike and DifferentA picture-book class: your child reads two short how-tos about growing a bean, written by Max the fox and Ivy the hedgehog, compares them, finds the reasons the authors give in their Why? boxes, uses both to tell what a bean needs and their own steps, reads words with ai and ay, and grows like a bean.

   Skills

   • Say what a fact book is mostly about, retell its key facts, and ask and answer questions about it from its words and pictures.
   • Use the parts of a fact book, its contents page, headings, labels, icons and glossary, to find facts fast, and tell what its pictures teach.
   • Compare two how-tos on one topic, find the reason the author gives for a step, and use both to tell steps of our own, in order.
   • Read words with the letter buddies wh, ck and ng and the vowel teams ee, ea, ai and ay, in a fact book and on their own.

7. Telling and Writing Our Stories

   Your child tells stories, true or made-up: in order with first, next, then and last, with details a listener can see and hear, and with a good ending. They help Sam fix up his stories about Gus the pup and publish one as a book. Along the way they read words with the endings s, es, ed and ing.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: W.1.3 Tell and write about events in order, with time words, details and an ending.; W.1.5 Answer a classmate's questions and add details to make a story better.; W.1.6 With help, publish a story with a digital tool, together with a classmate.; SL.1.4 Tell what happened clearly, with details and feelings, so a listener can follow.; SL.1.5 Add a drawing that makes a story clearer.; L.1.1c, L.1.1e Use s for more than one, and ed for the past.; L.1.2a–b Use capitals for names and an end mark for each sentence.; RF.1.3f Read words with the endings s, es, ed and ing.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Tell It in Order: First, Next, LastA picture-book class: your child learns the time words first, next, then and last with story fingers, fixes a mixed-up story, tells a small story of their own on a story walk, reads Sam's story about Gus the pup, full of words that end in s and es, and retells it to Sam in order.
   2. Add Details: Make a Story Come AliveA picture-book class: your child learns to zoom in and add details that tell how things looked, sounded and felt, draws details in the air, reads Sam's new story about Gus the pup and his messy day, full of words that end in ed, and helps Sam add a detail of their own.
   3. A Good Ending: Publish Our StoryA picture-book class: your child learns what makes a good ending, how to fix up a line with capitals and end marks, and the ending ing. They read Sam's new story about Meg and Gus the pup, full of ing words, pick its ending, publish it as a book with Sam and read it aloud like a storyteller.

   Skills

   • Tell a story in order, out loud and clearly, with the time words first, next, then and last.
   • Add details that tell how things looked, sounded and felt, answer a classmate's question with a detail, and draw a part of a story.
   • Give a story a good ending, fix up its names and end marks, then publish it and read it aloud.
   • Read words with the endings s, es, ed and ing, and tell what each one means: more than one, already happened, or happening now.

8. Opinions: I Think … Because

   Your child learns to share an opinion: name the topic, say what they think, give a reason with because and wrap it up. They tell facts from opinions, teach a topic with facts, and talk a story over, asking why and agreeing or disagreeing kindly.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: W.1.1 Give an opinion: name the topic, what you think, a reason, and a closing.; W.1.2 Teach about a topic: name it, give some facts and wrap it up.; SL.1.1a–c Take turns, listen, build on what others say, and ask when unsure.; SL.1.3 Ask a speaker questions to learn more or understand better.; L.1.1g, j Speak in complete sentences, joining ideas with and or because.; L.1.6 Use words learned from talk and books, like the joining word because.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. I Think … Because: Give a ReasonA picture-book class: your child hears how Tilly the town mouse and her country cousin Clover think differently about a squishy puddle, reads the mice's lines, and learns to share an opinion in four parts: name it, say what they think, give a real reason with because, and wrap it up.
   2. Fact or Opinion? Teach It with FactsA picture-book class: your child becomes a fact detective, sorts short sentences into facts we can check and opinions about what someone thinks or feels, hears how Clover's fact book about snails changes Tilly's opinion, and teaches what they learned: the topic, two facts and a wrap-up.
   3. Let's Talk It Over: Agree and DisagreeA picture-book class: your child hears the fable of the town mouse and the country mouse, told with Tilly and Clover, reads the mice's lines, and learns to talk it over: listen to the end, ask questions to learn more, add on, and agree or disagree kindly, with a reason.

   Skills

   • Share an opinion: name the topic, say what you think, give a reason that fits with because, and wrap it up.
   • Tell a fact from an opinion, and teach about a topic: name it, give facts in complete sentences and wrap it up.
   • Talk it over: listen to the end, ask a speaker why or what they mean, and agree or disagree kindly, with a reason.

9. Word Meanings and Poems

   Your child explores word meanings through original poems: finding sense words, acting out words that are close in meaning, sorting and defining words, and using clues and the prefix un to work out new words. Along the way they clap the beats in two-beat words and read short poems themselves.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RL.1.4 Spot poem words that show feelings or what we see, hear or touch.; RL.1.10 With help, read short poems at a Grade 1 level.; RF.1.3d, e Count beats by vowel sounds; split two-beat words into beats to read them.; L.1.4a–c Use sentence clues, the prefix un and root words to work out meanings.; L.1.5a–d Sort and define words, link them to real life, act out shades of meaning.; L.1.6 Use new words from poems and talk, joining ideas with because.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Sense Words and Clapping BeatsA picture-book class: your child listens to Rain Song, a rain poem about two friends, Pip and Dot, and finds sense words that tell how things look, sound, feel and smell. They make a rainstorm with their hands, learn that every beat in a word has one vowel sound, clap the beats in long words, and read a short poem of their own.
   2. Walk, March, Stomp: Act Out and Sort WordsA picture-book class: your child listens to How Do You Go?, a poem about Pip and Dot's day out, and acts out words that are close in meaning, like walk, march, stomp and tiptoe, and big, huge and gigantic. They read a silly poem with two-beat words, learn that a silent e gets no clap, sort words into groups and define a word by its group and a detail.
   3. Mystery Words: Clues, un and Root WordsA picture-book class: your child becomes a word detective. They listen to Hungry Bear, a poem about Bear waking up from his winter sleep, and use clues in the lines and the pictures to work out new words like famished, gobbled and drowsy. They read two-beat words that start with un (un means not), find the root word inside longer words, and read a short poem of their own.

   Skills

   • Find sense and feeling words in a poem, and read two-beat words by clapping one beat for each vowel sound.
   • Act out and choose between words close in meaning, and sort, define and link words to real life.
   • Work out new words from clues in the sentence and picture, the prefix un and the root word.

10. Reading Aloud Smoothly

    Your child learns the year's last new spellings (oa and ow for long o, u with a silent e saying /oo/, and th's two sounds) and reads an original story, poem and fact book aloud: for meaning, again smoothly with a voice that fits each end mark, and with a check that every line makes sense.

    3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

    US curriculum: RF.1.3a Know th's two sounds: quiet, as in thin, and buzzy, as in this.; RF.1.3c Read long o with oa and ow, and u_e saying /oo/, as in rule.; RF.1.4a–c Read for meaning, reread smoothly with expression, and self-correct.; RL.1.10 With help, read a story and a poem at a Grade 1 level.; RI.1.10 With help, read a short fact book at a Grade 1 level.; SL.1.4 Tell what happened, or describe something, in a full sentence with details.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. The Long o Team: oa and owA picture-book class: your child learns a new way to spell the long o, the letter teams oa and ow, as in boat and row, plays a team trick with word pairs, reads a whole funny story about two friends whose little boat tips over, letting the end marks lead their voice, tells why it happened, and hears true facts about toads.
    2. One Spelling, Two Sounds: u_e and thA picture-book class: your child learns that one spelling can make two sounds (u with a silent e can say /oo/, as in rule, and th can be quiet, as in thin, or buzzy, as in this), feels the buzz with a hand on their throat, plays a buzz-or-whoosh game, reads a whole funny poem with feeling, and hears true facts about humming.
    3. Smooth Reading: Read, Reread, CheckA picture-book class: your child reads a whole fact book about boats, first to find out what it says, then again smoothly, like talking, with a voice that fits each end mark. They check each line by asking: does that make sense?, tell a fact in a full sentence, and hear true facts about submarines.

    Skills

    • Read and spell long o with the teams oa and ow, and read a story with a voice that fits each end mark.
    • Read u with a silent e saying /oo/, tell th's quiet and buzzy sounds apart, and read a poem on their own.
    • Read a short fact book for meaning, reread it smoothly with expression, and self-correct by asking: Does that make sense?

Science

1. Sound and Light

   Hands-on tests at home with a rubber band, a pot, a blanket fort and a flashlight show how shaking makes sound, why we need light to see, and what light does when it meets a cup, paper, a book or a mirror.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1-PS4-1 Test and show that vibrating things make sound and sound makes things vibrate.; 1-PS4-2 Use observations to explain that we see things in the dark only when lit.; 1-PS4-3 Test what happens when things of different materials are put in a light beam.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Sounds ShakeA picture-book class: the child hears how Zara and Grandpa Joe make a kitchen band, hums, plucks a rubber band and taps a pot to find out that sounds are made by shaking, then makes a sound that makes rice jump.
   2. Can You See in the Dark?A picture-book class: the child hears how Zara loses her toy bunny in a dark blanket fort, does a dark test with a grown-up nearby to find out that we see things only when light shines on them, and sorts things that make their own light from things that only bounce it.
   3. Does Light Get Through?A picture-book class: the child hears how Zara and Grandpa Joe get ready for a shadow show, tests a clear cup, paper, foil and a mirror in a flashlight's light to find out what lets light through, what blocks it and makes a shadow, and what bounces it, then makes shadow puppets.

   Skills

   • Show with simple tests, and explain, that shaking (vibrating) things make sound and that sound can make other things shake.
   • Explain from a dark test that we see things only when light shines on them or when they give off their own light.
   • Test what light does when it meets different materials (goes through, some gets through, is blocked and makes a shadow, or bounces off a mirror), and say what a shadow is.

2. Sending Messages with Light and Sound

   Children work as engineers: they ask questions to understand a friend's problem (too far away to hear), sketch and build a cup-and-string phone with a grown-up, and test a light signal against a sound signal to find which works best where.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1-PS4-4 Design and build a light or sound device that sends a message far away.; K-2-ETS1-1 Ask questions and observe to define a simple problem that a new tool could solve.; K-2-ETS1-2 Sketch, draw or build a model that shows how an object's shape helps it work.; K-2-ETS1-3 Compare test results of two designs to find each one's strengths and weaknesses.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Too Far to Hear!A picture-book class: the child hears how Ravi can't call his friend Lucy across a windy park, asks problem-detective questions like an engineer, and tests their own secret signal to find out that a code works only when both people know it.
   2. Build a Cup PhoneA picture-book class: the child hears how Ravi and Lucy make a whisper phone so baby Noor can sleep, sketches a cup phone, builds one with a grown-up and tests it to find out why the string must be tight.
   3. Which Signal Works Best?A picture-book class: the child hears how Ravi and Lucy test a drum and a light with Dad as the helper, runs the same tests at home, reads the test chart, and decides which signal works best for each job.

   Skills

   • Ask questions to understand a problem (who has it, what they need, what is in the way) and say it in one sentence.
   • Send a message far away with a light or sound code, and explain that both people must know the code.
   • Sketch, build and improve a cup-and-string phone, and explain how the shape of its parts and a tight string help it work.
   • Test two designs, read the results on a chart, and choose the better design for a situation with a reason.

3. Plant and Animal Parts

   Children find out how animals use their eyes, ears and noses to notice things and stay safe (and copy a fox's big ears to hear better), learn the jobs of a plant's roots, stem and leaves and how plants grow toward light, then sketch, build and test a paper tower that copies roots.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1-LS1-1 Solve a human problem with a design copied from plant or animal parts.; K-2-ETS1-2 Sketch, draw or build a model that shows how an object's shape helps it work.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Big Ears, Sharp EyesA picture-book class: the child hears how Mateo and Aunt Rosa watch a rabbit and a fox in the park, finds out how animals notice with eyes, ears and noses and then act, and copies a fox's big ears to hear a quiet sound better.
   2. Roots, Stems and LeavesA picture-book class: the child hears how Mateo takes care of his bean plant, looks closely at a plant, learns the jobs of its roots, stem and leaves with a chant and moves, and finds out how a plant grows toward light.
   3. Ideas from NatureA picture-book class: the child hears how Mateo finds burrs with tiny hooks and the true story of the strips that copy them, then copies what roots do: sketches, builds and tests a paper tower that stands up to a puff of wind.

   Skills

   • Tell how animals notice things with their eyes, ears and noses, and how body parts help them stay safe or find food.
   • Tell the jobs of a plant's roots, stem and leaves, and that plants grow toward light.
   • Copy what a plant or animal part does to solve a problem, and sketch, build and test the design.

4. Parents and Their Young

   Children find patterns in how young animals call for help and parents answer, learn that animal parents care for their young in many different ways (and that some, like sea turtles, lay eggs and leave), and find that young animals and plants are like their parents, but not exactly.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1-LS1-2 Use books and videos to find patterns in how parents help their young survive.; 1-LS3-1 Observe and explain how young living things look like their parents, but not exactly.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Who's Calling?A picture-book class: the child hears how Mateo listens to the young animals on his Aunt Rosa's farm, plays call and answer, and finds the pattern: a young animal calls, and its parent comes to help, even finding it in a crowd by its voice.
   2. Many Ways to CareA picture-book class: the child hears how Mateo watches a robin family and a mother duck on his Aunt Rosa's farm and a sea turtle in a video, tries three parents' jobs at home, and finds that animal parents care in many different ways, while some, like sea turtles, lay eggs and leave.
   3. Like, but Not ExactlyA picture-book class: the child meets Maggie the farm dog and her four puppies on Aunt Rosa's farm, looks closely at two leaves or fruits at home, compares a puppy, a spider plant's baby and a kitten with their parents one part at a time, and finds that young animals and plants look a lot like their parents, but not exactly.

   Skills

   • Tell how young animals call out when they need help, and how their parents answer.
   • Describe different ways animal parents care for their young, and that some, like sea turtles, lay eggs and leave.
   • Give evidence that young animals and plants are like their parents, but not exactly, and that living things of one kind differ.

5. Patterns in the Sky

   Children find patterns in the sky: the sun seems to rise, cross the sky and set, and shadows show it; stars show at night but not by day, while the moon can show in both and seems to change shape; and in many places there is more daylight in summer than in winter.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1-ESS1-1 Observe the sun, moon and stars to describe sky patterns we can predict.; 1-ESS1-2 Observe across the year how the amount of daylight changes with the seasons.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Sun's PathA picture-book class: your child hears how Pepper the dog chases her shadow through one sunny day, learns to read shadows as clues, chants and moves from sunrise to sunset, and tests a toy's shadow with a flashlight to find the sun's daily pattern, without ever looking at the sun.
   2. Day Sky, Night SkyA picture-book class: your child hears how Nia starts a sky journal and spots the moon in the daytime, finds out with a candle why we see stars only at night, plays a day-or-night sorting game and makes the moon's shapes with their hands.
   3. Long Days, Short DaysA picture-book class: your child hears how Nia kept a sky journal all year, reads it like a scientist, moves like the summer sun and the winter sun, and builds daylight trains to compare: in many places there is more daylight in summer and less in winter.

   Skills

   • Describe how the sun seems to rise on one side of the sky, cross it and set on the other, and use shadows to tell where it is.
   • Sort what we see in the day sky and the night sky, and describe the moon's patterns.
   • Compare the amount of daylight in summer and in winter, using a sky journal's observations.

Social Studies

1. Rules and Roles

   Why we have rules, the helpers and people in charge who keep a community going, and fair ways to choose together.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Civ.1.K-2 Describe what people in charge do and what they are responsible for.; D2.Civ.2.K-2 Show that every person in a community matters, not only the leaders.; D2.Civ.3.K-2 Explain why we need rules and what rules do, at school and beyond.; D2.Civ.8.K-2 Describe democratic ideas: treating everyone equally and fairly, and respecting fair rules and leaders.; D2.Civ.9.K-2 Follow agreed talking rules and listen closely when a group discusses and decides.; D2.Civ.10.K-2 Compare what you think with what other people think.; D2.Civ.12.K-2 Explain how rules work in shared places such as a classroom or school.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Why Do We Have Rules?A picture-book class: Leo and Mei's ball game with no rules goes wrong. Replay it with toys, find out why rules keep us safe and fair, play red light, green light, and make up a rule of your own.
   2. Helpers in Our CommunityA picture-book class: Leo and Mei set out to give a gold star to the most important person in town and find that every helper matters, kids too. Act out a helper for your teacher to guess, and find out why every job matters.
   3. Making Fair Choices TogetherA picture-book class: Leo wants tag and Mei wants a sand castle. Find fair ways to choose together (talk one at a time, listen, take turns, vote), pass the talking spoon, vote with your body, and compare your idea with a friend's.

   Skills

   • Explain that rules keep us safe and fair at home, at school, on the road and in games, and follow them even when nobody is watching.
   • Name community helpers and people in charge, say how each one helps, and explain that everyone has a role, children too.
   • Choose fairly together: talk one at a time and listen, take turns or vote, and compare points of view.

2. Families Then and Now

   How people and families grow and change, how everyday life long ago compares with today, and how to find out about the past like a history detective.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Civ.14.K-2 Tell how people have worked, over the years, to make their community better.; D2.His.1.K-2 Put several events in the order they happened.; D2.His.2.K-2 Tell how life long ago was different from, and like, life today.; D2.His.4.K-2 Compare how people long ago saw things with how people see them today.; D2.His.9.K-2 Name different kinds of sources that tell us about the past.; D2.His.12.K-2 Ask questions about a source from the past and what it shows.; D2.His.14.K-2 Suggest possible reasons why something happened or changed in the past.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Long Ago, Today and TomorrowA picture-book class: the child hears how Tia, Ben and Grandpa Ray look through his box of old photos, lays out a photo line to put his life in order from baby to grandpa, and plays a time walk with long ago, yesterday, today and tomorrow.
   2. Grandpa Ray's Then and NowA picture-book class: the child hears what life was like when Grandpa Ray was six, interviews him like a reporter, finds what changed, what stayed the same and why, and plays then, now or both.
   3. History DetectivesA picture-book class: the child hears how Tia and Ben find an old photo of Sunny Park as mud and rocks, looks through detective glasses and asks a detective question, puts three clues together to find who changed the park, and tells facts from opinions.

   Skills

   • Put events and life stages in order, use long ago, yesterday, today and tomorrow, and say that every kind of family is a family.
   • Compare everyday life long ago with life today, name what stayed the same, and give reasons why things changed.
   • Use old photos, objects and stories as sources, ask questions about them, and tell facts from opinions.

3. Maps of My World

   What a map is and how its symbols and key work, how to find the way with near, far, left and right, and how a globe shows our big round world of land and water.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Geo.1.K-2 Make maps, graphs and other pictures of places you know.; D2.Geo.2.K-2 Use maps, graphs and photos to describe places and what connects them to people.; D2.Geo.3.K-2 Use maps, globes and simple models to find natural and cultural features of places.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. A Bird's-Eye ViewA picture-book class: the child hears how Kiki the bird sees Sunny Park from above and how Tia draws its first map, looks at a cup from the side and from above, learns how a map uses symbols and a key, and makes a map of a pretend dream room.
   2. Find the WayA picture-book class: the child follows Grandpa Ray's treasure map through Sunny Park with Tia and Ben, makes a table map with their own things, learns the where words near, far, next to, left and right, plays a left-and-right listening game, and tells a route in order.
   3. Our Big Round WorldA picture-book class: the child hears how Grandpa Ray's globe shows Tia and Ben our round Earth, counts Kiki's landings on land and water, learns that a globe is a model with more water than land, says a globe chant, plays swim or stomp, and picks the right one: a globe, a map or a photo.

   Skills

   • Explain that a map shows a place from above, read its symbols with a key, and make a simple map.
   • Use a map to say where things are (near, far, next to, left, right) and follow and tell a simple route in order.
   • Find land and water on a globe or map, pick a globe, a map or a photo for a question, and tell what a globe shows.

4. Needs, Wants and Choices

   What everyone needs and what is nice to want, why we can't have everything so we choose and give something up, how a class decides together, and what saving means, with story characters and pretend tokens, never real money.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Civ.11.K-2 Tell how classmates can decide things together.; D2.Eco.1.K-2 Explain why having too little of something means people must choose.; D2.Eco.2.K-2 Name what you gain and what you give up when you make a choice.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Need or Want?A picture-book class: the child hears how Rosie and Dev try to fit a big pile into one small explorer backpack, sorts things on folded paper with the need test (could people live without it?), sees that needs are met in many ways, and packs needs first.
   2. The Picnic BasketA picture-book class: Rosie and Dev's class picnic basket fits only one game, so the class listens, tries to agree and votes; the child runs a toy vote, learns that every choice has a give-up, and decides together the fair way.
   3. Saving for a KiteA picture-book class: in a pretend class shop, Dev saves a token a day for a kite while Rosie spends hers on stickers; the child shops with finger tokens, learns what saving means, counts tokens as evidence and tells facts from opinions.

   Skills

   • Sort needs, which everyone must have to live, from wants, which are nice to have, and say why.
   • Explain that we can't have everything, name what a choice gives up, and decide together by listening, agreeing and voting.
   • Explain that saving means waiting now to get something later, use counting as evidence, and tell facts from opinions.

5. Goods, Services and Workers

   What goods and services are and how workers depend on each other, where things come from and how they travel, how workers get paid, and how a community shares out a big job, with story workers of every kind and pretend tokens, never real money.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Civ.6.K-2 Describe how a community shares tasks, gives out jobs and fills roles in charge.; D2.Eco.3.K-2 Tell what workers must know and do to make goods or help people.; D2.Eco.4.K-2 Describe goods and services made in your community and ones made in other places.; D2.Eco.6.K-2 Tell how people get paid for the work they do.; D2.Geo.7.K-2 Tell how and why people, things and ideas get from one place to another.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. From Wheat to BreadA picture-book class: the child hears how a loaf of bread travels from Farmer Rosa's wheat to the mill, the bakery and the shop, walks the trip with their own cup, spoon, bowl and book, learns what goods and services are and what a worker needs to know, and does a grow-it, grind-it, bake-it, bring-it chant.
   2. Market DayA picture-book class: at market day the child uses two clues, a label and the seller, to find out that the bread and apples are from nearby and the bananas came from far away by ship and truck, learns how goods, people and messages travel and why, and runs a pretend bread stall to see how workers get paid.
   3. Clean-Up DayA picture-book class: after a windy night the child helps clean up Sunny Park, builds the job chart with a sock, a fork, a spoon and a cup, learns how the one in charge shares out a big job to people who know how, that paid jobs, volunteering and caring for family are all work, and asks a worker a good reporter question.

   Skills

   • Tell goods from services, say what a worker needs to know, and explain in order how workers depend on each other to make something.
   • Tell goods made nearby from goods that come from far away, say how and why they travel, check two sources, and explain how workers get paid.
   • Explain how a community shares out a big job, why paid jobs, volunteering and caring all matter, and ask and answer questions about a job.

6. Places, Weather and How People Live

   How weather changes the way people live, where on the globe it's warm or cold, what nature and people made in different places and how they get what they need from near and far, and how people change places and help solve problems, closing the social studies year.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Geo.3.K-2 Use maps, globes and simple models to find natural and cultural features of places.; D2.Geo.4.K-2 Explain how weather, climate and nature shape people's lives in a place.; D2.Geo.5.K-2 Describe how what people do changes the land and life of a place.; D2.Geo.6.K-2 Name some natural and cultural features of particular places.; D2.Geo.8.K-2 Compare how different communities use nearby and faraway places to meet daily needs.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Sun, Rain and SnowA picture-book class: on a hot day in Sunny Park, Captain Ada calls from her snowy ship far away, and her photos show how weather changes what people wear, build and do. Your child packs a bag for a hot place, learns to use two clues to make a claim about the weather, and plays a weather wheel acting game.
   2. Postcards from Far AwayA picture-book class: your child hears Captain Ada's postcards from a snowy mountain village, a hot desert town and a busy city by the sea, uses a ball as a globe to find warm and cold places, tells what nature made from what people made, and compares how places get what they need from near and far.
   3. Caring for Our WorldA picture-book class: your child sees on Grandpa Ray's old map how people changed the land by a river, finds the problems some changes brought near and far, learns to find a fix that fits, acts out kid-sized fixes, makes a problem-and-fix poster, and looks back on the whole social studies year.

   Skills

   • Explain how weather changes what people wear, build and do, and use two clues to make a claim about a place's weather.
   • Use a globe to find warm and cold places, tell what nature made from what people made, and compare how places get what they need from near and far.
   • Describe how people change places, name problems near and far and ways to help, and present a problem and its fix.

Arts Education

1. Music All Around

   Your child's body and voice are the instruments: finding a steady beat, sliding between high and low, and making a rainstorm grow from soft to loud.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: MU:Cr1.1.1a With help, make up short musical ideas for a reason, like replying to a clapped phrase.; MU:Cr2.1.1b With help, show and keep musical ideas using pictures, symbols or recordings.; MU:Pr4.2.1a With help, show beat and a tune's up-and-down shape in music from many cultures.; MU:Pr4.3.1a With help, show and describe how music can be loud or soft, fast or slow.; MU:Pr6.1.1a With help, perform music with feeling for a purpose.; MU:Re7.2.1a With help, notice how music uses beat or pitch for a purpose, in different styles.; MU:Re8.1.1a With help, notice how loud, soft, fast or slow shows what musicians want to express.; MU:Cn11.0.1a Show how music connects to the other arts, other subjects, different places and daily life.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Find the Steady BeatA picture-book class: your child hears how Dot the duck's parade finds its steady beat, drums slow and fast beats on their knees, marches to the beat, and learns that a steady beat has the same gap every time, slow or fast, soft or loud.
   2. High and Low SoundsA picture-book class: your child hears how Mouse and Bear sing at Dot's concert, squeaks and rumbles, draws their sounds going up and down, and learns that high and low are not the same as loud and soft.
   3. Loud and SoftA picture-book class: your child hears how Dot's band helps Little Cloud water a thirsty garden, makes soft and loud sounds with things from home, leads a body rainstorm from soft to loud and back, and learns that loud is not the same as fast or high.

   Skills

   • Feel, keep and pick out a steady beat, whether it is slow or fast, soft or loud.
   • Make and tell apart high and low sounds, and match a sound going up or down to its picture.
   • Make and tell apart loud and soft sounds, keep them apart from fast and slow, and choose them for a purpose.

2. Lines, Shapes and Colors

   Your child takes a line for a walk, builds pictures from shapes and mixes red, yellow and blue into new colors, describing their art out loud.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: VA:Cr1.1.1a Explore art materials together with others through imaginative play.; VA:Cr2.1.1a Try out different art materials and tools to make art or designs.; VA:Cr2.2.1a Show how to use art materials, tools and equipment safely and correctly.; VA:Cr3.1.1a Use art words to describe the choices they make while creating.; VA:Re7.2.1a Compare pictures that show the same subject.; VA:Re8.1.1a Interpret art by sorting what it shows and naming its line, shape and color.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Take a Line for a WalkA picture-book class: your child follows Dot, a little dot, on a walk that leaves straight, wavy, zigzag and curly lines, draws their own line walk with a crayon, learns to tell wavy from zigzag and to choose lines that show a feeling, hears about lines in art from Japan and from Diné (Navajo) weavers, and hunts for lines nearby.
   2. Shape BuildersA picture-book class: your child sees how Dot's line joins up into a shape, learns geometric shapes (with names and corners) and organic shapes (free and wiggly), watches pictures built from shapes, hears about Henri Matisse's cut-paper snail and kente cloth from Ghana, then builds and describes their own shape picture.
   3. Mixing ColorsA picture-book class: your child sees Dot and Pip mix red, yellow and blue into orange, green and purple, tests a mix safely with washable paint, crayons or a pretend color clap, learns the color wheel, compares the same picture in warm and cool colors, and hears about Claude Monet's grainstacks and red lanterns at Lunar New Year.

   Skills

   • Name straight, wavy, zigzag and curly lines, find them around us and choose lines that show a feeling or a movement.
   • Tell geometric from organic shapes, build pictures from shapes and say what a picture is mostly about.
   • Mix red, yellow and blue into orange, green and purple safely, and compare warm and cool pictures of the same subject.

3. Dance: Moving to Music

   Your child dances lines, moves fast and slow, strong and light to claps and chants, and dances a story with a beginning, a middle and an end.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: MU:Pr4.3.1a With help, show and describe how music can be loud or soft, fast or slow.; MU:Cn11.0.1a Show how music connects to the other arts, other subjects, different places and daily life.; DA:Cr1.1.1a Explore movement inspired by sounds, words, objects or pictures, and name the idea's source.; DA:Cr1.1.1b Try many traveling and on-the-spot movements, changing the elements of dance.; DA:Cr2.1.1a Make up a movement sequence with a beginning, middle and end, and explain the choices.; DA:Pr4.1.1a Move in place or travel along straight, curved or zigzag pathways, changing body shapes and levels.; DA:Pr4.1.1b Move quickly, moderately or slowly, and keep a steady beat at different speeds.; DA:Pr5.1.1b Move safely in shared space and in groups while keeping and changing personal space.; DA:Re7.1.1a Find a movement that repeats in a dance and see it as a pattern.; DA:Cn10.1.1a Link a dance's story to a familiar experience and name the movements that show it.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Dancing LinesA picture-book class: your child hears how Ollie the otter, Bea the bee and Bruno the bear turn their wavy, zigzag and straight paths into a dance, then dances lines on the spot or traveling, big or small, keeps a safe space bubble, and tells the dance out loud.
   2. Popcorn and HoneyA picture-book class: your child hears how Bruno the bear's new drum makes his friends dance fast like popcorn, slow like honey, strong like thunder and light like a feather, pats the beat on their own knees, and learns to move once on every beat at any tempo.
   3. Dance a StoryA picture-book class: at the Meadow Show, Ollie, Bea and Bruno dance the story of Sprout, a sleepy seed who wakes up and grows; your child dances it too, finds the move that repeats, and makes their own dance with a still beginning, a middle and a still end.

   Skills

   • Dance straight, wavy and zigzag lines on the spot or traveling, smooth or sharp, while keeping a safe personal space.
   • Move fast, medium and slow to the beat, and match loud and soft music with strong and light moves.
   • Make and dance a story with a beginning, a middle and an end, and find the move that repeats.

4. Drama: Pretend and Play

   Your child becomes characters with body, face and voice, chooses what Bear does in a make-believe story, and puts on a Little Red Hen puppet play.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: TH:Cr1.1.1a In guided make-believe, suggest choices a character could make.; TH:Cr2.1.1a In guided make-believe, help build a story in order: beginning, middle and end.; TH:Pr4.1.1b In guided make-believe, use body, face and voice to show a character's traits and feelings.; TH:Re7.1.1a After guided make-believe, remember and retell the choices that were made.; TH:Cn10.1.1a In guided make-believe, name a character's feelings and link them to their own life.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Body, Face and VoiceA picture-book class: your child hears how Bear and Mouse put on a show from an empty box, learns an actor's three tools, body, face and voice, and becomes a bouncy kangaroo, a slow elephant, a busy bee and a character of their own, no costume needed.
   2. Bear's Brave NightA picture-book class: your child hears Bear's Brave Night, an original story about a bear who is scared of a sound in the night and still helps a lost little owl get home, learns a story's beginning, middle and end, then becomes Bear in make-believe and chooses what Bear does.
   3. The Little Red HenA picture-book class: your child hears the folk tale The Little Red Hen, learns to give each character its own voice, then puts on a puppet play with a sock or a bare hand, remembers who chose what, and tries a new ending.

   Skills

   • Use body, face and voice to show who a character is and how they feel, with no costume.
   • In make-believe led by the teacher, suggest choices for a character and build the story in order.
   • Put on a puppet play with a voice for each character, remember who chose what, and try a new ending.

5. Art from Everyday Things

   Your child looks closely at everyday things, makes a scrap collage and a found-object sculpture, and sees how people everywhere turn scraps into art.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: VA:Cr1.2.1a Look closely and investigate before starting a work of art.; VA:Cr2.1.1a Try out different art materials and tools to make art or designs.; VA:Cr2.2.1a Show how to use art materials, tools and equipment safely and correctly.; VA:Cr2.3.1a Show and sort what everyday objects are used for, through drawings, models or other visuals.; VA:Re7.1.1a Pick and describe artworks that show everyday life for themselves and others.; VA:Cn10.1.1a Name times, places and reasons they make art outside school.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Ant's Looking WalkA picture-book class: your child follows a tiny ant on a looking walk across a spoon, a sock and a sponge, looks closely with detective eyes for lines, shapes, colors, patterns and textures, sorts everyday things by their job, and draws one thing by looking, drawing a little and looking again.
   2. Scrap CollageA picture-book class: your child hears how Ant and Lou make a picture of their rainy walk from scraps with no paint, glue or scissors, describes a cloth picture of everyday life, learns how people in many places turn scraps into art, tries four paper tricks, makes a collage of an everyday moment and tidies up with a clean-up chant.
   3. Found-Object SculptureA picture-book class: your child hears how Ant and Lou build a box robot with no glue, sees found-object art from around the world, builds a sculpture from safe things with the big, heavy things at the bottom, makes it better, and names when and where they could make art outside school.

   Skills

   • Look closely at everyday things before making art, and sort them by what they are used for.
   • Make a collage of everyday life from scraps with no scissors, and describe art that shows everyday life.
   • Build and improve a sculpture from safe found things, tidy up with care, and name times, places and reasons to make art outside school.

6. Songs Around the World

   Your child meets songs and a dance from around the world, claps and answers rhythms, and puts on a song show to close the arts year.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: MU:Cr1.1.1a With help, make up short musical ideas for a reason, like replying to a clapped phrase.; MU:Cr3.2.1a With help, share a finished musical idea with listeners and show what it means.; MU:Pr4.1.1a With help, talk about music they like, what they know about it and its purpose.; MU:Pr4.2.1a With help, show beat and a tune's up-and-down shape in music from many cultures.; MU:Pr4.2.1b Read and perform simple rhythm patterns written as pictures or notes.; MU:Pr5.1.1a With help, use their own, the teacher's and classmates' feedback to improve a performance.; MU:Pr6.1.1a With help, perform music with feeling for a purpose.; MU:Pr6.1.1b Perform in a way that suits the audience and the occasion.; MU:Re7.1.1a With help, show how their own interests and experiences shape the music they choose.; MU:Re9.1.1a With help, use their own likes and reasons to judge music chosen for a purpose.; MU:Cn10.0.1a Show how their interests, knowledge and skills guide their own music choices.; MU:Cn11.0.1a Show how music connects to the other arts, other subjects, different places and daily life.; VA:Cn11.1.1a Understand that people in different places and times made art for many reasons.; DA:Cn11.1.1a Watch or do a dance from another culture and talk about or show its movements.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Songs Have JobsA picture-book class: your child hears how Lark the songbird finds songs with jobs, meets real songs from South Africa, Russia and the United States and the lion dance for Lunar New Year, and sings la, la, la the way each job needs.
   2. Clap and AnswerA picture-book class: your child sees Bear take one step and Bunny two quick hops on every beat, reads and claps rhythm pictures (one clap for bear, two quick claps for bun-ny), plays a call-and-answer game with Shosholoza, and pats the beat of a tune sung in France and China.
   3. Our Song ShowA picture-book class: your child hears how Lark, Bear and Bunny put on a song show, picks a song of their own, practices it with glow-and-grow tips, sings it in a little show with a count-in and a bow, and looks back on a whole year of arts.

   Skills

   • Name the jobs songs do in many places, choose music that fits a job, and sing with the feeling the job needs.
   • Read and clap rhythm pictures, keep the beat through a silent beat, and answer a clapped call with an idea of their own.
   • Choose, practice and improve a song with glow-and-grow tips, and perform it with care for an audience.

Physical and Health Education

1. Moving Safely

   Find your space bubble and make a safe space to move at home, move like animals (hop, gallop, jog and slide), and hold still statue balances, with a safety check and a seated option every time.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E1.1 Travels by hopping, galloping, jogging and sliding with good form.; S1.E7.1 Holds a still balance on different body parts and in different shapes.; S2.E1.1 Moves to a beat on the spot (self-space) and through the room (general space).; S4.E1.1 Takes responsibility for using space and equipment safely and properly.; S5.E2.1 Sees that taking on a challenge in activity can lead to success.; 1.2.4 Names ways to keep children from getting hurt.; 7.2.2 Shows ways to stay away from or lower health risks.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. My Space BubbleA picture-book class: your child hears how Bea and Rocky learn to move safely in Ms. Owl's little room, makes their own space safe, finds their space bubble, and moves and freezes to a beat without bumping.
   2. Move Like the AnimalsA picture-book class: your child hears how Bea and Rocky move like animals at Ms. Owl's Animal Parade, then hops like a flamingo, gallops like a horse, jogs like a dog and slides like a crab, with one simple cue for each move.
   3. Balance Like a StatueA picture-book class: your child hears how Bea and Rocky play the statue game at Move Club, then makes still statues on different bases (one foot, hands and feet, hands and knees), holds each for a count of five, and finds out that wide bases wobble less.

   Skills

   • Move in self-space and general space to a beat without bumping, and freeze on the signal.
   • Make a space at home safe before moving: clear floor, nothing to bump, bare feet or shoes, a grown-up nearby, and stop if anything hurts.
   • Hop, gallop, jog and slide, using the cue for each move.
   • Hold a still balance on different bases for a count of five, and widen the base to stop a wobble.

2. Healthy Habits: Hands, Sleep and Water

   Three everyday habits that help kids stay well: washing hands the germ-buster way, a calm wind-down with enough sleep, and drinking water, each with a small goal to try at home.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.2.1 Knows that healthy habits affect how healthy we are.; 1.2.3 Describes ways to stop germs that spread illness.; 6.2.1 Picks a short-term health goal and takes steps toward it.; 7.2.1 Practices healthy habits that keep or improve health.; 8.2.1 Asks for things that help their own health.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Germ Busters: Wash Your HandsA picture-book class: the child hears how Rocco the raccoon sneezes into his paws before snack time, follows pretend flour germs from one fingertip, then learns the germ-buster wash (wet, soap, scrub for about 20 seconds, rinse, dry) and the elbow sneeze.
   2. Sleep TightA picture-book class: the child hears how Hops winds down and Rocco stays up late the night before Field Day, feels the difference between wake-up moves and a wind-down, then learns what sleep does, what helps it come, and picks a small sleepy-time goal.
   3. Water PowerA picture-book class: the child hears how Rocco and Hops get hot and thirsty at Field Day, breathes on a spoon to find water in their breath, then learns that water leaves the body all day, when to drink, why water is best for thirst, and how to ask a grown-up for some.

   Skills

   • Wash hands the germ-buster way (wet, soap, scrub for about 20 seconds, rinse, dry) at the key times, and sneeze or cough into a tissue or the elbow.
   • Say why sleep matters and choose what helps us fall asleep: a calm wind-down, screens off, a dark, quiet place and a steady bedtime.
   • Say why the body needs water, choose water for thirst, and ask a grown-up for a drink.
   • Choose one small health goal for the next day or week and say it in a full sentence.

3. My Busy Heart

   Kids meet the muscle that never stops: they feel their heartbeat speed up after fast moves and slow down at rest, learn that moving every day makes the heart stronger, and find their way to an hour or more of active play a day, in pieces that add up.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E1.1 Travels by hopping, galloping, jogging and sliding with good form.; S2.E3.1 Tells fast from slow, and strong from light force.; S3.E1.1 Talks about why being active and playing is good for you.; S3.E3.1 Knows the heart is a muscle that gets stronger with activity.; S5.E1.1 Knows that being active is part of being healthy.; S5.E3.1 Describes good feelings from being active, and why they enjoy it.; 1.2.1 Knows that healthy habits affect how healthy we are.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Heart DrumA picture-book class: Kit the kangaroo finds a drum in her chest. Your child meets the heart, a muscle about as big as a fist that never stops, feels their own heartbeat before and after fast feet, finds out why it speeds up and slows down, and explains it out loud.
   2. Make Your Heart StrongA picture-book class: Bo the bear cub can't get up Big Hill until he moves every day. Your child learns that the heart is a muscle that gets stronger with practice, says what moving is good for, tells strong and light from fast and slow, and coaches a mini heart workout and the cool-down.
   3. An Hour of PlayA picture-book class: your child builds a tower with Kit and Bo, one block for every 10 minutes of their busy, bouncy day, and finds out that kids need an hour or more of active play every day, in small pieces that add up. Then a freeze dance party, and how to tell active play from sitting still.

   Skills

   • Feel the heartbeat with a hand on the chest, and say that the heart beats faster when we move hard and slows down when we rest.
   • Say that the heart is a muscle about the size of a fist, and that moving every day makes it stronger.
   • Move fast or slow and strong or light when asked, and tell speed (fast or slow) from force (strong or light).
   • Move hard safely: check the space, stay on the spot, land softly, cool down, and stop, sit and tell a grown-up if dizzy, sick or in pain.
   • Say that kids need an hour or more of active play every day, that small pieces add up, and why moving feels good.

4. Toss, Catch and Kick

   Three ball skills with soft things from home: the underhand toss, catching, and kicking a still ball, each with a few clear cues, a safe indoor set-up, and challenges to level up.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E13.1 Throws underhand, showing a couple of the key parts of good form.; S1.E16.1 Catches a soft object tossed to self, and balls of different sizes tossed to them.; S1.E21.1 Runs up and kicks a still ball forward, showing some key parts of good form.; S2.E3.1 Tells fast from slow, and strong from light force.; S4.E1.1 Takes responsibility for using space and equipment safely and properly.; S4.E2.1 Follows the rules and limits of the activity space.; S4.E4.1 Works well alongside others in small and large groups.; S4.E6.1 Follows the teacher's safety directions and uses equipment properly without reminders.; S5.E2.1 Sees that taking on a challenge in activity can lead to success.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Underhand TossA picture-book class: your child hears how Bo's hardest throw flies past the basket while Pip's smooth toss goes in, learns four toss tricks (face, swing, step with the other foot, point), sets up a safe toss zone with soft things, and plays a near-and-far target game.
   2. Catch It!A picture-book class: your child hears how Pip the penguin's first catch bounces off and how she learns to catch, starting easy with a floating scarf, then learns three catching tricks (eyes on it, hands ready, hug it in), plays a level-up game and partner catch, and coaches Sam to keep trying.
   3. Kick It!A picture-book class: your child hears how Bo's toe poke skids off under a chair while Pip's inside-of-the-foot kick goes straight in, learns three kicking tricks (step beside the ball, kick with the inside of the foot, follow through), sets up a safe kicking lane with a shoe goal, and plays a penalty-kick game with light and strong kicks.

   Skills

   • Toss underhand with the cues: face the target, swing the arm back, step with the opposite foot, follow through toward the target.
   • Catch a scarf, a tissue or a soft toy with the cues: eyes on it, hands ready, pull it in.
   • Kick a still soft ball or sock ball with the cues: step beside the ball, kick with the inside of the foot or the laces, follow through.
   • Choose a light or a strong toss or kick for a near or a far target.
   • Set up and keep a safe play space: soft things only, a clear space away from things that break, a grown-up nearby, and the lane rules.
   • Play kindly with a partner, take on a harder challenge after a success, and keep trying after a miss.

5. Food for Energy

   Food gives us energy to play, learn and grow. Kids meet MyPlate's five food groups in a picnic story with foods from many cultures, sort everyday and sometimes foods with their whole body, and build a power plate while learning to listen to their bodies and ask a grown-up for what helps.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: S3.E6.1 Tells healthy foods apart from less healthy ones.; 1.2.1 Knows that healthy habits affect how healthy we are.; 2.2.1 Tells how family shapes their health habits.; 5.2.1 Notices when a health choice needs to be made.; 7.2.1 Practices healthy habits that keep or improve health.; 8.2.1 Asks for things that help their own health.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Food Group PicnicA picture-book class: your child hears how Nia and Leo's very different picnic lunches both give them energy, sorts both lunches into MyPlate's five food groups, packs a pretend picnic with toys, does a move for each group, and helps Sam see why one food group isn't enough.
   2. Everyday and Sometimes FoodsA picture-book class: your child hears how Leo stops, thinks and chooses water on a hot day and wonders about cake at a birthday party, learns everyday foods (the five food groups) and sometimes foods (sweets, chips and soda, fine sometimes), sorts foods with paper signs and whole-body moves, and practices stop, think, choose.
   3. Build a Power PlateA picture-book class: your child hears how Nia and Leo get ready for their big soccer game, builds their power plates the MyPlate way (fruits and vegetables filling half), draws a power plate of their own, acts out body signals (hungry, full, thirsty) and practices asking a grown-up for what helps.

   Skills

   • Say that food gives us energy to play, learn and grow, and that eating from different food groups helps.
   • Name MyPlate's five food groups and put foods from many cultures in them, such as rice, tortillas, naan, noodles, injera, beans and tofu.
   • Tell how families help kids eat well, with foods from many cultures.
   • Tell everyday foods from sometimes foods (sweets, chips, soda), kindly, and choose water as the everyday drink.
   • Notice a choice moment (thirsty, snack time, a party) and stop, think and choose.
   • Build a power plate: fruits and vegetables filling about half, grains and protein foods, dairy on the side and water to drink.
   • Notice body signals (hungry, full, thirsty) and ask a grown-up for what helps.

6. Staying Safe

   Kids meet their safety helpers, take a pretend trip through Safety Town, and learn No, Go, Tell for moments that feel scary or not right.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: S4.E2.1 Follows the rules and limits of the activity space.; S4.E6.1 Follows the teacher's safety directions and uses equipment properly without reminders.; 1.2.4 Names ways to keep children from getting hurt.; 3.2.1 Names trusted adults and helpers who support health.; 4.2.3 Shows what to do when something feels unwanted, scary or dangerous.; 4.2.4 Practices telling a trusted adult if someone threatens or hurts them.; 5.2.2 Tells which health choices they can make alone and which need help.; 7.2.2 Shows ways to stay away from or lower health risks.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. My Safety HelpersA picture-book class: the child hears how Pip the penguin finds a helper when lost in a big store, meets the helpers who keep kids safe, sorts which choices kids make alone and which need a grown-up (like medicine), practices the emergency number where they live on a pretend phone, and acts out helper riddles.
   2. Safety TownA picture-book class: the child walks through Safety Town with Pip the penguin, Hazel the hedgehog and Jo, learns the safety step at each stop (stop, look and listen both ways at the street holding a grown-up's hand, a buckled helmet and seat belt every ride, a grown-up watching at the water), plays Town Freeze for the play rules, and practices a calm fire drill with stop, drop and roll.
   3. No, Go, TellA picture-book class: the child hears how Hazel the hedgehog and Pip the penguin handle a big day at the park, learns No, Go, Tell with a move for each word and a chant (say no in a strong voice, get away to a grown-up, and tell a trusted grown-up, even if someone says don't tell), checks first before taking things, keeps where they live private online, and practices telling until someone helps.

   Skills

   • Name trusted grown-ups and helpers, and when lost, ask a store worker with a name tag or a grown-up with kids.
   • Tell which safety choices kids make alone and which need a trusted grown-up, like medicine and cleaning products, and learn the emergency number where you live from a grown-up.
   • Stay safe at play, at the street, on rides, near water and in a fire drill.
   • Use No, Go, Tell when something feels unwanted, scary or dangerous, and keep telling a trusted grown-up until someone helps.

Math

1. Adding and Subtracting Within 20

   Captain Ruby's frog ferry in three picture books: fill the ten to add, go back to ten to subtract, and find missing numbers with a bar.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 2.OA.A.1 Solve adding and subtracting story problems with the unknown in any place, shown with drawings and a number sentence with a symbol for the unknown.; 2.OA.B.2 Add and subtract within 20 quickly with mental strategies, working toward knowing every sum of two one-digit numbers by heart.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Fill the Ferry!A picture-book class: the child reads how Captain Ruby's ferry fills up with frogs, then adds within 20 fast by making a ten (8 + 5 = 10 + 3) or using a double.
   2. Frogs Hop OffA picture-book class: the child reads how frogs hop off Captain Ruby's ferry at Lily Island, then subtracts within 20 by going back to ten and checks by adding.
   3. Dot's LogbookA picture-book class: the child reads how a splash washes numbers out of Dot's logbook, then finds missing numbers in story problems with a bar model.

   Skills

   • Add within 20 by making a ten or with a near double (8 + 5 = 10 + 3; 7 + 8 = 7 + 7 + 1).
   • Subtract within 20 by going back to ten or thinking addition, and check by adding (15 - 7 = 8 because 7 + 8 = 15).
   • Find a missing part, a missing whole or how many fewer in a story within 20 with a bar model and a number sentence with a box.

2. Odd, Even and Arrays

   A penguin parade in three picture books: pairing up to tell odd from even, splitting even numbers into two equal lines, and adding the rows of a parade photo.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 2.OA.C.3 Tell whether a group of up to 20 things has an odd or an even number, for example by pairing them or counting by 2s; write an even number as a sum of two equal addends.; 2.OA.C.4 Add to find how many things are in a rectangular array of up to 5 rows and up to 5 columns, and write the total as a sum of equal addends.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Two by TwoA picture-book class: the child reads how the penguins of Pebble Beach line up two by two for Captain Otto's parade, then pairs things up to tell odd numbers from even ones.
   2. Two Equal LinesA picture-book class: the child reads how the penguins make two lines that match on Parade Day, then splits even numbers into two equal groups and writes them as doubles, like 8 = 4 + 4.
   3. Say Cheese, Penguins!A picture-book class: the child reads how Captain Otto takes the parade photo with the penguins in rows that match, then adds the rows or columns of an array to find how many, like 4 + 4 + 4 = 12.

   Skills

   • Tell whether a group of up to 20 is odd or even by pairing it up or counting by 2s.
   • Split an even number into two equal groups and write it as a sum of two equal addends (8 = 4 + 4).
   • Find how many are in an array of up to 5 rows and 5 columns by adding its equal rows or columns.

3. Hundreds, Tens and Ones

   Benny's sticker shop in three picture books: sheets, strips and singles as hundreds, tens and ones; counting to 1000; and comparing hundreds first.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 2.NBT.A.1 Read the digits of a three-digit number as hundreds, tens and ones, with 100 as ten tens.; 2.NBT.A.2 Count within 1000, and skip-count by 5s, 10s and 100s.; 2.NBT.A.3 Read and write numbers to 1000 as numerals, as number names and in expanded form.; 2.NBT.A.4 Compare two three-digit numbers place by place and write the result with >, = or <.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Sheets, Strips and SinglesA picture-book class: the child reads how Benny the bear gets 246 stickers in sheets, strips and singles, then reads and writes numbers as hundreds, tens and ones.
   2. Count the StickersA picture-book class: the child reads how Benny and Kit count a big box of stickers, then counts to 1000 by hundreds, tens, fives and ones, past each hundred.
   3. Who Has More?A picture-book class: the child reads how Benny settles who has more stickers, 312 or 297, then compares three-digit numbers hundreds first with >, = and <.

   Skills

   • Read and write a three-digit number as hundreds, tens and ones and in expanded form (246 = 200 + 40 + 6; 305).
   • Count within 1000 big to small and past a hundred, and skip-count by 5s, 10s and 100s.
   • Compare two three-digit numbers place by place, hundreds first, and write the result with >, = or <.

4. Adding and Subtracting Within 100

   Benny's sticker shop in three picture books: add with tens and ones and a trade, hop on an open number line, and break a strip to take away.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 2.NBT.B.5 Add and subtract within 100 with place-value strategies, such as tens with tens and ones with ones or hops on a number line, and check with the inverse operation.; 2.NBT.B.6 Add up to four two-digit numbers with place value and properties of operations.; 2.NBT.B.9 Explain why adding and subtracting strategies work, using place value.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Ten Singles Make a StripA picture-book class: the child reads how Rocky's stickers are added, strips with strips and singles with singles, then adds within 100, trading 10 ones for a ten.
   2. Hop Along the LineA picture-book class: the child reads how Rocky hops along Benny's chalk line, then adds and takes away within 100 with big hops for tens and small hops for ones.
   3. Break a StripA picture-book class: the child reads how Kit gives Rocky stickers by breaking a strip into singles, then takes away within 100 with tens and ones and checks by adding.

   Skills

   • Add two or three two-digit numbers with tens and ones, trading 10 ones for a ten (47 + 26 = 73).
   • Add and take away within 100 on an open number line with hops of tens and ones (38 + 25 = 63; 72 - 28 = 44).
   • Take away within 100 with tens and ones, breaking a ten when needed, and check by adding (52 - 27 = 25).

5. One- and Two-Step Story Problems

   Benny's sticker shop in three picture books: read a problem, draw a bar model and check it, for missing parts, comparisons and two-step stories.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 2.OA.A.1 Solve one- and two-step story problems within 100 of every type (adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart and comparing), with the unknown in any place, using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown.; 2.NBT.B.5 Add and subtract within 100 with place-value strategies, and check with the inverse operation.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Missing PartA picture-book class: the child reads how Rocky works out how many stickers fill his page, then solves story problems with know, want, draw, solve and check.
   2. Line Up the BarsA picture-book class: the child reads how Kit and Rocky find who has more stickers, then solves how-many-more and how-many-fewer problems with two bars.
   3. Two Steps to the AnswerA picture-book class: the child reads about a busy day at Benny's shop, then solves two-step story problems one step at a time and checks backward.

   Skills

   • Solve one-step story problems with a missing part, whole or start, using a bar model and checking (28 + ? = 45).
   • Solve how-many-more and how-many-fewer problems with two bars lined up at the start (Kit 54, Rocky 36: 18 more).
   • Solve two-step story problems one step at a time, and check backward (60 - 24 = 36, then 36 + 15 = 51).

6. Adding and Subtracting Within 1000

   Benny's sticker shop in three picture books: 10 more and 100 more in your head, add with a quick picture and trade 10 tens for a hundred, and take away by breaking a hundred into 10 tens.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 2.NBT.B.7 Add and subtract within 1000 with drawings and place-value strategies, adding or taking away hundreds and hundreds, tens and tens, ones and ones, and composing or decomposing tens or hundreds when needed.; 2.NBT.B.8 Mentally add or take away 10 or 100 to or from a number between 100 and 900.; 2.NBT.B.9 Explain why adding and subtracting strategies work, using place value.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Ten More, a Hundred MoreA picture-book class: the child reads how Benny's stickers come and go by the strip and the sheet, then finds 10 or 100 more or less in their head.
   2. Ten Strips Make a SheetA picture-book class: the child reads how Benny adds a big box of stickers with a quick picture, then adds within 1000 place by place, trading 10 tens for a hundred.
   3. Break a SheetA picture-book class: the child reads how Benny takes stickers away for the art class with a quick picture, then subtracts within 1000 place by place, breaking a hundred into 10 tens.

   Skills

   • Find 10 more, 10 less, 100 more and 100 less than a three-digit number in your head (243 + 10 = 253; 253 + 100 = 353).
   • Add within 1000 with a quick picture, place by place, trading 10 tens for a hundred (254 + 163 = 417).
   • Take away within 1000 with a quick picture, breaking a hundred into 10 tens when needed, and check by adding (325 - 162 = 163).

7. Measuring Length

   Prize day at the Garden Fair in three picture books: measure with a ruler from 0 in inches and feet, measure one thing in inches and in centimeters, and find how much longer one thing is and solve length stories on a number line.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 2.MD.A.1 Measure the length of a thing by choosing and using a fitting tool: a ruler, yardstick, meter stick or measuring tape.; 2.MD.A.2 Measure one length twice with two different units, and tell how the two numbers relate to the size of the unit.; 2.MD.A.3 Estimate lengths in inches, feet, centimeters and meters.; 2.MD.A.4 Measure to find how much longer one thing is than another, in a standard length unit.; 2.MD.B.5 Use adding and subtracting within 100 for story problems about lengths in the same unit, with drawings such as rulers and equations with a symbol for the unknown.; 2.MD.B.6 Show whole numbers as lengths from 0 on a number line with equally spaced points, and show sums and differences within 100 on it.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Start at ZeroA picture-book class: the child reads how Ivy the inchworm's bean is measured with a ruler at the Garden Fair, then measures in inches from 0 and chooses inches or feet.
   2. Inches and CentimetersA picture-book class: the child reads how Ivy and Tiny measure the same prize ribbon in inches and in centimeters, then explains why a smaller unit gives a bigger number.
   3. How Much Longer?A picture-book class: the child reads how Hazel finds whose bean is longer, and by how much, at the Garden Fair's prize day, then compares lengths and solves length stories on a number line.

   Skills

   • Measure a length with a ruler from 0 and say the unit, guess a length before measuring, and choose inches or feet (and a ruler, yardstick or measuring tape) for the thing (a 7-inch bean; a 3-foot yardstick).
   • Measure one length in inches and in centimeters and explain why the smaller unit gives the bigger number; know that 100 centimeters make 1 meter (a ribbon of about 4 inches is 10 centimeters).
   • Find how much longer one thing is than another, and solve length story problems within 100 on a number line from 0 (10 - 7 = 3 inches longer; 32 - 9 = 23 cm).

8. Line Plots and Graphs

   The Garden Count in three picture books: a picture graph of a picnic vote, a bar graph of the bugs in the garden with a scale of ones, and a line plot of measured bean leaves, each read to find how many more, how many in all and how many of each.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 2.MD.D.9 Make measurement data by measuring several lengths to the nearest whole unit (or one length several times), and show it on a line plot with a whole-number scale.; 2.MD.D.10 Draw a picture graph and a bar graph (one unit per mark) for data with up to four categories, and solve put-together, take-apart and compare problems with a bar graph.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Picture GraphsA picture-book class: the child reads how Hazel's friends vote for a picnic snack with a picture graph, then makes picture graphs and uses them to find how many more and how many in all.
   2. Bar GraphsA picture-book class: the child reads how Ivy draws a bar graph of the bugs in Hazel's garden, then makes bar graphs and uses them to find how many more, how many in all and how many are left.
   3. Line PlotsA picture-book class: the child reads how Ivy measures bean leaves and shows their lengths on a line plot, then measures to the nearest inch and makes and reads line plots.

   Skills

   • Make a picture graph with one picture for each thing, lined up, and use it to find how many more and how many in all (6 - 3 = 3 more; 6 + 4 + 3 = 13).
   • Read and draw a bar graph with a scale of ones, and solve compare, put-together and take-apart problems with it (9 - 4 = 5 more; 10 - 4 = 6 left).
   • Measure things to the nearest whole inch and show the lengths on a line plot, one X for each, then read how long and how many (3 leaves are 5 inches long).

9. Time and Money

   Market Day on Acorn Lane in three picture books: read the market clock to five minutes with a.m. and p.m., count the coins in Nutmeg's purse in cents, and count Rosa's dollar bills and solve money stories with $ and ¢.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 2.MD.C.7 Tell and write time from analog and digital clocks to the nearest five minutes, with a.m. and p.m.; 2.MD.C.8 Solve story problems with dollar bills, quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies, using the $ and ¢ signs correctly.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Market ClockA picture-book class: the child reads how Otis the owl reads the market clock by counting by fives, then reads clocks to five minutes, writes the times and tells a.m. from p.m.
   2. Nutmeg's Coin PurseA picture-book class: the child reads how Nutmeg the squirrel counts the coins in her purse, then learns the values of the penny, nickel, dime and quarter and counts groups of coins in cents.
   3. Dollars and CentsA picture-book class: the child reads how Rosa the raccoon counts her dollar bills and quarters and buys a muffin pan, then counts dollars, learns that 100¢ make $1, and solves money stories with $ and ¢.

   Skills

   • Read and write the time to five minutes from a clock with hands and a digital clock, and say a.m. or p.m. (8:20 a.m.; 2:55; 4:30 p.m.).
   • Name the penny, nickel, dime and quarter and their values, and count a group of coins from the coin worth the most, writing the total with ¢ (52¢).
   • Count dollar bills, know that 100¢ make $1, and solve money stories with dollars or cents, using $ and ¢ correctly ($18 - $15 = $3; 75¢ - 40¢ = 35¢).

10. Shapes and Equal Shares

    The Shape Club in three picture books: name shapes by counting their sides and corners and find a cube, split rectangles into rows and columns of same-size squares and count them by rows, and cut circles and rectangles into halves, thirds and fourths.

    3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

    US curriculum: 2.G.A.1 Recognize and draw shapes with given attributes, such as a number of angles or equal faces; name triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons and cubes.; 2.G.A.2 Split a rectangle into rows and columns of same-size squares and count how many squares.; 2.G.A.3 Split circles and rectangles into two, three or four equal shares, name them (halves, thirds, fourths, half of, a third of), call the whole two halves, three thirds or four fourths, and see that equal shares of the same whole need not have the same shape.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. Sides and CornersA picture-book class: the child reads how the Shape Club sorts a box of shape tiles by counting sides and corners, then names triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons and cubes, and draws a shape with a given number of corners.
    2. Rows of SquaresA picture-book class: the child reads how the Shape Club makes a quilt of same-size squares in rows, then splits rectangles into rows and columns of same-size squares and counts them a row at a time.
    3. Equal SharesA picture-book class: the child reads how the Shape Club shares a pie and two pans of cornbread at its party, then cuts circles and rectangles into equal shares, names halves, thirds and fourths, and sees that equal shares can have different shapes.

    Skills

    • Name triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons and cubes by counting sides, corners and faces, and draw a shape with a given number of corners.
    • Split a rectangle into rows and columns of same-size squares and count the squares a row at a time (3 rows of 5: 5, 10, 15).
    • Split circles and rectangles into 2, 3 or 4 equal shares, name halves, thirds and fourths, and tell that equal shares can have different shapes.

English Language Arts

1. Vowel Teams and Story Questions

   Your child reads new letter teams (igh in night, oo and ew in moon and chew, ou and ow in out and now) in a three-part picture-book story about Zack, a little bat who wants to see the sun, and answers who, when, why and how questions about what happens and how Zack feels.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RF.2.3a Tell a short vowel from a long one when reading one-syllable words: sit and sight, hot and hoot.; RF.2.3b Read and spell more vowel teams: igh, oo and ew, ou and ow.; RF.2.3e ow has two common sounds, as in cow and row: try one, and check it is a word that makes sense.; RF.2.3f Read the heart words to and said.; RF.2.4a–c Read a short story with these teams, with help, smoothly and with feeling, checking words make sense.; RL.2.1 Ask and answer who, what, where, when, why and how questions about a story's key details.; RL.2.3 Tell how a character responds to the big events and problems in a story.; RL.2.7 Use the pictures and the words together to tell about a story's character and events.; RL.2.10 With help, read a story at the Grade 2 level.; SL.2.6 Answer in complete sentences, with a reason or a detail.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. A Light at Night: the igh TeamA picture-book class: your child learns the long i team igh and the heart words to and said, cracks the book's title, reads a story about Zack, a little bat who wishes to see the sun, tells how Zack feels and why, then hears true facts about bats and lightning bugs and tells what in the story is true and what is make-believe.
   2. The Moon in the Pool: oo and ewA picture-book class: your child learns the teams oo and ew, which both say /oo/, and why they are spelled that way, cracks the book's title, reads the next story about Zack the bat, who zooms into a pool to get the moon, tells why he did it, then hears true facts about moonlight and reflections.
   3. Now the Sun Is Out! ou and owA picture-book class: your child learns the teams ou and ow, which say /ou/, that ow has a second sound to try and why, cracks the book's title, reads the last story about Zack the bat, who finally sees the sun, tells how he feels and how they know, then hears true facts about the sun and owls.

   Skills

   • Read and spell words with the long i team igh, and tell its long i from a short i.
   • Read the heart words to and said, knowing which part to learn by heart.
   • Read words with oo and ew saying /oo/, and tell oo from a short o.
   • Read words with ou and ow saying /ou/, and try ow's other sound, the long o, when a word doesn't make sense.
   • Read a short story with these teams, with help, and answer who, what, where, when, why and how questions about it.
   • Tell how a character feels and what he does when something big happens, using the words and the pictures.

2. Fables and Folktales: The Lesson of a Story

   At the old Story Stump, Kit the rabbit and Pip the hedgehog hear three old tales: Aesop's The Wind and the Sun, the Ashanti folktale Anansi and the Pot of Wisdom, and the German tale The Hare and the Hedgehog. Your child reads a line on each page while you read the rest aloud, finds each story's beginning, middle and end, works out its lesson, compares two versions of a race, and retells each tale in their own words.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RL.2.2 Retell a fable or a folktale in order, and say its lesson, or moral, as advice.; RL.2.3 Tell how characters respond to the big events and problems in a tale, and why.; RL.2.5 Tell how a tale's beginning sets it up and how its ending wraps it up and teaches.; RL.2.9 Compare two versions of the same race tale: what stays the same and what changes.; SL.2.2 Retell the key events and the lesson of a tale that was read aloud.; SL.2.4 Tell a tale back clearly and in order, in complete sentences.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Wind and the Sun: Find the LessonA picture-book class: your child learns what a fable and its moral are, watches the teacher find the lesson of a short fable with three questions, reads lines of Aesop's The Wind and the Sun as the teacher reads it aloud, tells how the man responds, finds its lesson, retells it, and uses it to help Kit the rabbit.
   2. Anansi and the Pot of Wisdom: Beginning, Middle and EndA picture-book class: your child learns the job of a story's beginning, middle and end, watches the teacher map The Wind and the Sun, reads lines of an Ashanti folktale from Ghana as the teacher reads it aloud, tells how Anansi the spider feels, maps the tale, and retells it with its lesson: no one knows everything.
   3. The Hare and the Hedgehog: Two Versions of a RaceA picture-book class: your child hears The Tortoise and the Hare, then reads lines of a German folktale, The Hare and the Hedgehog, as the teacher reads it aloud, tells how Hare feels, compares the two versions (what is the same, what is different, and each one's lesson), and tells which one they like better and why.

   Skills

   • Tell what makes a story a fable or a folktale: an old tale, often with talking animals, that teaches a lesson.
   • Find a tale's lesson, or moral, by asking who was wise, who made a mistake and what happened, and say it as advice.
   • Tell how a tale's beginning sets it up, what happens in the middle, and how its end wraps it up.
   • Tell how a character feels and what they do when something big happens, and how we know.
   • Compare two versions of a tale: what is the same and what is different in characters, events and lessons.
   • Retell a tale read aloud, in order and in clear sentences, ending with its lesson.

3. Longer Words: Blends, Bossy r and Two Beats

   At the beach, Brad the crab finds a snug rock pool and a friend, Glen the gull; a storm washes Star the starfish into the pool; and Bert the sea turtle carries her home at sunset. Your child reads blends (crab, nest), bossy r (star, storm, her, bird, turn) and long words beat by beat (sun | set, gar | den), reads about 120 words of each story while you read the rest aloud, and hears true facts about the sea animals in it.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RF.2.3 Read words with blends at the start and end, telling a blend (two sounds) from a team like sh (one sound).; RF.2.3 Read words where an r after a vowel changes it: ar, or, and er, ir and ur, which all say /er/.; RF.2.3 Read two-beat words by finding the vowels and splitting between consonants, keeping a bossy r with its vowel.; RF.2.4 Read a story's lines smoothly and with feeling, rereading to fix slips.; L.2.2d Spell end blends and bossy r teams by the patterns learned.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Brad the Crab: BlendsA picture-book class: your child learns blends, letters side by side that each keep their sound (frog, hand), tells a blend from a team like sh, hears why English has so many, cracks the book's title and reads their half of a new beach story about Brad the crab, who gets stuck in a net until a gull named Glen helps, then hears true facts about crabs and gulls.
   2. Brad and the Storm: ar and orA picture-book class: your child learns bossy r, where an r after a vowel changes its sound (ar in star, or in storm), tells it from an r blend like cr in crab, hears why the r melts away in some accents, cracks the book's title and reads their half of the story as Brad and Glen ride out a storm and find a starfish in the pool, then hears true facts about sea stars and tide pools.
   3. Home at Sunset: er, ir, ur and Two BeatsA picture-book class: your child learns that er, ir and ur all say /er/ (perch, shirt, curl) and why one sound has three spellings, splits long words into beats (bas | ket, for | got), cracks the book's title and reads their half of the last Brad story, in which Bert the sea turtle carries Star home at sunset, retells it, then hears true facts about sea turtles and sunsets.

   Skills

   • Read and spell words with blends at the start and the end, tapping every sound, and tell a blend from a team.
   • Read words with ar and or, and tell an r after a vowel from an r blend.
   • Read words with er, ir and ur saying /er/, and spell taught words with the right team.
   • Read two-beat words beat by beat, splitting between consonants and keeping a bossy r with its vowel.
   • Spell words by the patterns learned: end blends, ar, and er, ir or ur in taught words.
   • Read your half of a longer story smoothly and with feeling, and tell or retell what happens.

4. Fact Books: Main Topics and Text Features

   Nat the newt finds a fact book called Frogs and reads it to find out whether she is a frog. Your child learns how a fact book works: its main topic and headings, a contents page, captions, a labeled diagram of a frog's life cycle, bold words, a glossary and the author's purpose. Your child reads the headings, captions, labels, glossary and well over 100 words of each chapter while you read the rest aloud, and uses the facts to answer questions.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RI.2.2 Name the main topic of a fact text and what each part of it is about.; RI.2.5 Use a contents page, headings, captions, bold words and a glossary to find facts fast.; RI.2.7 Tell how a diagram and its labels and captions add to the words and make them clearer.; RI.2.4 Work out what a topic word means, from the words around it or from the glossary.; RI.2.6 Say an author's main purpose: the question the text answers and what it teaches.; RI.2.1 Ask and answer what, how and why questions about a fact text's details.; RI.2.10 With help, read and understand a Grade 2 fact text.; SL.2.3 Ask and answer questions about what a speaker reads aloud, to understand more.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. All About Frogs: Main Topic and HeadingsA picture-book class: your child learns what a fact book is, watches the teacher find the main topic of a short text about bees, then reads part of a fact book about frogs with her (the contents, headings, captions and a line or two a page), names its main topic and smaller topics, uses headings to find facts, and makes up a heading of their own, to help Nat the newt find out if she is a frog.
   2. From Egg to Frog: Diagrams and CaptionsA picture-book class: your child watches the teacher read a caption (a snail after rain) and a diagram (how a plant grows), then reads a fact-book chapter about how a frog grows with her (headings, captions, diagram labels and a line or two a page), retells the frog's life cycle from its diagram, says what a caption adds, and makes up a caption of their own, as Nat the newt wonders whether she was once a tadpole.
   3. Is It a Frog? Bold Words and the GlossaryA picture-book class: your child watches the teacher spot a bold word in a bee book, look it up in the glossary in ABC order, and use clues to work out a new word, then reads the last chapter of the fact book with her (headings, captions, a glossary and a line or two a page), says what the author wants to answer and teach, and uses facts from the book to tell Nat the newt whether she is a frog.

   Skills

   • Name the main topic of a fact text and what each part is about, and tell a topic from a detail.
   • Use a contents page and headings to find a fact, and make a heading for a part.
   • Read captions and diagrams, follow a diagram's arrows to tell stages in order, and make up a caption.
   • Tell why a word is bold, find it in a glossary by ABC order, and use clues in a line to work out a word.
   • Say what an author wants to answer and teach in a fact text.
   • Read headings, captions, labels and short lines of a fact book with help, and use its facts to answer questions.

5. Word Parts: Prefixes, Suffixes and Compound Words

   By a stream in the woods, Gus the beaver builds a dam with his friend Pam the otter in a rainstorm, mends a leak when he feels hopeless, and builds a home that he has to remake so Pam can get in. Like a builder joining sticks, your child takes words apart and puts them together: compound words (foot + print), suffixes (care + ful, care + less) and prefixes (un + tie, re + build), reads about 130 words of each story while you read the rest aloud, and hears true facts about beavers, otters, rainbows and fireflies.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RF.2.3 Read longer words by their parts: compound words, and words with common prefixes and suffixes.; L.2.4 Work out a new word from its parts: the two small words in a compound, a known root word, a prefix or a suffix.; L.2.2d Spell words by their parts: each small word of a compound, and suffixes like -ful with one l.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Gus and the Rainstorm: Compound WordsA picture-book class: your child learns that two small words can join to make a compound word (foot + print = footprint) and how such words grew, watches the teacher take one apart (tooth | brush) and put one together (door + bell), builds compound words in a clapping game, reads their half of a story in which Gus the beaver and Pam the otter build a dam in a rainstorm, retells it, then hears true facts about beavers and rainbows.
   2. Gus and the Leak: Suffixes -ful and -lessA picture-book class: your child learns that a suffix at the end of a root word changes its meaning, -ful (full of) and -less (without), and where -ful came from, watches the teacher take a word apart (cloud | less) and build one (power + ful), adds suffixes in a clapping game, reads their half of a story in which Gus the beaver feels hopeless about a leak until Pam the otter helps, retells it, then hears true facts about beavers' teeth and playful otters.
   3. A Home for Gus: Prefixes un- and re-A picture-book class: your child learns that a prefix at the start of a root word changes its meaning, un- (not, or undo) and re- (again), and where these prefixes came from, watches the teacher take a word apart (un | happy) and build one (re + build), adds prefixes in a clapping game, reads their half of a story in which Gus the beaver remakes his new home so Pam the otter can get in, retells it, then hears true facts about beaver lodges and fireflies.

   Skills

   • Read compound words by finding the two small words, and tell them from two-beat words.
   • Read words with the suffixes -ful and -less by finding the root word and the suffix.
   • Read words with the prefixes un- and re- by finding the prefix and the root word, and tell a real prefix from a word's first letters.
   • Use the parts of a word (two small words, a root word and a prefix or suffix) to work out what it means.
   • Spell words by their parts: each small word of a compound, and -ful with one l.
   • Read your half of a story with word parts and retell what happens, in order.

6. Writing a Small Moment

   Lin, a girl who keeps a writer's notebook, shares three true small moments: one big wave at the beach with her dad, pancakes with her Gran, and the day her tooth came out. Your child reads all of Lin's sentences while the teacher names each part, then learns to write like Lin: zoom in on one short time and tell it in order (a beginning, a middle and an ending, in the past), bring it to life with details from the five senses and with describing words and how words, and make it better by revising, editing and sharing it. In each class the teacher and your child write a story together, then your child tells a small moment of their own aloud, heard and celebrated, never graded.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: W.2.3 Tell one small moment in order, with details of actions, thoughts and feelings, time words and an ending.; W.2.5 With help, make a story stronger by revising and editing it.; W.2.6 With a grown-up's help, use digital tools to make and share writing.; SL.2.4 Tell a story or an experience aloud with fitting details, in clear sentences.; SL.2.5 Record a story aloud and add a drawing that makes it clearer.; L.2.1 Use past-tense words that change, and choose describing words for things and how words for actions.; L.2.6 Use describing words and how words met in books and talk.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Big Wave: Zoom In on a Small MomentA picture-book class: your child learns that a small moment is one short time (a seed, not a whole watermelon) with a beginning, a middle in order and an ending, reads all of Lin's small moment about a big wave at the beach, writes one together with the teacher about a puppy and a puddle (your child gives the ideas), and then tells a small moment of their own aloud.
   2. Pancakes with Gran: Details from the Five SensesA picture-book class: your child learns that writers bring a small moment to life with details from the five senses, that describing words tell about a thing and how words tell about an action, reads all of Lin's small moment about making pancakes with her Gran, writes one together with the teacher about a puppy's bath (your child gives the sense details), and then tells a small moment of their own aloud, full of senses.
   3. My Tooth Came Out: Revise, Edit and ShareA picture-book class: your child learns that writers make a story better by revising it (putting in who and where, sense details, a feeling, what someone said and a stronger ending) and make it look right by editing it (capitals and end marks), reads Lin's short draft and the whole small moment she made of it, revises a puppy's story together with the teacher, revises a small moment of their own aloud, and picks a way to share it at home with you: record it, draw it, or type it together and send it to family.

   Skills

   • Choose one small moment, not a whole day, and tell it in order with a beginning, a middle and an ending.
   • Tell a story in the past, with time words and past-tense words that change.
   • Add details from the five senses so a reader can picture the moment.
   • Choose describing words for things and how words for actions.
   • Revise a story to make it better, and edit it for capitals and end marks.
   • Read a model small moment and tell what its writer did.
   • Tell a small moment of your own aloud, and share it with family by recording, drawing or typing it with a grown-up.

7. Rhythm, Rhyme and Character Voices

   The Barn Band, five farm animals who make music (Hen, Pig, Goat, Cow and Duck), star in three picture books: a poem to clap along to, a rainy-day story told in the animals' own words, and the story of their big show. Your child reads every line of the band's books while the teacher names each part, and learns how beats, rhymes and repeated sounds and lines give a poem its music and feeling, how characters see the same thing differently and how to give each one a voice that fits, and how words close in meaning go from a little to a lot (nibble, munch, gobble). In each class your child rereads lines like a performer and does something of their own aloud: a new verse for the band, two characters in two voices for Sam, a word ladder, heard and celebrated, never graded.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RL.2.4 Tell how beats, rhymes and repeated sounds and lines give a poem its rhythm and feeling.; RL.2.6 Notice that characters see things differently, and read each one's words in a voice that fits.; RL.2.10 Read and understand Grade 2 stories and poems, with help at the harder end.; RF.2.4 Read accurately and smoothly enough to understand, and reread with expression.; SL.2.5 Record a story read aloud, and add a drawing that makes it clearer.; L.2.5 Link words to real life, and tell apart words close in meaning (toss, throw, hurl).

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Barn Band: Beats, Rhymes and Repeated LinesA picture-book class: your child learns what gives a poem its rhythm (a steady beat with strong beats, rhymes, repeated first sounds, sound words and a line that comes back) on the teacher's own popcorn poem, reads the whole of The Barn Band, a poem about five farm animals who make music, finds its rhymes and the lines that come back, rereads it like a show with the beat and with feeling, and makes up a new verse aloud.
   2. Rain on the Roof: Points of View and Character VoicesA picture-book class: your child learns that quotation marks hold a character's words and said tells who is talking, that characters can see the same thing in different ways (their point of view), and that we give each character a voice that fits, then reads the whole of Rain on the Roof, a story about a rainy day on the farm, giving Pig, Hen, Goat and Cow each a voice, compares how they see the rain, rereads it as a play, and helps Sam read two characters in two different voices.
   3. The Big Show: Shades of MeaningA picture-book class: your child learns that some words mean almost the same but not quite (shades of meaning: nibble, munch, gobble), puts close words on a ladder from a little to a lot, links words to real life and picks the word that fits a sentence's clue, reads the whole of The Big Show, the band's show full of word ladders, finds the ladders, rereads lines like a performer, builds a word ladder of their own and plans to record the story at home with a grown-up and draw a picture for it.

   Skills

   • Hear a poem's rhythm and tell which words rhyme.
   • Find repeated first sounds, sound words and repeated lines, and tell the feeling they give a poem.
   • Tell who is talking from quotation marks and said, and how characters see the same thing differently.
   • Read each character's words in a voice that fits the clues.
   • Put words close in meaning in order, from a little to a lot, and pick the one that fits a sentence.
   • Link words to real things they fit.
   • Read a poem or story accurately, then reread it smoothly with expression, like a performer.
   • Plan to share a reading by recording it and adding a drawing with a grown-up.

8. How and Why: Linking Facts and Comparing Texts

   Three short fact books about beavers: how a beaver turns a stream into a pond, why beaver ponds are a big help, and how beavers get through the winter, told twice, in a fact book and in Tess's own pond notes. Your child reads the headings and most of the lines while the teacher reads one line per page, and learns how facts link (one thing leads to the next, with linking words like so and because), how an author backs up a point with reasons, and how to compare two texts on one topic. In each class your child uses the facts: teaching Sam how beavers make a pond, answering Sam's question from the book, and building a short report from both texts with the teacher, heard and celebrated, never graded.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RI.2.3 Tell how the steps, events or ideas in a text are linked.; RI.2.8 Tell how reasons back up the points an author makes.; RI.2.9 Compare and contrast the most important points of two texts on one topic.; W.2.2 Write or tell to teach: name the topic, give facts, and finish with an ending.; W.2.7 Take part in shared research and writing, such as gathering facts from two texts for a report.; W.2.8 Gather facts from given texts to answer a question.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Beaver Pond: How Facts LinkA picture-book class: your child learns that the facts in a how-and-why book are linked like a chain (one thing makes the next happen), the linking words first, next, then, so and because, and chain charts with arrows, on the teacher's own example of a puddle drying up, then reads the fact book How Beavers Make a Pond, finds the links from a fallen tree to a safe home, links the steps aloud and teaches Sam how beavers make a pond.
   2. Beavers Help: An Author's Point and ReasonsA picture-book class: your child learns what an author's point is, how reasons back it up, that not every true fact is a reason, and how to use a book's headings and facts to answer a question, on the teacher's own book about worms in a garden, then reads the fact book Beavers Help, finds the author's two points and their reasons, sorts lines into points, reasons and fun facts, and answers Sam's question with facts from the book.
   3. Beavers in Winter: Two Texts and a ReportA picture-book class: your child learns to compare two texts on one topic (what both tell and what only one tells), to sort facts in a three-part chart, and to answer a question from more than one text, on the teacher's own example of a fact book and a child's sky journal about the moon, then reads a fact book about beavers in winter and Tess's own pond notes, finds the facts both tell, and says a short report on how beavers get through the winter that the teacher writes down.

   Skills

   • Tell how the facts or steps in a text are linked: what made something happen and what it led to, using linking words.
   • Find an author's point and the reasons that back it up, and tell a reason from a fact that isn't one.
   • Compare two texts on one topic: what both tell and what only one tells.
   • Gather facts from a text, or from two, to answer a question.
   • Take part in shared research: sort facts from two texts and build a report with the teacher.
   • Teach a topic aloud: a topic sentence, facts or steps in order, and an ending.

9. Opinions and Friendly Letters

   Two pen pals star in three picture books: Nell, a young seal from the snowy north, and Sid, a camel from the desert. Nell writes an opinion piece about why snow is the best, Sid writes back a friendly letter about the sun, and then Nell visits Red Rock, where she, Sid and their friend Liz turn a shouting muddle into a big day with something for everyone. Your child reads the books' lines while the teacher reads one line per page, and learns how an opinion is backed up with reasons and linking words, the five parts of a friendly letter with its commas and capital letters, the talk rules of a good conversation (take turns and listen, link to what someone said, ask to find out more, polite talk with grown-ups) and squeezed words with an apostrophe. In each class your child tells something of their own aloud: an opinion piece, a letter from Nell, an answer to Sam's idea, heard and celebrated, never graded. No letter or opinion ever asks for real names, addresses, schools or photos.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: W.2.1 Write an opinion: name the topic, say what you think, give reasons joined with linking words like because, also and and, and finish with an ending.; SL.2.1 Talk with partners and grown-ups: follow talk rules, link comments to what others said, and ask when unsure.; SL.2.3 Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says, to understand or find out more.; L.2.1f Build longer sentences, as with a because reason.; L.2.2 Use capitals for holidays and places, commas in the greetings and closings of letters, and apostrophes in contractions.; L.2.3a Compare formal and everyday English.; L.2.6 Use new words from reading and talk, like opinion words.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Snow Is the Best: Opinions and ReasonsA picture-book class: your child learns to tell an opinion from a fact, the parts of an opinion piece (a topic and opinion, reasons, an ending) and the linking words because, also and and, on the teacher's own piece about fall, then reads Nell the seal's opinion piece Snow Is the Best!, finds her reasons and linking words, writes an opinion about the best zoo animal together with the teacher, and tells an opinion piece of their own to Sam.
   2. Dear Nell: A Friendly LetterA picture-book class: your child learns the five parts of a friendly letter (date, greeting, body, closing, signature), the commas after the greeting and the closing, and capital letters for names of people, places, months and holidays, on the teacher's own letter to a friend, then reads Sid the camel's letter back to Nell, finds its capital letters, writes Nell's answer together with the teacher, and tells a letter of their own to Sid, signed with a made-up pen-pal name.
   3. A Big Day in Red Rock: Talking It OverA picture-book class: your child learns contractions (two words squeezed into one with an apostrophe) on the teacher's own examples, reads a story told mostly in talk, in which Nell, Sid and Liz turn a shouting muddle into a plan with something from everyone, then names the talk rules the friends used (take turns and listen, link to what someone said, ask to find out more, polite talk with grown-ups), practices a talk with the teacher, and shows Sam how a good talker answers his idea.

   Skills

   • Tell an opinion from a fact, and find the reasons that back up an opinion.
   • Tell or write an opinion with a topic, reasons joined by linking words, and an ending.
   • Name the five parts of a friendly letter, in order, with commas after the greeting and the closing.
   • Use capital letters for names of people, places, months and holidays.
   • Follow talk rules: take turns and listen, link to what someone said, and choose polite words for grown-ups.
   • Ask a speaker a question about what they said, to find out more or to clear up a word.
   • Read contractions and tell the two words each one comes from.

10. Tricky Words and Fluent Reading

    Pip, a young owl, her Gran and her friend Bun the bunny star in three picture books: Pip learns to fly, Bun keeps a true notebook of a bean test (does a bean need light?), and the friends make a story show for Gran while she is away. Your child reads every line of the books while the teacher reads one line per page, and learns the last tricky spellings of Grade 2: y as a vowel (fly, happy), the ending -ed and its three sounds (looked, filled, planted), and the tricky words could, would, should, some and come. Along the way your child learns to read like a storyteller (end marks tell the voice what to do), to go back and fix a word that doesn't make sense, to put words close in meaning on a ladder (glad, happy, thrilled), and to share a reading as a recording with a picture, with a grown-up and for family only. In each class your child helps Sam, heard and celebrated, never graded.

    3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

    US curriculum: RF.2.3 Use phonics to read words: y as a vowel, the ending -ed, and tricky words learned by heart.; RF.2.4 Read Grade 2 texts smoothly enough to understand: with expression on rereading, and using the sentence to check and fix words.; RL.2.10 and RI.2.10 Read and understand stories and fact texts at the Grade 2 level.; SL.2.5 Make a recording of a story, with a picture to make it clearer.; L.2.5 Link words to real life, and tell apart words close in meaning.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. Can Pip Fly? Y as a VowelA picture-book class: your child learns that the letter y can be a vowel at the end of a word (it says the name of i in fly and a long e in happy) on the teacher's own examples, reads the whole story of Pip, a young owl learning to fly, hears true facts about owlets, learns how end marks tell the voice what to do, rereads pages like a storyteller, and helps Sam, who reads every y like the y in yak.
    2. Bun's Bean Test: The Ending -edA picture-book class: your child learns the ending -ed (it tells that something already happened, and it says /t/, /d/ or /ed/) on the teacher's own examples, reads Bun's true notebook of a bean test (does a bean need light?), hears true facts about seedlings, learns to put words close in meaning on a ladder (whisper, talk, shout; glad, happy, thrilled), and helps Sam, who reads every -ed as a beat of its own.
    3. The Story Show: Tricky Words and Fix-UpsA picture-book class: your child learns five tricky words by heart (could, would, should, some, come), reads the whole story of Pip and Bun's story show for Gran, in which Bun slips (Pip flaps her wigs!), goes back and fixes it, learns to check that reading makes sense and to reread smoothly, hears how to share a reading as a recording with a picture (with a grown-up, for family only), and gives Sam, who thinks great readers never go back, tips for his own show.

    Skills

    • Read y at the end of a word as the name of i or as a long e, by clapping the beats.
    • Read with expression, letting the end mark tell the voice what to do.
    • Read a Grade 2 story and tell how a character changed or what a character did.
    • Read words that end in -ed, and tell its sound: /t/, /d/ or a beat of its own.
    • Read a true notebook or fact text and tell what it found out.
    • Put words close in meaning in order, from a little to a lot, and link them to real life.
    • Read the tricky words could, would, should, some and come by heart.
    • Notice a word that doesn't make sense, go back and fix it, and reread smoothly.
    • Plan a recording of a reading with a picture, made with a grown-up for family.

Science

1. Materials and What They're Good For

   With the Fix-It Club, two friends, their grandma and her parrot, children test things from a junk box to find out what they are made of and what each material is like, test which materials soak up a spill and which are waterproof to pick the best one for a job, and build and compare a flat and a folded paper bridge to find each design's strengths and weaknesses.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 2-PS1-1 Plan and carry out tests to describe and sort materials by properties we can observe.; 2-PS1-2 Test different materials and use the results to choose the best one for a job.; K-2-ETS1-3 Compare test results of two designs to find each one's strengths and weaknesses.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Mixed-Up Junk BoxA picture-book class: in a story about the Fix-It Club, your child reads a true text with labeled pictures about materials and their properties (and solids and liquids), watches the teacher test a spoon like a scientist and tests a sock with her, then tests a spoon, a sock and a sheet of paper at the kitchen table and sorts them by a property.
   2. The Big SpillA picture-book class: in a story about the Fix-It Club, your child reads a true text with labeled pictures about materials that absorb water and materials that are waterproof, reads a strip-test chart in centimeters with the teacher, picks the right material for a job, then does a fair spill test at the kitchen table with a paper towel, a cloth and foil.
   3. The Wobbly BridgeA picture-book class: in a story about the Fix-It Club, your child reads a true text with labeled pictures about how engineers test and compare designs, and how shape can make paper strong, compares two roofs with the teacher and combines their strengths, then builds and tests a flat and a folded paper bridge at the kitchen table and finds each one's strengths and weaknesses.

   Skills

   • Describe and sort materials by properties found by looking, feeling and simple tests, tell an object from its material, and tell solids from liquids.
   • Test materials, for example for how well they soak up water, and use the results to choose the best material for a job.
   • Test two designs the same way, compare the results to find each one's strengths and weaknesses, and combine strengths into a better design.

2. Take Apart, Heat Up, Cool Down

   With the Fix-It Club, two friends, their grandma and her parrot, children rebuild a fallen block house into a boat and count the pieces as evidence, melt and refreeze ice gems to show that some changes from heating and cooling can be undone, and find out that a cooked egg, toast and a baked clay pot never change back.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 2-PS1-3 Observe and explain how an object made of a few pieces can be taken apart and built into a new object.; 2-PS1-4 Use evidence to argue that some changes from heating or cooling can be undone and some cannot.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Tumbled HouseA picture-book class: in a story about the Fix-It Club, your child reads a true text with labeled pictures about how things are built from pieces, watches the teacher turn a house of 5 pieces into a boat and builds a tower with her, then builds, takes apart and rebuilds with blocks at the kitchen table, counting the pieces as evidence.
   2. The Ice GemsA picture-book class: in a story about the Fix-It Club, your child reads a true text with labeled pictures about heating and cooling, melting and freezing, reads a melt-race chart with the teacher, works out how to change melted ice back, plays melt-and-freeze, then races two ice cubes at the kitchen table, one in warm tap water.
   3. The Breakfast PuzzleA picture-book class: in a story about the Fix-It Club, your child reads a true text with labeled pictures about changes from heating that can be undone and changes that can't (a cooked egg, toast, a clay pot), sorts melted chocolate and popcorn with the teacher using evidence, then melts butter, chocolate or an ice cube (the family picks) in a sealed bag in warm tap water and checks it after the freezer, at the end of class or later.

   Skills

   • Take an object made of pieces apart and build the same pieces into a new object, using counting as evidence that the pieces stay the same.
   • Use evidence from trying to change it back to argue that some changes from heating or cooling can be undone and some cannot.

3. Plants and Their Helpers

   With two young garden detectives and their dog, children plan a fair test that shows plants need sunlight and water to grow, find out how animals carry seeds to new places (burrs on fur, a squirrel's forgotten acorn, a bird's berry seeds), and model how bees carry pollen so flowers can make fruit and seeds.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 2-LS2-1 Plan and carry out a test to find out whether plants need sunlight and water to grow.; 2-LS2-2 Make a simple model that does what an animal does when it moves seeds or carries pollen.; K-2-ETS1-2 Sketch, draw or build a model that shows how an object's shape helps it work.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Case of the Droopy BeansA picture-book class: in a garden detective story, your child reads along as three bean pots get different care, reads a true text with a labeled diagram about what plants need (leaves make food from sunlight; no water makes a plant wilt), compares the pots like a detective, grows like a bean in a movement break, and plans a fair test and reads its week of results from a table.
   2. The Case of the Sticky StowawaysA picture-book class: in a garden detective story, your child finds three surprise sprouts, reads a true text with a labeled close-up of a burr about how animals move seeds (burrs ride on fur, squirrels forget acorns, birds drop berry seeds), solves the sprout clues with evidence, acts out the seed movers, and builds a model seed from paper and tape that rides on a sock like a burr on fur.
   3. The Case of the Missing CucumbersA picture-book class: in a garden detective story, your child finds out why a cucumber vine full of flowers grows no cucumbers until the bees come back, reads a true text with a labeled diagram of a flower about pollen, nectar and pollinators, reads a bee chart, does a bee dance, and models a bee with a cotton swab and a pinch of flour to find out that fuzzy bodies carry pollen from flower to flower.

   Skills

   • Plan a fair test that changes only one thing, and use its results to show that plants need sunlight and water to grow.
   • Explain and model how animals move seeds to new places, and how a seed's shape, like a burr's hooks, helps it travel.
   • Explain and model how animals like bees carry pollen from flower to flower, so plants can make fruit and seeds.

4. Life in Different Habitats

   With the Nature Notebook, two cousins and their aunt, a field scientist, children count the kinds of living things in a backyard and a pond, compare the Amazon rainforest with the Sonoran Desert on a bar chart, and find a pattern from the Great Barrier Reef to the Arctic tundra: warm, wet places full of plants hold more kinds, and no habitat is empty.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 2-LS4-1 Observe plants and animals, and compare how many different kinds live in different habitats.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Backyard CountA picture-book class: in a story about Mira, Theo and their scientist Aunt Zuri, your child reads a true text with labeled pictures about habitats and how scientists count the kinds of living things in them, counts the kinds in a backyard and a pond with the teacher, then does a 2-minute habitat survey out of a window or in a backyard or park with you.
   2. The Rainforest PostcardA picture-book class: in a story about Mira, Theo and their scientist Aunt Zuri, your child reads a true text with labeled pictures about the Amazon rainforest and the Sonoran Desert, reads a bar chart comparing the kinds of living things in each, works out why the rainforest has more kinds, then builds a block bar chart from two snapshots in the book.
   3. The Reef and the TundraA picture-book class: in a story about Mira, Theo and their scientist Aunt Zuri, your child reads a true text with labeled pictures about the Great Barrier Reef and the Arctic tundra, reads a bar chart of five habitats, finds a pattern in where more kinds of living things live, plays a habitat movement game, then draws a picture chart from two snapshots in the book.

   Skills

   • Observe a habitat and count the different kinds of living things in it, plants and animals, not how many of each.
   • Compare the variety of life in habitats on land and in water by counting kinds in same-size places and reading a bar chart.
   • Describe a pattern in variety: warm, wet habitats with many plants for food and shelter hold more kinds; very cold or dry ones hold fewer, never none.

5. Land and Water on Maps

   With the Map Makers, two grandchildren and their Grandpa Ray, an old sailor, children build mountains, hills, valleys and plains from sand and blankets and watch water run downhill, hunt for water from the kitchen freezer to the Pacific Ocean and Antarctica's ice, then read a real map of South America with its key and draw an island map of their own.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 2-ESS2-2 Make a model that shows the shapes and kinds of land and water in a place.; 2-ESS2-3 Use books, maps and media to find where water is on Earth, and that it can be liquid or solid.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Sand MountainA picture-book class: in a story about Nia, Omar and their Grandpa Ray building a land of sand at the beach, your child reads a true text with labeled pictures about mountains, hills, valleys and plains (with Mount Everest, the Great Plains and the Nile valley), finds out that water flows downhill into valleys, then builds a blanket land at home and rolls a ball from its mountain top.
   2. The Water HuntA picture-book class: in a story about Nia, Omar and their Grandpa Ray's old globe, your child reads a true text with labeled pictures about oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds and ice (with the Pacific Ocean, the Amazon River, Lake Superior, Lake Baikal and Antarctica), finds out that most of Earth's water is in the ocean, plays a melt-and-freeze game, then goes on a water hunt at home with a grown-up, sorting what they find into liquid and solid water.
   3. Grandpa's MapA picture-book class: in a story about Nia, Omar and their Grandpa Ray's old map, your child reads a true text with a labeled map of South America (the Andes, the Amazon River, the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, Lake Titicaca), learns to read a map's key and to see a place from above, then draws a made-up island map with mountains, a lake, a river and a key.

   Skills

   • Name the shapes of land (mountain, hill, valley, plain) and use a model to show that water flows downhill into valleys.
   • Find where water is on Earth (oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds, ice) and tell liquid water from solid water.
   • Read a map of land and water with its key, and make a map model of a place, seen from above.

6. Earth Changes, Fast and Slow

   With the Trail Keepers, two friends and Ranger Jo who looks after a state park's trails, children find the clues rain leaves on a hill trail and pour water gently over a sand hill in a tray, learn calmly how volcanoes and earthquakes change land fast and how people stay safe, then design and test ways to stop rain washing the trail away.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 2-ESS1-1 Use information from several sources as evidence that changes to the land can be fast or slow.; 2-ESS2-1 Compare more than one way to slow or stop wind or water from changing the land.; K-2-ETS1-1 and K-2-ETS1-3 Define a simple problem, and compare test results of two designs.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Muddy TrailA picture-book class: in a story about Maya, Eli and Ranger Jo finding a new ditch on a hill trail after rain, your child reads a true text with labeled pictures about erosion by wind and water (with the Grand Canyon, the Sahara's dunes and the White Cliffs of Dover), finds the clues erosion leaves, compares fast and slow changes, then builds a sand hill in a tray with a grown-up and pours water gently over it.
   2. The Island That GrewA picture-book class: in a story about Ranger Jo's photo of lava making new land in Hawaii and Eli's class practicing for earthquakes, your child reads a calm, true text with labeled pictures about fast Earth changes (Hawaii, the new island of Surtsey near Iceland, Japan's swaying buildings, and the scientists who watch and warn), sorts fast and slow changes, practices Drop, Cover and Hold On, then tests two block towers on a shake tray.
   3. Saving the TrailA picture-book class: in a story about Maya, Eli and Ranger Jo designing ways to stop rain washing soil off a hill trail, your child reads a true text with labeled pictures about how people hold land in place (dikes in the Netherlands, rice terraces in the Philippines, trees planted in China and along the Sahara, dune grass), compares test results like an engineer, then tests a design of their own in a tray of sand or soil with a grown-up, pouring water gently.

   Skills

   • Explain with clues as evidence that wind and water move soil, sand and rock (erosion).
   • Tell fast changes to the land (volcanoes, earthquakes, one heavy rain) from slow ones (canyons, dunes, cliffs), and say how people stay safe.
   • Compare designs that slow wind or water from changing the land, using a fair test and its results.

Social Studies

1. Communities of Every Kind

   How people live in communities of every kind, told in three picture books about the Postcard Club, three pen pals in a big city in Egypt, a fishing village in Norway and a river town in Vietnam: cities, towns and villages and their features, how weather, climate and land shape life and how people change the land, and how each community gets what it needs from near and far.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Civ.2.K-2 Show that every person in a community matters, not only the leaders.; D2.Geo.4.K-2 Explain how weather, climate and nature shape people's lives in a place.; D2.Geo.5.K-2 Describe how what people do changes the land and life of a place.; D2.Geo.6.K-2 Name some natural and cultural features of particular places.; D2.Geo.8.K-2 Compare how different kinds of communities use nearby and faraway places to meet daily needs.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Three PostcardsA picture-book class: rain washes the names off three pen pals' postcards from a big city in Egypt, a village in Norway and a river town in Vietnam; your child reads the story and the postcards, hears what a community is and that every country has cities, towns and villages, watches the teacher read a postcard for clues, works out which kind of community each card comes from, and sorts natural and built features.
   2. Snow, Sun and RainA picture-book class: Toto the toy turtle travels to a snowy village in Norway, a hot city in Egypt and a rainy river town in Vietnam; your child reads the story, hears what weather and climate are and how they shape homes, clothes and work, reads a weather chart with the teacher, explains why each home fits its place, packs Toto's bag, and does weather moves.
   3. From Near and FarA picture-book class: Toto the toy turtle rides in a box of mangoes from a river town in Vietnam to a fishing village in Norway; your child reads the story, hears how communities get food and water from near and far and how many people help, reads a box label and a shop sign as sources, follows bread and fish back to where they came from, and plays Pass it along.

   Skills

   • Tell what a community is, tell a city, a town and a village (rural area) apart from clues in a source, and name a place's natural and built features.
   • Explain how weather, climate, land and water shape homes, clothes, food and work in a place, read a simple weather chart, and tell how people change the land.
   • Compare how a city, a town and a village get food, water and other things they need from nearby and faraway, and tell how every person's work helps.

2. Maps, Directions and Our World

   How maps, grids and globes help us find places near and far, told in three picture books about the Postcard Club: a map of a fishing village in Norway with a key and a compass rose, a grid map of a river town in Vietnam with routes for people and mangoes, and a globe and a world map with pen pals in Africa, Europe, Asia and South America

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Geo.1.K-2 Make maps and other pictures of places you know.; D2.Geo.2.K-2 Use maps, graphs and photos to describe places and how people are connected to them.; D2.Geo.3.K-2 Use maps, globes and simple models to find natural and cultural features of places.; D2.Geo.7.K-2 Tell how and why people, goods and ideas move from place to place.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. A Map with a KeyA picture-book class: Siri draws a map of her fishing village in Norway for her pen pals; your child reads the story, hears what maps, symbols, keys and compass roses are, reads Siri's map with the teacher, follows a clue to Toto's hidden shell, plans a symbol for the map, and does compass moves.
   2. Find It on the GridA picture-book class: Bao sends a grid map of his river town in Vietnam; your child reads the story, hears what a grid and a route are and why people and goods travel the way they do, finds and names boxes on the map, tells a route in order, and plays a body grid.
   3. Our Big WorldA picture-book class: a new pen pal writes from Peru, and Nour's grandma shows Toto her globe; your child reads the story, hears about globes, world maps, the seven continents and five oceans and features such as rivers and mountains, finds each pen pal on a world map, picks the facts that answer a question, and does world moves.

   Skills

   • Read a map of a place: its title, who made it, its symbols and key, and the four directions on its compass rose; and plan a symbol and key entry for a map.
   • Find a place on a simple grid map by its letter and number, and tell a route in order, saying how and why people and goods move from place to place.
   • Use a globe and a world map to find the continents and oceans, and features such as big rivers, mountains and cities, in several parts of the world.

3. Producers and Consumers

   How people make, buy and trade goods and services, told in three picture books about the Postcard Club: the workers on Nour's street in Cairo, Bao's aunt's mango farm in Vietnam and what it costs to grow mangoes, and the club's trade box of fish, cotton, rice and blueberries from Norway, Egypt, Vietnam and Peru

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Eco.3.K-2 Tell what workers must know and be able to do to make goods or give services.; D2.Eco.4.K-2 Describe goods and services made in a community and ones made in other places.; D2.Eco.6.K-2 Tell how people earn money.; D2.Eco.7.K-2 Give examples of what it costs to make something.; D2.Eco.14.K-2 Describe why people in one country trade goods and services with people in other countries.; D2.Geo.7.K-2 Tell how and why people, goods and ideas move from place to place.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Goods and ServicesA picture-book class: Toto walks along Nour's busy street in Cairo and meets the baker, the barber, the bus driver and Nour's mom, a nurse; your child reads the story, hears about producers and consumers, goods and services, skills and earning money, sorts goods from services, asks the baker a question, and does busy street moves.
   2. Mangoes to MarketA picture-book class: Bao and Toto help Aunt Lan pick, pack and sell her mangoes at the floating market in Vietnam; your child reads the story, hears what it costs to grow and make goods and which goods are made nearby or far away, reads Aunt Lan's notebook, puts the steps in order, works out what is left after the costs, and does mango farm moves.
   3. Why Places TradeA picture-book class: the Postcard Club fills a trade box with fish from Norway, cotton from Egypt, rice from Vietnam and blueberries from Peru; your child reads the story, hears why places trade and how goods travel by ship, plane and truck, reads a ship's cargo list, uses two sources as evidence, tells the rice's trip in order, and does port moves.

   Skills

   • Tell goods from services and producers from consumers, name the skills a worker needs, and say how people earn money by working.
   • Give examples of what a producer pays for to make or grow something, tell the steps of making it in order, and tell goods made in a community from goods made in other places.
   • Explain why places trade (each makes or grows different things), how goods travel between countries, and use evidence from two sources to answer why.

4. Spend, Save and Choose

   How people choose when there is not enough of everything, told in three picture books about the Postcard Club with pretend coins: Siri's village chooses one new thing to build, Toto reads price tags at Bao's floating market, and Mateo in Lima saves up and visits a bank

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Eco.1.K-2 Explain why having too little of something means people must choose.; D2.Eco.2.K-2 Name what you gain and what you give up when you make a choice.; D2.Eco.5.K-2 Find the prices of things at a local market.; D2.Eco.9.K-2 Describe what banks do.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Village ChoiceA picture-book class: Siri's village in Norway has money for one new thing, a playground or a longer dock, and must choose; your child reads the story, hears about scarcity and what a choice gains and gives up, works through the village's and Toto's choices with the teacher, makes their own claim with two reasons, and does choice moves.
   2. Price Tags at the MarketA picture-book class: Toto takes 5 play coins to Bao's floating market; your child reads the story, hears what a price is and how to tell a fact from an opinion, reads and compares price tags with the teacher, chooses what Toto could buy and what he gives up, and does market moves. The money is pretend play coins.
   3. Saving UpA picture-book class: Mateo in Lima saves play coins for a football and visits a bank; your child reads the story, hears what saving is and what banks do, reads Mateo's savings record with the teacher and uses it as evidence for a claim, asks a friend a question about her claim, and does saving moves. The money is pretend play coins.

   Skills

   • Explain that having too little of something means people must choose, name what a choice gains and gives up, and make a claim with reasons.
   • Read price tags in pretend coins and compare which costs more, tell needs from wants without judging, and tell facts from opinions on a sign.
   • Explain saving and what banks do (keep money safe, help people save, lend money that is paid back), use a savings record as evidence for a claim, and ask questions about a claim.

5. History of Our Community

   How a community changes over time, told in three picture books about Pebble Bridge, a made-up town turning 100: timelines with past, present and future, old photos, letters and objects as clues, and why people changed the town's bridge.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Civ.14.K-2 Tell how people have worked, over the years, to make their community better.; D2.His.1.K-2 Put several events in the order they happened.; D2.His.2.K-2 Tell how life long ago was different from, and like, life today.; D2.His.3.K-2 Ask questions about people and groups who brought about an important change.; D2.His.4.K-2 Compare how people long ago saw things with how people see them today.; D2.His.9.K-2 Name different kinds of sources that tell us about the past.; D2.His.10.K-2 Compare what different sources tell us about the past.; D2.His.11.K-2 Use clues in a source to tell who made it, when and where.; D2.His.12.K-2 Ask questions about a source and what it shows about the past.; D2.His.14.K-2 Suggest possible reasons why something happened or changed in the past.; D2.His.16.K-2 Choose which reasons are more likely to explain something in the past, using evidence.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Mixed-Up TimelineA picture-book class: Puddles the duck knocks down Pebble Bridge's 100-year timeline; your child reads the story, listens to the town's history and uses it to put the town's past back in order, watches the teacher build timelines step by step, learns past, present and future, spots clues that a picture is from long ago, and does a time walk.
   2. The Box of CluesA picture-book class: Mina and Leo open Pebble Bridge's 100-year-old box of clues; your child reads the story, hears what time capsules and sources are, reads Rosa's old letter with the teacher to find who wrote it, where, when and what it tells, watches the teacher pick a source and tell a fact from an opinion, checks two clues against each other and does detective moves.
   3. Why the Bridge ChangedA picture-book class: on Town Day, Nana Pearl tells how Pebble Bridge went from a little boat to a wooden bridge to a strong stone bridge; your child reads the story, hears why towns change, reads an old town newspaper with the teacher, finds the reasons, picks the one with evidence, asks about the neighbors who built the bridge, compares then and now, and acts out the bridge's story.

   Skills

   • Put a community's events on a timeline in order, oldest first and today last, use past, present and future, and spot clues that a picture is from long ago.
   • Name kinds of sources about the past, ask who, what, when, where and why about one, find who made it, when and where, compare two sources and tell a fact from an opinion.
   • Give reasons why something in a community changed, choose the reason the evidence backs up, ask questions about the people who made the change, and compare how people saw it then and now.

6. Rules, Laws and Leaders

   How groups and communities make rules, decide together and look after shared things, told in three picture books about the Postcard Club: the club makes its own rules, the club votes on a badge, and Nour sees her city's leaders listen and fix her park

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Civ.1.K-2 Describe what people in charge do and what they are responsible for.; D2.Civ.3.K-2 Explain why rules and laws are needed, in school and in a community.; D2.Civ.4.K-2 Explain how groups of people make rules that give everyone jobs to do and protect what they are free to do.; D2.Civ.5.K-2 Explain what a government is and give examples of what it does.; D2.Civ.7.K-2 Act as a good citizen in class: be honest, kind, fair and responsible.; D2.Civ.8.K-2 Describe democratic ideas: treating everyone equally and fairly, and respecting fair rules and leaders.; D2.Civ.11.K-2 Tell how a group can decide things together.; D2.Eco.12.K-2 Give examples of goods and services a government provides.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Club Makes RulesA picture-book class: the Postcard Club's box arrives in a muddle, so the pals make three rules together, each with a job; your child reads the story, hears why we have rules and laws and what a good citizen does, sorts rules and laws with the teacher, makes a claim about the most important rule, and does rule moves.
   2. The Club VotesA picture-book class: the Postcard Club picks a badge by talking, listening and voting; your child reads the story, hears the ways a group can decide together and what makes a vote fair, counts votes with the teacher, asks a question about a friend's claim, and does vote moves.
   3. Leaders Who ListenA picture-book class: Nour and her grandma write to their city's leaders about a broken park fountain, and the leaders listen and fix it; your child reads the story, hears what a government does and what good leaders do in several places, sorts shared services with the teacher, asks questions about an explanation, and does town-helper moves.

   Skills

   • Explain why groups need rules and towns need laws (to keep people safe and make things fair), how a group's rules give jobs and protect turns, and how a good citizen acts; make a claim with reasons about a rule.
   • Tell ways a group can decide together (talking it over, listening, agreeing, voting), read a vote tally, explain what makes a vote fair, and ask questions about someone's claim.
   • Describe what leaders are responsible for, what a government is, and the shared services it provides, and ask questions about an explanation.

7. Citizens Who Help

   How every citizen helps a community, told in three picture books about the Postcard Club: Mateo's neighbors share out a fix-up day in Lima, Bao's grandpa shows how people made their river town greener over the years, and the pals write about problems near and far and ways to help

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Civ.2.K-2 Show that every person in a community matters, not only the leaders.; D2.Civ.6.K-2 Describe how a community shares out work, gives people jobs and fills roles in charge.; D2.Civ.7.K-2 Act as a good citizen in class: be honest, kind, fair and responsible.; D2.Civ.14.K-2 Tell how people have worked, over the years, to make their community better.; D2.Geo.5.K-2 Describe how what people do changes the land and life of a place.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Fix-Up DayA picture-book class: Mateo's neighbors in Lima share out a fix-up day for their little park; your child reads a longer story, hears why every person in a community matters and how a big job is shared out, sorts jobs into teams with the teacher, sees two fair ways to choose a leader, plans how a team could decide, and does fix-up moves.
   2. A Greener TownA picture-book class: Bao's grandpa shows how their river town changed over the years, from a muddy bank to tall trees and a strong bridge; your child reads a longer story, hears how people change a place and the true story of Wangari Maathai, who helped plant millions of trees in Kenya, puts the changes in order with the teacher, shares what they found, and does changing-town moves.
   3. Problems Near and FarA picture-book class: the Postcard Club's pals write about problems near and far, a bus stop with no bin in Lima and plastic in Bao's river; your child reads a longer story, hears what a problem is and how people solve one in four steps, tells near from far with the teacher, finds ways a child can help from near and far, says what they would do and why, and does problem-solver moves.

   Skills

   • Show that every person in a community matters, describe how a big job is shared out into teams with leaders, and use listening, agreeing and voting to decide as a group.
   • Tell how people have made a community better over the years and how what people do changes the land, including a real helper from history, and share what they found.
   • Name problems near and far and how people try to solve them, name ways a child can help, and act as a responsible, kind citizen.

Arts Education

1. Rhythm Patterns: Ta, Ti-ti and Rest

   Three picture-book classes with Gus the frog and the Pond Band: your child reads, claps and writes rhythms of ta, ti-ti and rest, then makes up a rhythm of their own for the band's Moon Party.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: MU:Cr1.1.2a With a little help, make up rhythm and melody patterns for a purpose.; MU:Cr2.1.2a With a little help, show and explain why they chose certain musical patterns to express an idea.; MU:Cr2.1.2b With a little help, arrange and keep their musical ideas with iconic or standard notation or a recording.; MU:Cr3.1.2a Use their own, classmates' and the teacher's feedback to revise their music.; MU:Cr3.2.2a Share a final version of their musical ideas with others, showing what they meant.; MU:Pr4.2.2b Read and perform rhythm and melody patterns from iconic or standard notation.; MU:Pr5.1.2b Rehearse, and find and use ways to fix the hard parts of a piece of music.; MU:Pr6.1.2a Perform music for a purpose, with expression and accuracy.; MU:Cn11.0.2a Show how music relates to the other arts, other subjects, different settings and daily life.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Gus Hops InA picture-book class: Gus the frog wants to join the Pond Band, and your child learns the band's first two rhythm words, ta (one sound on a beat) and ti-ti (two quick sounds on one beat), hears how musicians say rhythms before they play them, then walks, jogs and drums the band's rows and plays the whole Pond Song, and makes up a row for Gus.
   2. The Quiet LilyA picture-book class: the Pond Band practices for the Moon Party, Gus the frog meets an empty water lily, and your child learns the rest, a beat with no sound, hears why music needs quiet beats, then freezes on rests, drums three rows with rests, practicing the tricky one slowly, and plays the whole of Tess's Lullaby.
   3. The Moon Party RhythmA picture-book class: it's the Pond Band's Moon Party, and your child becomes a composer: they hear how composers work, watch two rhythms being written, answer Bix's rhythm questions by clapping, compose a four-beat rhythm of their own on paper, improve it with friendly feedback, and perform it under the moon.

   Skills

   • Read, say and clap four-beat rhythms of ta and ti-ti, knowing that ti-ti is two even sounds on one beat.
   • Read and perform rhythms with a rest, keeping the beat going through the beat with no sound.
   • Make up a four-beat rhythm, write it down in pictures, improve it with feedback and share it.

2. Colors and Moods

   Three picture-book classes with Poppy the fox, Mo the bear cub and Pickle the cat, who paint a mural on a gray wall: your child learns how colors, lines and marks change the mood of a picture, makes art with paper and crayons or whatever is at home, and shows and tells about it.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: VA:Cr1.2.2a Make art with different materials and tools to explore their own interests, questions and curiosity.; VA:Cr2.1.2a Experiment with different materials and tools to explore personal interests in a work of art.; VA:Cr2.2.2a Show safe ways to use and clean art tools and the space where they work.; VA:Cr3.1.2a Talk and think with others about the choices they made in their artwork.; VA:Re7.1.2a Notice and describe what is beautiful or interesting in nature and in things people built.; VA:Re7.2.2a Sort images by the feelings they express.; VA:Re8.1.2a Interpret art by naming the mood it suggests and describing its subject, colors, lines and shapes.; VA:Re9.1.2a Use art words to say which artworks they prefer, and why.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Gray WallA picture-book class: Poppy the fox and Mo the bear cub want to paint a mural on a gray wall, but can't agree on colors. Your child hears how painters like Picasso and Monet used color for mood, learns how warm, cool, light and dark colors change a picture's feeling, hunts for colors at home, then colors one picture two ways and shows and tells about it.
   2. Pickle's Paw PrintsA picture-book class: Pickle the cat's paw prints dot the new mural, and Poppy and Mo discover that marks can show a mood. Your child hears how van Gogh painted a swirling sky, learns the many marks one crayon can make, draws lines in the air, then makes a weather picture whose marks show its mood, cleans up like an artist, and shows and tells about it.
   3. The Mood MuralA picture-book class: it's Fair Day on Puddle Lane, and the last square of the mural is for your child. They hear about cave paintings, Diego Rivera and neighborhood murals, learn to read a picture's mood from its clues and say why they like it, find an idea at home, make their own mood square with paper and crayons, and show and tell about it like an artist.

   Skills

   • Tell how warm, cool, light and dark colors can change a picture's mood, and color the same picture two ways to give it two moods.
   • Try out many marks with one tool (tip, side, light and hard pressing, dots, a rubbing), choose lines and marks that show a mood, and use and clean up art tools safely.
   • Make an artwork that shows a chosen mood and explain the choices, read the mood of other artworks from their subject, colors, lines and shapes, and say which they prefer and why.

3. Dance: Shapes, Levels and Pathways

   Three picture-book classes in the Meadow with Flo the flamingo, Shelly the snail and Lulu the ladybug, who get ready for the Meadow Dance Show: your child makes shapes at high, middle and low levels, travels in straight, curvy and zigzag pathways, makes up a dance with a beginning, a middle and an end, and performs it. Most of each class is dancing, in a small cleared space or seated on a chair.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: DA:Cr1.1.2a Explore movement ideas from many sources, such as music, words, objects and pictures, and suggest more sources.; DA:Cr1.1.2b Put many movements together while changing the elements of dance.; DA:Cr2.1.2a Improvise a dance phrase with a beginning, a middle with a main idea, and a clear end.; DA:Cr3.1.2b Show the levels, movements and pathways of a dance in a drawing or with symbols.; DA:Pr4.1.2a Move on the spot and through space with clear direction, changing shapes, facings and pathways; tell symmetrical from asymmetrical shapes, and circling from turning.; DA:Pr4.2.2a Tell whether a move or phrase is long or short, and keep a steady beat as the tempo changes.; DA:Pr4.3.2a Show movement qualities and name them with movement words, such as a slow, heavy walk or a light, bouncy run.; DA:Pr6.1.2a Dance for others in a space where the audience and the dancers have their own places.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Flo's Statue ShapesA picture-book class that is mostly dancing: Flo the flamingo thinks she only knows one shape, until a game of statues in the Meadow. Your child hears how dancers make shapes at high, middle and low levels, tries each one, warms up, plays the statue game and makes up their own statue dance to perform, in a small cleared space or sitting on a chair.
   2. Shelly's Snail TrailA picture-book class that is mostly dancing: Shelly the snail's shiny trail shows where she danced, and Mr. Hoot calls it a dance map. Your child hears about pathways and the Chinese dragon dance, traces and walks straight, curvy and zigzag pathways, then draws a dance map with movement words, dances it and performs it, in a small cleared space or sitting on a chair.
   3. The Meadow Dance ShowA picture-book class that is mostly dancing: it's show day in the Meadow, and a puff of dandelion seeds gives Lulu the ladybug an idea for the friends' dance. Your child hears how choreographers make dances, watches a rain dance and a popcorn dance, warms up to a changing beat, then makes up their own dance with a beginning, a middle and an end, practices it with the drum and performs it, in a small cleared space or sitting on a chair.

   Skills

   • Make and hold body shapes (big or small, round, pointy or twisted, symmetrical or asymmetrical) at high, middle and low levels, and change from one to the next with control.
   • Travel in straight, curvy and zigzag pathways with clear direction and a chosen movement quality, and show a pathway in a drawn dance map.
   • Make up a short dance phrase from an idea, with a starting shape, a middle and an ending shape, keep it on a steady beat as the tempo changes, and perform it for an audience.

4. Theatre: Voices, Props and Dialogue

   Three picture-book classes at the Treehouse Theatre with Pip the mouse, June the rabbit and Nana Fern the tortoise, who put on plays for Story Night: your child changes their voice and body to play characters in The Three Billy Goats Gruff, makes props and costumes from things at home for The Enormous Turnip, then makes up dialogue for a scene of their own and performs it. Most of each class is acting, voicing and making props, in a small cleared space or seated on a chair.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: TH:Cr1.1.2a In guided make-believe, suggest new details for the plot and the story.; TH:Cr1.1.2b In guided make-believe, imagine costumes and props together with others.; TH:Cr1.1.2c Find ways voice and sound can tell or retell a story in guided make-believe.; TH:Cr2.1.2a In guided make-believe, make up dialogue that means something, together with others.; TH:Pr4.1.2b Change voice and body to show more about a character in guided make-believe.; TH:Re7.1.2a Notice when artistic choices are made in guided make-believe.; TH:Re8.1.2a Explain how their likes and feelings shape how they respond to guided make-believe.; TH:Cn10.1.2a Connect a character's experiences to their own in guided make-believe.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Big Voice, Little VoiceA picture-book class that is mostly acting: Pip, the smallest mouse in the woods, must play the Big Billy Goat on Story Night. Your child hears what actors do with their voices and bodies, hears Ms. Maple say one line as three different goats, warms up like an actor, then acts out the bridge scene of The Three Billy Goats Gruff, every goat and the troll, in a small cleared space or sitting on a chair.
   2. The Empty Prop BoxA picture-book class that is mostly making props and acting: the Treehouse Theatre's prop box is empty, and the friends make props for The Enormous Turnip from a sock, a scarf and a laundry basket. Your child hears what props and costumes are, hears Ms. Maple turn one towel into three props, plays a pretend-object warm-up, then makes props and a costume piece from things at home, acts the big pull, and adds a new idea to the story.
   3. Story NightA picture-book class that is mostly acting: Pip the mouse and June the rabbit must make up the words for their new play about the last strawberry. Your child hears what dialogue and a script are, hears Ms. Maple act a cat and a dog who both want the sunny spot, plays an echo game, then makes up a scene with Ms. Maple line by line, rehearses it with voices, bodies and a prop, performs it, and says their favorite line and why, in a small cleared space or sitting on a chair.

   Skills

   • Change the voice (loud or soft, high or low, fast or slow) and the body (tall or small, light or heavy steps) to show who a character is, and use voice sounds to help tell a story.
   • Tell props from costumes, imagine and make pretend props and costume pieces from safe things at home, and add a new detail to a story.
   • Make up dialogue with a partner in which each line answers the last, perform the scene with voice, body and a prop, and say a favorite part and why.

5. Make It New: Found-Object Art and Our Exhibit

   Three picture-book classes on Bramble Lane with Rocco the raccoon, Wren the bird and Mr. Bramble the hedgehog, who turn recycling-day treasure into art and open an exhibit at the library: your child brainstorms and builds a creature from safe things found at home, makes a patchwork picture of an event from their own life from old scraps, then frames, labels and groups their art for a small exhibit at home and gives the family a tour. Most of each class is making, with a grown-up's help: no scissors without a grown-up, no small parts, nothing sharp.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: VA:Cr1.1.2a Brainstorm with others many ways to solve an art or design problem.; VA:Cr2.2.2a Show safe ways to use and clean art tools and the space where they work.; VA:Cr2.3.2a Repurpose objects to make something new.; VA:Pr4.1.2a Sort artworks by a theme or idea for an exhibit.; VA:Pr5.1.2a Tell apart different materials or ways of getting artwork ready to show.; VA:Pr6.1.2a Think about how art shown in and outside school, such as in museums and public places, adds to a community.; VA:Cn10.1.2a Make art about events at home, at school or in the community.; VA:Cn11.1.2a Compare how people in different times and places used art.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Rocco's Treasure PileA picture-book class that is mostly making: on recycling day, Rocco the raccoon finds a pile of boxes and tubes and calls it treasure. Your child hears what found-object art is and how Picasso made a bull from a bicycle seat and handlebars, watches Ms. Maple turn one box into three ideas, hunts at home with a grown-up for safe old things, then thinks of many ideas and builds a creature of their own, and shows and tells about it.
   2. Wren's PatchworkA picture-book class that is mostly making: on Lantern Night, Wren the bird wants to make a picture to remember it, but she has only a bag of old scraps. Your child hears how people in many times and places made art from what they had, like the quilts of Gee's Bend, watches Ms. Maple build a picnic patchwork, sorts and tears scraps, then makes a patchwork picture of something that happened in their own life, and shows and tells about it.
   3. Our ExhibitA picture-book class that is mostly making and sharing: the Bramble Lane library is getting an exhibit, but the art is in a jumble. Your child hears what museums, curators and labels do and about public art like Chicago's Cloud Gate, watches Ms. Maple write a label, frames their own art, sorts it into groups by theme, makes labels and a sign, sets up a small exhibit at home, and gives the family a tour.

   Skills

   • Brainstorm many ideas for a found object, turn it into something new with safe materials and tools, and clean up.
   • Make a patchwork collage of an event from home or town from repurposed scraps, built in layers, and tell how people in other times and places made art from what they had.
   • Get artworks ready to show with a frame and a label, group them by theme, set up a small exhibit and give a tour, and tell why communities share art in public places.

6. Melody, Expression and Music for Every Purpose

   Three picture-book classes with the Pond Band, the last of the Grade 2 arts year: your child sings a high-low lullaby to a teddy bear and the same tune as a march, plays and dances to music from West Africa, China, Mexico and Ireland on a drum and a shaker made at home, then makes up a short tune of their own for a job they choose, makes it better and performs it for the family. Most of each class is singing, humming and playing, with a seated version of every movement.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: MU:Cr1.1.2b With a little help, make up musical patterns in a given tonality (such as major or minor) and meter (such as in twos or threes).; MU:Pr4.1.2a Show and explain their interest in, knowledge about and purpose of the music they choose.; MU:Pr4.2.2a Show they know music ideas such as tonality and meter in music from many cultures chosen to perform.; MU:Pr4.2.2b Read and perform rhythm and melody patterns from iconic or standard notation.; MU:Pr4.3.2a Show how musicians use expressive qualities such as dynamics and tempo to share what they mean.; MU:Pr5.1.2a Use agreed criteria to judge how accurate and expressive a performance is.; MU:Pr6.1.2a Perform music for a purpose, with expression and accuracy.; MU:Pr6.1.2b Perform in a way that suits the audience and the purpose.; MU:Re7.1.2a Explain and show how their interests and experiences shape the music they choose for a purpose.; MU:Re7.2.2a Describe how certain music ideas are used to support a purpose.; MU:Re8.1.2a Show how music ideas support what the creators and performers want to express.; MU:Re9.1.2a Use their own likes and the music's expression to judge music chosen for a purpose.; MU:Cn10.0.2a Show how their interests, knowledge and skills relate to their choices when making, performing and responding to music.; MU:Cn11.0.2a Show how music relates to the other arts, other subjects, different settings and daily life.; DA:Re7.1.2b Show and describe movements from dances of different styles or cultures.; DA:Cn11.1.2a Watch a dance and connect its movements to the people and places it comes from.; TH:Cn11.1.2a Find what is alike and different in stories from their own community and from many cultures, in guided make-believe.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Sleepy PondA picture-book class that is mostly singing: the Pond Band is back, and Ollie's baby sister Dot can't sleep. Your child hears why people make music, what a melody is, and how loud or soft and fast or slow fit a song's job, hears Ms. Maple sing one tune as a lullaby and as a march, warms up their voice, then sings a high-low lullaby to a teddy bear and the same tune as a march, and performs both.
   2. The Pond FestivalA picture-book class that is mostly playing and moving: the Pond Band follows music from far away to the Pond Festival. Your child hears music from West Africa, China, Mexico and Ireland and what each is for, learns twos, threes and call and response, makes a drum and a shaker from safe things at home, then plays and dances through a world music parade (standing or seated) and tells which music they liked best and why.
   3. The Last SongA picture-book class that is mostly singing and making up a tune: on the last night of the Pond Festival, Gus makes up a thank-you song. Your child hears what composers do, hears Ms. Maple make up a tune and check it with three stars, warms up on do, re, mi and Hot Cross Buns, then makes up a four-note tune of their own for a job they choose, makes it better, and performs it for the family with a home-made drum or shaker.

   Skills

   • Read and sing a high-low melody from pictures, and choose dynamics and tempo that fit a song's purpose, such as a lullaby or a march.
   • Play and move to music from several cultures on home-made instruments, hear twos and threes, tell where each music comes from and what it is for, and say which they like and why.
   • Make up a short tune for a chosen purpose, check it with agreed criteria and improve it, and perform it for an audience.

Physical and Health Education

1. Skip, Run and Jump Safely

   Three picture books about Pip the penguin and Juno the kangaroo getting ready for Field Day at Pebble Park with Coach Owl: skipping with a step and a hop, jogging and sprinting and stopping safely, why races have rules, jumping forward and landing soft, and a travel trail of skips, jogs and a jump to a beat; about half of every class is moving, in a small cleared space or seated.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E1.2 Skips with good form.; S1.E2.2 Runs with good form, and tells an easy jog from a fast sprint.; S1.E3.2 Jumps forward and lands with most key parts of good form, taking off and landing on one or two feet.; S2.E1.2 Joins travelling moves together through general space, to a rhythm.; S2.E2.2 Combines shapes, levels and pathways into simple travel, dance and balance sequences.; S4.E5.2 Knows why games have rules and good manners.; S4.E6.2 Works on their own safely, and uses equipment safely.; 1.2.4 Names ways to keep children from getting hurt.; 7.2.2 Shows ways to stay away from or lower health risks.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Pip Learns to SkipA picture-book class, about half of it moving: your child reads a story about Pip the penguin, who can only waddle, and Juno the kangaroo, who skips too fast, learns the skip step by step like Coach Owl teaches it, then skips on the spot, along a short path with a safe freeze, and in a Skip Parade game.
   2. Slow Down, Juno!A picture-book class, about half of it moving: your child reads a story about Juno the kangaroo, who can't stop running and slides into a pile of mats, hears how a jog differs from a sprint, practices running form, a safe stop and the talk test on the spot, learns why races have rules, and plays red light, green light.
   3. Land Like a FeatherA picture-book class, about half of it moving: your child reads a story about Field Day's Feather Jump, where Juno the kangaroo lands with a THUD and Pip the penguin lands without a sound, hears how bent knees work like springs, practices a small jump and a soft landing on the spot and over a pretend line, and joins a skip, a jog and a jump into a Field Day trail.

   Skills

   • Skip with a step and a hop on the same foot, then the other foot, swinging the opposite arm, on the spot and along a short clear path.
   • Tell an easy jog from a fast sprint, run with eyes up and arms swinging, and stop safely by slowing down bit by bit and bending the knees.
   • Jump forward from two feet (or from one) and land soft like a feather: two feet a little apart, knees bent, arms forward, quiet.
   • Join travelling moves (skip, jog, jump) to a beat, choosing a pathway and a level.
   • Move safely on their own: check the space, keep a space bubble with eyes up, no socks on a smooth floor, nothing to jump off, and say why games have rules and good manners.

2. Feelings, Friends and Dance

   Three picture books about Hazel the hedgehog and Tuck the turtle getting ready for the meadow show: the three parts of health, calming a big feeling and saying it with I-feel words, listening like a friend and cheering a friend on, and a dance that shows a feeling.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E5.2 Performs a short rhythmic activity or dance, planned by the teacher or the child, that keeps to a simple beat.; S2.E2.2 Combines shapes, levels and pathways into simple travel, dance and balance sequences.; S2.E3.2 Changes speed and force bit by bit: getting faster or slower, stronger or lighter.; S4.E4.2 Works well with a partner without needing reminders.; S5.E3.2 Names activities that let us express ourselves, such as dance and balance routines.; S5.E4.2 Describes the good feelings of being active and playing with others.; 1.2.2 Knows health has more than one part: body, feelings and getting along with others.; 4.2.1 Shows healthy ways to say needs, wants and feelings.; 4.2.2 Shows listening skills that help health.; 7.2.1 Practices healthy habits that keep or improve health.; 8.2.2 Cheers friends on to make healthy choices.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Hazel Gets PricklyA picture-book class: your child reads a story about a ripped show sign, when Hazel the hedgehog gets prickly and Tuck the turtle hides, and learns the three parts of health, feeling clues in the body, three belly breaths and an I-feel message, practicing it out loud in role-play.
   2. Tuck Listens UpA picture-book class: your child reads a story in which Tuck the turtle mixes up the show plan while tossing acorns, learns the difference between hearing and listening, plays a listening game of echo moves, and practices cheering a friend on out loud.
   3. Dance It Out!A picture-book class that is mostly dancing: your child reads a story about show day, when Tuck the turtle feels worried and he and Hazel the hedgehog dance it out, learns the four dance tools, dances from worried to brave, and makes and performs their own feelings dance.

   Skills

   • Name the three parts of health (body, feelings and friends) and a way to care for each.
   • Notice feeling clues in the body, calm a big feeling with three belly breaths, and say it with an I-feel message: I feel ___ when ___. Please ___.
   • Listen like a friend: eyes on the talker, body calm, wait your turn, then say it back or ask a question.
   • Cheer a friend on with kind words, encourage a healthy choice such as a water break, and play kindly with a partner.
   • Show a feeling in a short dance by changing level, speed, force and pathway, bit by bit, and say that a dance lets each of us express ourselves.

3. Strong and Steady

   Pip and Juno join Coach Owl's Strong and Steady Club: balances, animal walks and body-weight strength, healthy habits and a goal chart.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E7.2 Holds balances on different body parts, joining levels and shapes.; S3.E1.2 Names active play to do outside PE class: at home, at the park, with family and friends.; S3.E3.2 Knows the body's own weight can build strength, as in a plank or animal walks.; S5.E2.2 Compares activities that build confidence with ones that feel like a challenge.; 1.2.1 Knows that healthy habits affect how healthy we are.; 6.2.1 Picks a short-term health goal and takes steps toward it.; 7.2.1 Practices healthy habits that keep or improve health.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Steady on the LogA picture-book class, about half of it moving: your child reads a story about Pip the penguin crossing a wobbly log, learns what helps us stay steady, practices three balances and statues at three levels next to a chair, and plays a freeze game, saying which balances are easy and which are a challenge.
   2. Juno's Animal WalksA picture-book class, about half of it moving: your child reads a story about Juno the kangaroo, who wants to lift big rocks to get strong, learns how muscles grow with their own body weight and healthy habits, does bear walks, crab walks, frog squats and wall push-ups, and plays an animal parade game.
   3. Pip's Goal ChartA picture-book class, about half of it moving: your child reads a story about Pip the penguin, who turns a wish into a goal chart and practices every day, learns what makes a good goal, tests two club moves to pick a challenge, does the first practice of their own goal, and plays games to do at home and at the park.

   Skills

   • Hold balances on different body parts (one foot, hands and knees, the seat) at high, middle and low levels, with eyes on a spot, arms out and a tight tummy.
   • Build strength with the body's own weight: animal walks, wall push-ups, a knee plank and sit-to-stand.
   • Say how healthy habits (active play, water, sleep, healthy food) keep the body healthy, and name active play to do at home and at the park.
   • Pick a short-term goal that says what, how and when, take small steps toward it and track them.
   • Balance and build strength safely at home: a chair or wall to hold, a non-slip floor, no socks, and a seated version; tell easy from a challenge and keep trying.

4. Throw, Catch and Volley

   On a rainy week in the clubhouse, Pip and Juno toss and catch sock balls, keep a balloon up and knock down a cup tower, with soft things only.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E13.2 Throws underhand, showing most key parts of good form.; S1.E14.2 Throws overhand, showing a couple of the key parts of good form.; S1.E16.2 Catches a self-tossed object with the hands, not trapping it against the body, and catches objects tossed by a partner.; S1.E22.2 Volleys a light object upward again and again with open hands.; S1.E24.2 Strikes a light object upward again and again with a short paddle.; S2.E3.2 Changes speed and force bit by bit: getting faster or slower, stronger or lighter.; S4.E3.2 Takes a coach's specific tips and tries them.; S4.E4.2 Works well with a partner without needing reminders.; S4.E6.2 Works on their own safely, and uses equipment safely.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Rainy Day TossA picture-book class, about half of it moving: your child reads a story about Pip the penguin and Juno the kangaroo playing toss and catch in the clubhouse on a rainy day, learns the underhand toss and how to catch with basket hands, tosses rolled socks into a basket, practices catching and plays a target-points game, with soft things only.
   2. Keep It Up!A picture-book class, about half of it moving: your child reads a story about Pip the penguin and Juno the kangaroo trying to keep a balloon in the air, learns to volley with flat hands and to change force bit by bit, practices light and stronger taps and plays paddle keep-up with a paper plate.
   3. The Cup TowerA picture-book class, about half of it moving: your child reads a story about Pip the penguin and Juno the kangaroo knocking down a cup tower with sock balls, learns the overhand throw in four parts and how to be a good partner, practices soft throws at near and far targets and plays cup tower, taking turns and cheering.

   Skills

   • Toss underhand to a target: face it, swing the arm back low, step with the opposite foot, let go at the waist and follow through to the target.
   • Catch a self-tossed or partner-tossed soft object with the hands (a basket, eyes on it, soft hands), not trapping it against the body.
   • Volley a balloon upward again and again with open, flat hands, and strike it upward with a short paper-plate paddle.
   • Throw overhand: side to the target, arm back and elbow up, point, step with the opposite foot, throw and follow through across the body.
   • Change force bit by bit, lighter or stronger, for a near or far target or a low or high volley.
   • Take a coach's tips and try them, and be a good partner: take turns, help and cheer.
   • Throw and volley safely indoors: soft things only, small tosses, away from windows and screens, a grown-up for balloons, or seated.

5. Dribble and Kick

   Back in Pebble Park, Pip and Juno dribble a ball with their hands and their feet, then play a fair game of Goal Box with Hazel and Tuck, with a soft ball and gentle kicks along the ground.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E17.2 Dribbles a ball with one hand on the spot, then while walking.; S1.E18.2 Dribbles a ball with the feet through general space, keeping the ball and body under control.; S1.E21.2 Runs up and kicks a still ball, showing some key parts of good form.; S2.E3.2 Changes speed and force bit by bit: getting faster or slower, stronger or lighter.; S4.E3.2 Takes a coach's specific tips and tries them.; S4.E5.2 Knows why games have rules and good manners.; S5.E4.2 Describes the good feelings of being active and playing with others.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Bounce, Bounce, WalkA picture-book class, about half of it moving: your child reads a story about Pip the penguin and Juno the kangaroo learning to bounce a ball in the park, learns to dribble with soft finger-pad pushes and eyes up, dribbles on the spot and while walking, and plays a traffic-light game.
   2. Puppy on a LeashA picture-book class, about half of it moving: your child reads a story about Juno the kangaroo, whose ball runs away when she kicks it too hard, learns to dribble with little taps of the inside of the foot, practices slow and faster dribbles and a sole stop, and plays Puppy Says.
   3. The Goal BoxA picture-book class, about half of it moving: your child reads a story about four friends playing Goal Box in the park, learns a gentle kick with the inside of the foot and why games have rules, practices near and far kicks along the floor, and plays Goal Box with a partner, ending with Good game!

   Skills

   • Dribble a ball with one hand on the spot, then while walking: push with the finger pads, keep it about waist high, eyes up with a quick peek.
   • Dribble a ball with the feet through general space: little taps with the inside of the foot, the ball close, slow then a little faster, and stop it with the sole.
   • Kick a still ball gently along the ground to a goal: small steps up, plant foot beside the ball, kick with the inside of the foot and follow through.
   • Change speed and force bit by bit: slower or a little faster, a softer or a bit stronger push or kick.
   • Take a coach's tips, follow a game's rules (no hands, take turns), use good manners (Nice kick! Good game!) and say how playing together feels.
   • Dribble and kick safely at home: a soft ball or rolled socks, gentle kicks along the floor, away from windows, screens and stairs, or seated.

6. Good Health Balance

   Juno learns that a body needs a balance of foods that help you grow, water, active play and rest; Hazel and Tuck share their families' lunches and ask for healthy things; and Pip and Juno turn into ad detectives and cheer each other to switch off and play.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: S3.E6.2 Knows good health is a balance of healthy food and active play.; S5.E1.2 Values being active as part of a good health balance.; 1.2.1 Knows that healthy habits affect how healthy we are.; 2.2.1 Tells how family shapes their health habits.; 2.2.3 Tells how ads and screens can shape health choices.; 5.2.1 Notices when a health choice needs to be made.; 8.2.1 Asks for things that help their own health.; 8.2.2 Cheers friends on to make healthy choices.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Juno's Wobbly DayA picture-book health class: your child reads a story about Juno the kangaroo, who plays all morning with no snack or water, and Pip the penguin, who sits all morning; learns that a good health balance is foods that help you grow, water, active play and rest; and practices a balance check out loud, with a short movement break.
   2. The Lunch SwapA picture-book health class: your child reads a story about Hazel the hedgehog and Tuck the turtle, who bring different family lunches to a picnic; learns that families shape what we eat and that lots of different foods help us grow; and practices kind food words and asking politely for healthy things out loud, with a short cooking dance.
   3. Screen SmartA picture-book health class: your child reads a story about Pip the penguin and Juno the kangaroo, who see a cereal ad and watch show after show; learns that ads are made to sell and how to be an ad detective; and practices noticing a choice time and cheering a friend on to play, out loud, with a short screen-off break.

   Skills

   • Say that a good health balance is foods that help you grow, water, active play every day and rest, and check a day for balance.
   • Talk about foods neutrally: grow foods help the body grow and play, sometimes foods are fine sometimes, and no food makes a person good or bad.
   • Tell how families shape food and play habits, and say kind, curious words about every family's food.
   • Ask a grown-up politely for things that help health (water, fruit, a walk), saying why, and accept a not now.
   • Be an ad detective: an ad is made to sell, so ask who made it and what they want you to do.
   • Notice a choice time (a show ends, the sun comes out), choose active play, and cheer a friend on kindly.
   • Enjoy a short active-play break safely: a clear space, no socks, or seated.

7. Health Helpers and Check-ups

   Tuck sneezes into his hands at art time, and Nurse Panda turns the friends into germ stoppers; Hazel feels fine but goes to her check-up with Dr. Bear and Dr. Hippo the dentist; and Tuck makes a tooth-brushing goal with his dad, a sand timer and a star chart.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.2.3 Describes ways to stop germs that spread illness.; 1.2.5 Tells why check-ups and health care matter.; 2.2.2 Tells what school does to help kids stay healthy.; 3.2.1 Names trusted adults and helpers who support health.; 3.2.2 Tells how to find health helpers at school and in the community.; 6.2.1 Picks a short-term health goal and takes steps toward it.; 6.2.2 Names who can help them reach a health goal.; 7.2.1 Practices healthy habits that keep or improve health.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Germ StoppersA picture-book health class: your child reads a story about Tuck the turtle, who sneezes into his hands at art time and shares his cup; learns how germs spread and four ways to stop them, and what school does to help kids stay well; and practices germ stoppers out loud, with a short scrub-and-sneeze movement break.
   2. Check-up DayA picture-book health class: your child reads a story about Hazel the hedgehog, who feels fine but goes to her check-up with Dr. Bear and Dr. Hippo the dentist; learns what a check-up is and why it helps, and who the health helpers are at home, at school and in town; and practices talking to a health helper out loud, with a short check-up stretch.
   3. My Health GoalA picture-book health class: your child reads a story about Tuck the turtle, who makes a tooth-brushing goal with his dad, a sand timer and a star chart; learns four healthy habits and the four parts of a goal plan; and practices planning a goal out loud, with a short healthy-habit movement break.

   Skills

   • Tell how germs spread and stop them: a tissue or the elbow, soap and water for 20 seconds, your own cup and spoon, and rest when sick.
   • Tell what school does to help kids stay well, and that the school nurse helps when you feel sick or get hurt.
   • Tell what a check-up is (a visit when you are well), what happens at one, and why check-ups at the doctor and the dentist help you stay well.
   • Name trusted grown-ups and health helpers at home, at school and in town, tell how to find one, and talk to a helper: how I feel, a question, thank you.
   • Make a small, clear health goal plan with steps that help, helpers and a chart, and try again after a miss.
   • Practise healthy habits: brushing two minutes two times a day, drinking water, sleeping enough and belly breaths.
   • Enjoy a short active-play break safely: a clear space, no socks, or seated.

8. Safe and Sound

   Juno nearly zooms off on her new scooter with no helmet, and Coach Owl turns her and Pip into safety detectives who stop, think and choose; Pip and Juno make a snack with Pip's grandpa and find out which jobs are theirs, which need a grown-up first, and what to do in a big problem; and when a big kid grabs Pip's ball and says don't tell, Pip uses No, Go, Tell and keeps telling until a grown-up helps.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.2.4 Names ways to keep children from getting hurt.; 3.2.1 Names trusted adults and helpers who support health.; 4.2.3 Shows what to do when something feels unwanted, scary or dangerous.; 4.2.4 Practices telling a trusted adult if someone threatens or hurts them.; 5.2.1 Notices when a health choice needs to be made.; 5.2.2 Tells which health choices they can make alone and which need help.; 7.2.2 Shows ways to stay away from or lower health risks.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Juno Gears UpA picture-book health class: your child reads a story about Juno the kangaroo, who nearly zooms off on her new scooter with no helmet; learns what a risk is and how safety detectives stop, think and choose, plus four safety steps; and practices spotting risks out loud, with a short safety-detective movement break.
   2. Ask FirstA picture-book health class: your child reads a story about Pip the penguin and Juno the kangaroo making a snack with Pip's grandpa; learns which jobs kids do on their own, which need a grown-up first, and what to do in a big problem, including learning the emergency number where you live from a grown-up; and practices sorting and telling out loud, with a short sort-it movement break.
   3. Keep TellingA picture-book health class: your child reads a story about Pip the penguin, whose ball is grabbed at the park by a big kid who says don't tell; learns uh-oh clues and No, Go, Tell, a helping hand of trusted grown-ups, and how to keep telling until someone helps; and practices telling out loud, with a short No-Go-Tell movement break.

   Skills

   • Notice when a safety choice is needed (something new, fast, high, hot or wet, or near a street or water) and use Stop, Think, Choose to make a risk smaller.
   • Name ways to keep kids from getting hurt: a helmet that fits on every ride, buckling up every ride, a clear space, and a grown-up at streets and water.
   • Sort choices into on my own, ask first (sharp or hot things, medicine, cleaning bottles, plugs, up high, or not sure) and get help now, and leave unsafe things alone and tell a grown-up.
   • Tell a big problem from a small one, get a trusted grown-up right away in a big problem, and know that a grown-up calls the emergency number where you live, learned from a grown-up and practised only on a pretend phone.
   • Use No, Go, Tell when something feels unwanted, scary or dangerous, and tell a trusted grown-up even if someone said don't tell.
   • Tell clearly (what, who, where, please help me), tell again or tell another trusted grown-up until someone helps, and tell telling from tattling.
   • Name kinds of trusted grown-ups at home, at school and nearby, as a helping hand of five.
   • Enjoy a short active-play break safely: a clear space, no socks, or seated.

Math

1. Equal Groups: Multiply and Divide

   A toy-factory robot in three picture books: packing equal groups to multiply, sharing toys out fairly to divide, and finding the missing number on a box label.

   3 lessons · about 20 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3.OA.A.1 Read a product such as 5 × 7 as the total of 5 groups with 7 things in each, and tell a situation as a product.; 3.OA.A.2 Read a whole-number quotient such as 56 ÷ 8 as how many are in each share when 56 things are shared out equally into 8 shares, or as how many shares of 8 there are in 56.; 3.OA.A.3 Use multiplying and dividing within 100 for story problems about equal groups, arrays and measures, shown with drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown.; 3.OA.A.4 Find the unknown whole number in a multiplication or division equation with three whole numbers, wherever the unknown is (for example 8 × ? = 48, 5 = ? ÷ 3, 6 × 6 = ?).; 3.OA.B.6 See dividing as a multiplication with an unknown factor: 32 ÷ 8 is the number that makes 32 when it is multiplied by 8.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Boxes of BearsA picture-book class: Bolt the packing robot fills boxes with teddy bears, and the child finds out that 5 boxes of 3 is 5 groups of 3, or 5 × 3 = 15.
   2. Share It OutA picture-book class: Bolt the robot shares kites out to the shops in town, and the child finds out that dividing makes equal groups: 12 ÷ 3 = 4 each, or 15 ÷ 5 = 3 bags.
   3. The Missing LabelsA picture-book class: Pickles the parrot sneezes into the label machine, and the child finds the missing numbers on the box labels with times facts: 4 × ? = 20 is 5, so 20 ÷ 4 = 5.

   Skills

   • Tell a total of equal groups as a multiplication, such as 5 × 3 = 15 for 5 groups of 3, and find it by counting by the group size or adding.
   • Divide a total into equal groups, by sharing it out (how many in each) or by making groups of a size (how many groups), and write it as a division.
   • Find the missing number in a multiplication or division equation (4 × ? = 20, 20 ÷ 4 = ?) with a multiplication fact, and tell a fact family.

2. Multiplication Facts and Properties

   Three picture books at the Sunny Patch garden: turning an array to swap the factors, breaking a hard fact into two easy ones, and grouping three factors either way, to learn the multiplication facts within 100.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3.OA.B.5 Use the properties of operations as strategies to multiply: swap the factors (4 × 7 = 7 × 4), group three factors either way ((2 × 3) × 4 = 2 × (3 × 4)), and break a factor apart (6 × 8 = 6 × 5 + 6 × 3).; 3.OA.C.7 Multiply within 100 fluently with these strategies, working toward knowing every product of two one-digit numbers from memory.; 3.OA.A.3 Solve equal-group and array story problems with multiplying, shown with a drawing and an equation with a symbol for the unknown.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Turn the ArrayA picture-book class: the child reads how Hattie and Buzz count the same carrot bed as 4 rows of 7 and 7 rows of 4, turns a paper of things in rows, and learns the turn-around rule: swapping the factors keeps the product, so one fact gives two.
   2. Break It ApartA picture-book class: the child reads how Buzz counts 6 rows of 8 strawberries with facts he knows, splits an array of their own with a pencil, and learns to break a fact apart: 6 × 8 = 6 × 5 + 6 × 3 = 30 + 18 = 48.
   3. Seed PacketsA picture-book class: the child reads how Hattie and Buzz count 2 boxes of 3 packets of 4 seeds two ways, makes groups of groups with coins, and learns to multiply three factors by grouping either pair first, picking the easy pair, and to write a story problem as an equation with a letter for the unknown.

   Skills

   • Use the turn-around rule: swapping the factors keeps the product (4 × 7 = 7 × 4), shown by turning an array, to know a fact from its partner.
   • Break a fact into two easier facts by splitting an array (6 × 8 = 6 × 5 + 6 × 3) and add the products.
   • Multiply three factors by grouping either pair first ((2 × 3) × 4 = 2 × (3 × 4)), and solve equal-group story problems with an equation and a symbol for the unknown.

3. Rounding, Adding and Subtracting Within 1000

   Three picture books at Hilltop Orchard, where apples are packed in bags of 10 and crates of 100: rounding to say about how many, adding by place value with an estimate to check, and subtracting by opening a bag or a crate, checked by adding.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3.NBT.A.1 Round three-digit whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100 with place value and a number line (274 is about 270, or about 300).; 3.NBT.A.2 Add and subtract within 1000 fluently with strategies and written methods based on place value (adding each place, regrouping 10 ones as a ten and 10 tens as a hundred, or the other way), and with how adding and subtracting are related (counting up to subtract, adding to check).

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. About How Many?A picture-book class: the child reads how Gus and Clover say about how many apples they picked, puts a coin on a number line they draw, and learns to round a number to the nearest ten or hundred by finding the closer one, with halfway as the guide.
   2. Crates and BagsA picture-book class: the child reads how Gus and Clover add two days of apples by putting crates, bags and apples together and packing every 10 into the next size up, draws quick pictures to add, and learns to add within 1000 by place value, regrouping, with an estimate to check.
   3. Open a BagA picture-book class: the child reads how Clover takes away apples for the juice shop by opening a bag when there are too few loose apples and a crate when there are too few bags, takes away with quick pictures, and learns to subtract within 1000 by place value, by counting up on a number line, and to check by adding.

   Skills

   • Round a three-digit number to the nearest ten or hundred on a number line, with halfway as the guide.
   • Add within 1000 by place value, regrouping 10 ones as a ten and 10 tens as a hundred, and check the sum with an estimate.
   • Subtract within 1000 by breaking a ten or a hundred, or by counting up on a number line, and check by adding.

4. Time, Liquid Volume and Mass

   Three picture books at Bruno's bakery on Honey Lane: reading the clock to the minute with a.m. and p.m., finding how long baking takes with jumps on a time number line, and measuring lemonade in liters and flour, butter and strawberries in kilograms and grams.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3.MD.A.1 Read and write times to the nearest minute, find how many minutes pass between two times, and solve adding and subtracting problems with minutes, for example with jumps on a number line.; 3.MD.A.2 Measure and estimate liquid volumes in liters and masses in grams and kilograms, and solve one-step story problems with them, reading the scales on jugs and weighing scales.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Bakery ClockA picture-book class: the child reads how Fig the fox learns to read the bakery clock to the minute by counting the small marks, counts the marks on a clock with a finger, and learns to read and draw times to the minute and to say a.m. or p.m.
   2. Oven TimeA picture-book class: the child reads how Fig finds when the loaves are done with jumps on a number line for time, moves a clock's hand past the hour, and learns to find end times, times taken and start times in minutes with jumps on a time line.
   3. Jugs and ScalesA picture-book class: the child reads how Bruno and Fig measure lemonade in liters, flour in kilograms and a strawberry in grams for a picnic, feels a gram, a kilogram and a liter, and learns to read jugs and scales and solve one-step problems with liters, grams and kilograms.

   Skills

   • Read and write a time to the nearest minute on a clock with hands, with a.m. or p.m.
   • Find an end time, a time taken or a start time with jumps on a time number line.
   • Read liquid volumes in liters and masses in grams and kilograms from scales, estimate them, and solve one-step problems with them.

5. Patterns and Multiplying by Tens

   Three picture books at the Number Wall, a times table painted in the park: even and odd products explained with equal halves and pairs, the patterns of the 9s and the 5s explained with the 10s, and multiplying by 10, 20 ... 90 with tens.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3.OA.D.9 Find patterns in the times table and explain them with the properties: 4 times a number is two equal parts, so it is even; a 9s product is 10 groups take away 1 group; a 5s product is half of a 10s product.; 3.NBT.A.3 Multiply a one-digit number by 10, 20 ... 90 with place value and the properties: 4 × 30 is 4 × 3 tens, 12 tens, 120.; 3.OA.C.7 Use these patterns as strategies to multiply fluently within 100, toward knowing every product of two one-digit numbers from memory.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Paint the EvensA picture-book class: the child reads how Ziggy paints the even products of a times table blue and shows why 4 times any number is even, makes pairs with small things, and learns to tell from the factors whether a product is even or odd, explaining with equal halves and pairs.
   2. The Nines TrickA picture-book class: the child reads how Pia finds the pattern of the 9s and Ziggy shows why it works with 10s take away, tries the nines on ten fingers, and learns to find 9s facts as 10 groups take away 1 group and 5s facts as half the 10s.
   3. Strips of TenA picture-book class: the child reads how Ziggy and Pia count the border tiles of the Number Wall in strips of 10, draws quick pictures of tens, and learns to multiply a one-digit number by 10, 20 ... 90 as that many tens (4 × 30 = 12 tens = 120 = (4 × 3) × 10).

   Skills

   • Tell whether a product is even or odd from its factors, and explain it with equal halves of an array and pairs.
   • Find the patterns of the 9s and the 5s in the times table and explain them with the 10s (9 × 6 = 60 − 6; 5 × 6 is half of 60).
   • Multiply a one-digit number by a multiple of 10 from 10 to 90 as that many tens (4 × 30 = 12 tens = 120), and explain it.

6. Two-Step Story Problems

   Three picture books at camp at Pinecone Lake: bar models (tape diagrams) and equations with a letter for equal-groups stories, two-step story problems with the four operations solved one step at a time, and checking whether an answer makes sense with rounding and mental math.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3.OA.A.3 Use multiplying and dividing within 100 in story problems about equal groups, arrays and measures, shown with a bar model and an equation with a letter for the unknown (4 × n = 32).; 3.OA.D.8 Solve two-step story problems with adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, one step at a time, written as one equation with a letter for the unknown ((3 × 8) + 6 = p), and check that the answer makes sense with mental math and an estimate.; 3.NBT.A.1 Round numbers to the nearest 10 or 100 to make an estimate that checks an answer.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Draw the BarA picture-book class: the child reads how Willa and Rio share 32 lanterns onto 4 strings with a bar model, draws bars for equal-groups stories, and learns to write an equation with a letter for the unknown and solve it with multiplying and dividing.
   2. Build the DockA picture-book class: the child reads how Willa and Rio count the planks for a new dock in two steps, finds the hidden question in a story, and learns to solve two-step story problems with a bar for each step and one equation with a letter.
   3. Does It Make Sense?A picture-book class: the child reads how Willa catches Rio's wrong acorn count by rounding first, judges answers as close to or far from an estimate on a number line, and learns to check two-step story problems with rounding and mental math.

   Skills

   • Draw a bar model and write an equation with a letter for a one-step multiplying or dividing story problem, and solve it.
   • Solve a two-step story problem with the four operations one step at a time, with a bar for each step and one equation with a letter.
   • Check whether the answer to a two-step story problem makes sense with an estimate from rounded numbers and mental math.

7. Area

   Three picture books about Hazel the hedgehog and Nutmeg the squirrel's treehouse: area as the number of unit squares that cover a shape, the area of a rectangle as rows times the squares in a row (its side lengths multiplied), and the area of a shape made of rectangles by splitting it and adding.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3.MD.C.5 Area is how much flat space a shape covers: a unit square (sides 1 unit long) covers 1 square unit, and a shape covered by n unit squares with no gaps or overlaps has an area of n square units.; 3.MD.C.6 Measure areas by counting unit squares in square centimeters, square meters, square inches, square feet and made-up units.; 3.MD.C.7 Link area to multiplying and adding: tile a rectangle and see that its area is its side lengths multiplied (4 rows of 6 is 4 × 6 = 24 square feet); multiply side lengths in real problems; show with tiles that a rectangle with sides 6 and 5 + 3 has the area 6 × 5 + 6 × 3; find the area of a shape made of rectangles by splitting it and adding the parts.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Square by SquareA picture-book class: the child reads how Hazel and Nutmeg find which rug covers more of their treehouse floor by covering both with square notes, builds shapes with paper squares, and learns that area is the number of unit squares that cover a shape with no gaps and no overlaps, named in square units.
   2. Rows of TilesA picture-book class: the child reads how Hazel and Nutmeg tile their porch, 6 feet by 4 feet, without counting every tile, builds rows of paper squares from two sides, and learns that the area of a rectangle is its length times its width, and how to find a missing side.
   3. Split the DeckA picture-book class: the child reads how Hazel and Nutmeg find the area of an L-shaped deck by splitting it into two rectangles, puts paper rectangles together, and learns to split a shape made of rectangles, multiply and add, and to split a big rectangle to multiply with facts they know.

   Skills

   • Find the area of a shape by covering it with unit squares, with no gaps or overlaps, and counting them, and name it in square units.
   • Find the area of a rectangle by multiplying its side lengths (rows × the squares in a row), and find a missing side from the area.
   • Find the area of a shape made of rectangles by splitting it into rectangles and adding their areas, and split a rectangle to multiply (6 × 8 = 6 × 5 + 6 × 3).

8. Fractions as Equal Parts

   Three picture books at the Tide Pool Café: cutting food into equal parts and naming one part (1/4), counting parts to write fractions like 3/8, and splitting a tiled patio into parts with equal areas.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3.NF.A.1 Know 1/b as the amount of one part when a whole is split into b equal parts, and a/b as the amount of a parts of size 1/b.; 3.G.A.2 Split shapes into parts with equal areas, and name the area of each part as a unit fraction of the whole (each of 4 equal parts is 1/4 of the shape's area).

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Fair Shares: What One Fourth MeansA picture-book class: the child reads how Chef Ollie shares a cornbread fairly among four sea turtles, folds paper into equal parts, and learns that one of 4 equal parts is 1/4, a unit fraction whose denominator tells how many equal parts make the whole.
   2. The Lunch RushA picture-book class: the child reads how Kit counts the slices of Ollie's berry pie in eighths, folds and colors a strip in fourths, and learns that a fraction like 3/8 counts equal parts: the denominator counts all the equal parts, and the numerator the parts we mean.
   3. The Patio PuzzleA picture-book class: the child reads how four friends each paint 1/4 of the café's patio, some parts straight and some shaped like an L, splits paper squares into halves two ways, and learns that parts with the same area are equal parts, so each of 4 is 1/4 of the whole's area, whatever its shape.

   Skills

   • Split a whole into equal parts and name one part as a unit fraction, like one fourth (1/4).
   • Count unit fractions to name and write a fraction like 3/8, and tell what its top and bottom numbers mean.
   • Split a shape into parts with equal areas, even parts of different shapes, and name each part's area as a unit fraction of the whole.

9. Fractions on the Number Line, Equal and Compared

   Three picture books about Chef Ollie and Kit at the Tide Pool Café's new dock: fractions as points on a number line from 0 (counting the equal parts and hopping from 0), equal fractions at the same point (1/2 = 2/4 = 4/8) and whole numbers as fractions, and comparing fractions with the same top or bottom number.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3.NF.A.2 A fraction is a number on the number line: cut the length from 0 to 1 into b equal parts and each part is 1/b long, starting at 0; a/b is the point a lengths of 1/b from 0.; 3.NF.A.3 Equal fractions are the same size, or the same point on a number line (1/2 = 2/4); find simple equal fractions with strips and lines and say why; write whole numbers as fractions (3 = 3/1) and know fractions equal to a whole number (4/4 = 1); compare two fractions with the same top or the same bottom number, only when they are parts of the same whole, writing >, = or <, and explain with a strip or a line.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Hops on the DockA picture-book class: the child reads how Kit finds the parts of the café's dock from 0 to 1, folds a paper strip into a number line, and learns to name fractions on a number line by counting the equal parts and hopping from 0, even past 1.
   2. The Same SpotA picture-book class: the child reads how two flags at 1/2 and 2/4 hang at the same spot on the café's dock, lines up folded paper strips, and learns that fractions at the same spot on a number line are equal and that whole numbers can be written as fractions.
   3. Which Slice Is Bigger?A picture-book class: the child reads how Tess picks 1/8 of a pie because 8 is more than 4 and gets the smaller slice, lines up folded paper strips, and learns to compare fractions of the same whole with the same top or the same bottom number, writing >, = or <.

   Skills

   • Find and name fractions on a number line: b equal parts from 0 to 1 make each part 1/b, and a hops of 1/b from 0 land at a/b, even past 1.
   • Find equal fractions with strips and number lines (1/2 = 2/4 = 4/8), and write whole numbers as fractions (3 = 3/1, 4/4 = 1).
   • Compare two fractions of the same whole with the same top or the same bottom number, and write >, = or <.

10. Scaled Graphs and Line Plots

    Three picture books about Juno the owl and Rusty the fox, who make the Clover Meadow Gazette: picture graphs where one picture stands for more than 1, bar graphs with a scale of 2, 5 or 10, and line plots of lengths measured to the nearest half or fourth of an inch, with how many more and how many fewer.

    3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

    US curriculum: 3.MD.B.3 Draw and read a scaled picture graph (a key says what one picture stands for, such as 5 votes) and a scaled bar graph (its scale goes up by 2, 5 or 10), and solve one- and two-step how many more and how many fewer problems with them.; 3.MD.B.4 Measure lengths with a ruler marked in halves and fourths of an inch to make data, and show the data on a line plot marked in whole numbers, halves or fourths.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. The Big VoteA picture-book class: the child reads how Rusty the fox fits 80 votes into a picture graph by letting one star stand for 5 votes, reads one set of counters with four keys, and learns to read and draw picture graphs with a key and to find how many more or fewer.
    2. Between the LinesA picture-book class: the child reads how Rusty the fox fits a lemonade stand's 90 cups into a bar graph with a scale of 10s and reads a bar that stops halfway between two lines, numbers lined paper as a scale, and learns to read and draw scaled bar graphs and to answer one- and two-step how many more and how many fewer questions.
    3. The Bean ContestA picture-book class: the child reads how Rusty the fox breaks a tie in a bean contest with a ruler marked in fourths of an inch and shows all the beans on a line plot, folds a paper strip into fourths to see the ruler's marks, and learns to measure to the nearest fourth of an inch and to make and read line plots.

    Skills

    • Read and draw a scaled picture graph with a key, and solve how many more and how many fewer problems with it.
    • Read and draw a scaled bar graph (scale of 2, 5 or 10), also a bar that stops halfway between two lines, and solve one- and two-step how many more and how many fewer problems with it.
    • Measure lengths to the nearest half or fourth of an inch, and show and read the data on a line plot marked in fourths.

11. Perimeter and Area

    Three picture books about Fern the frog and Bramble the beaver, who fence the garden at Willow Pond: perimeter as the distance all the way around a shape, found by adding its sides; a missing side found from the perimeter; and rectangles with the same perimeter and different areas, or the same area and different perimeters.

    3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

    US curriculum: 3.MD.D.8 Solve real problems about the perimeters of shapes with straight sides: add the side lengths, find a side that is missing when the perimeter is known, and show rectangles that share a perimeter but not an area, or share an area but not a perimeter.; 3.MD.C.7 Use the area of a rectangle as its side lengths multiplied, to compare the areas of rectangles with the same perimeter.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. All the Way AroundA picture-book class: the child reads how Bramble the beaver's fence stops halfway round Fern's carrot bed until Fern adds all four sides, traces a book's edge and counts around a rectangle on a grid, and learns to find a perimeter by adding the side lengths and to tell it from area.
    2. The Missing SideA picture-book class: the child reads how Bramble the beaver and Fern the frog find the side of the pumpkin patch whose sign blew away, lays 12 sticks round a rectangle, and learns to find a missing side from the perimeter of any shape, of a rectangle and of a square.
    3. Same Fence, New ShapeA picture-book class: the child reads how Bramble the beaver builds lettuce beds of different shapes from the same 16 feet of fence and Fern lays the same 12 stones in different patios, counts around and inside rectangles on a grid, and learns that rectangles with the same perimeter can have different areas, and the same area different perimeters.

    Skills

    • Find the perimeter of a shape by adding its side lengths or counting the unit lengths around it on a grid, and tell it from area.
    • Find a missing side length from the perimeter: of any shape with straight sides, of a rectangle and of a square.
    • Show and compare rectangles with the same perimeter and different areas, and with the same area and different perimeters.

12. Quadrilaterals and Equal Parts of Shapes

    Three picture books about Otto the otter and Gigi the giraffe, who make kites on Windy Hill: naming quadrilaterals by their sides and angles (rectangles, rhombuses, squares); sorting them into groups that share attributes, with squares in two groups at once and some quadrilaterals in none; and splitting shapes into parts with equal areas, each a unit fraction of the whole.

    3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

    US curriculum: 3.G.A.1 See that shapes from different groups can share attributes (four sides, for one), that a shared attribute can make a bigger group (quadrilaterals), name rhombuses, rectangles and squares as quadrilaterals, and draw quadrilaterals that are none of these.; 3.G.A.2 Split a shape into parts with equal areas, and name the area of each part as a unit fraction of the whole shape.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. Square CornersA picture-book class: the child reads how Gigi the giraffe tests the corners of Otto the otter's kites with the square corner of a card, makes a paper corner to find right angles, and learns to name rectangles, rhombuses and squares by their sides and angles.
    2. Sort the KitesA picture-book class: the child reads how Otto the otter and Gigi the giraffe sort a crate of kites, draws a quadrilateral of their own, and learns to sort quadrilaterals in a diagram: rectangles, rhombuses, squares in both, and shapes that are none of these.
    3. The Patchwork KiteA picture-book class: the child reads how Otto the otter and Gigi the giraffe cut a giant kite into equal parts for its painters, folds a square of paper to compare parts of different shapes, and learns that equal parts have the same area and that each of b equal parts is 1/b of the whole.

    Skills

    • Describe a quadrilateral by its sides and angles (right angles, equal sides), and name rectangles, rhombuses and squares from them.
    • Sort quadrilaterals by shared attributes: a square is a rectangle and a rhombus, all are quadrilaterals, and some quadrilaterals are none of these (draw one).
    • Split a shape into parts with equal areas and name each part as a unit fraction of the whole's area, also when the parts have different shapes.

English Language Arts

1. Story Characters and Word Parts

   Your child learns what the word parts -ful, -less, un-, re-, dis- and -ly mean, reads a three-part picture-book story about Tess the squirrel and Milo the beaver building a treehouse club, and tells what the characters are like, why they act as they do, and what the story teaches, pointing to the words that show it.

   3 lessons · about 20 minutes each

   US curriculum: RF.3.3a Know the most common prefixes and suffixes and what they mean: -ful, -less, un-, re-, dis-, -ly.; RF.3.3c Read words of two and three syllables, part by part.; RF.3.4a–c Read a story with purpose, smoothly and with expression on rereading, using the sentence to check words.; L.3.4b Work out a new word made when a known prefix or suffix is added to a known word: care, careful, careless.; L.3.1a Tell what an adverb does: it tells how something is done.; RL.3.1 Answer questions about a story, pointing to the words in it that give the answer.; RL.3.2 Find a story's message and the key details that show it.; RL.3.3 Describe a character's traits, wants and feelings, and how the character's actions lead to the next events.; RL.3.7 Tell what a story's pictures add to its words.; RL.3.10 Read a story at the Grade 3 level.; SL.3.6 Answer in complete sentences, with a detail from the story.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Milo's Spotless Tail: -ful and -lessA picture-book class: your child learns that -ful means full of and -less means without, cracks the book's title, reads a story about Tess the squirrel and Milo the beaver starting a treehouse, and tells what each friend is like, pointing to the words that show it.
   2. Unlock the Club! un-, re- and dis-A picture-book class: your child learns that un- and dis- mean not or the opposite and re- means again, cracks the book's title, reads a story about Tess the squirrel hiding the treehouse key like an acorn, and tells why Tess did it and what happened because of it.
   3. Everyone Is Welcome: -lyA picture-book class: your child learns that -ly makes a word that tells how (slowly, happily), cracks the book's title, reads the last story about Tess the squirrel and Milo the beaver as they help a little hedgehog into their treehouse, and tells how Tess has changed and what the story teaches.

   Skills

   • Read words with the suffixes -ful and -less and tell what they mean: full of, and without.
   • Read words with the prefixes un-, re- and dis- and tell what they mean: not, again, and not or the opposite.
   • Read words with the suffix -ly, including ones where y turns to i, and tell that they say how something is done.
   • Tell what a character is like from what the character does and says, pointing to the words that show it.
   • Tell why a character does something and how that action leads to the next events.
   • Tell how a character changes and what the story teaches, using its key details and pictures.

2. Fables, Folktales and Myths: The Central Message

   At three Tale Nights in the treehouse, Tess, Milo and Poppy hear tales from many places: Aesop's fable The Fox and the Crow, from ancient Greece; Eat, Coat, Eat!, a Nasreddin Hodja folktale told in Turkey and many lands near it; and the ancient Greek myth of King Midas and the golden touch. Your child reads each tale, finds its moral or message from its key details, tells how one action leads to the next, maps and retells a story, works out what nonliteral phrases really mean, and talks a tale over with a classmate.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RL.3.2 Retell fables, folktales and myths from many cultures, and find the central message or moral and the key details that show it.; RL.3.3 Tell how a character's actions lead to the next events, and why a character acts as he or she does.; RL.3.4 and L.3.5a Tell literal from nonliteral words and phrases in a story.; RL.3.10 Read Grade 3 fables, folktales and myths.; SL.3.1 Talk a story over with a partner: agree or disagree with a reason, and ask a question.; SL.3.4 Retell a story in order, with key details, clearly and at a pace a listener can follow.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Fox and the Crow: The Moral of a FableA picture-book class: your child learns what a fable is and where Aesop's fables come from, reads Aesop's The Fox and the Crow at the treehouse friends' first Tale Night, tells how the characters' actions make the cheese fall, works out what the fox's nonliteral words mean, finds the fable's moral from its key details and retells it.
   2. Eat, Coat, Eat!: Story Maps and MessagesA picture-book class: your child learns what a folktale is, reads a funny Nasreddin Hodja tale, told in Turkey and many lands near it, at the treehouse friends' second Tale Night, maps its characters and setting, problem, events and end, tells what the hero's actions lead to, finds the tale's message and retells it.
   3. The Golden Touch: What a Myth TeachesA picture-book class: your child learns what a myth is, reads the ancient Greek myth of King Midas and the golden touch at the treehouse friends' last Tale Night, finds what the myth teaches from its key details, works out what nonliteral phrases like over the moon really mean, and talks the myth over with a classmate.

   Skills

   • Tell a fable, a folktale and a myth apart, and say where a tale comes from.
   • Find a tale's moral or central message and the key details that show it.
   • Tell how a character's actions lead to the next events, and why the character acts that way.
   • Tell literal from nonliteral phrases, and work out what a phrase really means from the clues around it.
   • Retell a tale in order with a story map, clearly, ending with its message.
   • Talk a tale over with a partner: agree or disagree with a reason from the tale, and ask a question.

3. Longer Words: Syllables, Latin Suffixes and Tricky Spellings

   Tess, Milo and Poppy get ready for the Pond Fair and go: they build a robot for its contest, Poppy shows an invention, and Tess writes the fair up for the Treehouse Times. Your child splits long words into syllables, reads the Latin suffixes -able, -ible, -ment and -tion and tells what they mean, learns the spelling rules for adding a suffix and why they work, finds words with a dictionary's guide words, and reads three longer stories smoothly, rereading to fix slips.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RF.3.3c Read words of more than one syllable: split them into closed, long-vowel and consonant-le syllables.; RF.3.3a-b Read words with the Latin suffixes -able, -ible, -ment and -tion and tell what the suffixes mean.; RF.3.3d Read tricky, irregularly spelled Grade 3 words.; RF.3.4a-c Read Grade 3 stories accurately, at a good pace and with expression, rereading to fix slips.; L.3.2e-g Spell words with suffixes by rules, and check spellings in a dictionary.; L.3.4b and d Work out a word from its base word and suffix, and use a dictionary's guide words and definitions.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Robot Contest: SyllablesA picture-book class: your child learns to split long words into syllables (closed like nap · kin, open like tu · lip, and consonant-le like ta · ble), why some words have double letters, and how to read a three-syllable word; reads a story about Tess, Milo and Poppy's robot at the Pond Fair; and hears true facts about robots.
   2. Poppy's Invention: Latin SuffixesA picture-book class: your child learns the suffixes -able and -ible (can be), -ment and -tion (an act or a result; -tion says shun), where they came from, and how to read a long word by peeling off its parts; reads a story about Poppy's invention at the Pond Fair; and hears true facts about two inventors.
   3. Tess and the Treehouse Times: Spelling with SuffixesA picture-book class: your child learns three spelling rules for adding a suffix (drop the silent e, double the consonant after a short vowel, change y to i) and why doubling matters; reads a story about Tess writing the treehouse newspaper and finding a tricky word in a dictionary; and hears true facts about how spelling was settled and how guide words work.

   Skills

   • Split a long word into syllables, and tell closed, long-vowel and consonant-le syllables apart.
   • Read words with -able, -ible, -ment and -tion, and tell what each suffix means.
   • Work out what a long word means from its prefix, base word and suffix.
   • Spell words with suffixes by the rules: drop the silent e, double the consonant, change y to i.
   • Use ABC order and guide words to find a word in a dictionary, with its syllables and definition.
   • Read a longer story accurately and smoothly, rereading to fix slips.

4. Fact Texts: Main Ideas, Key Details and Text Features

   A V of geese honks over the treehouse, and Poppy wants to know where they are going. So Tess, Milo and Poppy pin a Travel Map on the wall and read about three animal travelers: monarch butterflies, humpback whales and, at last, Canada geese. Your child reads each fact text, finds its main idea and the key details that hold it up, answers questions with the words of the text, uses headings, captions, a glossary and other text features, finds a fact fast with the contents and key words, works out new subject words, reads maps and diagrams together with the words, finds words that tell where and when, and tells the main idea of a fact text read aloud.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RI.3.1 Answer questions about a fact text, pointing to the words that give the answer.; RI.3.2 Find the main idea of a fact text and of its parts, and the key details that back it up.; RI.3.4 and L.3.6 Work out what a fact text's subject words mean, and use words that tell where and when.; RI.3.5 Use text features (headings, labels, captions, bold words, a glossary, sidebars) and search tools (the contents, key words, links, a search box) to find facts fast.; RI.3.7 Use maps, diagrams and timelines together with the words to understand where, when, how and why.; RI.3.10 Read Grade 3 fact texts.; SL.3.2 Find the main idea and key details of a fact text read aloud.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Monarchs on the Move: Main Idea and Key DetailsA picture-book class: your child learns what a topic, a main idea and key details are, reads a four-part fact text about the monarch butterflies' long trip south and back, finds the main idea of each part and of the whole text, and answers questions by pointing to the words that give the answer.
   2. Humpback Whales: Text Features and Search ToolsA picture-book class: your child learns what text features are for (headings, labels, captions, bold key words, a glossary, sidebars) and how search tools find a fact fast, reads a fact text about humpback whales with a diagram, a map, a sidebar and a glossary, uses its features to find facts, and works out new subject words from the clues around them.
   3. Canada Geese: Maps, Diagrams, Where and WhenA picture-book class: your child learns to read maps and diagrams together with the words, finds words that tell where and when, reads a fact text about Canada geese with a map, a diagram of a V and a timeline, reads small maps on their own, and tells the main idea of a short fact text read aloud.

   Skills

   • Say the main idea of a fact text and of each part as a sentence, not just its topic.
   • Tell the key details that hold up a main idea, and leave out details that don't.
   • Answer a question by pointing to the words in the text that give the answer.
   • Tell what text features are for, and find a fact in a label, a caption, a sidebar or a glossary.
   • Find a fact fast with the contents, a key word and the headings.
   • Work out what a subject word means from the clues around it and the glossary.
   • Use a map or a diagram together with the words to tell where, when, how and why.
   • Find the words that tell when and the words that tell where.
   • Tell the main idea and key details of a fact text read aloud.

5. Writing Stories with Dialogue

   Story Night is coming to the treehouse, and Tess, Milo and Poppy each write a story to read there. Your child reads all three, a story a lesson, like a writer, and builds a made-up story of their own along the way: they plan it on a story map (characters, setting, a problem, events in order with time words), make its characters talk with quotation marks and commas, show what the characters do, think and feel, give it an ending that solves the problem, give it a title with capitals, help the teacher revise and edit her own story, and at last tell their whole story aloud on Story Night. The child's story stays theirs: the teacher asks questions and listens, and never writes it for them.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: W.3.3 Write a made-up story: set up the characters and the situation, use talking and descriptions of actions, thoughts and feelings, use time words to keep events in order, and give it an ending.; W.3.4 and W.3.5 Plan a story so its ideas and their order fit the task, then revise and edit it with help.; W.3.10 Plan, tell and write stories often, in short sittings.; SL.3.4 Tell a story aloud, clearly and in order, at a pace listeners can follow.; L.3.2 Capitalize the important words in titles, and use commas and quotation marks in talking.; L.3.6 Use time words, such as that evening after dinner.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Kite in the Tree: Plan a StoryA picture-book class: your child reads a friend's story written for Story Night, finds its characters, setting, problem, events and ending on a story map, learns how time words keep events in order, helps the teacher plan her own story, and then plans a made-up story of their own and tells the plan aloud.
   2. The Best Sandcastle: Make Characters TalkA picture-book class: your child reads a friend's story written for Story Night, full of talking, learns how quotation marks and commas show who says what, finds the actions, thoughts and feelings that bring characters to life, helps the teacher write talking in her own story, and then makes the characters of their own made-up story talk, aloud.
   3. Juniper and the Giant Pumpkin: Endings, Titles and EditsA picture-book class for Story Night: your child reads a friend's story, finds the three jobs of a strong ending, learns which words of a title take capitals, helps the teacher revise and edit her own story, and then tells their own made-up story aloud, all the way through, with a title and an ending.

   Skills

   • Plan a story on a story map: characters, setting, a problem, events and an ending.
   • Tell a story's events in order, using time words.
   • Put quotation marks and commas in the right places when characters talk.
   • Show characters through what they say, do, think and feel.
   • Give a story an ending that solves the problem and shows a feeling.
   • Revise a story to make it better, and edit it: capitals in titles, and marks around talking.
   • Tell a whole story aloud, clearly and in order.

6. Nouns, Verbs and Sentences That Grow

   Tess, Milo and Poppy fill a garden box by the old oak, and Ms. Maple pins a Sentence Garden poster on the treehouse wall, where sentences grow like the plants. Your child learns grammar from real texts they read themselves: a fact text about how seeds travel (nouns, and plurals regular and irregular, with their spellings), Poppy's bean journal (verbs and a sentence's base, past, present and future, irregular verbs, agreement, and talk against writing) and a story of a sunflower race (adjectives and adverbs on a sentence diagram, comparing with -er and -est, joining words, and strong words chosen for their effect). Each class ends with your child saying sentences of their own and fixing a friend's.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: L.3.1a Tell what nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs do in a sentence.; L.3.1b and c Form regular and irregular plural nouns, and use abstract nouns (an idea, a surprise).; L.3.1d and e Form regular and irregular past verbs, and make the past, present and future.; L.3.1f Make the verb agree with its subject.; L.3.1g Form and use comparing adjectives and adverbs, choosing between them.; L.3.1h and i Join ideas with and, but, so and because, and make simple, compound and complex sentences.; L.3.2e and f Spell with suffixes and patterns: -s and -es, y to i, f to v, doubled letters, -ed, -er and -est.; L.3.3a and b Choose words for their effect, and tell spoken English from written English.; SL.3.6 Speak in whole sentences when the moment calls for it.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Seeds on the Move: Nouns and PluralsA picture-book class: your child learns what nouns do (they name people, animals, places, things and ideas) and the ways plural nouns are made, reads a four-part fact text about how seeds travel, hunts for its nouns and plurals, says sentences of their own about it, and fixes a friend's plurals.
   2. Poppy's Bean Journal: Verbs and TimeA picture-book class: your child learns that every sentence has a subject and a verb that match, sees on a sentence diagram how they make its base, learns how verbs show the past, the present and the future (with -ed, and with irregular verbs that change), reads a friend's two-week journal about sprouting beans, sorts its verbs by time, compares written English with talk, says sentences of their own, and fixes a friend's past verbs.
   3. The Sunflower Race: Sentences That GrowA picture-book class: your child learns how adjectives and adverbs make a sentence grow (on a sentence diagram), how to compare with -er and -est, and how and, but, so and because join ideas into longer sentences; reads a story about three friends' sunflower race, spots growing words and the writer's strong words in it, grows a sentence of their own, and fixes a friend's comparing words.

   Skills

   • Find the nouns in a sentence, idea nouns too, and say what a noun does.
   • Form and spell plural nouns, regular and irregular.
   • Find a sentence's subject and verb, make them agree, and speak in whole sentences.
   • Use and spell verbs for the past, the present and the future, regular and irregular.
   • Tell talk from writing, and put talk words into words for readers.
   • Make a sentence grow with adjectives and adverbs.
   • Compare with -er and -est, or more and most, never both.
   • Join two ideas with the joining word that fits, into compound and complex sentences.
   • Choose a strong word for its effect.

7. How and Why: Cause, Effect and Sequence in Fact Texts

   From fall to the end of winter at the treehouse, Poppy is full of questions, so Ms. Maple pins a Wonder Wall on the wall, and each answer the friends find gets a card. Your child reads fact texts themselves and learns how they link ideas: why beavers build dams (cause and effect, the signal words because and so, and chains of causes), two short texts about snowflakes (comparing two texts on one topic, taking short notes and sorting them to answer a question), and how maple sap becomes syrup (steps in order with order words). Your child also listens to a short talk and asks about it, and explains a process out loud, with a beginning, steps in order and an ending.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RI.3.3 Describe how ideas in science or steps in a how-to are linked, with words of time, order, and cause and effect.; RI.3.8 Describe how sentences and paragraphs link: cause and effect, and first, next, then, finally.; RI.3.9 Compare the most important points and key details of two texts on the same topic.; W.3.2 Teach a topic: name it, give facts in order, link them with words like also and another, and finish (here, out loud).; W.3.7 Do a short research project that answers a question.; W.3.8 Gather facts from texts, take short notes and sort them into groups.; SL.3.3 Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says, with fitting detail.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Why Beavers Build Dams: Cause and EffectA picture-book class: your child learns what causes and effects are and the signal words that link them, reads a four-part fact text about why beavers build dams, finds the causes and effects in it, tells why beavers build dams in their own words, and fixes a friend's sentence that has them the wrong way around.
   2. Are All Snowflakes Different? Two Texts and NotesA picture-book class: your child learns to compare two texts on one topic and to take short notes and sort them under headings, reads two short texts about snowflakes (how they form, and the farm boy who took the first snowflake photo), answers a research question with a fact from each, and turns a friend's copied sentence into a short note.
   3. From Sap to Syrup: Steps in OrderA picture-book class: your child learns order words and how to explain something out loud, reads a four-part fact text about how maple sap becomes syrup, follows and retells its steps in order, listens to a short talk about how Indigenous peoples of the Northeast make maple sugar and asks a question about it, and fixes a friend's mixed-up explanation.

   Skills

   • Find a cause and its effect in a fact text.
   • Use signal words like because and so to tell a cause from its effect.
   • Follow a chain of causes, and tell coming first from causing.
   • Compare the main points and key details of two texts on the same topic.
   • Take short notes in your own words and sort them into groups to answer a question.
   • Follow and tell the steps of a process in order, with order words.
   • Explain how something is done out loud, with a beginning, steps in order and an ending.
   • Answer and ask a question about what a speaker said.

8. Poems, Plays and Chapters: Parts That Build

   Tess, Milo and Poppy put on a Treehouse Show for their families: a poem, a play and a story, each pinned on the show's program. Your child reads all three and learns how each is built: Poppy's poem about an oak through the seasons (lines and stanzas, how each stanza builds on the one before, literal and nonliteral words, and reading a poem aloud with expression), the friends' two-scene play about a raft race and a new neighbor (cast, scenes and settings, lines and stage directions, and each character's point of view), and Tess's little chapter book about missing socks, with Milo's pictures (the contents page, chapters and their titles, what the pictures add to the words, and the narrator's point of view). Each time, your child tells a point of view of their own, with a reason from the text.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RL.3.4 Work out what words and phrases in a text mean, telling literal from nonliteral language.; RL.3.5 Talk about the parts of poems, plays and stories using words like stanza, scene and chapter, and tell how each part builds on the last.; RL.3.6 Tell your own point of view apart from the narrator's or a character's.; RL.3.7 Explain how a story's pictures add to its words: the mood, a character or the setting.; RF.3.4 Read Grade 3 poems, plays and stories accurately and with expression, rereading to fix slips.; SL.3.5 Read a poem aloud smoothly, at a good pace, as if recording it for listeners.; L.3.5 Tell literal from nonliteral meanings, and link words to real life.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Oak Wakes Up: Lines and StanzasA picture-book class: your child learns the parts of a poem (title, lines and stanzas) and how each stanza builds on the one before, tells literal from nonliteral words, reads a friend's five-stanza poem about an oak through the seasons and a short poem by Christina Rossetti from 1872, reads aloud with expression, and helps a friend who thinks a poem's nonliteral words are a mistake.
   2. The Big Raft Race: Scenes and Points of ViewA picture-book class: your child learns the parts of a play (cast, scenes and their settings, lines and stage directions), reads a two-scene play about a raft race and a new neighbor, reads its lines the way the stage directions say, tells how the second scene builds on the first, finds each character's point of view, and tells a friend their own point of view with a reason from the play.
   3. The Sock Thief: Chapters and PicturesA picture-book class: your child learns the parts of a chapter book (the contents page, chapter numbers and titles), reads a three-chapter mystery about missing socks, tells how each chapter builds on the one before, finds what the pictures show that the words don't, and tells a friend their own point of view about the book's narrator, with a reason from the book.

   Skills

   • Name a poem's lines and stanzas, and tell how each stanza builds on the one before.
   • Tell literal from nonliteral words in a poem, and say what the nonliteral ones mean.
   • Read a poem or a play aloud with expression: a pause at each line's end, and lines the way their stage directions say.
   • Name a play's cast, scenes and settings, lines and stage directions, and tell how a scene builds on the one before.
   • Tell a character's or a narrator's point of view, and your own, with a reason from the text.
   • Use a contents page, chapter numbers and titles, and tell how each chapter builds on the one before.
   • Tell what a story's pictures add to its words: the setting, the mood, a character's feelings or a clue.

9. Book Series and Points of View

   Tess, Milo and Poppy start a book club in their treehouse, and read a series of three short books by one author about the same two friends: Dot, a slow and careful turtle, and Dash, a fast mouse in a hurry. Your child reads all three books and learns the parts of a story (characters, setting, plot and theme), a character's point of view, and how a book club talks (book 1, a puzzle on a rainy day); how to compare and contrast two books in a series with a Venn diagram, and how to listen to a short talk and ask about it (book 2, a trip to a lake); and how to compare all three books in a table, and tell an author's facts from her point of view in the note at the end of the series (book 3, a leaf pile). Each time, your child gives a point of view of their own, with a reason from the books.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: RL.3.6 Tell your own point of view apart from a character's.; RL.3.9 Compare and contrast the settings, plots and themes of books in a series, about the same characters, by the same author.; RL.3.10 Read and understand Grade 3 stories on your own.; RI.3.6 Tell your own point of view apart from the author's.; RI.3.10 Read and understand a short Grade 3 fact text, an author's note, on your own.; SL.3.1 Join a book club talk: come ready, take turns, listen, build on others' ideas and ask to check what they mean.; SL.3.3 Answer and ask questions about what a speaker says, with fitting detail.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Dot and Dash Do a Puzzle: Story Parts and ThemesA picture-book class: your child learns what a book series is and a story's parts (characters, setting, plot and theme), reads the first book of a series about a slow turtle and a fast mouse, tells its problem and how it is solved, finds a character's point of view and the story's lesson, and answers a friend the book-club way, with a reason from the book.
   2. Dot and Dash at the Lake: Comparing Books in a SeriesA picture-book class: your child learns to compare and contrast two books in a series with a Venn diagram, reads the second book about a slow turtle and a fast mouse, tells how it is like the first book and how it is different, finds its lesson, listens to a short talk about real pond turtles and asks about it, and answers a friend who thinks the books are the same story.
   3. Dot and Dash and the Leaf Pile: An Author's Point of ViewA picture-book class: your child reads the last book in a series about a slow turtle and a fast mouse, compares all three books in a table, and finds this book's lesson; then reads the author's note at the end, tells its facts from the author's point of view, and gives a point of view of their own, with a reason.

   Skills

   • Name a story's characters, setting, plot and theme, telling the theme apart from what happens.
   • Tell a character's point of view, and your own, with a reason from the book.
   • Talk the book-club way: take turns, listen, and build on others' ideas with a reason from the book.
   • Compare and contrast the settings, plots and themes of books in a series, with a Venn diagram or a table.
   • Answer and ask a question about what a speaker said.
   • Tell an author's facts from her point of view, and your own point of view from hers, with a reason.

10. Opinions with Reasons: Letters and Reviews

    Ms. Maple hangs a red mailbox on the old oak, and Tess, Milo and Poppy each write a letter that gives an opinion and backs it with reasons, to a made-up reader. Your child reads all three letters and learns to tell a fact from an opinion, to give reasons that tell why, and the parts of an opinion letter (Poppy asks a library to stay open late one night a week); linking words such as because, since, for example and therefore, how to join a reason to an opinion in one sentence, and the comma in an address (Milo asks a park board for trash cans by the pond); and what makes a book review, a strong ending, words that show how sure a writer is, and how to revise a letter and read it aloud (Tess writes to Dash, a character from the last unit's books). The teacher writes her own letter across the unit with your child's help. Your child plans and tells a letter of their own, to a made-up or general reader: it stays theirs, and it never needs a real name, address or school.

    3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

    US curriculum: W.3.1 Write an opinion letter: name the topic, say what you think, give reasons in order, link them with words like because, therefore and for example, and end by saying the opinion again.; W.3.4 With help, choose ideas and an order that fit the letter's job and its reader.; W.3.5 With help, plan a letter before writing it, then revise and edit it to make it stronger.; W.3.6 With a grown-up's help, type, print or save a letter, and share it only with people the grown-up says.; W.3.10 Write often: quick plans and notes, and whole letters over more than one sitting.; SL.3.1 Talk about letters with a partner: take turns, ask questions to check, and explain your own ideas.; SL.3.4 Read a letter aloud or tell it, clearly and at a pace a listener can follow.; L.3.1 Join two sentences into one with because or since, so the reason and the opinion stay together.; L.3.2 Put a comma between the town and the state or province in an address, and after a letter's greeting and closing.; L.3.5 Tell apart words close in meaning that show how sure a writer is: I wonder, I think, I believe, I'm sure.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. A Library at Night: Opinions and ReasonsA picture-book class: your child learns to tell a fact from an opinion and what makes a good reason, reads a friend's letter asking a library to stay open late one night a week, answers it with a reason, finds the parts of an opinion letter, helps the teacher plan her own letter, and then plans an opinion letter of their own, to a made-up reader, and tells the plan aloud.
    2. A Clean Pond: Linking WordsA picture-book class: your child reads a friend's envelope and his letter asking a park board for trash cans by a pond, learns where the comma goes in an address, learns linking words and their jobs (because, since, for example, also, therefore) and how to join two sentences with because, helps the teacher add linking words to her own letter, and then tells their own letter's opinion and reasons aloud, joined with linking words.
    3. Dear Dash: A Review with a Strong EndingA picture-book class: your child reads a friend's book review, written as a letter to a character in the book, finds what makes a review, learns how a strong ending says the opinion again and how words like I wonder, I think, I believe and I'm sure show how sure a writer is, helps the teacher revise her own letter, and then tells their own whole opinion letter aloud, from the greeting to the closing.

    Skills

    • Tell a fact from an opinion, and say an opinion with reasons that tell why.
    • Name the parts of an opinion letter and plan one: a reader, an opinion and reasons.
    • Choose a linking word by its job, and join a reason to an opinion with because or since.
    • Put the comma between the town and the state or province in an address.
    • Find what makes a review, and choose an ending that says the opinion again in new words.
    • Tell how sure a writer is from I wonder, I think, I believe and I'm sure.
    • Revise a letter, read it aloud clearly, and with a grown-up type and share it safely.

Science

1. Forces and Motion

   On Hill Street, Nia and Theo build a box car with their neighbor Mrs. Ruiz for the street's derby: a tug of war with her dog Pepper shows balanced and unbalanced forces, a fair push test on the driveway shows that a stronger push makes a bigger change and that forces add up or work against each other, and on Derby Day they name the force behind every change, from gravity down the hill to friction on the grass.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3-PS2-1 Plan and carry out a test that shows how balanced and unbalanced forces change, or don't change, how an object moves.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Balanced or Unbalanced?A picture-book class: in a story about Nia, Theo and a tug of war with Pepper the dog, your child reads a true science text with diagrams about forces (with force arrows and Olympic tug of war), learns to tell balanced from unbalanced forces, and tests it at home by pushing a book from both sides.
   2. The Push TestA picture-book class: in a story about Nia and Theo testing their box car's push, your child reads a true science text with diagrams about strong and gentle forces (with tugboats that push a big ship together), reads the data from a fair test, and runs a paper-ball push test at home with gentle and strong puffs of air.
   3. Derby DayA picture-book class: in a story about Nia's box car racing down Hill Street, your child reads a true science text with diagrams about how forces start, speed up, turn and stop moving things (with gravity, friction and the Soap Box Derby), names the force at each change on a map of the race, and runs a rubbing test at home with a book ramp, a ball and a towel.

   Skills

   • Tell balanced from unbalanced forces, and say how each changes an object's motion.
   • Use a fair test and its data to show that a stronger unbalanced force makes a bigger change in motion, and that forces pointing the same way add up while opposite forces work against each other.
   • Name the force behind each change in a moving object's motion (start, speed up, slow down, stop, turn), with gravity pulling down and friction slowing things, and back it up with evidence.

2. Swings, Seesaws and Patterns in Motion

   At the Tick-Tock Shop, children help Mr. Okafor the clockmaker and his parrot Tock find the patterns in motion: they count a pendulum's swings and use the repeating count to predict, run a fair test to find that a longer pendulum swings more slowly and use it to fix a clock that runs fast, then at the town fair predict a seesaw's ups and downs and how high a marble rolls before it stops at the bottom of a bowl.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3-PS2-2 Observe or measure a motion that repeats, and use its pattern as evidence to predict how it will move next.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Clock That StoppedA picture-book class: in a story about Lucia, Ben and Mr. Okafor restarting a tall clock in his clock shop, your child reads a true science text with diagrams about pendulums (with Galileo's swinging lamp and the first pendulum clock), counts swings and uses the pattern to predict, then makes a pendulum from a key and a string with a grown-up and counts its swings.
   2. The Clock That Ran FastA picture-book class: in a story about a clock that runs fast before the town fair, your child reads a true science text with diagrams about long and short pendulums (with the giant pendulum of Big Ben's clock), reads a chart of swing counts, helps fix the clock, then runs a fair test at home with a grown-up: the same key on a long string and a short one.
   3. Patterns at the FairA picture-book class: in a story about Lucia and Ben at the town fair, your child reads a true science text with diagrams about motions that repeat (a seesaw, a marble in a bowl, and a giant steel ball inside a very tall building), predicts a seesaw's next move and how high a marble will roll, then watches a marble roll in a bowl at home with a grown-up.

   Skills

   • Describe a pendulum's repeating motion, count its swings in a set time, and use a repeating count to predict the swings in a longer time.
   • Use a fair test and a chart to show that a longer pendulum swings more slowly and a heavier weight hardly matters, and use the pattern to predict a count or fix a clock.
   • Find the pattern in other repeating motions, like a seesaw going up and down and a marble rolling a little less high each time in a bowl, and use it to predict what comes next.

3. Magnets, Static and a Design Problem

   At Grandpa Lou's apartment, Amara and her cousin Kai fish lost steel screws from under the couch with a magnet on a string and find that magnets pull without touching, that poles pull or push and that the pull is stronger up close; at Grandpa's birthday party a rubbed balloon lifts Kai's hair and sticks to the wall, and they find out that static is an electric push and pull, not magnetism; then, when Biscuit the cat keeps opening the treat cupboard, they define the problem, test a magnet latch to find where it fails and improve it like engineers.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3-PS2-3 Ask questions to find out what causes electric or magnetic pushes and pulls between objects that aren't touching.; 3-PS2-4 Define a simple design problem that can be solved with what we know about magnets.; 3-5-ETS1-1 Define a simple design problem for a need or a want, with criteria for success and limits on materials, time or cost.; 3-5-ETS1-3 Plan and carry out fair tests, changing one thing and finding where a model fails, to see how it can be improved.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Magnet FishingA picture-book class: in a story about Amara and Kai fishing Grandpa's screws out from under the couch with a magnet, your child reads a true science text with diagrams about what magnets pull, their north and south poles (and the compass), and how a magnet pulls without touching, works out why a ring magnet floats, and goes on a magnet hunt at home.
   2. Birthday BalloonsA picture-book class: at Grandpa Lou's birthday party, Amara and Kai's rubbed balloons lift hair and confetti and push each other away. Your child reads a true science text with diagrams about static electricity and the two kinds of charge, learns to turn a wonder into a question a test can answer, and runs a jumping-paper test with a balloon at home.
   3. The Cat-Proof LatchA picture-book class: when Biscuit the cat keeps pawing open the treat cupboard, Amara, Kai and Grandpa Lou design a magnet latch. Your child reads a true text with diagrams about how engineers define a problem (criteria and constraints), how magnets work in fridge doors and maglev trains, and how testing shows where a design fails; reads the test results of three latches; and finds the failure point of a fridge magnet at home.

   Skills

   • Find out with tests which things a magnet pulls, that different poles pull and the same poles push, and that a magnet pulls harder up close, without touching.
   • Explain a static push or pull by its cause (rubbing moves charge, opposite charges pull and the same charges push), tell it apart from magnetism, and ask a cause-and-effect question a fair test can answer.
   • Define a magnet design problem with criteria and constraints, test a prototype fairly to find where it fails, choose the design that meets all the criteria and improve it using what we know about magnets.

4. Life Cycles

   In Auntie Mei's garden, Priya keeps a journal: one dry bean sprouts, flowers and fills pods with new beans, so she learns that a life cycle goes around in a circle and that a seed holds a baby plant and its food; her neighbor Mateo finds caterpillars eating the kale and tadpoles in the pond, and they follow a butterfly and a frog through metamorphosis; then Clucky the hen's eggs hatch into chicks that just grow, and Priya finds the pattern every life cycle shares: begin life, grow, have young, die.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3-LS1-1 Make models that show living things have many different life cycles, but all are born, grow, have young and die.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Bean MysteryA picture-book class: in a story about Priya's garden journal, one bean seed grows into a plant whose pods hold many new beans; your child reads a true science text with diagrams about life cycles, what is inside a seed and how flowers turn into fruit with seeds, draws a life-cycle wheel, reads a growth chart, and becomes a seed detective in the kitchen.
   2. Who Is Eating the Kale?A picture-book class: in a story about tiny eggs under Auntie Mei's kale leaves, your child follows caterpillars to a chrysalis and a butterfly, reads a true science text with diagrams about the butterfly's and the frog's life cycles and metamorphosis, solves a mystery-bug puzzle, reads a chart of days in each stage, and makes a folded-paper model of a frog's life cycle.
   3. Clucky's ChicksA picture-book class: in a story about Clucky the hen's eggs hatching, your child reads a true science text with a diagram and a table about a chicken's life cycle, the one pattern every life cycle shares and food for growing, compares a frog and a chicken in a Venn diagram, finds a pattern in birds' hatching times, and becomes an egg detective in the kitchen.

   Skills

   • Model a flowering plant's life cycle as a circle (seed, sprout, young plant, adult with flowers, fruit with seeds), name the parts of a seed, and explain why the last stage leads back to the first.
   • Model the life cycles of a butterfly and a frog in order, tell a stage from the animal's body, and decide whether an animal goes through metamorphosis by comparing its young with its adult.
   • Compare life cycles, like a chicken's and a frog's, by how they are alike and different, use the pattern every life cycle shares and patterns in data to predict, and explain that young living things need food to grow.

5. Traits from Parents and Surroundings

   On Willow Farm, Tess and Omar meet Marmalade the cat's four kittens and find that each got its own mix of its parents' colors, so young look like their parents in many ways but not exactly, and living things of one kind vary; then some of Tess's sunflowers grow short in a dry corner, and Ms. Ada's fair test shows that the environment can change a trait too; last, green and brown grasshoppers play hide-and-seek in a meadow that dries brown, and the children use evidence to explain how small differences help some living things survive, find mates and have young.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3-LS3-1 Use data to show that young plants and animals get traits from their parents, and that traits vary in a group of the same kind.; 3-LS3-2 Use evidence to explain that the environment can change a living thing's traits.; 3-LS4-2 Use evidence to explain how differences between living things of the same kind can help some survive, find mates and have young.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Marmalade's KittensA picture-book class: in a story about Marmalade the farm cat's four kittens, your child reads a true science text with a diagram, a table and a diagram about inherited traits and variation, compares a kitten with its parents trait by trait, reads a chart of two kinds of sunflower, and measures 5 beans or leaves of one kind to find what varies.
   2. The Short SunflowersA picture-book class: in a story about sunflowers from one packet that grow tall in a watered bed and short in a dry corner, your child reads a true science text with three diagrams about how water, light and food can change traits, sorts traits by where they come from, reads a fair water test, and plans a fair test of their own.
   3. Hide-and-Seek GrasshoppersA picture-book class: in a story about green and brown grasshoppers in a meadow that dries brown, your child reads a true science text with three diagrams about camouflage, thorns and finding a mate, thinks through which moth a bird would spot, reads the data from a hide-and-seek game, and plays the game at home.

   Skills

   • Say what a trait is, compare young animals and plants with their parents trait by trait, and use data like a table or a chart to show that young are like their parents but not exactly, and that living things of one kind vary.
   • Explain with evidence how an environment, like too little water, darkness or food, can change a trait, sort traits into from the parents, from the environment or both, and plan or read a fair test that changes only one thing.
   • Use evidence from stories, figures and a game's data to explain how a difference between living things of one kind, like a color that blends in, bigger thorns or a louder call, helps some of them survive, find mates and have young.

6. Living Together: Groups and Habitats

   With the Wild Watch Club, two young nature-show hosts and their robot Bolt, children argue from evidence that living in a group helps animals survive (penguins huddling through the Antarctic winter, monkeys saved by a warning call, ants and fish working as a team) and that in a habitat like a pond, some living things survive well, some less well, and some cannot survive at all.

   3 lessons · about 20 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3-LS2-1 Argue with evidence that some animals live in groups that help the members survive.; 3-LS4-3 Argue with evidence that in a habitat, some living things survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Great Penguin HuddleA picture-book class: on a live nature camera in Antarctica, your child reads along as emperor penguins press into a huddle to survive the freezing winter, does the penguin shuffle in a movement break, predicts which jar in a model huddle stays warmest, and explains to a classmate how the group helps.
   2. The Warning CallA picture-book class: on a live nature camera in Africa, your child reads along as a troop of vervet monkeys is saved by one monkey's eagle call, plays a monkey-watch movement game, learns to back up a claim with evidence, and uses ants and a school of fish to show a classmate how a group helps.
   3. Who Can Live at Lily Pond?A picture-book class: at a pond in the park, your child reads along as the Wild Watch Club finds which living things survive well, less well or not at all there, does a duck feather test with a paper towel and a piece of plastic, moves like pond animals, and uses evidence to show a classmate that not every living thing can live everywhere.

   Skills

   • Argue with evidence that living in a group, like a penguin huddle, helps animals survive harsh weather.
   • Argue with evidence that groups help animals stay safe and get food, like a monkey troop's warning call, a school of fish and a team of ants.
   • Argue with evidence from needs and body features that in a habitat some living things survive well, some less well, and some not at all.

7. Fossils and Changing Places

   At Stony Creek, Digger the dog digs a stone shell out of the creek bank, and Nia and Felix learn from Dr. Rosa what a fossil is, how mud and sand turn a buried shell into one, and how body and trace fossils are clues to what lived long ago; then they read a striped cliff from the bottom up, finding that the place was a sea, then a swampy forest, then dry land, and that some kinds, like trilobites, are extinct; last, a new road cuts the creek's toads off from their pond, and the children use before-and-after counts to see that a change helps some living things and harms others, then compare the town's plans against criteria and constraints and test a toad fence.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3-LS4-1 Use fossils as data to tell what lived long ago and what its environment was like.; 3-LS4-4 Judge how well a solution works for a problem caused by a change to a place and the living things in it.; 3-5-ETS1-2 Think of several solutions to a problem and compare how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Shell in the RockA picture-book class: in a story about a stone shell Digger the dog digs out of a creek bank, your child reads a true science text with three diagrams about what fossils are, how they form and their two main kinds, watches a fossil compared with a scallop alive today, reads two trails of fossil footprints, and plays fossil detective with prints pressed in play dough.
   2. The Cliff of CluesA picture-book class: in a story about a striped cliff by Stony Creek with sea shells at the bottom and ferns above, your child reads a true science text with three diagrams about rock layers, fossils as clues to past places and extinct kinds, watches the cliff read from the bottom up, compares an Arctic island today with the fossil forest in its rock, and builds rock layers in a cup.
   3. The Toad TunnelA picture-book class: in a story about a new road between Stony Creek's toads and their pond, your child reads a true science text with three diagrams about what happens to living things when a place changes, how engineers compare solutions, and the wildlife bridges of Banff, reads before-and-after counts at a beaver pond, compares three toad plans, and tests a toad fence with books and a rolling ball.

   Skills

   • Say what a fossil is, tell the steps of how most fossils form, tell body fossils from trace fossils, and use a fossil's shape, size and likeness to living things as evidence of what it was and how it lived.
   • Read rock layers still lying flat from oldest at the bottom to youngest at the top, use the fossils in them as evidence of past places, like a sea where there is now land or a forest where it is now too cold, and say what extinct means.
   • Use counts from before and after a change to a place to say which living things stayed, moved away, moved in or died, tell criteria from constraints, and compare several solutions to a problem the change causes, testing a model of one.

8. Weather and Climate

   In Chicago, Ivy and Ravi build a backyard weather station with Aunt June, a weather scientist, and learn the parts of the weather, the tools that measure them and how a weather log kept at the same time each day lets them compare days; then a July video call with cousin Lucia, wearing a coat in Buenos Aires, leads them to bar graphs of many years of data, the usual weather of each season, predictions that say what is likely, and seasons that come in opposite months north and south of the equator; last, they help Aunt June pack for a rainforest, a desert and a town far in the north, telling weather from climate and putting clues from maps, data and books together to describe the climates of real regions and their own.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3-ESS2-1 Put weather data in tables and bar graphs to describe the weather a place usually has in each season.; 3-ESS2-2 Find information in several places and put it together to describe the climates of different regions of the world.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Weather StationA picture-book class: in a story about a backyard weather station in Chicago, your child reads a true science text with three figures about the parts of the weather, the tools that measure them and the weather records kept around the world, reads a thermometer and a week's weather log, and makes a weather report from their own window.
   2. Winter in JulyA picture-book class: in a story about a July video call between Chicago, where it's hot, and Buenos Aires, where it's winter, your child reads a true science text with three figures about each season's usual weather, opposite seasons north and south of the equator and how to read a weather graph, reads real graphs of Chicago and Buenos Aires, and builds a block graph of Cape Town's seasons.
   3. The Three SuitcasesA picture-book class: in a story about packing for trips to a rainforest, a desert and a place far in the north, your child reads a true science text with three figures about weather and climate, the climates of regions around the world and how scientists put clues together, reads clues about three real places, sorts weather from climate, and describes the climate where they live with a grown-up's help.

   Skills

   • Name the parts of the weather (temperature, precipitation, wind, clouds), match each to the tool that measures it, read a thermometer and a wind vane, and read a weather log kept at the same time each day to compare days.
   • Read tables and bar graphs of many years of weather data to describe the weather a place usually has in each season, use the pattern to say what is likely, and explain with data that seasons come in opposite months north and south of the equator.
   • Tell weather (one place, one time) from climate (the usual weather over many years), describe hot and wet, hot and dry, cold and snowy and four-season climates, and put clues from maps, data and books together to describe a region's climate, including their own.

9. Designing for Weather Hazards

   In the river town of Cedar Bend, Mila and Jonah build a model of their town in Grandma Bea's workshop for the library's Weather-Ready Fair. They learn that weather hazards like floods, strong winds, lightning and blizzards can't be stopped but can be made less harmful, that each place gets ready for its own hazards, and they judge flood walls and houses on posts with evidence from a flood pan; then a storm lifts the roof off the empty picnic shelter, and they define the town's design problem by its criteria and constraints, come up with several ideas (as the Netherlands did for its rivers) and compare them in a table; last, they test a model of the chosen shelter in a fair paper-fan test, find where its roof fails, tape its corners like straps and test again, and learn why a model test can't show everything a real storm does.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 3-ESS3-1 Judge how well a design reduces the harm a weather hazard can do.; 3-5-ETS1-1 Define a simple design problem for a need or a want, with criteria for success and limits on materials, time or cost.; 3-5-ETS1-2 Come up with and compare several solutions by how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints.; 3-5-ETS1-3 Plan and carry out fair tests, changing one thing and finding where a model fails, to see how it can be improved.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Model TownA picture-book class: in a story about a model river town built for a Weather-Ready Fair, your child reads a true science text with three figures about weather hazards, the designs that make them less harmful and how hazards differ from place to place, reads a model flood test and judges two designs, and tests paper houses in a flood pan at home.
   2. The Picnic ShelterA picture-book class: when a storm lifts the roof off an empty picnic shelter, your child reads a true science text with three figures about defining a design problem, coming up with many ideas (and how the Netherlands gave its rivers more room) and comparing ideas in a table, sorts the town's criteria and constraints, compares three shelter ideas, and designs three ways to give a tortoise shade.
   3. The Fan TestA picture-book class: when a model shelter's roof flips off in a paper-fan wind, your child reads a true science text with three figures about models, fair tests and a wind test lab with full-size houses, plans a fair fan test, compares roofs with more and more tape, and tests a card roof on a cup at home.

   Skills

   • Say what a weather hazard is and that places get ready for their own hazards, match designs (flood walls, houses on posts, lightning rods, shutters and straps) to the harm they reduce and their limits, and make a claim about a design with evidence from a test.
   • Define a design problem by its criteria and constraints and tell them apart, come up with several ideas, and compare them in a table against every criterion and constraint to choose the best one.
   • Plan and carry out a fair test of a model that changes only one thing, find where the model fails, improve it and test again, make a claim from the results, and say why a model test can't show everything a real storm does.

Social Studies

1. Communities Near and Far

   How land, water and climate shape where and how people live around the world, told in three picture books: Aunt Lena, a geographer, sends Ruby and Omar letters from Egypt, Tanzania and Mongolia, with maps, charts and sketches to read; why people settle where they do, why some places are hot and some cold, and how people fit their homes and ways of life to their place.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Geo.4.3-5 Explain how culture shapes the ways people change and adapt to their environment.; D2.Geo.6.3-5 Describe how land, water, climate and culture affect where people live in a place or region.; D2.Geo.8.3-5 Explain how where people settle and travel relates to where natural resources are and how they are used.; D2.Geo.10.3-5 Explain why land, water and climate differ in different regions of the world.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Why Here?A picture-book class: Aunt Lena, a geographer, sends Ruby and Omar a map of Egypt where almost every city sits by the Nile; your child reads the story, hears why people settle near water, good soil, wood, fish and safe harbors and why fewer live in deserts, high mountains and icy lands, watches the teacher read the map and check it with a chart, reads a map of Australia, helps Sam, and plans a village on Pepper Island.
   2. Snow Near the Equator?A picture-book class: Aunt Lena calls from Tanzania, where Mount Kilimanjaro has ice on top though it is near the equator; your child reads the story, hears why places near the equator are warm and places near the poles are cold, and how height, the ocean and rain change a climate, watches the teacher solve the mystery with a map and a side view, uses the clues on Singapore, Mexico City and the Sahara, helps Sam, and decides where to build a town.
   3. Homes That FitA picture-book class: Aunt Lena writes from Mongolia, where she stays with a herding family in a ger, a round home of felt that packs up and moves; your child reads the story, hears how people fit their homes, clothes and work to their place, change their place and live in different ways, watches the teacher read Aunt Lena's sketch of a ger and compare it with a log house, works out why homes stand on stilts and which home fits herders who move, helps Sam, plans a made-up island town, and writes back to Aunt Lena in one sentence.

   Skills

   • Explain why people settle where they do (near fresh water, good soil, wood, fish and safe harbors) and why fewer people live in deserts, high mountains and icy lands, reading a map and a chart as sources.
   • Explain why climates differ: places near the equator are warm and places near the poles are cold, high places are colder, places by the ocean are milder, and deserts get very little rain.
   • Explain how people fit their homes, clothes and ways of life to their place, how they change their place, and how culture shapes the way they do it.

2. Maps, Places and Regions

   How maps show places near and far and how regions differ, told in three picture books: Aunt Lena, a geographer, comes home with maps of Ruby and Omar's made-up town and zooms out from their street to the world, helps them make a map of Pepper Island with a title, key, compass rose and scale, and shows them Peru's three regions, the desert coast, the Andes mountains and the Amazon rain forest.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Geo.1.3-5 Make maps and other graphics of places you know and places you don't.; D2.Geo.2.3-5 Use maps, satellite pictures and photos to explain how where a place is relates to its land, water and climate.; D2.Geo.3.3-5 Use maps of different scales to describe where cultural and natural features are.; D2.Geo.10.3-5 Explain why land, water and climate differ in different regions of the world.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Zoom Out!A picture-book class: Aunt Lena comes home with four maps of Ruby and Omar's town, each zoomed out more than the last; your child reads the story, hears how maps zoom in and out and how to choose the map that fits a question, watches the teacher zoom out from a street to the world and find the way to the library on the town map, practices choosing maps, helps Sam, and plans which maps to take on a class trip.
   2. Make a Map!A picture-book class: Ruby and Omar turn Aunt Lena's picture of Pepper Island into a map; your child reads the story, hears the five parts every map needs (title, symbols, key, compass rose and scale), watches the teacher build the map one part at a time and measure with the scale bar, practices reading a key and a scale bar, helps Sam, and plans a park map for a new kid in town.
   3. Coast, Mountains and Rain ForestA picture-book class: Aunt Lena packs a sun hat, a warm coat and an umbrella for one trip to Peru; your child reads the story, hears what a region is and how people live in Peru's dry coast, high Andes and wet rain forest, watches the teacher read a rain chart and match each thing in the suitcase to a region, practices reading a region map and choosing the work that fits a region, helps Sam, and plans what to film in Peru.

   Skills

   • Use maps of different scales: say what a zoomed-in and a zoomed-out map can and can't show, choose the map that fits a question, and put places in order from smallest to biggest.
   • Read and make a map with a title, symbols, a key, a compass rose and a scale: find what a symbol means, say which way places are, and measure a distance with a scale bar.
   • Explain what a region is and how a place's land, water and climate shape how people live there, comparing regions with a map with a key, a rain chart and a side view.

3. How Places Change and Connect

   How places change over time and how land and water link them, told in three picture books: Riverbend, Ruby and Omar's made-up town, turns 150 and Grandpa's map from 1900 shows how it changed (with Chicago as a real example); Aunt Lena writes from the Andes about mountain roads and a grass bridge, and the class reads maps of the Erie Canal and the Panama Canal; and at the birthday fair, Riverbend's timeline, Buffalo's growth and Lanai's pineapple farm show how new links change the work people do.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Geo.5.3-5 Explain how the natural and cultural features of places change over time.; D2.Geo.7.3-5 Explain how land, water, climate and culture affect how people, goods and ideas spread and move.; D2.Geo.11.3-5 Describe how the kinds of work in a place change over time because of its links with places near and far.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Then and NowA picture-book class: Riverbend turns 150 and Omar's grandpa brings out a map from 1900; your child reads the story, hears what natural and human features are, how people and nature change places and how Chicago grew from a muddy town into a big city, watches the teacher compare the old and new maps and split a big question into smaller ones with a source for each, practices finding evidence of change, helps Sam, and decides what to do with an empty field.
   2. Over the MountainsA picture-book class: Aunt Lena writes from Peru about a zigzag bus ride over the Andes and a bridge woven from grass; your child reads the letter, hears how land and water are paths or barriers and how people build bridges, tunnels and canals like the Erie Canal, watches the teacher find the canal's low route on a map of New York and compare two sea routes through or around the Americas, practices choosing routes, helps Sam, and decides how to link two villages across a river.
   3. New Links, New JobsA picture-book class: at Riverbend's birthday fair, Grandpa's timeline shows how the work in town changed; your child reads the story, hears how new links like roads and canals bring goods, people and ideas and change the work people do, with the Erie Canal towns as a real example, watches the teacher read a chart of Buffalo's growth and Riverbend's work timeline, practices reading a picture chart, helps Sam, and weighs the jobs and problems a new highway could bring.

   Skills

   • Tell natural from human features, explain how people and nature change a place over time, and compare sources from then and now (maps, pictures, a timeline) to show what changed and what stayed the same.
   • Explain how land and water help or block the movement of people, goods and ideas (paths and barriers), how people build ways past barriers (bridges, canals, railroads), and use a map to find and explain a route.
   • Explain how new links with places near and far (roads, railroads, canals, ports, airports) change the kinds of work in a place, with the chances and problems they bring, using a chart and a timeline as sources.

4. Resources, Producers and Trade

   How people make, share and sell what they need, told in three picture books: Aunt Lena sends alpaca-wool scarves woven by Rosa in the Andes, and the class sorts natural, human and capital resources and sees how the spinning jenny and a new oven help people make more; Ruby and Omar find that splitting the work makes more bookmarks, and Aunt Lena's letter shows how Peru and the United States trade fruit, wheat and machines; and at Riverbend's kids' market, a lemonade stand works out its profit in pretend tokens and finds the good and bad side effects of its choices.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Eco.3.3-5 Give examples of the resources used to make goods and services: natural, human and capital resources.; D2.Eco.4.3-5 Explain why people and businesses specialize and trade.; D2.Eco.7.3-5 Explain how profit affects what sellers do in a market.; D2.Eco.8.3-5 Give examples of good and bad side effects of a choice on other people.; D2.Eco.13.3-5 Describe how people can make more with better tools and new skills.; D2.Eco.14.3-5 Explain how trade makes countries depend on each other more and more.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. From Alpaca to ScarfA picture-book class: Aunt Lena sends two alpaca-wool scarves from Peru, made by Rosa, a weaver in the Andes; your child reads the letter, hears what goods, services and the three kinds of resources are and how better tools like the spinning jenny and new skills help people make more, watches the teacher sort a bakery's resources and read a chart of its loaves, practices sorting and choosing, helps Sam, and names the resources for something they could make.
   2. Better TogetherA picture-book class: Ruby and Omar make more bookmarks when each does the job they do best, and Aunt Lena writes about blueberries from Peru; your child reads the story, hears why people specialize (with Henry Ford's moving line) and why people and countries trade, watches the teacher read a chart of the bookmarks and a trade table, practices choosing plans and trades, helps Sam, and shares out the work of a puppet show.
   3. Market DayA picture-book class: at Riverbend's kids' market day, Ruby and Omar run a lemonade stand with pretend tokens; your child reads the story, hears what costs, sales and profit are and how profit changes what sellers do, and what good and bad side effects are, watches the teacher find two drinks' profit and weigh Omar's explanation, practices with a cookie stand and a neighbor's tree, helps Sam, and weighs the side effects of loud music at a stand.

   Skills

   • Name the natural, human and capital resources used to make a good or a service, and explain how better tools and new skills help people make more, using a chart as evidence.
   • Explain why people specialize and trade, and how trade makes people in faraway countries depend on each other, using a chart, a map and a table as sources.
   • Work out a seller's profit and explain how profit affects what sellers do, give examples of good and bad side effects of a choice on other people, and weigh someone's explanation: what is strong and what is missing.

5. Money, Choices and Banks

   How people use money, make choices and save, told in three picture books at Riverbend's kids' market, where children use pretend paper tokens: Omar can't swap a bike fix for a kite, so he pays with the tokens he earned with his new skill, and Aunt Lena writes from Kenya about paying with a phone; Ruby weighs a kite now against a bike later, reads a kite ad for facts and opinions, and sees how a reward for bringing cups back changes what people do; and at the library's Kids' Bank, Ruby saves and earns interest, Omar borrows for a tire pump and pays it back with interest, and Aunt Lena writes from Quebec about the people's bank started there in 1900.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Eco.1.3-5 Compare the benefits and costs of a person's choices.; D2.Eco.2.3-5 Name rewards and penalties (incentives) that change the choices people make.; D2.Eco.5.3-5 Explain how money makes trading easier.; D2.Eco.6.3-5 Explain how learning new skills can help people work better and earn more later.; D2.Eco.9.3-5 Describe what banks and other money services do in an economy.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Swap or Pay?A picture-book class: at Riverbend's kids' market, Omar can't swap a bike fix for Bea's kite, so he pays with the pretend tokens he earned with his new skill; your child reads the story, hears why people use money, how money changed through time and that most countries have their own, and how new skills help people earn more later, watches the teacher solve a trade puzzle and make a claim with evidence, practices with a farmer's eggs and a hairdresser's new skill, helps Sam, and makes a claim about a made-up village's money.
   2. Now or Later?A picture-book class: Ruby has 12 pretend tokens and must choose between a kite now and a bike later; your child reads the story, hears what benefits, costs and opportunity costs are and how rewards and penalties change choices (with Ireland's plastic bag fee), watches the teacher weigh Ruby's choices and weigh Omar's argument, sorting facts from opinions on a sign, practices an opportunity cost and a juice poster, helps Sam see that a free thing can still cost something, and says what reward or penalty they would try for a park with litter.
   3. The Kids' BankA picture-book class: at the library's Kids' Bank, Ruby saves pretend tokens and earns interest until she can buy her bike, and Omar borrows for a tire pump and pays it back with interest; your child reads the story, hears what banks do (deposits, interest, loans and credit) and how Alphonse and Dorimène Desjardins started a people's bank in Quebec in 1900, watches the teacher read Ruby's bank book and build an argument from two sources, practices working out interest and why a borrower pays back more, helps Sam, and argues whether a made-up boy should borrow or save.

   Skills

   • Explain how money makes trading easier than swapping and what makes good money, explain how new skills help people earn more later, and make a claim with evidence.
   • Weigh the benefits and costs of a choice, including the opportunity cost, explain how rewards and penalties change people's choices, and weigh an argument by telling facts from opinions.
   • Describe what banks do (keep savings safe, pay interest, lend money), explain that a loan or credit is paid back with interest, and build an argument from claims and evidence from several sources.

6. Local and Regional History

   How we find out about the past of a place, told in three picture books: Mr. Ortiz, the librarian, makes Ruby and Omar history detectives for a display about the Riverbend region, and they read an old box's poster for clues and ask Grandpa what he remembers; they make a timeline of Riverbend and Clover Hill and read two letters from 1910 that see the new railway differently; and they compare a newspaper, a diary, a photo and Grandpa's memory of the New Bridge's opening day in 1925 to make a claim. Aunt Lena's letters from Ottawa, in Canada, are the real example: how to find out about a region, why the Rideau Canal was built and what it changed, how people saw it differently, and the sources historians use, with the Algonquin Anishinaabe, who live in the region today.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.His.1.3-5 Make and use a timeline of related events, and compare things that happened at the same time.; D2.His.2.3-5 Compare life in a particular time in the past with life today.; D2.His.3.3-5 Ask questions about people and groups who shaped important changes, and things that stayed the same.; D2.His.4.3-5 Explain why people living at the same time saw things differently.; D2.His.9.3-5 Summarize how different kinds of sources are used to explain the past.; D2.His.10.3-5 Compare what different sources tell about the past.; D2.His.11.3-5 Use clues inside a source to work out who it was made for and why.; D2.His.12.3-5 Ask questions about several sources and how they connect to an event.; D2.His.14.3-5 Explain the likely causes and effects of events and changes.; D2.His.16.3-5 Use evidence to make a claim about the past.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Clues from the PastA picture-book class: Mr. Ortiz opens an old box at Riverbend Library and asks Ruby and Omar to be history detectives; your child reads the story, hears what sources are and the four questions to ask about any source, and how to find out about a region's past with a grown-up, a library or a museum website, with Ottawa in Canada as the real example; watches the teacher plan a history hunt and read an old poster for clues; practices picking a source and reading a notice for clues, helps Sam, and plans how to find out how a made-up town's park began.
   2. Why the Canal?A picture-book class: Ruby and Omar make a timeline of the Riverbend region and find two old letters that see a new railway differently; your child reads the story, hears why the Rideau Canal in Canada was built, what it changed, how different people saw it and how it is used today; watches the teacher read a timeline of two places and explain two views; practices comparing two made-up towns in the same year and finding a cause and an effect, helps Sam, and decides about a made-up town's dam.
   3. Bridge Day, 1925A picture-book class: Ruby and Omar find a newspaper and a girl's diary that tell the New Bridge's opening day in 1925 differently; your child reads the story, hears how to compare sources (what both say, what only one says, who made each and why, facts and opinions) and the sources historians use about the Rideau Canal in Canada; watches the teacher compare the two sources and make a claim with evidence; practices finding what two sources agree on and which to trust, helps Sam, and makes a claim about a made-up town's first library.

   Skills

   • Tell what different kinds of sources tell about the past, read a source's clues (who made it, when, for whom, why), and plan how to find out about a region's past with a grown-up, a library or a museum website.
   • Use a timeline to order events and compare what happened at the same time, compare then and now, explain causes and effects, and explain why people at the same time saw things differently.
   • Compare what two sources tell about the same event, judge how far to trust each (who made it, when, facts and opinions), and make a claim about the past backed with evidence from two sources.

7. Government and Citizenship

   How a community governs itself, told in three picture books about Lantern Hill, a made-up town where two friends want a safe crossing on a busy street: who in a town's government does which job, what makes a rule good and fair, and how people, kids too, change a rule at a town meeting.

   3 lessons · about 20 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Civ.1.3-5 Tell apart what different government leaders are responsible for and can do, at different levels and in different branches.; D2.Civ.3.3-5 Look at where rules and laws come from and what they are for.; D2.Civ.4.3-5 Explain how groups of people make rules that give people responsibilities and protect freedoms.; D2.Civ.8.3-5 Name the main civic virtues and democratic ideas that guide governments, communities and people.; D2.Civ.9.3-5 Use careful talk and listening (deliberation) to make decisions as a group.; D2.Civ.11.3-5 Compare how decisions are made in different settings: a class, a school, a government.; D2.Civ.12.3-5 Explain how rules and laws change a community, and how people change rules and laws.; D2.Civ.13.3-5 Explain how a government makes a plan (a policy) to solve a public problem.; D2.Eco.12.3-5 Explain how a government pays for the goods and services it provides.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Who Is in Charge?A picture-book class: Nia and Kenji can't cross busy Kite Street, so they go to Town Hall in Lantern Hill and find out who does which job, and your child learns that a council makes the laws, a mayor gets plans done and a judge decides what's fair, and that the town, the region and the country look after different things.
   2. Rules With ReasonsA picture-book class: Mayor Bell shows Nia and Kenji the Lantern Hill law board, Biscuit the goat takes a bite, and Nia writes a crossing rule; your child learns what laws are for, the job and the freedom a rule gives, and how to tell whether a rule is fair to everyone.
   3. The Town MeetingA picture-book class: Nia and Kenji count cars, write to the council and speak at the Lantern Hill town meeting, where the council listens to every side and votes for a crossing, and your child learns how people, kids too, change a rule, what taxes pay for, and how a class vote differs from a council vote.

   Skills

   • Tell apart the jobs of a town's government (the council makes the laws, the mayor leads and gets plans done, a judge decides what's fair) and say whether the town, a region or the country looks after something.
   • Explain what a rule or law is for (safety, fairness, shared places, settling problems peacefully), name the responsibility it gives and the freedom it protects, and tell whether a rule is fair to everyone.
   • Explain how people, children too, change a rule: name the problem, gather evidence, speak and listen at a meeting, the council votes and the town carries out the plan, paid for with taxes; and compare a class vote with a council vote.

8. Citizens Who Make a Difference

   How citizens make a difference, told in three picture books: on River Clean-up Day in Riverbend, Ruby and Omar's teams split the riverbank on a map and settle who paints the sign; the town asks what the empty lot by the river should become, and the Riverbend Kids' Club listens to Mrs. Kaur, Grandpa and Leo, weighs the side effects and votes; then the kids share their garden plan with a poster, a petition and a talk at the council meeting, and everyone plants it on Garden Day. Aunt Lena's letters bring the real examples: bayanihan in the Philippines, the High Line in New York City, and Kate Sheppard's petitions in New Zealand, with Josephine Mandamin and Autumn Peltier, Anishinaabe water protectors in Canada.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Civ.2.3-5 Explain how a democracy needs people to take part responsibly, and what that means for how each person takes part.; D2.Civ.6.3-5 Describe how working together helps people and is sometimes hard, in government, at work, in volunteer groups and in families.; D2.Civ.7.3-5 Use civic virtues and democratic ideas in class and school.; D2.Civ.10.3-5 Name the beliefs, experiences and values behind your own and other people's points of view on a community question.; D2.Civ.14.3-5 Show ways people have changed their communities, long ago and today.; D2.Eco.8.3-5 Give examples of good and bad side effects of a choice on other people.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Many HandsA picture-book class: Ruby and Omar join River Clean-up Day in Riverbend, where the riverbank is split into three parts and Omar and Theo settle who paints the sign; your child reads the story, hears what citizens of every age do to take part, the civic virtues, and why working together helps and is sometimes hard, with bayanihan in the Philippines as the real example; watches the teacher plan the clean-up on a map and settle the sign fairly; practices naming a civic virtue and planning a big job, helps Sam, and says what they would do to share a job fairly.
   2. Points of ViewA picture-book class: Riverbend asks what the empty lot by the river should become, and Mrs. Kaur, Grandpa and Leo each want something different; your child reads the story, hears what a point of view is and where it comes from, what side effects are and a fair way to decide, and the real story of the High Line in New York City; watches the teacher find the reasons behind three views and weigh the garden plan's side effects before the Kids' Club votes; practices explaining a point of view and naming a bad side effect, helps Sam, and chooses for a made-up town, naming a side effect.
   3. Garden DayA picture-book class: the Kids' Club shares its garden plan with Riverbend (a poster, a petition and a talk at the council meeting), the council votes yes, everyone plants on Garden Day, and Aunt Lena comes home; your child reads the story, hears the ways people change their communities and why changemakers keep going, with Kate Sheppard in New Zealand and Josephine Mandamin and Autumn Peltier, Anishinaabe water protectors in Canada; watches the teacher read a chart of New Zealand's petitions and plan the club's poster with a prediction; practices naming a petition and what to do after a no, helps Sam, and plans how kids in a made-up town could share an idea.

   Skills

   • Name ways people of every age take part responsibly in a community, explain how working together helps and why it is sometimes hard, plan fair ways to share a job and settle a disagreement, and name the civic virtues people show.
   • Explain how people's experiences, values and beliefs shape their points of view on a community question, name good and bad side effects of a choice on other people, and use fair ways (talking it over, listening, changing a plan, voting) to decide as a group.
   • Explain ways people have changed their communities long ago and today (petitions, letters, meetings, volunteering, voting, speaking up), the problems they faced and how they kept going, and plan how to share an idea with people outside the group and predict what might happen.

Arts Education

1. Music: Reading and Writing Rhythm and Melody

   Three picture-book classes with the Acorn Band, who find an old song sheet nobody remembers: your child reads and claps rhythms in real music notation (quarter notes, eighth notes, half notes and rests in measures of four beats), reads and sings a melody on the staff (steps, skips and repeats), then makes up, writes down, improves and performs an answer song of their own.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: MU:Cr1.1.3a Improvise rhythm and melody ideas and tell how they suit a purpose and a setting.; MU:Cr1.1.3b Make up rhythm and melody ideas in a given tonality (such as major) and meter (such as in twos or threes).; MU:Cr2.1.3a Pick musical ideas for a short improvisation or composition that show what they mean, and tell how they fit its purpose.; MU:Cr2.1.3b Write down their own rhythm and melody ideas with standard or iconic notation, or record them.; MU:Cr3.1.3a Judge and improve their own music, and note the changes, using criteria and feedback from the teacher and classmates.; MU:Cr3.2.3a Share the final version of their own music and tell what they wanted it to express.; MU:Pr4.2.3b Read and perform rhythm patterns and melody phrases from iconic and standard notation.; MU:Pr5.1.3b Rehearse to improve accuracy, expression and the hard parts of a piece.; MU:Pr6.1.3a Perform music with expression and accuracy.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Song in the BoxA picture-book class that is mostly clapping and drumming: the Acorn Band finds an old song nobody remembers, and your child learns to read rhythm the way musicians write it (quarter notes, eighth notes, half notes and rests in measures of four beats), reads and claps the song's rhythm, then writes a measure of their own and plays it on a home-made drum.
   2. Grandma Ivy's TuneA picture-book class that is mostly singing: the Acorn Band reads the rest of Grandma Ivy's old song, and your child learns how notes sit on the lines and spaces of a staff, how a tune moves by step, skip or repeat, and that a high note is higher, not louder; then reads, practices and sings the Moon Song, with their hand showing high and low.
   3. The Moon's AnswerA picture-book class that is mostly making music: the Acorn Band must write the moon's answer to Grandma Ivy's song, and your child learns how composers work (play with sounds, write ideas down, try, listen and change), that an answer phrase ends on do, the home note, and that how fast and how loud you play changes a feeling; then makes up, writes down, improves and performs an answer of their own.

   Skills

   • Read, count and perform rhythms in standard notation (quarter note, two eighth notes, half note, quarter rest) in measures of four beats, and write a measure of their own.
   • Read a melody on the staff (lines and spaces; higher on the staff is higher in sound; moves by step, skip or repeat) and sing it, practising the hard part slowly.
   • Improvise and choose an answer phrase for a purpose, write it down, improve it with criteria and feedback, and perform the final version, telling what it expresses.

2. Visual Art: Imagine It, Add Details

   Three picture-book classes with the Sketchbook Club, who are making art for the library's Open Day: your child grows an idea from a shape they find (what-if questions, an idea web, quick thumbnail sketches), chooses tools and uses them safely, adds texture, pattern and story details so a picture tells more, then becomes an art detective: guessing how a picture was made, telling how its materials make its mood, and judging and improving their own work with clear criteria.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: VA:Cr1.1.3a Develop an imaginative idea further, adding to it.; VA:Cr1.2.3a Use what they know about the tools and materials at hand to explore their own ideas while making art.; VA:Cr2.1.3a Make artwork they are pleased with, using a range of art processes and materials.; VA:Cr2.2.3a Show that they can use materials, tools and equipment safely and well.; VA:Cr3.1.3a Add details to an artwork to make its meaning grow.; VA:Re7.1.3a Guess, with reasons, how an artist made a work of art.; VA:Re8.1.3a Interpret art by looking at how the materials make its subject, its forms and its mood.; VA:Re9.1.3a Judge an artwork with given criteria.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Whale in the CloudA picture-book class that is mostly drawing: Juno the fox sees a whale in a cloud, and your child learns how artists find ideas in shapes (like Leonardo da Vinci's stained wall) and grow them with what-if questions, an idea web and quick thumbnail sketches, which tool fits which job and how to use art tools safely; then turns a scribble of their own into a picture and tells about it.
   2. Bo's Plain BearA picture-book class that is mostly drawing: Bo the bear's picture is just a bear, and your child learns how artists look closely (like Albrecht Dürer painting a hare's fur), three kinds of details (texture, pattern and story details) and how they make a picture tell more; then makes a crayon rubbing and adds details to a picture of their own.
   3. The Picture DetectivesA picture-book class that is mostly looking and improving: at the library's Open Day, the Sketchbook Club reads a mystery picture like detectives, and your child learns to tell how a picture was made from its clues (like Van Gogh's thick, swirling paint in The Starry Night), how its materials make its mood, and how to judge art with clear criteria; then judges their own picture, makes it better and writes its museum label.

   Skills

   • Grow an idea from a shape they find with what-if questions, an idea web and thumbnail sketches, and choose tools and materials that fit it, using them safely.
   • Add texture, pattern and story details, with a range of materials and processes, so an artwork's meaning grows.
   • Guess with reasons how an artwork was made, tell how its materials make its mood, and judge and improve a work with criteria.

3. Dance: Dance Maps, ABA and the Stage

   Three picture-book classes with Kiki the kangaroo and the Meadow Dancers: your child reads and draws dance maps, builds a dance in ABA form with quick and slow energy, and learns the stage areas (upstage, downstage, stage right and stage left) for the troupe's Firefly Night show.

   3 lessons · about 20 minutes each

   US curriculum: DA:Cr1.1.3b Explore a movement problem, then choose and show a solution.; DA:Cr2.1.3a Try choreographic devices to make simple movement patterns and dance structures, such as AB and ABA.; DA:Cr2.1.3b Develop a dance phrase that shows an idea or a feeling, and talk about what the movement choices do.; DA:Cr3.1.3a Change movement choices after feedback to improve a short dance, and tell what the changes did.; DA:Cr3.1.3b Show the directions and pathways of a dance phrase in a picture map or with symbols.; DA:Pr4.1.3c Change the energy and dynamics of movement and tell how the change affects it.; DA:Pr6.1.3a Name the main areas of a performance space with stage words.; DA:Pr6.1.3b Explore simple production elements, such as costumes, props, music and lighting, for a dance shown to an audience in a chosen space.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Kiki's Wild MapA picture-book class: Kiki the kangaroo bounces the wrong way across Flora's dance map, and your child learns to read a dance map from its star (straight, curved and zigzag pathways, a spin, a finish flag), dances the pathways and matches directions to a map.
   2. Toma's Slow MiddleA picture-book class: Kiki's dance is hop, hop, spin over and over until Toma the tortoise falls asleep, and your child learns to build a dance in A B A form, with a slow, smooth middle that contrasts with the quick, sharp part that comes back at the end.
   3. Places, Everyone!A picture-book class: on Firefly Night, Kiki the kangaroo hops to the wrong side of the stage, and your child learns the stage areas (downstage, upstage, center, stage right and stage left, named from the dancer's view), finds the troupe's places on a stage plan, and uses feedback to move a dance closer to the audience.

   Skills

   • Read a dance map from its start (pathways, symbols, finish), and draw and dance a map of their own.
   • Recognize and make a dance in ABA form, with a B section whose energy contrasts with A.
   • Name and move to the stage areas (upstage, downstage, center, stage right, stage left) from the dancer's view, and use them to improve a dance for an audience.

4. Theatre: Characters, Plot and Design

   Three picture-book classes with the Red Barn Players, who are putting on Aesop's fable The Lion and the Mouse for Family Night in an old red barn: your child builds a character with body, voice, a want and a feeling and answers in role in a hot seat, turns the fable into a play with a story mountain (who and where, a problem that grows, the most exciting moment, how it is solved) and freeze frames, then designs costumes, props, set, lights and sound from things at home, compares them with a theater of long ago, performs, and judges the show with clear criteria.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: TH:Cr1.1.3a Create roles, imagined worlds and improvised stories in a drama.; TH:Cr1.1.3b Imagine and describe ideas for costumes, props and sets for a drama's setting and characters.; TH:Cr1.1.3c Decide with others how characters might move and speak to support the story and its situation.; TH:Cr2.1.3a Take part in ways of exploring to come up with original ideas for a drama.; TH:Cr2.1.3b Compare ideas with others and choose the ones that make a group drama stronger.; TH:Cr3.1.3a Revise and adapt ideas with others to fit what a drama needs.; TH:Cr3.1.3b Explore voice and body in an improvised or scripted drama.; TH:Cr3.1.3c Practise and improve design and technical choices for a drama.; TH:Pr4.1.3a Use the parts of dramatic structure to turn a story into a drama.; TH:Pr4.1.3b Explore how movement and voice are used in a drama.; TH:Pr5.1.3a Take part in body, voice and thinking warm-ups for group drama.; TH:Pr5.1.3b Name the basic technical and design elements of a drama, such as costumes, lights, props, set and sound.; TH:Pr6.1.3a Practise a drama and share reflections on it, alone or in small groups.; TH:Re7.1.3a Understand why artistic choices are made in a drama.; TH:Re8.1.3a Bring several of their own experiences to taking part in or watching a drama.; TH:Re8.1.3b Think of ways to build a character with body, props and costumes, including choices that reflect cultural perspectives.; TH:Re8.1.3c Explore how their own feelings connect to a character's feelings.; TH:Re9.1.3a Understand how and why groups judge a drama.; TH:Re9.1.3b Look at and compare the technical elements of several dramas.; TH:Re9.1.3c Look at the problems and situations in a drama from the audience's point of view.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Who's That Lion?A picture-book class that is mostly acting: the Red Barn Players will put on The Lion and the Mouse, but little Gus the frog plays the Lion and big Hattie the hippo plays the Mouse. Your child hears how actors in ancient Greece played several characters with masks, learns the four parts of a character (body, voice, a want and a feeling), hears Ms. Maple play a bee and the Lion in two feelings, warms up like an actor, then builds the Mouse and answers questions as her in a hot seat, in a small cleared space or sitting on a chair.
   2. Trouble in the NetA picture-book class that is mostly acting: the Red Barn Players rush through The Lion and the Mouse in one minute, and Tess asks where the trouble is. Your child hears what a fable is and what we know of Aesop, learns the story mountain (who and where, a problem that grows, the most exciting moment, how it is solved) on The Tortoise and the Hare, watches Ms. Maple turn a story into stage action, then reads the fable and turns it into a play of four freeze frames with lines, making the problem grow, in a small cleared space or sitting on a chair.
   3. Lights Up on the BarnA picture-book class that is mostly designing and performing: the day before Family Night, the Red Barn Players' stage is a dusty barn. Your child hears how the Globe Theatre of 1599 played in daylight with little scenery, learns the five design jobs (costume, props, set, lights and sound) and what each tells the audience, hears Ms. Maple design a snowy night, warms up with sound effects, then designs The Lion and the Mouse from simple things at home, performs its ending and judges it with clear criteria, in a small cleared space or sitting on a chair.

   Skills

   • Build a character with body, voice, a want and a feeling, after an actor's warm-up, connect their own feelings to it, and stay in role to improvise answers.
   • Use dramatic structure (who and where, a problem that grows, the most exciting moment, how it is solved) to turn a story into a drama with freeze frames and lines, and revise it from the audience's point of view.
   • Name and choose costumes, props, set, lights and sound that tell the audience who, where, when and how it feels; make and improve simple designs, compare them with another drama's, perform, and judge with criteria.

5. Visual Art: Maps, Messages and Our Gallery

   Three picture-book classes with the Sketchbook Club, who are putting on their own art show in the library's little back room: your child maps a room they can see from above, with symbols, a key and a title, after hearing how Marshall Islands navigators mapped the sea with sticks and shells; reads the messages in pictures and learns how people have recorded their stories and history in art, and how knowing when and where a work was made changes how we see it, then makes a picture record of their own; and finally chooses a space, gets their work ready with an artist's statement, and opens a gallery at home, thinking about what a wall, a shelf, a window and an online gallery can and can't do.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: VA:Cr2.2.3a Show that they can use materials, tools and equipment safely and well.; VA:Cr2.3.3a Alone or with others, make pictures, diagrams or maps of places in their everyday life.; VA:Pr4.1.3a Explore what different spaces, including online ones, can and cannot do for showing artwork.; VA:Pr5.1.3a Choose a place to show artwork and get works ready, with an artist's statement.; VA:Pr6.1.3a Tell how and where different cultures have recorded their stories and history in art.; VA:Re7.2.3a Work out the messages an image sends.; VA:Cn10.1.3a Make a work of art from what they observe around them.; VA:Cn11.1.3a See that what people think of a work of art can change once they know when and where it was made.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Ollie's MapA picture-book class that is mostly drawing: the Sketchbook Club will have its own art show in the library's back room, but nobody can find it. Your child looks at things from above with owl eyes, hears how Marshall Islands navigators made maps from sticks and shells, learns the four parts of a map (bird's-eye view, symbols, a key, a title), watches Ms. Maple map her kitchen by looking first, then maps a room they can see with pencil and crayons and tests the map on someone at home.
   2. The Story BannerA picture-book class that is mostly drawing: the Sketchbook Club finds an old banner of pictures with no words. Your child hears how the Bayeux Tapestry and Lakota winter counts kept history in pictures, learns five clues for reading a picture's message (what is biggest, what everyone is doing, the colors, the order, and when and where it was made), watches Ms. Maple read a picture strip, then makes a picture record of their own week, year or special day and asks someone at home to read its message.
   3. Our Pop-Up GalleryA picture-book class that is mostly making and presenting: the Sketchbook Club opens its show, and a cousin far away wants to see it too. Your child hears how the Louvre opened to everyone in 1793 and how museums show art online, learns what a wall, a shelf, a window and an online gallery can and can't do, watches Ms. Maple get a drawing ready, then chooses their own works, mounts and labels them, gives an artist's statement and opens a gallery at home, with a grown-up's OK for the space and the tape.

   Skills

   • Make a map of an everyday place from observation, from a bird's-eye view, with symbols, a key and a title, using tools and materials safely and well.
   • Work out the messages a picture sends, tell how and where people have recorded their stories and history in art, explain how knowing when and where a work was made changes what we think of it, and make a picture record of their own.
   • Tell what different spaces, including online ones, can and can't do for showing art; choose a space and works, get them ready safely with an artist's statement, and present them in a gallery walk.

6. Music, Dance and Stories in Our Lives

   Three picture-book classes at the Meadow Festival, where friends from this year's books come together: your child plans and performs one song for two different places, choosing its dynamics (piano, forte) and tempo for who is listening, where and why, finds the sections that come back, and checks the performance with criteria; compares Irish step dance, hula and the lion dance and what their movements show about the people who dance them, then makes, practises and performs a dance phrase from a move in their own life, in time with a beat; and turns a page of the folk tale Stone Soup into a scene with lines and actions, and compares how the same story is told as a book, a play, a song and a dance, and in different places.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: MU:Pr4.1.3a Show and explain how their interests, knowledge, purpose and the setting shape the music they choose to perform.; MU:Pr4.2.3a Show that they understand how the music they perform is built, such as its repeated and contrasting sections.; MU:Pr4.2.3c Tell how a setting, personal or social, can change a performance.; MU:Pr4.3.3a Show and describe how dynamics and tempo carry what a performer means.; MU:Pr5.1.3a Use agreed criteria and feedback to judge how accurately a group performs.; MU:Pr6.1.3a Perform music with expression and accuracy.; MU:Pr6.1.3b Show the performer and audience manners that suit the place and the occasion.; MU:Re7.1.3a Show and describe how a piece of music connects to interests, experiences, purposes or settings.; MU:Re7.2.3a Show and describe how a piece's structure, its musical elements and its setting shape how we respond to it.; MU:Re8.1.3a Show and describe how performers use dynamics and tempo to show what they mean, in their own and others' performances.; MU:Re9.1.3a Judge pieces and performances with agreed criteria, and tell how well they suit the occasion.; MU:Cn10.0.3a Show how their interests, knowledge and skills shape their choices when they make, perform and respond to music.; MU:Cn11.0.3a Show how music connects to the other arts, other subjects, settings and daily life.; DA:Cr1.1.3a Try out movement ideas from many sources they choose, such as music, words, objects, pictures and experiences.; DA:Pr4.1.3a Judge space as distance traveled and use space in all directions; make shapes with positive and negative space, at low, middle and high levels.; DA:Pr4.1.3b Fill a set length of time with improvised moves, and tell moving in time to the music from moving out of time.; DA:Pr5.1.3a Copy body shapes, movement qualities and patterns in a dance sequence with good body alignment and core support.; DA:Re7.1.3a Find a movement pattern that makes a phrase in a dance.; DA:Re7.1.3b Show and explain how one dance style, or one cultural movement practice, differs from another.; DA:Re8.1.3a Pick out clues in the movement and explain, with dance words, how they connect to a dance's main idea.; DA:Re9.1.3a Choose movements from dances of different styles or cultures and describe how they are alike and different.; DA:Cn10.1.3a Compare the relationships a dance shows with their own relationships with others.; DA:Cn11.1.3a Connect the movements of a dance to the culture or community it comes from and tell what they say about it.; TH:Cn10.1.3a Use their own experiences and knowledge to connect a drama to their community and culture.; TH:Cn11.1.3a Find links between a drama and their community, social issues and other subjects.; TH:Cn11.2.3a Explore how a story from a book is turned into a drama.; TH:Cn11.2.3b Look at how artists have told the same story in different art forms or styles.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. One Song, Two PlacesA picture-book class that is mostly singing: at the Meadow Festival, Kip the parrot must sing in the Quiet Tent and lead the Sing-Along on the Big Stage, but she knows only one song well. Your child warms up like a singer, hears how the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star has traveled from France in 1761 to Mozart, to Jane Taylor's poem and the Alphabet Song, learns the form A B A and verse and chorus, watches Ms. Maple plan one song for two places (piano and slow; forte, never shouting, and bouncy), then plans and performs a song of their own for two festival places, checks it and takes a bow.
   2. The Dance CircleA picture-book class that is mostly dancing: at the Meadow Festival's Dance Circle, everyone must bring a move from their life, but Kiki the kangaroo only knows bouncing. Your child warms up with shapes at three levels, hears how Irish step dance, hula and the lion dance each show something about the people who dance them, learns dance words for comparing and what a phrase is, watches Ms. Maple make a phrase from her morning in the garden, then makes, practices and performs a phrase from their own life, in time with a count.
   3. Stone Soup NightA picture-book class that is mostly acting: on the last night of the Meadow Festival, Tess the raccoon's show is the folk tale Stone Soup, but nobody knows who says what in a play. Your child tells one moment four ways (as a book, a play, a song and a dance), hears how Stone Soup is told in Portugal, Sweden, Russia and a 1947 picture book, learns how a book's sentence becomes a play line, watches Ms. Maple turn page 1 into a scene, then turns page 2 into a scene and performs it with a voice for each character, and connects the story to sharing today.

   Skills

   • Plan and perform a song for a place, its listeners and its purpose, using dynamics and tempo; find the sections that come back; perform with accuracy, expression and manners that suit the place; and check the performance with criteria.
   • Compare movements from dances of different cultures and styles and tell what they show about the communities that dance them; find the pattern that makes a phrase; and make, practise and perform a phrase in time, from an idea in their own life.
   • Turn a story from a book into a drama with lines and actions, connect it to their own community, and compare how the same story is told in different art forms and places.

Physical and Health Education

1. Leap, Jump and Land

   Three picture books about Kip the kangaroo, Juno the otter and Coach Dee the deer at Puddle Park's Jump Club: telling a hop, a jump and a leap apart by the feet and leaping over puddles, jumping far and high with an arm swing the child tests at home, and linking a gallop, a slide and a leap into one smooth trail while listening to the body on a hot day.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E1.3 Leaps with good form: takes off from one foot, stretches through the air and lands on the other.; S1.E3.3 Jumps forward and lands with good form.; S1.E4.3 Jumps up and lands with good form.; S1.E6.3 Links locomotor skills into a sequence, moving from one to the next smoothly, without stopping.; S2.E2.3 Recognizes which locomotor skills go with different physical activities.; S3.E2.3 Joins in PE activities without needing to be prompted.; S4.E1.3 Shows personal responsibility in teacher-led activities.; S4.E6.3 Works on their own safely in physical activity settings.; 1.5.4 Describes ways to prevent common childhood injuries and health problems.; 7.5.3 Practices ways to avoid or lower health risks.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Kip Learns to LeapA picture-book class, about half of it moving: Kip the kangaroo springs into a puddle with his feet together while Juno the otter leaps over it, and your child learns to tell a hop, a jump and a leap apart and to leap over a rolled towel, landing soft.
   2. Jump Far, Jump HighA picture-book class, about half of it moving: Kip the kangaroo jumps with his arms still and misses the leaf, and your child learns the three parts of a jump, tests whether an arm swing makes a jump go farther, and practices jumping far and jumping high with soft landings.
   3. The Trail ShowA picture-book class, about half of it moving: on a hot Trail Show day, Kip the kangaroo learns to listen to his body and to link a gallop, a slide and a leap into one smooth trail, and your child plans and performs a trail of their own.

   Skills

   • Tell a hop, a jump and a leap apart by the feet: a hop lands on the same foot, a jump lands on two feet, and a leap goes from one foot to the other.
   • Leap with good form over something low and soft: push off one foot, stretch with the arms reaching, land soft on the other foot with a bent knee, and keep going.
   • Jump forward and jump up with good form: get set, swing and push off both feet, and land soft on two feet with bent knees, ahead for a far jump and in the same spot for a high one.
   • Say how the arms help a jump, from a fair test of their own, and aim the swing and the eyes: forward and up to go far, straight up to go high.
   • Link a gallop, a slide and a leap into a smooth trail, letting the last step of one move become the first step of the next, and end in a finish shape.
   • Pick the travelling move that fits a game, sport or dance by asking which way you go and what the feet do.
   • Notice the body's signals while playing and act on them: too hot or thirsty, dizzy or hurt, stop, drink water or rest in the shade, and tell a grown-up.
   • Practise safely on your own: a clear space, no socks on a smooth floor, nothing above for jump-ups, only something low and soft to leap over, or a seated version of every move.

2. Fit for Field Day

   Three picture books about Kip the kangaroo and Juno the otter getting ready for Puddle Park Field Day: what fitness is and its three parts, warming up, picking a sprint or a steady run and cooling down, and fuel, water and a goal chart for getting better at something hard.

   3 lessons · about 20 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E2.3 Tells a sprint from a steady run, and travels at each speed.; S3.E1.3 Charts their physical activity outside PE class.; S3.E3.3 Describes what fitness is and gives examples of activities that build it.; S3.E4.3 Knows why we warm up before and cool down after hard activity.; S3.E5.3 Shows, with the teacher's direction, the health-related parts of fitness through activities.; S3.E6.3 Names foods that are good to eat before and after physical activity.; S4.E4.3 Works well with others, and praises others when they do well.; S4.E6.3 Works on their own safely in physical activity settings.; S5.E1.3 Talks about how physical activity and good health are linked.; S5.E2.3 Talks about the challenge that comes with learning a new physical activity.; 1.5.1 Describes how healthy behaviors affect personal health.; 1.5.4 Describes ways to prevent common childhood injuries and health problems.; 6.5.1 Sets a personal health goal and tracks progress toward it.; 6.5.2 Names people and things that can help reach a personal health goal.; 7.5.2 Practices healthy behaviors that keep or improve health.; 7.5.3 Practices ways to avoid or lower health risks.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Kip Wants to WinA picture-book class: Kip the kangaroo wants to win Field Day because he is fast, but he runs out of puff and can't bend under the limbo noodle, and your child learns what fitness is, its three parts and a move for each.
   2. Warm Up, Kip!A picture-book class: Kip the kangaroo skips his warm-up and sprints a long lap on Field Day, and your child learns to warm up, pick a sprint or a steady run, and cool down.
   3. Kip's Goal ChartA picture-book class: Kip the kangaroo finds stretching hard, so Juno the otter helps him fuel up and make a goal chart, and your child learns snacks and water for play, what to do when hot or dizzy, and how to set and track a goal.

   Skills

   • Say what fitness is, name its three parts (heart and lungs, muscles, stretch) and do a move for each.
   • Tell how active play helps health (heart, muscles and bones, sleep and mood) and that kids need about an hour of it a day.
   • Warm up before hard play (slow to faster) and cool down after it (faster to slow), and say why.
   • Tell a sprint from a steady run and pick the right one: a sprint for a short dash, a steady run for a long lap.
   • Pick a small snack and water before play and water and a snack after, and stop, drink, rest and tell a grown-up when hot, dizzy or hurt.
   • Set a goal that says what, how much and when, track it on a chart, name who can help, keep going when a new move is hard, and cheer others on.

3. Balance and Dance

   Three picture books about Kip the kangaroo, Juno the otter and Coach Flo the flamingo getting ready for Puddle Park's Lantern Show: finding the base of support and holding a still balance with Coach Flo's secret (stack, squeeze, stretch, eyes on one spot), learning the step-touch and the grapevine on the counts and changing one movement idea at a time, and putting on a linked routine while using a coach's correction and naming why they love to move.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E5.3 Performs dance steps and movement patterns chosen by the teacher.; S1.E7.3 Holds balances on different bases of support, with tight muscles and stretched-out free body parts.; S2.E3.3 Combines movement ideas (direction, level, force and time) with skills, as the teacher directs.; S2.E4.3 Uses body alignment and muscle tension to hold balances in gymnastics and dance.; S4.E3.3 Accepts the teacher's specific corrections and uses them.; S5.E3.3 Reflects on the reasons they enjoy some physical activities.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Still as a FlamingoA picture-book class, about half of it moving: Kip the kangaroo wobbles and flops until Coach Flo the flamingo shares her secret, and your child learns to find and count a base of support, holds balances on smaller and smaller bases with stack, squeeze and stretch, and plays dance and freeze.
   2. The Lantern DanceA picture-book class, about half of it dancing: Kip the kangaroo steps the wrong way and bumps into Juno until Coach Flo draws him a map, and your child learns the step-touch and the grapevine on the counts, dances the three eights of the Lantern Dance, and changes one movement idea at a time.
   3. The Lantern ShowA picture-book class, about half of it moving: on show night Kip the kangaroo grumbles about Coach Flo's tip until he tries it, and your child learns to use a correction, builds and performs a routine of balances and the Lantern Dance, and says why they love to move.

   Skills

   • Find and count the base of support (the body parts touching the floor), and say that a big base is steady and a small base is a challenge.
   • Hold a still balance on different bases for a count of 5 with Coach Flo's secret: stack the head over the hips over the base, squeeze the muscles tight, stretch the free parts long and keep the eyes on one spot.
   • Do the step-touch (step, touch) and the grapevine (side, behind, side, touch) on the counts, counting in eights and following a pattern that starts again from the top.
   • Change one movement idea (direction, level, force or time) while the step stays the same, and name the idea that changed.
   • Use a coach's specific correction in four moves (listen, say it back, try it right away, check), and tell a specific correction from a vague one.
   • Put on a short routine for an audience: a start shape held for 3, the steps, and a finish shape held for 5, all linked with no stops.
   • Name an activity you enjoy and your own reason for enjoying it (fun, challenge, friends and family, music and feelings, or another), knowing every honest reason counts.
   • Practise safely on your own: balances on the floor next to a wall, never on a bed or a stool, no socks on a smooth floor, a clear space away from windows, screens and stairs, or a seated version of every move.

4. Throw, Catch and Strike

   Three picture books about Kip the kangaroo, Juno the otter and Coach Sal the seal at the booths of Puddle Park's Splash Games: tossing into a bucket on the aim line and catching a partner's toss with soft hands, throwing overhand with power from the ground up and changing the same throw for far, force and soft, and volleying a balloon forward with a hand and a paper-plate paddle while playing Over the Line by the rules and saying Good game!

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E13.3 Throws underhand to a partner or a target with reasonable accuracy.; S1.E14.3 Throws overhand for distance or force, showing several key parts of good form.; S1.E16.3 Catches a gently tossed hand-size ball from a partner, showing most key parts of good form.; S1.E22.3 Volleys a light object underhand or sidearm, sending it forward to a wall or over a line to a partner.; S1.E24.3 Strikes a light object forward with a short-handled implement, such as a paddle, to a wall or over a low net.; S2.E3.3 Combines movement ideas (direction, level, force and time) with skills, as the teacher directs.; S4.E3.3 Accepts the teacher's specific corrections and uses them.; S4.E4.3 Works well with others, and praises others when they do well.; S4.E5.3 Recognizes the role of rules and good manners in teacher-designed activities.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Bucket TossA picture-book class, about half of it moving: at Puddle Park's Splash Games, Kip the kangaroo misses the bucket and Juno the otter bonks a catch until Coach Sal the seal shows them the aim line and soft hands, and your child tosses rolled-up socks at a basket ten at a time, counts the hits, and catches high and low.
   2. The Far ThrowA picture-book class, about half of it moving: at Puddle Park's Splash Games, Kip the kangaroo throws with just his arm until Coach Sal the seal shows him that power starts in his feet, and your child throws rolled-up socks overhand at a pillow with a big step, a turn and a whip, backs up one step at a time, and changes the throw for far, force and soft.
   3. Over the LineA picture-book class, about half of it moving: at Puddle Park's Splash Games, Kip the kangaroo learns from Coach Sal the seal that the balloon goes where his hand faces and that rules make a game fair and safe, and your child volleys a balloon to a wall underhand and sidearm, hits it with a paper-plate paddle, plays Over the Line by the rules and ends with Good game!

   Skills

   • Toss underhand to a target with the aim line (eyes on the target, a step on the line with the opposite foot, a straight swing, a point at the finish), and fix a miss: too far or too short, change the force; off to the side, use the aim line.
   • Catch a partner's soft toss with ready hands: thumbs together above the waist, pinkies together below, reaching out and giving to pull it in soft.
   • Toss to a partner so they can catch it: ask Ready?, then toss softly to their chest, and count catches together.
   • Throw overhand with power from the ground up: side to the target, a big step with the opposite foot, the hips then the shoulders turn until the belly button faces the target, the arm whips through and follows through across the body.
   • Change the same throw for the job: far (up and out, like a rainbow), force (a straight, fast line) and soft (a small step and a slow arm).
   • Volley a balloon forward to a wall or over a line: watch it and get behind it; underhand, a flat hand swings low to forward; sidearm, from the side at waist height, like a door closing.
   • Strike a balloon forward with a paper-plate paddle, knowing the balloon goes where the paddle's face points.
   • Follow the rules and good manners of a game (take turns to serve, stay on your side, on the line is in, give the balloon back) and praise a partner by saying what they did well, win or lose.
   • Practise safely on your own: only soft things (rolled-up socks, a beanbag, a soft ball, a balloon a grown-up blows up), a clear space away from windows, screens and stairs, never thrown or hit at people, pets or things that can break, or a seated version of every move.

5. Dribble, Pass and Kick

   Three picture books about Kip the kangaroo, Juno the otter and Coach Zed the zebra on Ball Day at Puddle Park: dribbling with the hand at a jog with the ball a little ahead and to the side and finding open space, dribbling with the feet, passing with the inside of the foot and stopping a pass with soft feet, and kicking a rolling ball after a run-up while playing Roll and Kick by the rules with a new friend.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E17.3 Dribbles with the hands while travelling at a slow to medium jog, keeping control of the ball and body.; S1.E18.3 Dribbles with the feet at a slow to medium jog, keeping control of the ball and body.; S1.E19.3 Passes and receives a ball with the insides of the feet to and from a partner who stands still, giving with the ball on the catch.; S1.E21.3 Runs up without stopping and kicks a moving ball, showing some key parts of good form.; S2.E1.3 Recognizes open spaces while moving.; S4.E4.3 Works well with others, and praises others when they do well.; S4.E5.3 Recognizes the role of rules and good manners in teacher-designed activities.; S5.E4.3 Describes the good things that happen when being active with others.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Dribble TrailA picture-book class, about half of it moving: on Ball Day at Puddle Park, Kip the kangaroo's ball gets away and Juno the otter bumps a cone until Coach Zed the zebra shows them how to dribble on the move, and your child dribbles a short trail at home with the ball a little ahead and to the side and plays Open Space Freeze.
   2. Pass and StopA picture-book class, about half of it moving: at Ball Day's Pass Path, Kip the kangaroo's passes are too hard and Juno the otter's stiff foot bounces the ball away until Coach Zed the zebra shows them the inside-of-the-foot pass and soft feet, and your child passes and stops a soft ball at home, dribbles with little taps and plays Ten in a Row.
   3. The Rolling KickA picture-book class, about half of it moving: at Ball Day's Roll and Kick, Kip the kangaroo kicks the air until Coach Zed the zebra shows him how to plant beside where a rolling ball is going, then invites Juno the otter and Remy the raccoon off the bench, and your child kicks a soft rolling ball into a home goal and plays Roll and Kick with you.

   Skills

   • Dribble with the hand at a walk and a slow jog: finger pads, waist high, the ball pushed a little ahead and to the side of the dribbling hand (further ahead when going faster), at a speed you can control, eyes up.
   • Recognize open space (where nobody and nothing is) with eyes up, move into it, and look again as people move and spaces open and close.
   • Dribble with the feet at a walk and a slow jog: little taps with the inside and the outside of the foot, the ball a step or two ahead, eyes up between taps, and a stop with the sole.
   • Pass along the ground with the inside of the foot to a partner who stands still: plant beside the ball with the toes pointing at the partner, the kicking foot turned out with a firm ankle, a push through the middle of the ball, a follow-through to the partner.
   • Stop a pass with soft feet: get in line with the ball, meet it with the inside of the foot and give a little as it touches, so it stays at your feet.
   • Work well with a partner: check that they are ready, pass so they can stop it, count passes together and praise what they did well.
   • Kick a moving ball after a run-up: watch it roll, smooth steps, plant beside where the ball is going with the toes at the target, swing the kicking leg back and through, kick the middle of the ball with the laces and follow through.
   • Play a game by its rules and good manners (wait for Go!, take turns, kick low and only at the goal, cheer every kick) and tell the good things that come from playing with others: fun, friends, learning from each other and being part of a team.
   • Practise ball skills safely at home: a soft ball, a clear space away from windows, screens and stairs, nothing bounced, kicked or thrown at people, pets or things that can break, big kicks only outside with a grown-up, or a seated version of every move.

6. Jump Rope Challenge

   Three picture books about Kip the kangaroo, Juno the otter and Coach Fen the frog at Puddle Park's Jump Rope Challenge (skipping, as lots of people call it in Canada): sizing and turning a short rope and timing small, soft jumps, learning a hard new move step by step, rope tricks and a short routine to music, the reasons people enjoy being active, and a goal week with a just-right goal, an activity chart and practice on your own.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E27.3 Jumps a short rope with some tricks, and makes up a short jump-rope routine.; S3.E1.3 Charts their physical activity outside PE class.; S3.E2.3 Joins in PE activities without needing to be prompted.; S4.E2.3 Works on their own for longer stretches of time.; S5.E2.3 Talks about the challenge that comes with learning a new physical activity.; S5.E3.3 Reflects on the reasons they enjoy some physical activities.; 6.5.1 Sets a personal health goal and tracks progress toward it.; 6.5.2 Names people and things that can help reach a personal health goal.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Turn and JumpA picture-book class, about half of it moving: at Puddle Park's Jump Rope Challenge, Kip the kangaroo's giant arm circles and big, early leaps trip him up and Juno the otter wants to stop, until Coach Fen the frog shows them how to learn it step by step, and your child sizes a jump rope (or uses a pretend one), learns one jump at a time and tries to beat their best.
   2. Rope TricksA picture-book class, about half of it moving: for Show Day, Kip the kangaroo tries every trick at once and tangles, and Juno the otter thinks jump rope is just jumping, until Coach Fen the frog helps them plan a routine to music, and your child learns the skier, the bell and the jogging step, makes a short routine to show you, and says why they like being active.
   3. Challenge WeekA picture-book class, about half of it moving: in Goal Week, Kip the kangaroo picks a goal that is miles away and Juno the otter waits to be told to start, until Coach Fen the frog helps them set a just-right goal and practice on their own, and your child counts their best jumps, sets their own goal, charts their active week and practices on their own with a timer.

   Skills

   • Get a short rope ready: stand on the middle with the handles reaching the armpits, hold the handles loosely by the hips with the elbows in, and start with the rope behind the heels.
   • Jump a short rope: turn it with the wrists in small circles, jump when it comes down in front of the feet with a small jump, land softly on the balls of the feet, eyes forward, and count jumps in a row.
   • Talk about the challenge of learning a new move: it feels hard at first for everyone, so slow it down, learn it one step at a time and keep practising.
   • Do rope tricks (the skier, the bell, the jogging step) and the side swing as a rest, each learned without the rope first, and make up a short routine with a start pose, jumps, two tricks and a finish pose, the same every time.
   • Name reasons people enjoy being active (music, tricks, a strong heart, friends, anywhere), tell a reason (why) from other facts, and give their own reason for enjoying an activity.
   • Set a just-right goal (a bit more than your best now, by a day), track it each day, set a new one when it is reached, and name people and things that help reach it.
   • Chart active play outside PE class with a tick for each active day, and know that kids need at least 60 minutes of active play every day.
   • Join in without being told, and practise on your own for longer with a plan: warm up, practise, rest, try again.
   • Jump rope safely: only with a grown-up's OK, with room overhead and all around, away from windows, screens, stairs, lamps and fans, shoes or bare feet, the rope never around anyone's neck and put away after; or a pretend rope, or a seated version of every move.

7. Whole Me: Health Choices

   Three picture books about Kip the kangaroo, Juno the otter and Coach Ola the owl in Whole Me Week at Puddle Park: the four sides of health (body, feelings, thinking and friends) and how one habit, like sleep, helps every side; how family, friends and media pull on our choices, a Stop, List, Pick decision and being a healthy pull for a friend; and clear words, calm body language and four steps to talk out a conflict.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.5.1 Describes how healthy behaviors affect personal health.; 1.5.2 Gives examples of physical, emotional, thinking (intellectual) and social health.; 2.5.1 Describes how family influences health habits.; 2.5.3 Tells how friends and classmates can influence healthy and unhealthy behavior.; 2.5.5 Explains how media shapes thoughts, feelings and health behavior.; 4.5.1 Uses clear words and body language that help health.; 4.5.3 Shows peaceful ways to handle or solve a conflict.; 5.5.1 Spots health situations that need a careful decision.; 5.5.3 Lists healthy options for a health problem.; 5.5.5 Chooses a healthy option when making a decision.; 8.5.2 Encourages others to make healthy choices.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Kip's Foggy DayA picture-book class: in Whole Me Week, Kip the kangaroo stays up late and has a foggy, grumpy day until Coach Ola the owl shows him the four sides of health, and your child learns the Whole-Me wheel (body, feelings, thinking and friends), sees how sleep helps every side, moves in a short break and makes their own bedtime plan.
   2. Pulls and ChoicesA picture-book class: on Choice Day, an ad and a friend pull Kip the kangaroo toward choices that aren't good for him, until he uses Stop, List, Pick and pulls his friend the healthy way, and your child learns how family, friends and media pull on choices, asks three questions about an ad, moves in a short break and practices a careful choice out loud.
   3. Talk It OutA picture-book class: Kip the kangaroo and Juno the otter fall out over a block tower until Coach Ola the owl helps them talk it out, and your child learns clear words and a calm body, the four steps to talk out a conflict, a calm-down movement break, and practices a pretend conflict out loud.

   Skills

   • Name the four sides of health (body, feelings, thinking and friends) and give an example of caring for each.
   • Tell how a healthy habit helps more than one side of health (sleep, a family dance party, baking together), how a missed one shows on every side, and make a bedtime plan with at least 9 hours of sleep.
   • Tell how family, friends and media (shows, games, videos and ads) pull on health habits, toward healthy or unhealthy choices.
   • Ask three media questions: who made it, what does it want me to think, feel and do, and is it good for the whole me?
   • Spot a choice that needs care, list healthy options and pick the one that is best for the whole me (Stop, List, Pick), and ask a grown-up when unsure.
   • Be a healthy pull: encourage a friend to make a healthy choice with kind words and a plan to do it together.
   • Use clear words (an I-feel message: I feel ... when ... Please ...) and calm body language (face the person, a calm voice, relaxed arms).
   • Handle a conflict peacefully in four steps: cool down, say it with an I-feel message, listen and say it back, and find a fair fix together or ask a grown-up.
   • Take a short movement break safely: a clear space, no socks on a smooth floor, or a seated version of every move.

8. Health Helpers and Good Information

   Three picture books about Kip the kangaroo, Juno the otter and Nurse Rae the raccoon in Helper Week at Puddle Park School: the health helpers at school and in town and our part in healthy habits (water, a 20-second scrub, active play, sleep and brushing); when to get help (hurt, sick, dizzy or worried, check-ups when well, and choices that need a grown-up) and how to ask for it clearly, with the emergency number where you live; and how to find good health information and check whether it is true.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.5.3 Describes how a safe, healthy school and community help personal health.; 1.5.5 Describes when it is important to get health care.; 2.5.4 Describes how school and community can support health habits.; 3.5.2 Finds people and places at home, at school and in the community that give trustworthy health information.; 4.5.4 Shows how to ask for help with a health need.; 5.5.2 Tells when they need help to make a health decision.; 7.5.1 Names responsible personal health behaviors.; 7.5.2 Practices healthy behaviors that keep or improve health.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Helper MapA picture-book class: Kip the kangaroo thinks only doctors help, until a helper hunt with Juno the otter fills his map, and your child learns the health helpers at school and in town, that helpers make habits easier and we do our part, and plans a healthy helper day, with a short helper-moves break.
   2. Kip's Sore WristA picture-book class: Kip the kangaroo hides a sore wrist so he won't miss a race, until it gets worse and he tells Nurse Rae the raccoon clearly, and your child learns when to tell a grown-up, how to ask for help (and that a grown-up calls the emergency number where you live), which choices need a grown-up's help, and why check-ups matter, with a short body-check break.
   3. Is It True?A picture-book class: Kip the kangaroo and Juno the otter hear two health facts that can't both be true, a rumor and a video selling a band, and find out from Nurse Rae and a library book, and your child learns good sources of health facts at home, at school and in town, four checks for health information, and practices asking the school nurse a question, with a short detective-moves break.

   Skills

   • Tell how people and places at school and in town (the school nurse, sinks and soap, fountains, crosswalks and crossing guards, parks and paths, libraries, clinics) keep us healthy and safe and make healthy habits easier.
   • Do my part in responsible health habits: water before, during and after play; a 20-second scrub with soap; at least 60 minutes of active play a day; at least 9 hours of sleep; brushing for 2 minutes, morning and night.
   • Tell when to get help from a grown-up (hurt, sick, dizzy or worried) and why check-ups matter even when you're well.
   • Ask a trusted grown-up for help clearly (I need help, what's wrong and where, what happened), keep telling until someone helps, and know that in an emergency a grown-up calls the emergency number where you live.
   • Tell when a health decision needs a grown-up's help: it could hurt you, it's about medicine (only a grown-up gives medicine), or you're not sure.
   • Find trusted people and places for health information at home, at school and in town: a parent or carer, the school nurse, a doctor, a librarian and library books.
   • Check whether health information is trustworthy: who says it and do they know about health, do they want to sell me something, does it sound too good to be true, and does a trusted grown-up agree?
   • Take a short movement break safely: a clear space, no socks on a smooth floor, or a seated version of every move.

9. Safe and Smart

   Three picture books about Kip the kangaroo, Juno the otter and Ranger Bree the bear in Safety Week at Puddle Park: how safety gear works, the 2-V-1 helmet check and a Safety Check of gear, place and body before riding or playing; spotting a careful-choice moment, a strong No with clear words and a strong body, No, Go, Tell, and keeping private things private online; and telling an emergency from a problem that can wait, getting help fast (a grown-up, or the emergency number where you live), and helping others choose safely as a Safety Captain.

   3 lessons · about 25 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.5.4 Describes ways to prevent common childhood injuries and health problems.; 3.5.2 Finds people and places at home, at school and in the community that give trustworthy health information.; 4.5.1 Uses clear words and body language that help health.; 4.5.2 Shows refusal skills that avoid or lower health risks.; 4.5.4 Shows how to ask for help with a health need.; 5.5.1 Spots health situations that need a careful decision.; 5.5.2 Tells when they need help to make a health decision.; 7.5.3 Practices ways to avoid or lower health risks.; 8.5.2 Encourages others to make healthy choices.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Ready to RideA picture-book class: on Bike Day, Kip the kangaroo's helmet is on but tipped back until Ranger Bree the bear fixes it, and your child learns how a helmet works, the 2-V-1 helmet check, and a Safety Check of gear, place and body (with stop, drink, rest and tell in the heat), with a ride-ready warm-up.
   2. The Strong NoA picture-book class: Kip the kangaroo's mumbled maybe nearly sends him down Thunder Hill until he says a strong No, and Juno the otter keeps private things private when a stranger asks in a game, and your child learns to spot red flags, say a strong No with words and body, and use No, Go, Tell online, with a strong-body movement break.
   3. Safety CaptainsA picture-book class: as Safety Captains at the lake, Juno the otter stops her little cousin from swimming with no grown-up watching, and Kip the kangaroo gets help fast when Gran falls, and your child learns to tell an emergency from a problem that can wait, how to get help fast (and that a grown-up teaches them the emergency number where they live), and Captain words for helping friends choose safely, with Captain moves and a pretend-phone role-play.

   Skills

   • Tell how safety gear prevents injuries (a helmet's shell and foam guard what it covers; buckle up in the back seat) and check a helmet's fit with 2-V-1.
   • Do a Safety Check before riding or playing hard (gear, place, body) and stop, drink, rest and tell a grown-up when hot, thirsty, dizzy or hurt.
   • Spot a careful-choice moment by its red flags: it could hurt someone, someone pushes after a no, someone asks for a secret from grown-ups, or someone online asks for private things.
   • Say a strong No with clear words (no, a reason, a safe idea) and a strong body (stand tall, face the person, a firm voice), then go and tell a trusted grown-up.
   • Keep private things private online (real name, address, school, phone number, passwords, photos): don't answer, leave, and tell a trusted grown-up.
   • Tell an emergency (someone badly hurt or very sick, fire or smoke, someone in trouble in the water) from a problem that can wait, and treat it as an emergency when not sure.
   • Get help fast in an emergency: stay safe, get the nearest trusted grown-up, or call the emergency number where you live; say what's wrong and where, and stay on the line.
   • Help others choose safely as a Safety Captain (kind words, a reason, a safe plan to do together) and ask a safety helper when not sure.
   • Take a short movement break safely: a clear space, no socks on a smooth floor, or a seated version of every move.

Math

1. Place Value to a Million

   A library reading mission in three picture books: two kids on the Million Pages Challenge scoreboard crew fix a digit in the wrong place, read and compare the branches' totals for the radio, and round the final total for the newspaper.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 4.NBT.A.1 A digit in a whole number is worth ten times what the same digit would be worth one place to its right: the 7 in 700 is 10 times the 7 in 70, and 700 ÷ 70 = 10.; 4.NBT.A.2 Read and write whole numbers up to a million in digits, in number names and in expanded form, and compare two of them place by place from the left, writing the result with >, = or <.; 4.NBT.A.3 Round whole numbers up to a million to any place, using place value to find the two neighbors and the halfway number.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Ten Times the PlaceA picture-book class: two kids keep the scoreboard for their town's Million Pages Challenge, and the child finds out why one slot too far left made 5,000 into 50,000: each place is worth 10 times the place to its right, with a place-value chart, base-ten blocks and two worked examples.
   2. Read the ScoreboardA picture-book class: the Scoreboard Crew must send the town radio three branches' totals in words and say who is ahead, and the child learns to read and write numbers to a million in standard form, word form and expanded form, and to compare them from the left with >, = and <, with digit cards, place-value charts and two worked examples.
   3. Round for the HeadlineA picture-book class: the Million Pages Challenge ends at 963,518 pages, a newspaper wants a round number for its headline, and the child learns to round numbers to a million to any place by finding the two neighbors and the halfway number, with a ruler number line, number lines drawn to scale and two worked examples.

   Skills

   • Explain with a place-value chart that a digit is worth ten times as much as the same digit one place to its right (700 is 10 × 70, 700 ÷ 70 = 10), up to a million.
   • Read and write numbers up to a million in standard form, word form and expanded form, and compare two of them place by place with >, = or <.
   • Round numbers up to a million to the nearest ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand or hundred thousand, with a number line and the halfway number.

2. Adding and Subtracting Big Numbers

   A science center mission in three picture books: two kids on the Junior Number Crew check the totals of Tally, the center's counting robot, adding last year's visitors the standard way, subtracting across zeros to find how many more are needed, and checking the year's report two ways, with an estimate and with the inverse operation.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 4.NBT.B.4 Add and subtract whole numbers up to 1,000,000 with the standard algorithm: line up the places, work from the ones, and regroup one of a place as ten of the next (also across zeros).; 4.OA.A.3 Solve story problems with more than one step by adding and subtracting, write them as equations with a letter for the unknown, and check that answers make sense with estimates and mental math.; 4.NBT.A.3 Round whole numbers to a chosen place to make an estimate that checks a sum or a difference.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Line Up and AddA picture-book class: a science center's counting robot adds last year's visitors and gets 318,723, and the child learns the standard way to add numbers up to a million, estimating first, lining up the places and regrouping, with dots traded ten for one, column figures built step by step and two worked examples.
   2. Across the ZerosA picture-book class: a science center's robot says 386,453 more visitors are needed to reach 500,000, and the child learns to subtract big numbers the standard way across zeros, estimating first, opening the first place that isn't 0 and passing a ten down the zeros, with a place-value chart, column figures built step by step and two worked examples.
   3. Check It Two WaysA picture-book class: a science center's robot says this year had 98,431 more visitors than last year, close to the estimate, and the child learns to check answers two ways, with an estimate and with the inverse operation, and to solve a two-step problem with a letter for the unknown, with a torn paper strip, bar models drawn to scale, a table and two worked examples.

   Skills

   • Add whole numbers up to 1,000,000 with the standard algorithm, lining up the places and regrouping, after estimating the sum.
   • Subtract whole numbers up to 1,000,000 with the standard algorithm, regrouping across zeros, after estimating the difference.
   • Check a sum or difference two ways, with an estimate and with the inverse operation, and solve two-step story problems with a letter for the unknown.

3. Times as Many: Comparing and Factors

   A rooftop-garden mystery in three picture books: two kids crack a locked box's three clues with times-as-many comparisons, multiply-or-divide story problems, and factor pairs and prime numbers.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 4.OA.A.1 Read a multiplication equation as a comparison: 35 = 5 × 7 says 35 is 5 times as many as 7 and 7 times as many as 5; write comparisons said in words as multiplication equations.; 4.OA.A.2 Multiply or divide to solve story problems with a multiplicative comparison (times as many), with drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown, and tell multiplicative comparison from additive comparison (how many more).; 4.OA.B.4 Find all factor pairs of a whole number from 1 to 100; know that a whole number is a multiple of each of its factors; tell whether a number from 1 to 100 is a multiple of a given one-digit number; and tell whether a number from 1 to 100 is prime or composite.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Four Times as TallA picture-book class: two kids find a locked box on their rooftop garden, and the child cracks Clue 1 with a bar model: 4 times as tall as the 2-foot bean plant is 4 × 2 = 8 feet, then follows two worked examples step by step.
   2. The Seed Order Mix-UpA picture-book class: Clue 2 is an old seed order form, and the child finds the unknown with a bar model: 24 lettuce seeds are 4 times the carrot seeds, so there are 24 ÷ 4 = 6 carrot seeds.
   3. Rows of SeedlingsA picture-book class: the last clue is a number of seedlings that fits in only one row, and the child finds factor pairs with arrays and tells prime from composite, so the box opens with 13.

   Skills

   • Read a multiplication equation as a comparison (8 = 4 × 2: 8 is 4 times as many as 2) and write a times-as-many sentence as an equation, with a bar model.
   • Solve times-as-many story problems by multiplying (the bigger amount) or dividing (the smaller amount, or how many times as many), with a bar model and an equation with a letter or ? for the unknown, and tell them from more-than problems.
   • Find all factor pairs of a whole number to 100 with arrays, and tell whether the number is prime (one factor pair) or composite (more than one).

4. Multiplying Multi-Digit Numbers

   A tile mural mission in three picture books: two kids on a community center's Tile Team work out how many tiles to order, multiplying a big number by one digit by place, a two-digit number by a two-digit number with an area model, and linking the partial products to the short way of writing them, estimating first every time.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 4.NBT.B.5 Multiply a number of up to four digits by a one-digit number, and a two-digit number by a two-digit number, by place value: break the numbers into their places, multiply the parts, and add the partial products; show the work with area models, arrays and equations.; 4.OA.A.3 Solve story problems with multiplication, and check that answers make sense with estimates made by rounding.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Break It by PlaceA picture-book class: a mural's sky needs 3 panels of 2,936 tiles and Theo's answer is 627,918, and the child learns to multiply a number of up to four digits by one digit by place, estimating first, with dots traded ten for one, area models, partial products and two worked examples.
   2. Split the RectangleA picture-book class: a mural's river is 26 rows of 34 tiles and Theo's answer is 624, and the child learns to multiply two 2-digit numbers with an area model drawn to scale, estimating first, splitting both numbers by place and adding the four partial products, with a grid cut at the tens and two worked examples.
   3. The Short WayA picture-book class: a tile shop's order slip says 18 strips of 64 tiles make 576, and the child learns that each row of the short way to multiply (the standard algorithm) is a partial product, estimating first, with dots traded ten for one, an area model beside the rows and two worked examples.

   Skills

   • Multiply a number of up to four digits by a one-digit number by place, with an area model and partial products, after estimating the product.
   • Multiply a two-digit number by a two-digit number with an area model and its four partial products, after estimating the product.
   • Link partial products to the short way of multiplying (the standard algorithm), and check a product with an estimate.

5. Dividing with Remainders

   A book drive mission in three picture books: two kids on a town book drive's Packing Crew share donated books out fairly, dividing a number of up to four digits by one digit by place, in friendly chunks with partial quotients and area models, and deciding what each remainder means in the story, checking every answer by multiplying.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 4.NBT.B.6 Find whole-number quotients and remainders for numbers of up to four digits divided by a one-digit number, by place value, by taking away friendly chunks (partial quotients) and with what multiplying and dividing have to do with each other; show the work with quick pictures, area models and equations.; 4.OA.A.3 Solve story problems with division, also in more than one step, where the remainder must be interpreted: dropped, counted as one more, or given as the answer; write them as equations with a letter for the unknown, and check that answers make sense.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Share by PlaceA picture-book class: a book drive shares 653 picture books among 4 book boxes and Kai says 110 each, and the child learns to divide a number of up to three digits by one digit by place, with quick pictures, trades, remainders less than the divisor, checks by multiplying and two worked examples.
   2. Chunk by ChunkA picture-book class: a truck brings 1,845 chapter books for 6 school libraries and Kai says 37 each, and the child learns to divide a number of up to four digits by one digit with partial quotients, estimating first, with a rectangle built in chunks of columns, area models, the chunks under a division bracket and two worked examples.
   3. One More TripA picture-book class: 75 boxes go out in a van that carries 8 a trip and Kai says 9 trips, and the child learns to interpret a remainder from the question (drop it, add one more, or give it as the answer), also in two-step problems, with small things in bags, a picture of the van's trips, a table of three questions and two worked examples.

   Skills

   • Divide a number of up to three digits by a one-digit number by place, find the remainder (less than the divisor), and check by multiplying and adding the remainder.
   • Divide a number of up to four digits by a one-digit number by taking away friendly chunks (partial quotients), shown in an area model, after estimating the quotient.
   • Solve division story problems, in one or two steps, by deciding what the remainder means: drop it, add one more, or give it as the answer.

6. Multiples and Patterns

   A parade band mission in three picture books: two kids in a town band find the beats their drum and bell play on, line up marchers in equal rows, and set out chairs by a rule, learning multiples, telling whether a number is a multiple of a one-digit number, and making number and shape patterns from a rule and explaining features the rule doesn't say.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 4.OA.B.4 (the multiples part) Know that a whole number is a multiple of each of its factors, and tell whether a whole number from 1 to 100 is a multiple of a given one-digit number.; 4.OA.C.5 Make a number or shape pattern that follows a given rule, find features of the pattern that the rule doesn't say, and explain them informally.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Every Fourth BeatA picture-book class: a drum plays on every 4th beat of a march and a bell on every 6th, and Omar marks every beat that ends in 6; the child learns multiples by clapping and on beat lines, finds beats that are multiples of both, and learns that a whole number is a multiple of each of its factors, with two worked examples.
   2. Is It a Multiple?A picture-book class: 84 marchers need equal rows and Omar says rows of 7 can't work because 84 doesn't end in 7; the child learns to tell whether a number up to 100 is a multiple of a one-digit number by dividing, and when the ones digit tells (2, 5, 10), with a number chart, tables and two worked examples.
   3. Follow the RuleA picture-book class: chairs for a concert follow the rule start at 5, add 3, and Omar's row 4 has 13; the child learns to make number and shape patterns from a rule, find features the rule doesn't say, like odd and even taking turns, and explain why, with sticks, tables and two worked examples.

   Skills

   • List the multiples of a one-digit number, find multiples of two numbers, and know that a whole number is a multiple of each of its factors.
   • Tell whether a whole number from 1 to 100 is a multiple of a one-digit number, by dividing (no remainder) or by the ones digit for 2, 5 and 10.
   • Make a number or shape pattern from a rule, find features the rule doesn't say (odd and even, multiples, repeating ones digits), and explain why.

7. Equivalent and Compared Fractions

   A quilt mission in three picture books: two kids check the blocks of a community quilt against its plan, finding that more pieces can be the same amount, sorting blocks that are more than half one color, and choosing the block with more red, learning to make equivalent fractions and to compare fractions with benchmarks and with common denominators or numerators.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 4.NF.A.1 Explain with fraction models why multiplying the numerator and the denominator by the same number gives an equivalent fraction (more parts, each smaller, the same amount), and use it to make and recognize equivalent fractions.; 4.NF.A.2 Decide which of two fractions of the same whole is greater by testing each against a benchmark such as 1/2, or by writing them with a common denominator or numerator, and record the result with >, = or <, checked with a model.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. More Pieces, Same BlueA picture-book class: Felix says Amara's quilt block of 6 pieces with 4 blue has more blue than his 3 strips with 2 blue; the child folds paper, compares blocks of the same size and number lines, and learns that multiplying the numerator and the denominator by the same number makes an equivalent fraction, with two worked examples.
   2. More Than Half?A picture-book class: the quilt's border blocks must be more than half yellow, and Felix keeps the blocks with big numbers; the child folds a strip to the middle, tests fractions against one half by comparing the numerator with half the denominator, compares and orders fractions with 0, 1/2 and 1, and learns to compare only fractions of the same whole, with two worked examples.
   3. Make the Parts MatchA picture-book class: the quilt's center block must have the most red, and Felix says a block that is 3/4 red and one that is 5/6 red are the same; the child compares strips of the same length, learns to make the parts match with a common denominator (3/4 = 9/12 < 10/12 = 5/6), compares fractions with the same numerator and by their missing pieces, and writes the result with >, = or <, with two worked examples.

   Skills

   • Make and recognize equivalent fractions by multiplying (or dividing) the numerator and the denominator by the same number, and explain with area models and number lines why the amount stays the same.
   • Compare a fraction with the benchmarks 0, 1/2 and 1, use them to compare and order fractions, and compare only fractions of the same whole.
   • Compare two fractions by writing them with a common denominator or a common numerator, record the result with >, = or <, and justify it with a model.

8. Adding and Subtracting Fractions and Mixed Numbers

   A trail mission in three picture books: two kids help a park ranger get a new trail ready for opening day, splitting the first part of the trail between two volunteer teams, spreading wood chips on a path, and adding up the trail's mixed-number lengths, learning to build fractions from unit fractions, to add and subtract fractions with the same denominator, and to add and subtract mixed numbers.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 4.NF.B.3 See a fraction as unit fractions joined together; add and subtract fractions that refer to the same whole by joining and separating parts with the same denominator; break a fraction into a sum of fractions with that denominator in more than one way; add and subtract mixed numbers with like denominators; and solve word problems about them with models and equations.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Eighth by EighthA picture-book class: the first part of the new Lookout Trail is 7/8 of a kilometer, and Hana and Malik split it two different ways; the child folds a strip into eighths, builds fractions from unit fractions, adds fractions with the same denominator by joining parts, breaks a fraction apart in more than one way, and writes fractions greater than 1 as mixed numbers, with two worked examples.
   2. Join and Take AwayA picture-book class: the Trail Crew covers 3/10 and then 4/10 of the Creek Path with wood chips; the child moves 10 small things section by section, adds and subtracts fractions with the same denominator on a number line, takes a fraction away from 1 whole by writing it as 10/10, and decides whether to add or subtract in word problems, with two worked examples.
   3. Mixed Numbers on the TrailA picture-book class: on opening day the Lookout Trail is 1 3/4 km to the bridge and 2 2/4 km more to the lookout; the child trades a full cup of 4 things for 4 fourths, adds mixed numbers with fourths bars (3 and 5/4 = 4 1/4), subtracts them by trading a whole (4 1/4 − 2 3/4 = 1 2/4) instead of flipping the fractions like Sam, and checks by adding back, with two worked examples.

   Skills

   • Build a fraction from unit fractions, add fractions with the same denominator by adding the numerators, break a fraction into a sum in more than one way, and write a fraction greater than 1 as a mixed number.
   • Add and subtract fractions with the same denominator, using 1 whole as b/b to take away from a whole, and solve word problems about joining and separating parts of the same whole.
   • Add and subtract mixed numbers with the same denominator, by adding wholes and fractions separately or by changing to fractions, and trade 1 whole for fractional parts (or back) when needed.

9. Multiplying a Fraction by a Whole Number

   A robot mission in three picture books: two kids get a little robot ready for a rally, counting its equal taps, programming bigger strides and planning its battery on rally day, learning to see a fraction as a multiple of a unit fraction, to multiply a fraction by a whole number, and to solve story problems that multiply a fraction by a whole number.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 4.NF.B.4 See a fraction a/b as a multiple of the unit fraction 1/b; see a whole number times a fraction as a multiple of a unit fraction, so n × (a/b) = (n × a)/b; and solve story problems that multiply a fraction by a whole number, with models and equations.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Tap by TapA picture-book class: Bolt the robot rolls 1/4 of a meter with each tap, and the Robot Crew must find how many taps reach the rally's first gate, 5/4 of a meter away; the child folds strips into fourths, sees that equal taps are equal groups, writes fractions as a whole number times a unit fraction (5/4 = 5 × 1/4), and finds how many unit fractions make a whole number of meters, with two worked examples.
   2. Bigger StepsA picture-book class: Kenji gives Bolt a stride button (3 taps, 3/4 of a meter), and the Robot Crew must find how far the tunnel is, 4 strides away; the child makes strides from paper scraps, multiplies a fraction by a whole number as equal groups (4 × 3/4 = 12/4 = 3), writes products as whole or mixed numbers, checks them on a number line and with an estimate, and fixes Sam's 4 3/4, with two worked examples.
   3. Rally DayA picture-book class: on rally day each run uses 3/10 of Bolt's battery, and the Robot Crew must find out whether one battery is enough for 4 runs; the child draws the battery in tenths, solves story problems that multiply a fraction by a whole number in four steps (read, draw, write and solve, answer), says between which two whole numbers each answer lies, and helps Sam see that a fraction can be more than 1, with two worked examples.

   Skills

   • See a fraction a/b as a multiple of the unit fraction 1/b and write it as a whole number times a unit fraction (5/4 = 5 × 1/4), and find how many unit fractions make a whole number.
   • Multiply a fraction by a whole number as equal groups of unit fractions, n × (a/b) = (n × a)/b, write the product as a mixed number or a whole number, and check it with an estimate.
   • Solve story problems that multiply a fraction by a whole number with a model and an equation, answer with the unit, and say between which two whole numbers the answer lies.

10. Tenths, Hundredths and Decimals

    A paper frog mission in three picture books: two kids measure paper frog jumps on a meter strip at the library's Jump-Off, writing tenths as hundredths and adding them, writing jumps as decimals and placing them on number lines, and comparing decimal jumps to find the winner.

    3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

    US curriculum: 4.NF.C.5 Write a fraction with denominator 10 as an equivalent fraction with denominator 100, and use it to add tenths and hundredths (2/10 + 6/100 = 26/100).; 4.NF.C.6 Write fractions with denominator 10 or 100 as decimals (26/100 = 0.26), and place decimals on a number line.; 4.NF.C.7 Compare two decimals to hundredths of the same whole by reasoning about their size, record the comparison with >, = or <, and justify it with a model.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. Big Marks, Small MarksA picture-book class: at the library's Paper Frog Jump-Off, a frog lands 2 long marks and 6 small marks along a meter strip; the child counts centimeters on a ruler, writes tenths as hundredths (2/10 = 20/100), adds tenths and hundredths (2/10 + 6/100 = 26/100), sees the same on a hundred grid and with dimes and cents, and helps Sam see why the parts must be the same size before adding, with two worked examples.
    2. Write It as a DecimalA picture-book class: the Jump-Off's jump board has room only for decimals, and Dev must write his frog's 5/10 of a meter; the child draws a decimal chart, writes tenths and hundredths with a decimal point (5/10 = 0.5, 26/100 = 0.26, 4/100 = 0.04), finds decimals on a number line, turns centimeters into a decimal of a meter, and helps Sam see where each digit goes, with two worked examples.
    3. Who Jumped Farther?A picture-book class: in the Jump-Off's final round Nora's frog jumps 0.3 m and Dev's 0.25 m; the child checks the jumps on a ruler, compares decimals of the same whole by writing them in hundredths and comparing place by place, writes the comparison with >, = or <, shows it on hundred grids and a number line, and helps Sam see that more digits doesn't mean more, with two worked examples.

    Skills

    • Write tenths as hundredths (4/10 = 40/100) and add tenths and hundredths (2/10 + 6/100 = 26/100).
    • Write tenths and hundredths as decimals (5/10 = 0.5, 26/100 = 0.26, 7/100 = 0.07) and place decimals on a number line.
    • Compare two decimals to hundredths of the same whole, record the comparison with >, = or <, and justify it with a grid, a number line or place value.

11. Measurement Units and Conversions

    A pen pal mission in three picture books: Nora and Dev pack a box for their library's pen pals in the United States, changing lengths, masses, liquid volumes and times to smaller units (metric first, then the US units the pen pals use), making two-column tables, and solving measurement story problems on number lines.

    3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

    US curriculum: 4.MD.A.1 Know the relative sizes of units in one system (km, m, cm, mm; kg, g; L, mL; and the US units in, ft, yd; lb, oz; gal, qt, pt, cup; hr, min, sec), change a measurement in a larger unit to a smaller unit, and record pairs of measurements in a two-column table.; 4.MD.A.2 Solve story problems about distances, masses, liquid volumes and time intervals with the four operations, also with simple fractions and with a measurement in a larger unit to be written in a smaller one, and show them on number lines with a measurement scale.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. Kilometers to MillimetersA picture-book class: the Pen Pal Club's box needs the river trail's length in meters; the child finds 10 millimeters in a centimeter on a ruler and measures something of their own, learns the metric ladder (1 km = 1,000 m, 1 m = 100 cm, 1 cm = 10 mm) and that to change to a smaller unit you multiply, makes a two-column table, meets US customary units (1 ft = 12 in, 1 yd = 3 ft) and which countries use them, and helps Sam see that each pair of units has its own number, with two worked examples.
    2. Weigh It, Pour ItA picture-book class: the Pen Pal Club's box weighs 1,850 grams and may weigh 2 kilograms at most; the child reads the amounts on food labels at home, learns that 1 kilogram is 1,000 grams and 1 liter is 1,000 milliliters, compares masses in one unit, meets the US units on the pen pals' honey jar and lemonade recipe (1 lb = 16 oz; 1 qt = 2 pt = 4 cups), and helps Sam see that units must match before comparing, with two worked examples.
    3. Just in TimeA picture-book class: the Pen Pal Club's video call lasts 1 hour 15 minutes; the child folds a paper strip into an hour, half hours and quarter hours, learns that 1 hour is 60 minutes and 1 minute is 60 seconds in every country, changes hours to minutes and minutes to seconds with a table, finds how long things last by hopping to the hour on a time number line, and helps Sam see that an hour is not 100 minutes, with two worked examples.

    Skills

    • Change kilometers, meters and centimeters to smaller metric units, and yards and feet to smaller US units, by multiplying; record the pairs in a two-column table.
    • Change kilograms to grams and liters to milliliters, and pounds to ounces and gallons, quarts and pints to smaller US units; compare and add masses and volumes in one unit.
    • Change hours to minutes and minutes to seconds, and solve time story problems, also with half and quarter hours, on a number line.

12. Area, Perimeter and Line Plots

    A garden mission in three picture books: Nora and Dev help turn their library's empty yard into a Reading Garden, finding the fence around it and the grass inside it with the perimeter and area rules, working out a garden bed's missing side, and drawing a line plot of how much water the new pots drink, in fractions of a liter, to add and subtract from it.

    3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

    US curriculum: 4.MD.A.3 Use the area and perimeter formulas for rectangles in real and math problems, also to find a missing side when the area or the perimeter and the other side are known.; 4.MD.B.4 Make a line plot of measurements in fractions of a unit (1/2, 1/4, 1/8), and add and subtract fractions to answer questions from it.; 4.MD.A.2 Solve measurement story problems with the four operations, also with simple fractions, on diagrams such as number lines with a measurement scale.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. Around and InsideA picture-book class: the library's new Reading Garden, 9 meters by 6 meters, needs a fence around it and grass inside it; the child draws a rectangle cut into square centimeters, learns perimeter (2 × length + 2 × width) and area (length × width) with their units, meets the square foot used in the United States, and helps Sam see that multiplying the sides gives the area, not the fence, with two worked examples.
    2. The Missing SideA picture-book class: the Reading Garden's vegetable bed must cover 28 square meters along a 7-meter wall; the child lays 12 coins out as rectangles, learns to find a missing side from the area by dividing (28 ÷ 7 = 4) and from the perimeter by halving and subtracting, and helps Sam see that the width is not 28 − 7, with two worked examples.
    3. Plot the WaterA picture-book class: the Reading Garden's ten new pots each drink some water, in quarters of a liter; the child measures crayons to the nearest half centimeter and makes a line plot, learns to stack an X for each measurement, to add a stack (3/4 + 3/4 + 3/4 = 2 1/4 liters) and to subtract the least from the most, and helps Sam see that a stack of Xs is more than one pot, with two worked examples.

    Skills

    • Find the perimeter of a rectangle (2 × length + 2 × width) and its area (length × width) in the right units, and tell which one a job needs.
    • Find a rectangle's missing side from its area (divide by the known side) or from its perimeter (half the perimeter, minus the known side).
    • Make and read a line plot of measurements in halves, quarters and eighths of a unit, and add and subtract fractions to answer questions from it.

13. Angles and Degrees

    A library robot in three picture books: Nora and Dev help Rollo, the library's new book cart, learn its turns, finding that an angle is measured by how far it turns (360 degrees for a full turn, whatever the length of its sides), reading and sketching angles with a protractor, and adding and subtracting angle measures to find the turn Rollo still has to make.

    3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

    US curriculum: 4.MD.C.5 Know an angle as two rays from one endpoint, measured by the part of a circle centered at that endpoint that lies between its rays: a turn through 1/360 of a circle is one degree, and an angle that turns through n one-degree angles measures n degrees.; 4.MD.C.6 Measure angles in whole degrees with a protractor, and sketch angles of a given measure.; 4.MD.C.7 Know that angle measures add up when an angle is split into parts that do not overlap, and add or subtract to find an unknown angle on a diagram.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. How Far It TurnsA picture-book class: the library's robot cart Rollo turns by degrees; the child folds a paper circle into quarter turns, learns that an angle is measured as a turn against a circle (a full turn is 360 degrees, a quarter turn 90), finds the degrees in parts of a turn and on a clock face, and helps Sam see that longer sides don't make a bigger angle, with two worked examples.
    2. Read the ProtractorA picture-book class: Nora measures Rollo's next turn with a protractor; the child folds a paper protractor, learns to read a protractor (center mark on the vertex, one ray through a 0, only the row that starts at that 0) and to sketch an angle, checks each reading against a right angle, and helps Sam, who always reads the outer row, with two worked examples.
    3. Angles Add UpA picture-book class: Rollo stops partway through a right angle turn; the child splits a paper's square corner into two angles and puts them back together, learns that angle measures add up (the parts of an angle make the whole), finds missing parts of right angles and straight angles by subtracting from 90 or 180, and helps Sam, who adds the part to the whole, with two worked examples.

    Skills

    • Measure an angle by how far it turns: a full turn is 360 degrees, so a part of a turn is 360 divided into equal parts, whatever the length of the sides.
    • Measure an angle with a protractor by reading the scale that starts at 0 on one of its rays, and sketch an angle of a given measure.
    • Add the measures of angles that sit side by side, and subtract to find a missing part of a right angle (90 degrees) or a straight angle (180 degrees).

14. Lines, Shapes and Symmetry

    A kite workshop in three picture books: Nora and Dev build kites for Kite Day, naming points, line segments, rays and lines, sorting angles as right, acute or obtuse and lines as perpendicular or parallel, sorting the workshop's kites and other flat shapes by their sides and angles, right triangles among them, and folding shapes to find their lines of symmetry.

    3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

    US curriculum: 4.G.A.1 Draw and name points, lines, line segments and rays, right, acute and obtuse angles, and perpendicular and parallel lines, and find them in flat figures.; 4.G.A.2 Sort flat figures by whether they have parallel or perpendicular sides and by the kinds of angles they have; know right triangles as a group and find them.; 4.G.A.3 Know a line of symmetry as a line across a flat figure that folds it into two matching parts; find figures with line symmetry and draw their lines of symmetry.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. Sticks and StringsA picture-book class: at a kite workshop Nora's sticks cross at a square corner and Dev's lean toward each other; the child folds a square corner from paper and tests angles with it, learns the names of points, line segments, rays and lines, sorts angles as right, acute or obtuse, tells perpendicular lines from parallel lines, and helps Sam, who thinks lines that don't touch are always parallel, with two worked examples.
    2. Sort the KitesA picture-book class: the workshop's kites are sorted into bins, and Dev's triangle kite has its square corner pointing up; the child cuts a sheet of paper into two right triangles and turns them, learns to sort triangles as right, acute or obtuse whichever way they point and to sort shapes by their perpendicular sides and pairs of parallel sides, and helps Sam, who thinks a right triangle needs its square corner at the bottom, with two worked examples.
    3. Fold the KiteA picture-book class: Nora's kite folds into matching halves along its long stick, and Ms. Okafor asks how many ways a rectangle does; the child folds a sheet of paper three ways, learns that a line of symmetry folds a shape into matching halves (a square has 4, a rectangle 2, a leaning shape none), finds lines of symmetry in letters, finishes a shape across its line on grid paper, and helps Sam, who thinks a rectangle folds 4 ways and that N has a line, with two worked examples.

    Skills

    • Name points, line segments, rays and lines, sort angles as right, acute or obtuse with a square corner, and tell perpendicular lines from parallel lines.
    • Sort flat shapes by their parallel and perpendicular sides and by their angles, and find right triangles in any position.
    • Find the lines of symmetry of a flat shape by folding it into matching halves, and complete a shape across a line of symmetry.

English Language Arts

1. Reading Like a Detective: Inferences, Characters and Theme

   Your child reads a three-part mystery about the Clue Crew, two fourth graders who find out who keeps borrowing the community garden's trowel, and learns to infer from clues with evidence, use context clues and precise verbs, describe a character from thoughts, words and actions, and find a story's theme and sum it up.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: RL.4.1 Use details from a story to explain what it says outright and what you can infer, pointing to the evidence.; RL.4.3 Describe a character in depth from the character's thoughts, words and actions.; RL.4.2 Work out a story's theme from its details, and sum up the story.; RL.4.10 Read a Grade 4 story on your own.; RF.4.4a–c Read with purpose, smoothly and with expression on rereading, using the sentence to check words.; L.4.4a Work out a word's meaning from a definition, an example or a restatement in the sentence.; L.4.6 Read and use precise verbs for actions and feelings, such as tiptoed and stammered.; L.4.5b Know a common adage and explain what it means.; SL.4.1d Explain your own thinking, and help a classmate see what fits the evidence.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Case of the Missing Trowel: Inferences and Context CluesA picture-book class: your child reads case 1 of a mystery about the Clue Crew, two fourth graders who find a garden's trowel missing, learns to make an inference from a clue plus what they know and to name the evidence, and works out new words like ajar from context clues.
   2. Stakeout at Sunrise: Characters in DepthA picture-book class: your child reads case 2 of the Clue Crew mystery, where the friends meet Rosa, the shy new girl who borrows the trowel at dawn, and learns to describe a character in depth from what she thinks, says and does, what precise verbs like stammered show, and what a motive is.
   3. A Garden for Abuela: Theme and SummaryA picture-book class: your child reads the last case of the Clue Crew mystery, where Rosa's secret garden for her grandma solves it, and learns that a theme is a lesson about life backed by details, how to sum up a story in five links (somebody, wanted, but, so, then), and what the adage Don't judge a book by its cover means.

   Skills

   • Make an inference by joining a clue in the text with what you know, and name the evidence that backs it.
   • Work out a new word from a definition, an example or a restatement in its sentence.
   • Describe a character in depth from the character's thoughts, words and actions, with evidence.
   • Tell what a precise verb, such as tiptoed or stammered, shows about how a character feels.
   • Work out a story's theme, a lesson about life, from what the characters learn, and back it with details.
   • Sum up a story in a few sentences, in order, keeping only the important events, and explain a matching adage.

2. Long Words: Syllables and Greek and Latin Roots

   Case 4 for the Clue Crew: while the library roof is fixed, Nia, Theo and Rosa find a chest with a word lock in the attic, left by Professor Penwick, the library's first librarian, with a trail of riddles that only long words can solve. Your child reads all three parts of the mystery and learns to read a long word part by part: to take off its prefix and suffix (un-, re-, dis-, mis-, pre-, -able, -ful, -less, -ment), split the base word into syllables and blend it, and reread when a sentence doesn't make sense (The Word Lock); to work out words from Greek roots such as tele, scope, micro, photo and graph, and to find the root a word family shares (The Tower Room); and to work out words from Latin roots (port, rupt, struct, spect, dict), read a dictionary entry and a glossary, and spell long words part by part (The Last Word). The teacher works on words of her own, and your child ends by starting a glossary of roots at home.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: RF.4.3a Read long, new words using syllables, roots and affixes, in a story and on their own.; RF.4.4a-c Read a Grade 4 chapter with purpose, reread it with expression, and use the sentence to check and fix a word.; L.4.4a Check a long word's meaning in its sentence.; L.4.4b Work out a word's meaning from Greek and Latin affixes and roots.; L.4.4c Use a dictionary or a glossary: guide words, syllables, how to say a word, its meaning and where it came from.; L.4.2d Spell long words part by part, and check a spelling in a dictionary.; R.4 Say what a word means in a story, and how it fits there.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Word Lock: Reading Long Words Part by PartA picture-book class: your child starts a new Clue Crew mystery about a chest with a word lock, learns what common prefixes and suffixes mean, takes long words apart into a prefix, a base word and a suffix, splits them into syllables, and checks each long word in its sentence, then rereads a clue card with expression.
   2. The Tower Room: Greek RootsA picture-book class: in part 2 of the Clue Crew's word-lock mystery, your child learns ten Greek roots (tele far, scope see, micro small, photo light, graph write, phone sound, auto self, bio life, therm heat, meter measure), works out long words root by root, finds word families, solves the professor's clue, and builds a word of their own from two roots.
   3. The Last Word: Latin Roots and a GlossaryA picture-book class: in the last part of the Clue Crew's word-lock mystery, your child learns five Latin roots (port carry, rupt break, struct build, spect look, dict say), finds the root that opens the lock in the library's oldest dictionary, reads the parts of a dictionary entry and learns what a glossary is, spells long words part by part, and makes a glossary entry of their own.

   Skills

   • Say what common prefixes and suffixes mean, and work out a long word from its prefix, base word and suffix.
   • Read a long word part by part: take off its affixes, split the base word into syllables and blend.
   • Check a long word in its sentence, and reread smoothly and with expression when it doesn't make sense.
   • Work out a word's meaning from its Greek roots, and build a word from two roots.
   • Find the root a word family shares, and use it to work out a new word.
   • Work out a word's meaning from its Latin root and affixes.
   • Read a dictionary or glossary entry: guide words, syllables, how to say it, meaning and origin.
   • Spell a long word part by part, and check it in a dictionary.

3. Fact Texts: Main Idea, Summary and Structure

   Mission 5 for the Clue Crew: the Willow Street Library holds a Fact Fair, and Nia, Theo and Rosa turn three fact articles into posters, each with its main idea, a short summary and a diagram of how the article is built. Your child reads all three articles, real facts in textbook pages with labeled drawings, maps and tables, and learns to find a main idea and its key details, sum up a text and see a text in time order on a timeline (Wheels Through Time, the bike's story from 1817 to today); to see how a text compares in a Venn diagram and how causes lead to effects in a chain (Alligator or Crocodile?); and to chart a problem, its solutions and the result, put a text read aloud in their own words, and sort texts by how they are built (Lights Out for Sea Turtles, and Bridges for Bears, about Banff's wildlife crossings, read aloud). The teacher works on short texts of her own, and your child ends by sorting texts at home by how they are built.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: RI.4.2 Find a fact text's main idea and the key details that back it up, and sum up the text.; RI.4.5 Describe how a text or a part of it is built: time order, comparison, cause and effect, or problem and solution.; RI.4.1 Point to the details in a text that show what it says.; RI.4.10 Read Grade 4 fact texts on your own.; SL.4.2 Put a text read aloud, and the pictures and numbers with it, in your own words.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Wheels Through Time: Main Idea, Summary and Time OrderA picture-book class: in the Clue Crew's mission to make posters for a library Fact Fair, your child learns what a main idea and key details are, reads a four-part fact article about how the bike changed from 1817 to today, fills in a timeline poster, learns how to sum up a text, and sums up the article for Sam.
   2. Alligator or Crocodile?: Comparison and Cause and EffectA picture-book class: in the Clue Crew's mission to make posters for a library Fact Fair, your child learns how a text that compares is built and what a Venn diagram shows, reads a four-part fact article about how to tell an alligator from a crocodile, learns cause and effect and a cause-and-effect chain, and fills in the Crew's Venn diagram and chain.
   3. Lights Out for Sea Turtles: Problem and SolutionA picture-book class: on the last day of the Clue Crew's mission to make posters for a library Fact Fair, your child learns how a problem-and-solution text is built, reads a four-part fact article about lights and sea turtle hatchlings, fills in a problem-and-solution chart, puts a text read aloud about wildlife bridges in Banff in their own words, and sorts the Crew's three posters by how each article is built.

   Skills

   • Find the main idea of a fact text and of its parts, and the key details that back it up.
   • Sum up a fact text: the main idea, then the key details in order, in your own words.
   • Describe a text in time order, its signal words and its timeline.
   • Describe a text that compares, its signal words and its Venn diagram.
   • Find causes and effects in a text, and show them in a chain.
   • Find a problem, its solutions and the result, and show them in a chart.
   • Put a fact text read aloud, with its drawing and numbers, in your own words.
   • Sort texts by how they are built, and match each structure to its diagram.

4. Writing Stories: Dialogue, Description and Transitions

   Mission 6 for the Clue Crew: Ms. Quill opens a new shelf at the Willow Street Library, Stories by Kids, and Nia, Theo and Rosa write its first three stories. Your child reads each friend's story, all three written for this course, and learns a writer's moves on its words: setting up the situation, picking a narrator and moving the events along with transitions (Where Is Inkwell?, a missing bookshop cat); writing dialogue with quotation marks and a new paragraph for each speaker, and description with sensory details, precise words and punctuation for effect (Abracadabra!, a magic trick gone wrong); and giving a story an ending that follows from the events, revising and editing a draft, and telling formal from informal English (The Bark Boat Race). The teacher models each move on a story of her own, Ada's Hat, with your child's help. Across the three lessons your child plans, builds and tells a story of their own aloud; it stays theirs, and no lesson asks for real names, addresses or schools.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: W.4.3 Write a story about real or made-up events: set up the situation and a narrator, use dialogue and description, show the order with transitions, use precise and sensory words, and give it an ending that follows.; W.4.4 Write clearly, in an order that fits the task, the purpose and the reader.; W.4.5 Make writing stronger by planning, revising and editing.; W.4.10 Write often, in short sittings and longer ones.; L.4.2 Use quotation marks and commas for dialogue, a comma before and, but or so in a compound sentence, and check spellings in a reference.; L.4.3 Choose precise words and punctuation for effect, and tell formal from informal English.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Where Is Inkwell?: Situation, Narrator and TransitionsA picture-book class: as the Clue Crew writes stories for a new library shelf, your child reads Nia's story about a bookshop cat who goes missing on the morning of Story Hour, learns how a story's beginning sets up its situation, who tells a story, and how transitions move the events along, helps the teacher plan her own story, and then plans a story of their own, aloud.
   2. Abracadabra!: Dialogue and DescriptionA picture-book class: as the Clue Crew writes stories for a new library shelf, your child reads Theo's story about a coin trick that goes wrong on show night, learns how dialogue is written and how sensory details, precise words and punctuation bring a scene to life, helps the teacher write the next part of her own story, and then tells a scene of their own story aloud, with characters talking.
   3. The Bark Boat Race: Endings, Revising and EditingA picture-book class: on the last day of the Clue Crew's mission to fill a new library shelf with stories, your child reads Rosa's story about a creek race of bark boats, learns how an ending follows from the events, how a writer revises and edits a draft, and when to use formal and informal English, helps the teacher fix her own story's ending, and then tells their own story aloud, from beginning to end.

   Skills

   • Set up a story's situation: its characters, setting and what goes wrong.
   • Tell a first-person narrator from a third-person one, and the narrator from the writer.
   • Pick transitions that put events in order, show two things at once, and move time along.
   • Write dialogue with quotation marks and commas, and a new paragraph for each speaker.
   • Add sensory details, precise words and punctuation for effect.
   • Give a story an ending that follows from its events.
   • Revise a draft and edit it: a comma before and, but or so joining two sentences, and spellings checked in a reference.
   • Tell formal from informal English, and pick what fits the reader.
   • Plan and tell a story of your own aloud, from its beginning to its ending.

5. Myths and Tales from Many Cultures

   Mission 7 for the Clue Crew: the Willow Street Library is holding a Tale Night, and Nia, Theo and Rosa build its Tale Trail, a wall map with a pin for every tale and a card naming the people who tell it. Your child reads four old tales, each retold for this course in our own words and credited to its culture: Arachne the Weaver, a myth from ancient Greece (what makes a myth, finding a theme, and words that come from myths, like echo and cereal); Anansi and the Pot of Wisdom, a tale of the Akan people of Ghana (proverbs and adages, and comparing tales from two cultures); and two great contests, a Norse myth of Thor and a tale told in China of the race that gave the years their animals (patterns of events, and summing up a tale). The teacher models each skill on tales of her own, such as King Midas, Cinderella and Ye Xian, and The North Wind and the Sun, and speaks of living peoples and their stories in the present and with respect.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: RL.4.2 Work out a story's theme from its details, and sum up the story.; RL.4.4 Work out what words in a story mean, including words that come from characters in myths.; RL.4.9 Compare how tales from different cultures treat a similar theme, topic or pattern of events.; L.4.5 Know common proverbs and adages and explain what they mean.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Arachne the Weaver: Myths, Themes and Words from MythsA picture-book class: as the Clue Crew sets up a Tale Trail for the library's Tale Night, your child reads a myth from ancient Greece about a proud weaver, Arachne, learns what makes a tale a myth and whose tale it is, watches the teacher find the theme of King Midas's myth, finds the theme of Arachne's, and works out English words that come from myths, such as Herculean.
   2. Anansi and the Pot of Wisdom: Proverbs and Comparing TalesA picture-book class: as the Clue Crew sets up a Tale Trail for the library's Tale Night, your child reads a tale of the Akan people of Ghana about Anansi the spider, who tries to keep all the wisdom in the world, learns what proverbs and adages are and how to match one to a tale's theme, watches the teacher compare Cinderella with Ye Xian, a Cinderella tale from China, and compares Anansi's tale with the Greek myth of Arachne.
   3. Two Great Contests: Comparing Patterns of EventsA picture-book class: on Tale Night, as the Clue Crew finishes the library's Tale Trail, your child reads a Norse myth about Thor and a tale told in China about the race that gave the years their animals, learns three patterns of events found in tales all over the world (a contest, a quest, a trick), watches the teacher sum up a fable, and compares the two tales.

   Skills

   • Say what makes a tale a myth, and whose tale it is.
   • Find a tale's theme from its details, and say it for anyone, with no names.
   • Work out a word that comes from a character in a myth.
   • Explain a proverb or adage, and match one to a tale's theme.
   • Compare two tales from two cultures: their topic, pattern of events, theme and the details that show each culture.
   • Sum up a tale in its most important events, in order.

6. Poems, Plays and Prose: How They Are Built

   Mission 8 for the Clue Crew: the Willow Street Library starts a Radio Hour, a show it records for families, and Nia, Theo and Rosa fill its first hour with a poem, a play and a story. Your child reads Nia's poem My Kite and Robert Louis Stevenson's The Swing (1885), and learns how a poem is built (lines, stanzas, rhythm and meter), what similes and metaphors are, and how to read a poem aloud with its beat; reads the Crew's play The Missing Microphone and learns its parts (cast of characters, setting, dialogue, stage directions) and how a radio version turns stage directions into sounds; and reads Theo's story The Thunder Concert, compares it with the Crew's poem, play scene and picture of it, practices reading aloud like a radio reader, and picks a sound that makes the story's main idea clearer. Every text is written for the course except The Swing, quoted exactly and credited. The teacher models each skill on lines of her own.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: RL.4.5 Explain how poems, plays and stories are built differently, using words like verse, rhythm, meter, cast, setting, dialogue and stage directions.; RL.4.7 Connect a story or play's text with a visual or spoken version of it, noticing where each matches the words.; RF.4.4 Read accurately and smoothly enough to understand: with purpose, with expression on rereading, and using the sentence to check and fix words.; SL.4.5 Add recordings and visuals when they make the main ideas or themes clearer.; L.4.5 Explain simple similes and metaphors.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Poems That Swing: Verse, Rhythm, Meter and SimilesA picture-book class: as the Clue Crew starts the library's Radio Hour, your child reads two poems aloud, Nia's My Kite and Robert Louis Stevenson's The Swing (1885), learns how a poem is built in lines and stanzas, claps its rhythm and meter, tells similes from metaphors, and coaches Sam to read a poem with its beat.
   2. The Missing Microphone: Cast, Dialogue and Stage DirectionsA picture-book class: for Part 2 of the library's Radio Hour, your child reads a short play the Clue Crew wrote, The Missing Microphone, learns how a script is built (cast of characters, setting, dialogue and stage directions) and how a story would tell the same moment, plans the sounds a radio version needs, and helps Sam turn a line of the play into a story's sentence.
   3. The Thunder Concert: Prose, Versions and Reading AloudA picture-book class: for Part 3 of the library's Radio Hour, your child reads Theo's story, The Thunder Concert, learns how prose, verse and a play tell the same moment, compares the story with the Crew's poem, play scene and picture, practices reading aloud like a radio reader (a talking pace, expression, rereading to fix a word), and picks a sound that makes the story's main idea clearer.

   Skills

   • Tell how a poem is built (verse, lines, stanzas, rhythm, meter) and how it differs from prose.
   • Tell a simile from a metaphor and explain what it compares.
   • Name the parts of a play's script and tell what is said from what is done.
   • Explain how prose, verse and a play tell the same moment differently.
   • Compare a story or play with a picture, a reading or a recording of it.
   • Read aloud at a good pace with expression, and reread to fix a word that doesn't make sense.

7. Sentences That Work: Pronouns, Verb Tenses and Run-ons

   Mission 9 for the Clue Crew: Ms. Quill's lost-and-found box at the Willow Street Library is overflowing, and Nia, Theo and Rosa have until the end of the month to get its things back to their owners. Your child reads the Crew's three-part mystery and learns to write a notice that points to just one thing (relative pronouns and adverbs, describing words in order, prepositional phrases), to tell what is going on now, before and later with -ing verbs and to use can, may and must (reading Ms. Quill's rules sign), and to fix fragments and run-ons, check to, too and two, and speak in formal English when the moment calls for it (comparing Theo's draft with Nia's fix). Every text is written for the course. The teacher models each skill on sentences of her own.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: L.4.1 Use relative pronouns and adverbs, the progressive tenses, can, may and must, describing words in their usual order and prepositional phrases; write whole sentences, fixing fragments and run-ons; use often-confused words such as to, too and two.; L.4.2 Use capital letters, and a comma before and, but or so when joining two sentences; spell Grade 4 words, checking a reference when needed.; L.4.3 Choose words and phrases to say ideas exactly, choose punctuation for effect, and tell formal English from everyday English.; SL.4.6 Tell when a moment calls for formal English and when everyday talk is fine, and use formal English when it fits.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Overflowing Box: Relative Pronouns and Precise DetailsA picture-book class: as Mission 9 begins, your child reads the Clue Crew's mystery about the library's overflowing lost-and-found box, learns the words that point back to a noun (who, which, that, whose, where, when, why), the usual order of describing words and prepositional phrases, finds them in Rosa's notice, and helps Sam write a notice that points to just one mitten.
   2. Claim Day: Progressive Tenses and Can, May, MustA picture-book class: on Claim Day of Mission 9, your child reads how owners come to the Clue Crew's table for their lost things, learns the progressive tenses (am reading, was reading, will be reading) and how to spell -ing verbs, reads Ms. Quill's rules sign to learn what can, may and must tell, and helps Sam fix a verb in a sentence about his day.
   3. The Silver Key: Whole Sentences and Formal EnglishA picture-book class: as Mission 9 ends, your child reads how the Clue Crew fixes a run-on notice and how Nia speaks to the whole library in formal English, learns to fix fragments and run-ons and to check to, too and two, compares a draft with its fix, and helps Sam say his news in formal English.

   Skills

   • Point back to a noun with who, whose, which, that, where, when or why.
   • Make a noun exact with describing words in order and a prepositional phrase.
   • Use the progressive tenses for actions going on now, in the past and later, and spell the -ing verb.
   • Tell what can, may and must mean, and pick the one that fits.
   • Write whole sentences: fix fragments and run-ons, and pick to, too or two.
   • Tell when a moment calls for formal English, and use it.

8. Who's Telling? Narrators and Firsthand Accounts

   Mission 10 for the Clue Crew: Mr. Diaz takes Nia, Theo and Rosa along on the library's book bus, and Ms. Quill wants a newsletter page about it. Your child reads Theo's first-person telling of the ride beside Nia's third-person telling and finds what each narrator can know, compares Helen Keller's own words about the day she learned the word water (The Story of My Life, 1903) with a fact book's secondhand account, and joins two short texts about Louis Braille and his six-dot code into the newsletter's last box, backing each fact with evidence. Every text is written for the course except Helen Keller's words, which are public domain and credited. The teacher models each skill on texts of her own.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: RL.4.6 Compare the points of view stories are told from, including first and third person.; RI.4.6 Compare a firsthand and a secondhand account of the same event or topic, and what each one tells.; RI.4.9 Join information from two texts on the same topic to write or speak about it.; W.4.9 Back what you write with evidence from the stories and fact texts you read.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Book Bus Ride: First and Third PersonA picture-book class: as Mission 10 begins, your child reads Theo's first-person story of a ride on the library's book bus, learns how to tell first person from third person and what each kind of narrator can know, compares Theo's telling with Nia's third-person telling of the same moment, and helps Sam retell his day in first person.
   2. Water at the Pump: Firsthand and Secondhand AccountsA picture-book class: on the library's book bus, your child hears about Helen Keller, learns the difference between a firsthand account (by someone who was there) and a secondhand account (by someone who learned about it later), compares Helen Keller's own words about the day she learned the word water (from The Story of My Life, 1903) with a fact book's account, and says how Helen felt, using her words as evidence.
   3. Six Dots: Joining Two Texts with EvidenceA picture-book class: the Clue Crew finishes Mission 10 by writing the library newsletter's last box, about Braille. Your child reads two short texts, one about Louis Braille and one about how his code of six dots works, learns to join facts from both into one paragraph, and backs each fact with evidence by naming the text it came from (Text 1 says ..., and Text 2 adds ...).

   Skills

   • Tell first person from third person by the narrator's pronouns, and say what each narrator can know.
   • Tell a firsthand account from a secondhand one, and compare what each tells about the same event.
   • Join facts from two texts on the same topic.
   • Back each fact with evidence, naming the text it came from.

9. Research and Reports: Charts, Timelines and Notes

   Mission 11 for the Clue Crew: a card in the library's Question Box asks how planes stay up in the sky, and Ms. Quill asks Nia, Theo and Rosa to answer it with a real report for Report Night. Your child turns the big question into research questions, reads pages of a library book on how a plane stays up and takes notes in their own words with every source written down, reads a timeline poster of firsts in flight and a chart of the Wright brothers' first flights and says what each one adds, sorts the notes into groups with headings, and reads the Crew's finished report to see how a report is built and shared. The child researches only from the texts in the lessons, all written for the course with real facts, never by searching the web alone. The teacher models each step on a report of her own, about octopuses.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: RI.4.3 Explain how something works or what happened, and why, from what a science or history text says.; RI.4.4 Work out what the subject words of a topic mean from the text.; RI.4.7 Explain what diagrams, timelines and charts show and how they add to the words.; RI.4.9 Join information from two sources on the same topic.; W.4.2 Write a report: an introduction, sections with headings, facts, definitions and quotations, linking words and a conclusion.; W.4.6 With a grown-up's help, type and share a piece of writing.; W.4.7 Do a short research project that answers a question.; W.4.8 Take notes from sources in your own words, sort them, and list the sources.; W.4.9 Use evidence from the texts you read in what you write.; SL.4.5 Add a visual or a recording to a talk when it makes an idea clearer.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Question Box: Research Questions and NotesA picture-book class: the Clue Crew starts Mission 11, answering a card from the library's Question Box with a real report for Report Night. Your child learns to ask a research question that sources can answer, reads three pages of a library book on how a plane stays up (with diagrams of its four forces), and takes notes in their own words, writing down each source's title, author and year.
   2. Firsts in Flight: Timelines, Charts and Sorting NotesA picture-book class: the Clue Crew goes on with Mission 11, finding out who flew first and how flying changed the world. Your child reads a timeline poster of firsts in flight and a chart of the Wright brothers' first four flights, says what each visual adds, and sorts the Crew's notes into groups with headings, each one a section of their report, with every source on a list.
   3. Report Night: Writing and Sharing a ReportA picture-book class: the Clue Crew's Mission 11 ends on Report Night, when the Crew shares its report on how people learned to fly. Your child reads the Crew's report, sees how it is built (an introduction, sections with headings, facts, a definition, a quotation, linking words, a conclusion and a list of sources), learns how to share a report with a visual, and says one section of a report aloud.

   Skills

   • Ask a research question that sources can answer, and find the part of a text that answers it.
   • Take notes in your own words, with exact words in quotation marks, and write down each source.
   • Read a timeline and a chart, and say what each one adds to the words.
   • Sort notes into groups with headings that become a report's sections.
   • Build a report: an introduction, sections with headings, linking words, a conclusion and a list of sources.
   • Get a report ready to share, typed with help and with a visual that makes an idea clearer.

10. Opinions with Reasons and Evidence

    Mission 12 for the Clue Crew: the library's old storeroom is empty at last, and the kids get to help choose what it becomes, a Library of Things (games, tools and instruments to borrow) or a Quiet Room. Your child reads Mr. Diaz's opinion article in the library newsletter and finds his opinion, his reasons and his evidence, checking that each piece of evidence fits its reason; reads Rosa's and Theo's speeches at the Kids' Council, finds each speaker's reasons and evidence, and answers a speaker kindly, with a reason; then reads Nia's speech on Vote Day, learns to plan an opinion (reasons with evidence joined by for instance and in addition, and a conclusion) and when to use formal English, and says a short speech of their own, with evidence from the unit's texts. The newsletter, its survey, the speeches and the vote are made up for the course and labeled so; either side of the vote is welcome. The teacher models each step on opinions of her own.

    3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

    US curriculum: RI.4.8 Explain how a writer uses reasons and evidence to back a point.; W.4.1 Share an opinion: name the topic, say what you think, give reasons backed by facts, join them with linking words like for instance and in addition, and end with a conclusion.; W.4.9 Use evidence from the texts you read in what you write and say.; SL.4.1 Take part in a discussion: listen, take turns, build on others' ideas and ask questions that stay on topic.; SL.4.3 Find the reasons and evidence a speaker gives.; SL.4.4 Speak clearly, in order, at a pace listeners can follow.; SL.4.6 Tell when formal English fits, and use it then.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. The Empty Room: Opinions, Reasons and EvidenceA picture-book class: the Clue Crew's Mission 12 begins with an empty room at the library and two ideas for it. Your child reads an opinion article from the library's newsletter, finds the writer's opinion, his reasons and his evidence, checks that each piece of evidence fits its reason, and says which reason is backed best.
    2. The Kids’ Council: Listening to SpeakersA picture-book class: the Clue Crew's Mission 12 goes on at the Kids' Council, where Rosa speaks for a Quiet Room and Theo for a Library of Things. Your child reads both speeches, finds each speaker's reasons and evidence, and learns to talk it over kindly: listening to the end, saying what they heard, agreeing or disagreeing with a reason, and asking questions that stay on topic.
    3. Vote Day: Saying Your OpinionA picture-book class: the Clue Crew's Mission 12 ends on Vote Day, when the kids give speeches before the vote. Your child reads Nia's speech, learns to plan an opinion (the topic and the opinion, reasons with evidence joined by linking words like for instance and in addition, and a conclusion that says the opinion again), learns when to use formal English, and says a short speech of their own on the room, with evidence from the unit's texts.

    Skills

    • Find a writer's opinion, reasons and evidence, and check that each piece of evidence fits its reason.
    • Find a speaker's reasons and evidence with the help of clue words.
    • Take part in a discussion kindly: listen, say what you heard, agree or disagree with a reason, and ask questions on topic.
    • Plan an opinion with reasons, evidence from texts, linking words and a conclusion.
    • Say an opinion in formal English, clearly and in order.

Science

1. Speed, Energy and Collisions

   In a three-chapter mission, Lena and Dev, the Junior Crew of a science museum, get a chain-reaction machine working before the new hall opens on Saturday: they learn that moving things have energy and the faster something moves the more energy it has, using a fair ramp test and charts of how far a ball pushes a cup as evidence; that when objects collide, energy is transferred from the moving object to the one it hits and some changes into sound and heat, as in a Newton's cradle; and why each bounce of a ball is lower than the one before, as they read bounce data, ask questions that can be tested, predict and test to find the ball that rings the bell.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 4-PS3-1 Use evidence to explain how the speed of an object is related to its energy.; 4-PS3-3 Ask questions and predict how energy changes when objects collide.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Ramp TestA picture-book class: at a science museum's chain-reaction machine, your child reads a true science text with three figures about energy and speed (from curling stones to Meteor Crater), reads a ramp test in a table and a column chart, makes claims with evidence, and runs a ramp test at home with a soft ball and a paper cup.
   2. Ball to BallA picture-book class: at a science museum's chain-reaction machine, your child reads a true science text with three figures about collisions, energy transfer and a Newton's cradle, follows the energy in a slow-motion video, predicts and tests a collision, and rolls one soft ball into another at home.
   3. The Bounce TestA picture-book class: at a science museum's chain-reaction machine, your child reads a true science text with three figures about why bounces get lower and the tennis ball test, reads a bounce chart, asks a question that can be tested, predicts and finds the ball that rings the bell, and drops a soft ball beside a wall at home.

   Skills

   • Explain with evidence that the faster an object moves, the more energy it has: change only its speed in a fair test, and read what it does when it hits something from a table or a column chart.
   • Explain that when objects collide, energy is transferred from the moving object to the one it hits, and some changes into sound and heat, using before-and-after speeds as evidence.
   • Ask a testable question about a collision or a bounce, predict with a reason, test fairly, compare the results with the prediction, and predict from a pattern in bounce data.

2. Energy Resources and Our Environment

   In a three-chapter mission, Hana and Theo, the Junior Energy Team of a small island that runs on a diesel generator, help their town choose a new way to make electricity: they trace electricity back to the natural resource it came from, sort resources as renewable or nonrenewable, and read data on where Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, Iowa, Nunavut and the United States get their electricity; they learn how coal, oil and natural gas formed and make a fair list of fuels' benefits and costs, including air pollution, with a chart of US energy use and a spill clean-up test; and they find out how solar panels, wind turbines and dams work, weigh their benefits and costs, read about Kodiak Island, Alaska, test a pinwheel and help the town meeting make a trade-off that fits the island.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 4-ESS3-1 Find and combine information to describe that energy and fuels come from natural resources, and that using them affects the environment.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Humming ShedA picture-book class: on an island whose electricity comes from one diesel generator, your child reads a true science text with a map and figures about where energy comes from (with real data from Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, Iowa, Nunavut and the United States), sorts resources as renewable or nonrenewable, traces a lamp back to its natural resource, and makes a cup model of renew or run out at home.
   2. The Fuel BoatA picture-book class: when the fuel boat comes to an island, your child reads a true science text with figures about how coal, oil and natural gas formed and about uranium, makes a fair list of fuels' benefits and costs, reads a chart of the energy the United States used in 2023, and tests ways to clean up a pretend oil spill with water and cooking oil at home.
   3. The Town MeetingA picture-book class: before an island's town meeting, your child reads a true science text with figures about solar panels, wind turbines, dams and an Alaskan island that runs on water and wind, weighs their benefits and costs, reads a line chart of US electricity from wind and sunlight, and tests a pinwheel with gentle and hard breaths at home.

   Skills

   • Explain that the energy we use starts with a natural resource, sort resources as renewable or nonrenewable by how fast nature replaces them, and use data that names its place and year to compare where places get their electricity.
   • Describe how fossil fuels formed and why they are nonrenewable, and make a fair list of the benefits and costs of fuels and uranium, including effects on the environment, with evidence from data.
   • Describe how solar panels, wind turbines and dams make electricity, weigh their benefits and costs, explain why sun and wind need storage or a backup, and use data about a place to choose what fits it, as a trade-off.

3. Moving Energy: Design a Device

   In a three-chapter mission, Jada and Arlo, the Junior Fixers of a neighborhood toy library, get a box of broken toys ready for Fix-It Day: they find out that energy moves from place to place by sound, light, heat and electric current, make sound visible with jumping rice, read a chart of how loud sounds are and count the seconds from lightning to thunder; they learn that current flows only around a complete circuit, sort conductors and insulators with a battery circuit kit and a grown-up, and read data on how much of an old-style bulb's energy becomes heat; and they define a design problem with criteria and constraints, hear how the light bulb was tested and improved, and build, test and improve a paper-cup frog that changes energy stored in rubber bands into motion.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 4-PS3-2 Make observations that show energy moving from place to place by sound, light, heat and electric current.; 4-PS3-4 Use science ideas to design, test and improve a device that changes energy from one form to another.; 3-5-ETS1-1 Define a simple design problem for a need or a want, with criteria for success and limits on materials, time or cost.; 3-5-ETS1-3 Plan and carry out fair tests, changing one thing and finding where a model or prototype fails, to see how it can be improved.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Jumping RiceA picture-book class: at a toy library's Fix-It Day, your child reads a true science text with figures about how energy moves by sound, light, heat and electric current, reads a chart of how loud everyday sounds are, counts from lightning to thunder, and makes rice jump on a plastic-wrapped bowl by tapping a pot at home.
   2. The Dark FlashlightA picture-book class: when a toy library's flashlight won't light, your child reads a true science text with figures about circuits, batteries, conductors and insulators, traces which circuits will light, reads a chart of how much of an old-style bulb's energy becomes heat, and, only with a grown-up and a battery circuit kit, tests which household things let current through.
   3. The Jumping FrogA picture-book class: when a toy library's wind-up frog can't be fixed, your child reads a true science text with figures about how engineers design, the long story of the light bulb and how a rubber band stores energy, works through a fair test and a failure point, and, with a grown-up, builds and improves a paper-cup jumping frog.

   Skills

   • Explain with evidence that energy moves from place to place by sound, light, heat and electric current, and that stored energy can change into motion.
   • Explain that current flows only around a complete circuit, sort conductors and insulators, and describe how devices change electric energy into light, heat, sound or motion, using batteries safely.
   • Define a design problem with criteria and constraints, plan fair tests that change one thing at a time, find a prototype's failure points and improve it.

4. Waves, Light and Codes

   In a three-chapter mystery, two Junior Rangers at Gull Bay find a note in a floating jar and answer a scientist's flashing signal from Gull Island: on the way children model waves (amplitude, wavelength, and how waves make floating things bob in place), explain with light-ray arrows that we see an object when light reflects off it into our eyes, and decode a Morse-style flash message, then compare ways to send a reply by how well each meets the criteria.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 4-PS4-1 Make a model of waves that shows their patterns of amplitude and wavelength, and that waves can make objects move.; 4-PS4-2 Make a model showing that we see an object when light reflects off it and goes into the eye.; 4-PS4-3 Come up with and compare several solutions that use patterns to send information.; 3-5-ETS1-2 Come up with and compare several solutions by how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Message in a JarA picture-book class: on Gull Bay, your child and two Junior Rangers watch a floating jar bob in place as waves roll past, read a wave diagram for amplitude and wavelength, make arm waves in a movement break, test a model wave tub and explain to a classmate, with evidence, what waves do to floating things. A note in the jar starts a three-part mystery.
   2. The Dark LighthouseA picture-book class: in the pitch-dark keeper's room of an old lighthouse, your child and two Junior Rangers find a code chart by flashlight, draw a light map from light source to object to eye, trace the light in their own room, bounce a beam off a mirror to find a hidden clue and teach a classmate that our eyes take light in, not send it out.
   3. The Blinking IslandA picture-book class: from a lighthouse at night, your child and two Junior Rangers decode a scientist's flashing message with a Morse-style code chart, flash letters with their hands in a movement break, compare four ways to send a reply across a dark bay against the criteria and constraints, and explain to a classmate why a message needs a code.

   Skills

   • Use a wave diagram or model to describe amplitude and wavelength, and explain with evidence that a wave makes a floating object bob up and down in place.
   • Use a model with arrows to explain that we see an object when light from a light source reflects off it and goes into our eyes.
   • Use a pattern code to send and read a message, and compare solutions for sending it by how well each meets the criteria and constraints.

5. Body Structures and Senses

   In a three-chapter mystery, Noor and Kai, the Junior Naturalists of a nature center, find out who is eating the garden's corn at night: they learn that plant structures like roots, stems, leaves, thorns, flowers and seeds each have a function, read real data on the roots of a redwood and a saguaro, and look inside a celery stalk; they find that animals' outside structures and inside organs work together as a system, count heartbeats before and after exercise and match tracks by the fence to a raccoon; and they model how senses take in information that the brain makes sense of, stores as memories and answers with a response, with labeled cross-sections of the eye and the ear, a barn owl that hunts by sound and a ruler-drop test of their own.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 4-LS1-1 Argue from evidence that plants and animals have inside and outside structures that help them survive, grow, behave and have young.; 4-LS1-2 Use a model to describe how animals take in information through their senses, make sense of it in the brain and respond in different ways.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Chewed CornA picture-book class: at a nature center where something has been eating the corn, your child reads a true science text with labeled diagrams about how plants' structures help them grow, survive and make new plants, compares the roots of a redwood and a saguaro cactus from real park data, learns how seeds travel, and looks inside a celery stalk at home with a grown-up doing the cutting.
   2. Tracks in the MudA picture-book class: as the nature center's mystery goes on, your child reads a true science text with labeled diagrams about animals' outside and inside structures, matches the night visitor's tracks to a track guide, reads made-up heartbeat and breathing charts to see organs working together as a system, and tries the mitten test at home to find out what separate fingers are for.
   3. Eyes in the DarkA picture-book class: as the nature center's mystery ends, your child reads a true science text with labeled cross-sections of the eye and the ear, builds models of how a barn owl and a raccoon take in information, make sense of it and respond, and tries a ruler-drop catching test at home with a grown-up.

   Skills

   • Explain with evidence how plant structures, such as roots, stems, leaves, thorns, flowers and seeds, help plants grow, survive and make new plants.
   • Explain with evidence how animals' outside structures and inside organs help them survive, grow, behave and have young, and how organs work together as a system.
   • Use a model to explain how sense organs take in information, nerves carry signals to the brain, and the brain makes sense of them, keeps memories and sends signals to the muscles for a response.

6. Weathering, Erosion and Rock Layers

   In a three-chapter mission, Ivy and Omar, the Junior Geologists of a canyon park, write new trail signs after a storm: they learn how water, ice, plants and wind weather rock into sediment, read real rock falls (Percé Rock, the Old Man of the Mountain, Wall Arch) and shake chalk in a jar; they find how water, ice, wind and gravity erode the land and drop sediment where they slow down, read the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse's shrinking beach and test a steep and a gentle sand slope in a tray; and they read rock layers and fossils as evidence that a landscape changed, from the Grand Canyon's sea fossils above old desert dunes to a layer model in a plastic cup.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 4-ESS1-1 Use patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers as evidence of how a landscape changed over time.; 4-ESS2-1 Make observations or measurements that show the effects of weathering, or how fast water, ice, wind or plants erode the land.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Fallen ArchA picture-book class: in a canyon park, your child reads a true science text on how water, ice, plants and wind break rock into sediment, finds the pattern in three real rocks that fell, sees why freezing water splits rock, and tries a shake test with chalk and pebbles in a plastic jar at home with a grown-up.
   2. The Washed-Out TrailA picture-book class: in a canyon park, your child reads a true science text on how water, ice, wind and gravity carry sediment away and drop it to build deltas and dunes, reads real measurements of a lighthouse the waves nearly reached, and tries a slope test with damp sand and water in a tray at home with a grown-up.
   3. Shells on the RimA picture-book class: as the canyon mystery ends, your child reads a true science text on reading rock layers and fossils as clues to how a place changed, reads real facts about the Grand Canyon, finds out how a river cuts a canyon, and builds a layer model in a clear plastic cup at home with a grown-up.

   Skills

   • Explain with evidence how water, ice, plants and wind weather rock into smaller pieces called sediment, and how freezing and thawing pries cracks wider.
   • Use observations and measurements to compare how fast water, ice, wind and gravity erode the land, and explain where sediment is deposited and why.
   • Use rock layers and the fossils in them as evidence of the order of events and of how a landscape changed over time, and explain how a river cuts a canyon.

7. Earth's Features and Natural Hazards

   In a three-chapter mission, Amara and Jin, the Junior Map Team of a science center, finish its new Restless Earth hall: they read maps drawn from above to find that most volcanoes, earthquakes and deep ocean trenches line up along the edges of Earth's plates, many around the Pacific, place real volcanoes on a map and map a hidden floor in a shoebox; they learn what a seismometer records and what natural hazards are, how braces and base isolators keep buildings standing and how families get ready, compare real solutions and a fair shake-table test, and shake two block towers on a tray; and they read how scientists monitor volcanoes (the real warnings at Mount Pinatubo in 1991) and how towns hold back floods, choose solutions by their criteria and constraints, and design a flood barrier in a baking pan.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 4-ESS2-2 Read and use maps to describe patterns of Earth's features.; 4-ESS3-2 Come up with and compare several solutions that make the effects of natural Earth processes on people less harmful.; 3-5-ETS1-2 Come up with and compare several solutions by how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Spilled PinsA picture-book class: in a science center's new hall, your child reads a true science text on maps drawn from above, the ocean floor and the pattern of volcanoes, earthquakes and trenches along Earth's plate edges, places real volcanoes on a map of the Pacific, and maps a hidden floor in a shoebox at home with a grown-up.
   2. The Shake TableA picture-book class: in a science center's new hall, your child reads a true science text on earthquakes, seismometers and natural hazards, learns how engineers design buildings that stay standing and how families get ready, compares real solutions and a fair shake-table test, and tests two block towers on a shake tray at home with a grown-up's OK.
   3. Watch and WarnA picture-book class: on the last day before a science center's new hall opens, your child reads a true science text on how scientists monitor volcanoes and how towns hold back floods, reads a volcano's clues and the real warnings at Mount Pinatubo in 1991, compares solutions by their criteria and constraints, and designs a flood barrier in a baking pan at home with a grown-up pouring the water.

   Skills

   • Read maps drawn from above, with their keys, to describe patterns of Earth's features: most volcanoes, earthquakes, mountains and trenches lie along plate edges, many around the Pacific.
   • Explain how people make natural hazards less harmful: buildings that stay standing in earthquakes, monitoring volcanoes, holding back floods, and being ready and following local warnings.
   • Compare several solutions with data from tests and tables, by how well each meets the criteria and stays within the constraints, and choose the best one or a mix.

Social Studies

1. Our Region on the Map

   Reading a region on maps, told as a mission in three picture books: in the Willow Valley Map Rally, a made-up region, Maya and Kofi use a map's toolkit to find their first checkpoint, read the land on a physical map and a satellite picture to find the second, then zoom from the valley map to a town map and make a map for the library's guidebook, with real examples from orienteering, the Fraser River and Montreal.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Geo.1.3-5 Make maps and other graphics of places you know and places you don't.; D2.Geo.2.3-5 Use maps, satellite pictures and photos to explain how where places and regions are relates to their land, water and climate.; D2.Geo.3.3-5 Use maps of different scales to describe where cultural and natural features are.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Map RallyA picture-book class: the Willow Valley Map Rally begins, and your child learns a map's toolkit (the legend, the compass rose and its intermediate directions, the scale bar and the grid), meets orienteering, a real map sport from Sweden and Norway, watches the teacher find checkpoint 1 and measure how far it is, then finds a square, designs a symbol and helps Sam use the scale bar.
   2. Reading the LandA picture-book class: clue card 2 of the Willow Valley Map Rally has no square, so your child learns to read the land on a physical map (elevation colors, rivers flowing downhill) and a satellite picture, meets a real river, the Fraser in Canada, and the Stó:lō, the People of the River, watches the teacher find checkpoint 2 and explain why a town grew there, then picks the best evidence, explains why a town grew at Bayport and helps Sam with which way rivers flow.
   3. The Guidebook MapA picture-book class: the last checkpoint of the Willow Valley Map Rally is too small for the valley map, so your child learns about maps of different scales, zoomed out and zoomed in, meets one real city on three maps, Montreal, called Tiohtià:ke in Kanien'kéha, watches the teacher zoom in to a town map and make a guidebook map with a short summary, then picks the right map for a question, improves a map for a bike club and helps Sam.

   Skills

   • Read and make a map with its toolkit: a legend of symbols, a compass rose with the cardinal and intermediate directions, a scale bar for real distances, and a grid of lettered and numbered squares.
   • Read a physical map's elevation colors and a satellite image together, follow rivers downhill, and explain with evidence why towns, farms, forests and snow are where they are.
   • Choose a zoomed-in or zoomed-out map for a question, say what each can and can't show, check who made a map and when, and make a map with a short summary for people outside the class.

2. Land, Water and Climate

   How land, water and climate shape where and how people live, told as a mission in three picture books: Maya and Kofi write chapter 2 of the Willow Valley guidebook, a made-up region. They read climate graphs to tell weather from climate and explain why climates differ, read a population map and ask different people why most of the valley lives along the river, and find out how people, and their cultures, adapt to the land and change it, with real examples from Vancouver, Winnipeg, Singapore, Iceland, Japan and the Philippines.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Geo.4.3-5 Explain how culture shapes the ways people change and adapt to their environment.; D2.Geo.6.3-5 Describe how land, water, climate and culture affect where people live in a place or region.; D2.Geo.8.3-5 Explain how where people settle and travel relates to where natural resources are and how they are used.; D2.Geo.10.3-5 Explain why land, water and climate differ in different regions of the world.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Weather or Climate?A picture-book class: Maya and Kofi start chapter 2 of the Willow Valley guidebook, and your child learns the difference between weather and climate, reads climate graphs (a line for temperature, columns for rain and snow), learns why climates differ (the equator, elevation, oceans and mountains) with real cities, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Singapore, watches the teacher explain why Snowcap is colder than Two Forks, then reads Bayport's graph, explains its mild winters and helps Sam.
   2. Where People LiveA picture-book class: chapter 2 of the Willow Valley guidebook goes on with the big question, why do people live where they do? Your child learns what draws people to a place (water, flat land and soil, climate, natural resources, ways to travel), reads a population map of dots, meets a real country, Iceland, watches the teacher read the valley's dot map and check three people's answers against the maps, then counts Bayport's people, explains why so few live in the mountains and helps Sam.
   3. Fitting the LandA picture-book class: the last book of chapter 2 of the Willow Valley guidebook asks how people fit the land. Your child learns the difference between adapting to a place and changing the land, that a change can have effects nobody planned, and how culture shapes people's choices, meets two real places, Shirakawa-go in Japan and the Ifugao rice terraces in the Philippines, watches the teacher sort the valley's ways and build an explanation in order, then explains a farmer's terraces from his own words and helps Sam.

   Skills

   • Tell weather from climate, read a climate graph's temperature line and precipitation columns, and explain with evidence why climates differ around the world: distance from the equator, elevation, water nearby and mountains.
   • Read a population map and explain, with evidence from several sources, why people live where they do in a region: water, land, climate and natural resources, seeing a big question from different people's points of view.
   • Explain how people adapt to their environment and change it, how culture shapes their choices, and what good and bad effects a change can have, using an interview and other sources.

3. History Detectives

   How we find out about a region's past, told as a mystery in three picture books: two young detectives in Ferry Bend, a made-up river town with no ferry, sort their clues into primary and secondary sources, ask who made each source and why, and solve the case with a timeline, a claim and evidence.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.His.1.3-5 Make and use a timeline of related events, and compare things that happened at the same time.; D2.His.4.3-5 Explain why people living at the same time saw things differently.; D2.His.5.3-5 Explain how what was going on at the time connects to how people saw things then.; D2.His.6.3-5 Describe how people's points of view shaped the sources they made.; D2.His.9.3-5 Summarize how different kinds of sources are used to explain the past.; D2.His.10.3-5 Compare what different sources tell about the past.; D2.His.11.3-5 Use clues inside a source to work out who it was made for and why.; D2.His.12.3-5 Ask questions about several sources and how they connect to an event.; D2.His.13.3-5 Use who made a source, when and where, who it was for and why, to judge how useful it is for a question.; D2.His.14.3-5 Explain the likely causes and effects of events and changes.; D2.His.16.3-5 Use evidence to make a claim about the past.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Ferry Bend MysteryA picture-book class: a river town called Ferry Bend has no ferry, so two young detectives open a box of clues, and your child learns what a source is, how to tell a primary source (made at the time) from a secondary source (made later), and which source answers which question.
   2. Two Sides of the RiverA picture-book class: in the Ferry Bend mystery a cheerful bridge poster and a sad ferry keeper's diary tell the same week two ways, and your child learns to ask who made a source, who it was for and why, and how a maker's point of view shapes what a source says.
   3. Case ClosedA picture-book class: the Ferry Bend detectives put their clues on a timeline and close the case for the whole town, and your child learns to put events in order, explain a cause and its effect, and back a claim about the past with evidence from sources.

   Skills

   • Tell a primary source (made at the time, by someone who was there) from a secondary source (made later, by someone who wasn't), and choose the source that best answers a question about the past.
   • Ask who made a source, when, who it was for and why (its audience and purpose), explain how its maker's point of view shaped it, and judge which source is more useful for a question.
   • Put events from several sources on a timeline, explain a cause and its effect, and make a claim about the past backed by evidence from the sources.

4. First Peoples and Newcomers

   Who lived in a place first, who came later, and why people saw the same events differently, told as a trip in three picture books: Nana Ama takes Maya and Kofi by train to Winnipeg, where she came from Ghana over fifty years ago, to make a travel journal, Then and Now. They learn about The Forks, a meeting place for about 6,000 years in the homeland of First Nations and the Red River Métis, from things in the ground, records and oral history; interview Nana Ama and meet newcomers from many places and times; and visit Lower Fort Garry, where Treaty 1 was made in 1871, to hear two views of the same treaty, the promises broken, and what people do about it today.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.His.2.3-5 Compare life in a particular time in the past with life today.; D2.His.3.3-5 Ask questions about people and groups who shaped important changes, and things that stayed the same.; D2.His.4.3-5 Explain why people living at the same time saw things differently.; D2.His.5.3-5 Explain how what was going on at the time connects to how people saw things then.; D2.Geo.7.3-5 Explain how land, water, climate and culture affect how people, goods and ideas spread and move.; D2.Geo.8.3-5 Explain how where people settle and travel relates to where natural resources are and how they are used.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Meeting PlaceA picture-book class: Nana Ama takes Maya and Kofi by train to Winnipeg to start a travel journal, Then and Now. Your child learns that all of North America is the homeland of Indigenous nations, living nations called by their own names, and how we know about the long past from things in the ground, records and oral history; meets The Forks, a meeting place for about 6,000 years; watches the teacher answer how do we know? and compare then and now on a timeline; then chooses sources, compares two pictures and helps Sam.
   2. NewcomersA picture-book class: at Winnipeg's old train station, Maya interviews Nana Ama about why she came from Ghana in 1975. Your child learns what pushes people to leave home and pulls them to a new place, that newcomers came from many places at many times and still come, how land and water shaped their journeys and where they settled, on lands already home to Indigenous nations; meets the Red River's newcomers, from the Selkirk settlers helped by Chief Peguis to today; watches the teacher sort pushes and pulls and read an interview as a source; then chooses sources and helps Sam.
   3. Treaty PromisesA picture-book class: at Lower Fort Garry, where Treaty 1 was made in 1871, Maya asks how one treaty can mean two things. Your child learns what was going on in 1871, what the Anishinaabe and Swampy Cree chiefs and Canada each hoped for, why they understood the treaty differently, that promises were broken, including the residential schools, told truthfully and gently, and that Treaty 1 is in force today; watches the teacher compare two views and ask whose view each source shows; then explains, and helps Sam.

   Skills

   • Describe Indigenous nations as living nations, each called by its own name, learn about the long past from several kinds of sources, oral history among them, and compare life in a place then and now.
   • Explain why newcomers from many places and times came (pushes and pulls), how land and water shaped their journeys and where they settled, and use an oral-history interview and records as sources.
   • Explain why people at the same time saw a treaty differently, using what was going on at the time and who made each source, and tell the hard history of broken promises and residential and boarding schools truthfully, with what people do about it today.

5. How a Region Grows

   How transportation, inventions and people make a region grow and change over time, told as a mission in three picture books: Maya and Kofi write the Willow Valley guidebook's chapter 3, How the Valley Grew, from a dusty history box. They find out how a railway made Two Forks grow, with Vancouver and the Canadian Pacific Railway as a real example, on the homelands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations; how inventions and new neighbors changed the valley's land and work, with Phoenix, Arizona, its canals, a dam and air conditioning, beside the Akimel O'odham and Piipaash; and how a highway changed the valley's work, with Route 66 and the Alaska Highway, before they sum up a history book's argument and weigh up an explanation.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.His.1.3-5 Make and use a timeline of related events, and compare things that happened at the same time.; D2.His.14.3-5 Explain the likely causes and effects of events and changes.; D2.His.17.3-5 Summarize the main argument of a history book or article written later.; D2.Geo.5.3-5 Explain how the natural and cultural features of places change over time.; D2.Geo.11.3-5 Describe how the kinds of work in a place change over time because of its links with places near and far.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Railway ComesA picture-book class: Maya and Kofi start the Willow Valley guidebook's chapter 3, How the Valley Grew, from a dusty box with two maps of Two Forks and a timetable. Your child learns how transportation, from canoe routes to railways, changes a region, what a cause and an effect are, and how a real city, Vancouver, grew after the Canadian Pacific Railway came, on the homelands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations; watches the teacher find a cause from clues in order by date and compare two places on one timeline; then reads a chart, finds a cause in a letter and helps Sam.
   2. New Inventions, New NeighborsA picture-book class: Maya and Kofi find a 1925 photo of the Two Forks Apple Packing House, and Mrs. Ruiz tells her family's oral history. Your child learns what an invention is, how inventions and newcomers change a region, and the difference between natural and cultural features, with the prairies of Saskatchewan and Phoenix, Arizona, beside the Akimel O'odham and Piipaash, as real examples; watches the teacher build a chain of causes with a source for each link and sort features that changed; then explains how fridges changed a town's jobs, compares two maps and helps Sam.
   3. The Highway QuestionA picture-book class: Maya and Kofi finish the guidebook's chapter 3 with a 1975 newspaper, a 1985 ticket, a history book written later and Ms. Berg's memories of Snowcap. Your child learns how highways changed the kinds of work in a region, with Route 66, a bypass and tourism in Williams, Arizona, and the Alaska Highway and Whitehorse, Yukon, on the homelands of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta'an Kwäch'än Council, self-governing today; watches the teacher sum up a history book's argument in one sentence and weigh up an explanation; then finds an article's argument, weighs up Ravi's explanation and helps Sam.

   Skills

   • Explain how new transportation, from canoe routes and canals to railways, changed a region, finding causes and effects checked by their dates, comparing two places on one timeline, and using evidence from maps, charts and records.
   • Explain how inventions and people changed a region's natural and cultural features and its work over time, as a chain of causes and effects backed by evidence from several sources, oral history among them.
   • Explain how highways changed the kinds of work in a region, say the main argument of a history written later in one sentence, and weigh up an explanation: what is strong and what is missing.

6. The Region at Work

   How people in a region use its resources to make goods and services, specialize and trade, told as a mission in three picture books: Maya and Kofi write the Willow Valley guidebook's last chapter, The Valley at Work. They follow Mrs. Ruiz's apple juice from the orchard to the Snowcap café to find resources, producers and consumers, with maple syrup in Quebec as a real example, a tradition of the Anishinaabe and the Haudenosaunee; find out at Bayport harbor why the valley and Pine Ridge specialize, trade and depend on each other, with Prince Edward Island, the Mi'kmaq homeland of Epekwitk, its potatoes and the Confederation Bridge; and see how better tools, new skills and profit change what people make, with the Inuit printmakers of Kinngait, Nunavut, while they tell facts from opinions in an ad and a record book.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Eco.3.3-5 Give examples of the resources used to make goods and services: natural resources, people's skills and know-how, and tools and machines.; D2.Eco.4.3-5 Explain why people, businesses and regions specialize and trade.; D2.Eco.6.3-5 Explain how learning new skills can help people work better and earn more later.; D2.Eco.7.3-5 Explain how profit affects what sellers do in a market.; D2.Eco.13.3-5 Describe how people can make more with better tools and new skills.; D2.Eco.14.3-5 Explain how trade makes regions and countries depend on each other more and more.; D2.Geo.11.3-5 Describe how the kinds of work in a place change over time because of its links with places near and far.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. What the Valley MakesA picture-book class: Maya and Kofi start the guidebook's chapter 4 at Mrs. Ruiz's orchard, where apples become juice, and at the Snowcap café, where everyone makes something and buys something. Your child learns about goods and services, natural, human and capital resources, and producers and consumers, with a real example, maple syrup in Quebec, a tradition of the Anishinaabe and the Haudenosaunee; watches the teacher sort the juice's resources and find who makes and who buys; then sorts a boat yard's resources, explains a fish's trip to dinner and helps Sam.
   2. Trading PlacesA picture-book class: at Bayport harbor Maya and Kofi watch fish go out to Pine Ridge and bananas come in, and then snow closes the pass and the guidebook's paper can't come. Your child learns why regions specialize and trade, exports and imports, and how trade makes them depend on each other, with Canada and the United States, and a real place, Prince Edward Island, Epekwitk in Mi'kma'ki, with its potatoes and the Confederation Bridge; watches the teacher show why specializing makes more and explain what happened when the pass closed; then plans for two made-up places, explains a storm's effects and helps Sam.
   3. Tools, Skills and ProfitA picture-book class: Maya and Kofi visit the Bend Bakery, where Mr. Silva bakes more muffins, and the orchard, where a new picking platform comes with an ad and a record book, before the guidebook is printed on launch night. Your child learns how better tools and new skills help people make more and earn more, what profit is and how it changes what sellers make, and how to tell facts from opinions, with a real place, Kinngait, Nunavut, where Inuit artists make many prints from one drawing; watches the teacher work out a profit and judge two sources; then chooses for a made-up café, judges sources about a new oven and helps Sam.

   Skills

   • Sort the natural, human and capital resources used to make goods and services, tell producers from consumers, and explain step by step how resources become a good.
   • Explain why people and regions specialize and trade, how trade makes regions depend on each other, and how a new link changes the kinds of work in a place.
   • Describe how better tools and new skills help people make more and earn more, explain how profit affects what sellers make, and tell facts from opinions to judge sources.

7. Money, Banks and Choices

   Making choices about money, saving and borrowing, and what banks and credit unions do, told as a mission in three picture books: the Guidebook Club gets $600 of profit from the Willow Valley guidebook. Maya and Kofi weigh a trip against a telescope, find the opportunity cost and make a balanced budget, with Canada's real choice in 2012 to stop making pennies and its side effect on shoppers; open a savings account at a made-up credit union, find out what banks and credit unions do with savers' money, and compare it with savings circles that families around the world keep today, like the susu in Ghana and the tanda in Mexico; and see their savings grow with interest while the Bend Bakery pays interest on a loan, with Benjamin Franklin's real gift to Boston and Philadelphia, lent at interest for 200 years. Every person, price and rate in the story is made up, no real bank is named, and nothing asks about the child's or their family's own money.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Eco.1.3-5 Compare the benefits and costs of a person's choices.; D2.Eco.2.3-5 Name rewards and penalties (incentives) that change the choices people make.; D2.Eco.5.3-5 Explain how money makes trading easier.; D2.Eco.8.3-5 Give examples of good and bad side effects of a choice on other people.; D2.Eco.9.3-5 Describe what banks and other money services do in an economy.; D2.Eco.10.3-5 Explain what interest rates are.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. A Budget for the ClubA picture-book class: the Guidebook Club has $600 of profit from the guidebook and a wish list that comes to $1,050, so Maya and Kofi weigh a trip against a telescope and make a budget. Your child learns about benefits, costs and opportunity cost, budgets and saving, and side effects on other people, with a real choice, Canada's decision in 2012 to stop making pennies; watches the teacher weigh two choices and make a balanced budget; then finds a made-up girl's opportunity cost, fixes a made-up choir's budget and helps Sam.
   2. Where Money WaitsA picture-book class: the Guidebook Club saves its $300 at the Two Forks Credit Union, where Mr. Silva is borrowing for a bigger oven, and Nana Ama remembers her mother's susu in Ghana. Your child learns how money makes trading easier, what banks and credit unions do with savers' money, and how a credit union differs from a bank, with a real practice, savings circles around the world; watches the teacher follow the club's money and make a claim from two sources; then explains a made-up bank and a farmer's loan and helps Sam.
   3. Grow or OweA picture-book class: a year later, the Guidebook Club's $300 has earned $6 of interest, Mr. Silva is paying interest on his oven loan, and the club finally buys its telescope. Your child learns what interest and an interest rate are, how to work out a year's interest, and how interest works as an incentive, with a real example, Benjamin Franklin's gift to Boston and Philadelphia, lent at interest for 200 years; watches the teacher check the club's interest and weigh up a loan and an argument; then works out a made-up saver's interest and a made-up teenager's loan, and helps Sam.

   Skills

   • Weigh the benefits and costs of a choice and name its opportunity cost, make a balanced budget of money in, spending and saving, and give good and bad side effects of a choice on other people.
   • Explain how money makes trading easier, what banks and credit unions do with savers' money (deposits, loans and interest), how a credit union differs from a bank, and how a savings circle works, comparing two sources to make a claim.
   • Explain what an interest rate is, work out simple interest for savers and borrowers, explain how interest works as an incentive, and weigh up an argument about saving or borrowing, with its side effects.

8. Governing Our Region

   How a region governs itself, told as a mission in three picture books: a bright new streetlight beside the Willow Valley library spoils the Guidebook Club's star nights. Maya and Kofi find out which governments take care of which jobs, from a town council to a state or province to the whole country, and how taxes pay for services, with a real town in New Hampshire that voted in 1833 for a library paid for by everyone; write their club's own constitution with three jobs like a government's, compare how a US state and a Canadian province or territory are governed, and learn about Indigenous nations' own governments today, such as First Nations' band councils, the Nisga'a Nation and the Navajo Nation; and write to their town council and speak at its meeting, with real places that changed their lights to save the night sky, Mont-Mégantic in Quebec and Flagstaff, Arizona. The valley, its towns and council are made up, and the book never says whether the valley is in a state or a province; nothing asks the child's town or address.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Civ.1.3-5 Tell apart what different government leaders are responsible for and can do, at different levels and in different branches, in different times and places.; D2.Civ.3.3-5 Look at where rules, laws and a government's founding plan come from and what they are for.; D2.Civ.5.3-5 Explain where different systems of government come from, what they do and how they are set up, including those set up by constitutions.; D2.Civ.8.3-5 Name the main civic virtues and democratic ideas that guide governments, communities and people.; D2.Civ.11.3-5 Compare how decisions are made in different settings: a class, a school, a town, a region, a country.; D2.Eco.12.3-5 Explain how a government pays for the goods and services it provides.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Who Takes Care of It?A picture-book class: a bright new streetlight spoils the Guidebook Club's star night, and Maya and Kofi find out who takes care of it. Your child learns what the governments of a town or city, a state, province or territory, and a country take care of, that voters elect their leaders, and how taxes and fees pay for services, with a real example, a town in New Hampshire that voted in 1833 for a library paid for by everyone; watches the teacher sort a list and answer a question with two sources; then sorts a made-up town's job, explains how a made-up town could pay for a bridge, and helps Sam.
   2. The Club Makes a PlanA picture-book class: the telescope causes a fight, so the Guidebook Club writes its own constitution with three jobs, like a government's. Your child learns what a constitution is, what the three branches of a government do, how a US state and a Canadian province or territory are governed, and democratic ideas, with a real example, Indigenous nations' own governments today, such as First Nations' band councils, the Nisga'a Nation and the Navajo Nation; watches the teacher read the club's plan and compare Arizona and Manitoba; then finds the lawmakers in a made-up school council's plan, compares a state and a province for a made-up girl who moves, and helps Sam.
   3. Dear CouncilA picture-book class: the Guidebook Club writes to the town council about the bright light and speaks at its meeting, and the council votes for a shield that points the light down. Your child learns how young people take part in government, what makes a strong letter, civic virtues, and why people see a public question in different ways, with a real example, places whose councils saved the night sky, Mont-Mégantic in Quebec and Flagstaff, Arizona; watches the teacher build the club's letter and weigh the views at the meeting; then picks a way for a made-up girl to take part, says a letter to a made-up council, and helps Sam.

   Skills

   • Tell apart what town or city, state, provincial or territorial, and national governments take care of, explain how taxes and fees pay for services, and use evidence from two sources to answer a question about a government.
   • Explain what a constitution is and what the three branches of a government do, compare how a US state and a Canadian province or territory are governed, and describe Indigenous nations' own governments today.
   • Describe ways a young person can take part in government, name civic virtues and democratic ideas, see the big ideas behind different views on a public question, and build a letter with reasons and evidence to share with a council.

9. Citizens of the Region

   What citizens are and do, told as the last mission of the Willow Valley year in three picture books: the guidebook has sold out, and the Guidebook Club writes its last chapter, Citizens of Willow Valley. Maya and Kofi find out what a citizen is, what rights and responsibilities are, and how a rule can give both, reading two real sources, the US Bill of Rights and Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and how people widened rights over time; plan a River Day with kids from the valley's four towns, where working together is hard until they deliberate and find a compromise, with real shoreline cleanups in both countries; and hear different views on the river trail at a council meeting, see the council's plan (a policy) answer them all and the second edition come out with the club's own symbol on its cover, and learn how the Haida Nation and Canada care for Gwaii Haanas, and the Navajo Nation and the US National Park Service for Canyon de Chelly, together. The valley, its towns, people and rules are made up; nothing asks the child's town, address, school, citizenship or family background, and nothing is sent to a real person or government.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Civ.2.3-5 Explain how a democracy needs people to take part responsibly, and what that means for how each person takes part.; D2.Civ.4.3-5 Explain how groups of people make rules that give people responsibilities and protect freedoms.; D2.Civ.6.3-5 Describe how working together helps people and is sometimes hard, in government, at work, in volunteer groups and in families.; D2.Civ.7.3-5 Use civic virtues and democratic ideas in class and school.; D2.Civ.9.3-5 Use careful talk and listening (deliberation) to make decisions as a group.; D2.Civ.10.3-5 Name the beliefs, experiences and values behind your own and other people's points of view on a public question.; D2.Civ.12.3-5 Explain how rules and laws change a community, and how people change rules and laws.; D2.Civ.13.3-5 Explain how a government makes a plan (a policy) to solve a public problem.; D2.Civ.14.3-5 Show ways people have changed their communities and regions, long ago and today.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. What Makes a Citizen?A picture-book class: the Guidebook Club starts the guidebook's last chapter, Citizens of Willow Valley. Kofi thinks a citizen is someone with a passport, Nana Ama tells of her citizenship promise, and a new river sign gives a freedom and a responsibility at once. Your child learns what a citizen is, what rights and responsibilities are, and that many Indigenous people are citizens of their own nations too; reads two real sources, the US Bill of Rights and Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and how people widened rights over time; watches the teacher sort a rule and compare the two sources' words; then finds the responsibility in a made-up pool rule, says what they'd tell a made-up dog owner, and helps Sam.
   2. River DayA picture-book class: the Guidebook Club invites kids from the valley's four towns to plan a River Day. The meeting gets loud, until they deliberate and find a compromise, and 48 volunteers fill 60 bags. Your child learns what volunteers do, how working together helps and is sometimes hard, the steps of deliberation, compromise and two fair ways to decide, a vote and consensus, as the Haudenosaunee Grand Council decides; hears about real shoreline cleanups in the United States and Canada and their data cards; watches the teacher walk through the meeting and read River Day's data to plan and predict; then picks a step of fair deliberation, suggests a compromise for a made-up school, and helps Sam.
   3. The Last ChapterA picture-book class, the last of the year's Willow Valley story: three people on the river trail want different things, the town council's plan answers them all, and the club's guidebook comes out with its last chapter. Your child learns why people see a public question differently (experiences, beliefs and values), how to respect different views, how a government makes a policy and how citizens change one, and what symbols like flags show; hears about two real places cared for together, Gwaii Haanas (the Haida Nation and Canada) and Canyon de Chelly (the Navajo Nation and the US National Park Service), on a real map; watches the teacher read the trail meeting's views and the council's policy; then names a value, says what they would do about a shared lot, and helps Sam.

   Skills

   • Explain what a citizen is, tell rights from responsibilities and how a rule can give both, and compare two sources about rights, including how people widened rights over time.
   • Explain how volunteering and working together help a community and are sometimes hard, use deliberation, compromise and a fair way of deciding, and use evidence from data to predict what a plan might do.
   • Name the values and experiences behind different views on a shared place, explain how a policy can answer many views, explain what symbols stand for, and describe how Indigenous nations and governments care for shared places together today.

Arts Education

1. Music: Major, Minor and Simple Harmony

   Three picture-book classes in the harbor town of Gull Point, where Nia, June and Rafa bring an old song, the Harbor Song, back to life for Harbor Night: your child sings in major and in minor and turns a tune minor by moving one note a half step, restoring the song's smudged storm verse; sings over a steady drone and sings a round, learning that harmony is different notes at the same time; and makes up, writes down, checks and performs an answer phrase that ends on the home note, the song's missing ending. Along the way they meet Beethoven's Ode to Joy, Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King, bagpipes and the tanpura, and call and response from West African music to gospel, the blues and jazz.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: MU:Cr1.1.4a Improvise rhythm, melody and harmony ideas and tell how they fit a purpose and a setting, such as a social or cultural one.; MU:Cr1.1.4b Make up musical ideas, such as rhythms, melodies and simple accompaniment patterns, in related tonalities (major and minor) and meters.; MU:Cr2.1.4a Choose and arrange musical ideas for an improvisation, arrangement or composition so that it shows what they mean, and tell how it fits its purpose.; MU:Cr2.1.4b Write down their own rhythm, melody and simple harmony ideas with standard or iconic notation, or record them.; MU:Cr3.1.4a Judge and improve their own music over time, noting the changes, with criteria and feedback from the teacher and classmates.; MU:Cr3.2.4a Share the final version of their own music and tell what they wanted it to express.; MU:Pr4.2.4a Show that they understand the structure and elements (rhythm, pitch and form) of the music they perform.; MU:Pr4.2.4b Read and perform rhythm, melody and harmony patterns from iconic or standard notation.; MU:Pr5.1.4b Rehearse to improve accuracy and expression and to solve the hard parts of a piece.; MU:Pr6.1.4a Perform music, alone or with others, with expression, accuracy and a fitting interpretation.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Smudged NoteA picture-book class that is mostly singing: in Gull Point's library, an old songbook holds the Harbor Song, but sea water has smudged the notes of its storm verse. Your child warms up like a singer, hears how major and minor sound (from Happy Birthday to Grieg's Mountain King), counts half steps on a keyboard, watches Ms. Maple turn Mary Had a Little Lamb minor, then sings the Harbor Song from a pitch chart: verse 1 in major and the storm verse in minor.
   2. The Foghorn DroneA picture-book class that is mostly singing: verse 3 of Gull Point's old Harbor Song says, Sing it with the foghorn. Your child hums a steady foghorn note, hears how bagpipes, the tanpura and rounds make harmony, learns that the same notes sung together are still one melody, watches Ms. Maple build a drone part, then sings verse 3 in two parts (the tune over a drone, and the drone under the tune), fixes the hard part, and sings Row, Row, Row Your Boat as a round.
   3. The Missing EndingA picture-book class that is mostly composing and singing: the old Harbor Song's last line breaks off at a torn page with a phrase that sounds like a question. Your child warms up with call and response, hears where call and response comes from, learns how a question phrase waits and an answer phrase lands on the home note, watches Ms. Maple compose an answer, then makes up the song's missing ending, writes it down as a pitch chart, checks and improves it, and performs it two ways.

   Skills

   • Hear and sing major and minor, and turn a major tune minor by moving one note down a half step.
   • Tell melody from harmony, hold a steady drone under a tune and keep their own part in a round.
   • Make up, write down, check and improve an answer phrase that ends on the home note, and perform it, telling what it expresses.

2. Visual Art: Art Detectives (Clues, Messages and the Curator's Job)

   Three picture-book classes with the Gull Point Art Detectives, three fourth graders who must solve the mystery of a painting with no label before the library's 100th birthday show: your child observes and infers when and where an artwork was made, reads how its focal point and warm and cool colors send a message, and works as a curator, judging artworks with one set of criteria and choosing a safe place to hang them.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: VA:Cn11.1.4a From what they observe, infer information about the time, place and culture an artwork was made in.; VA:Re7.2.4a Pick out the parts of an image that send its message.; VA:Re8.1.4a Interpret an artwork using what is known about it and by looking at its subject, its forms and how its materials are used.; VA:Re9.1.4a Use one set of criteria to judge more than one artwork.; VA:Pr5.1.4a Weigh up what it takes to show and protect art in different places: indoors or outdoors, for a short time or for good, on paper or on a screen.; VA:Re7.1.4a Compare how they respond to an artwork before and after working in a similar medium themselves.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Painting With No NameA picture-book class: the Gull Point Library has found a painting with no label, and your child joins the Art Detectives to tell observations from inferences and use clues (sailboats, a pier, a horse in the street) as evidence for when and where it was made, ending on a new clue, two tiny letters in the corner.
   2. The Light in the StormA picture-book class: the Art Detectives must write what Harbor Light is saying, and your child learns to find a painting's focal point (not always in the middle) and its warm and cool colors, and uses them as evidence for its message, until an old envelope turns up on the back of the painting.
   3. Curators for a DayA picture-book class: on the library's 100th birthday the Art Detectives become curators, and your child judges artworks with one set of criteria, chooses safe places to hang them (away from sun, heat, water and bumps), and finishes the wall label once the old envelope reveals who painted Harbor Light.

   Skills

   • Tell observations from inferences and use observed clues as evidence to infer when and where an artwork was made.
   • Find an artwork's focal point and its warm and cool colors, and use them as evidence for the message or mood it sends.
   • Judge more than one artwork with the same criteria, and choose how to show and protect art (light, heat, water, bumps, eye level, a wall label).

3. Theatre: Characters, Conflict and Changing the Story

   Three picture-book classes in Gull Point, where Nia, June and Rafa put on a short play, The Keeper's Light, for the lighthouse's 150th birthday: the story of Hannah, the keeper's daughter, alone in the lighthouse on a stormy night. Your child finds out why their first scene is boring (it has no conflict), builds a conflict from a want and an obstacle, and plays Hannah on the stairs with physical choices that change with her feelings; changes one line of dialogue and one action at the scene's turning point and sees how the story, and the audience's view of Hannah, change; and plans light and sound that support the play's theme, solves a problem at the tech rehearsal, judges and revises the scene with a plan, and performs it. Along the way they meet commedia dell'arte's characters, Augusto Boal's forum theatre and the stage magic of kabuki.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: TH:Cr1.1.4a Describe the visual details of imagined worlds and improvised stories that fit a drama's given circumstances.; TH:Cr1.1.4b Picture and design technical elements that support a drama's story and circumstances.; TH:Cr1.1.4c Imagine how a character might move to support the story and its circumstances.; TH:Cr2.1.4a Work together to devise original ideas for a drama, with characters, a setting and a conflict.; TH:Cr2.1.4b Make group decisions and name the jobs needed to show a drama to classmates.; TH:Cr3.1.4a Revise and improve a drama by repeating it and reviewing it together.; TH:Cr3.1.4b Develop body and voice exercises for a drama.; TH:Cr3.1.4c Work together on solutions to design and technical problems that come up in rehearsal.; TH:Pr4.1.4a Change the dialogue and action to change the story of a drama.; TH:Pr4.1.4b Make physical choices that build a character.; TH:Pr5.1.4a Practise chosen group exercises for drama.; TH:Pr5.1.4b Suggest technical elements to use in a drama.; TH:Pr6.1.4a Share a small-group drama with classmates as the audience.; TH:Re7.1.4a Pick out the artistic choices made in a drama, by taking part and by watching.; TH:Re8.1.4a Compare different experiences of taking part in or watching a drama.; TH:Re8.1.4b Compare characters through their bodies, props and costumes, including choices that reflect cultural perspectives.; TH:Re8.1.4c Notice and discuss the changes in the body that come with feelings in a drama.; TH:Re9.1.4a Suggest a plan for judging a drama.; TH:Re9.1.4b Look at how technical elements can support a drama's theme or idea.; TH:Re9.1.4c Notice how a character's choices change how the audience sees the story.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Play With No ProblemA picture-book class that is mostly acting: Nia, June and Rafa are putting on a play for Gull Point Lighthouse's 150th birthday, but their first scene has no problem in it, and even the library cat yawns. Your child warms up like an actor, hears about commedia dell'arte's famous characters, learns that conflict is a want plus an obstacle, watches Ms. Maple play a mail carrier in deep snow, then plays Hannah, the keeper's daughter, climbing the lighthouse stairs on a stormy night: tired, then scared, then brave.
   2. Hannah's ChoiceA picture-book class that is mostly acting: Hannah's little brother asks to come up the lighthouse stairs, and Nia and June can't agree on her answer. Your child plays the improv game Yes, and, hears how Augusto Boal's forum theatre lets an audience stop a play and change it, learns to read dialogue and actions in a script, watches Ms. Maple change a scene at its turning point, then plays Hannah's answer both ways, sees how each changes the story and how we see Hannah, and chooses one.
   3. Lighthouse DayA picture-book class that is mostly designing and performing: the play is in two days, but the library has no stage lights and no storm. Your child warms up a voice for the back row, hears about kabuki's stage magic, learns how lights, sound and costumes support a play's theme and how cues work, watches Ms. Maple run, review and revise a scene with a plan for judging, then designs a sound cue and a light cue for Hannah's storm from things at home, solves a problem from the tech rehearsal, and performs the scene.

   Skills

   • Build a drama's conflict from a character's want and an obstacle (another character, nature or the self), and make physical choices (speed, weight, the body part that leads) that build the character and change with her feelings.
   • Change a scene's dialogue and action at its turning point to change the story, and explain how a character's choices change how the audience sees her and the story.
   • Choose and cue technical elements that support a drama's theme, solve a problem at a rehearsal, revise a scene by running and reviewing it with a plan for judging, and share it with an audience.

4. Dance: From an Idea to a Dance Study

   Three picture-book classes in Gull Point, where Ms. Okafor finds a yellow page from 1938 in the library: the Tide Dance, written in symbols by Ada Fenn, the town's dance teacher long ago, which the whole town once danced at the Harbor Festival. Your child decodes and dances its first line, learning where ideas for dances come from, movement problems, shape, level and pathway, and balance; dances its second line with an accent and grows the dance with choreographic devices (repeat, faster, slower, a new level, backward, accumulation) to show a feeling; and makes the ending that was torn away, writes it down in symbols, improves it after feedback, plans it for an audience on the beach and performs it. Along the way they meet Martha Graham's Lamentation, Alvin Ailey's Revelations, Trisha Brown's Accumulation and Rudolf Laban's dance notation. Every move can be done standing in a clear space or sitting in a chair.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: DA:Cr1.1.4a Find ideas for dances in many sources, such as music, words, objects, pictures, notation, dances they watch and experiences.; DA:Cr1.1.4b Set a movement problem and use the elements of dance to find a solution.; DA:Cr2.1.4a Change choreographic devices to find more movement ideas and make different patterns and structures, and talk about the choices.; DA:Cr2.1.4b Develop a dance phrase that shows an idea or a feeling, and discuss what the movement choices do.; DA:Cr3.1.4a Revise movement choices after feedback to improve a short dance study, and describe what the changes did.; DA:Cr3.1.4b Record a dance phrase with a picture map, symbols or words so that it can be danced again.; DA:Pr4.1.4a Make still and moving shapes and floor and air pathways, changing level and direction in relation to others.; DA:Pr4.1.4b Dance movement patterns accurately with the rhythm and meter of the music, including accents.; DA:Pr4.1.4c Look at the qualities and dynamics of movement and use them on purpose.; DA:Pr5.1.4a Show basic dance skills, such as alignment, coordination, balance and core support.; DA:Pr6.1.4a Plan how a dance shows its movement choices to an audience in the space it is danced in.; DA:Re7.1.4a Find the movement patterns that give a dance its style or theme.; DA:Re8.1.4a Use movements, ideas and setting, with basic dance words, to work out what a dance means.; DA:Re9.1.4a Say what makes a dance interesting as art, with dance words.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Tide PageA picture-book class that is mostly dancing: an old page found in the library turns out to be a dance from 1938, written in symbols. Your child warms up with balance, hears where two famous dances got their ideas, learns movement problems and the elements shape, level and pathway, watches Ms. Maple melt like a candle in 8 counts, then decodes and dances the first line of the Tide Dance with a crash shape of their own. Every move can be done standing in a clear space or sitting in a chair.
   2. Waves on RepeatA picture-book class that is mostly dancing: the second line of the old Tide Dance is the first one backward, with an accent, and the dance is still too short. Your child counts and dances in 8s with accents, hears how Trisha Brown grew a dance one move at a time, learns choreographic devices (repeat, faster, slower, a new level, backward, accumulation), watches Ms. Maple grow a seagull phrase, then dances line 2 and grows the Tide Dance with a device of their own. Every move can be done standing in a clear space or sitting in a chair.
   3. The Harbor FestivalA picture-book class that is mostly making and dancing: the end of the old Tide Dance is torn away, so your child makes a new ending. They warm up moving tiny and big, hear how Rudolf Laban wrote dances down in 1928, learn to give and use feedback, record a dance and plan it for an audience, watch Ms. Maple get a phrase ready, then make, write down, perform and improve the Tide Dance's ending for the Harbor Festival. Every move can be done standing in a clear space or sitting in a chair.

   Skills

   • Find ideas for dances in many sources, set a movement problem and solve it with shape, level and pathway, with alignment, core support and balance.
   • Dance phrases in time with counts and accents, and use choreographic devices to develop a phrase that shows an idea or a feeling.
   • Revise a dance study after feedback, record it with symbols so it can be danced again, plan it for an audience and a space, perform it, and say what makes a dance interesting with dance words.

5. Visual Art: Many Ideas, New Techniques, Our Region

   Three picture-book classes in Gull Point, where the town asks Nia, June and Rafa to plan a mural called Our Gull Point for the long, blank Harbor Wall. Your child brainstorms many ideas in quick thumbnails, chooses one with criteria for a goal and revises after a talk, as Hokusai did in his Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji and Monet in his grainstacks; invents a texture on a test strip, trying tools in new ways and changing one thing at a time, after Max Ernst's rubbings and Helen Frankenthaler's poured paint, and sets up and cleans up safely; and records a built place of their own region with a detail that shows how people use it or a tradition, meets artists of real regions (Faith Ringgold's Harlem, Maud Lewis's Nova Scotia, Grandma Moses's upstate New York) and compares where art lives: museums, galleries, public art and online. Your child never needs to name their town or say where they live.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: VA:Cr1.1.4a Brainstorm several ways to solve an art or design problem.; VA:Cr1.2.4a Set goals with others and make artwork that means something to the makers.; VA:Cr2.1.4a Explore and invent ways and techniques of making art.; VA:Cr2.2.4a Use and look after materials, tools and equipment so that no one gets hurt.; VA:Cr2.3.4a Record, describe and show the built places of their region.; VA:Cr3.1.4a Revise an artwork in progress using ideas from talking it over with classmates.; VA:Pr4.1.4a Look at how past, present and new technologies have changed the way artwork is kept and shown.; VA:Pr6.1.4a Compare what art museums, galleries and other places that show art are for, and the experiences they give people.; VA:Cn10.1.4a Make art that reflects the cultural traditions of their community.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Blank WallA picture-book class that is mostly sketching: Gull Point needs a design for a mural on its long, blank Harbor Wall. Your child warms up quick, light lines, hears how Hokusai showed one mountain 46 ways and Monet painted the same stacks of grain about 25 times, learns to brainstorm in thumbnail sketches and to set a goal with criteria, watches Ms. Maple sketch a lighthouse four ways, choose and revise, then sketches four different thumbnails for a panel of the wall, chooses one with criteria and revises it after talking it over. All it needs is paper and a pencil.
   2. The Texture TestA picture-book class that is mostly making: the friends test textures on paper before they paint the Harbor Wall. Your child sets up safely with a kit for rubbings (paper and a crayon) or prints (washable paint or markers, with a grown-up's OK), hears how Max Ernst invented frottage and Helen Frankenthaler poured paint, learns to test a technique by changing one thing at a time, watches Ms. Maple invent a ripple for water, then invents and names a texture technique of their own on a test strip and cleans up.
   3. Only in Gull PointA picture-book class that is mostly drawing: the friends finish the Harbor Wall mural with things only their town has. Your child learns where art lives (museums, galleries, public art, online), hears about three artists who painted their own regions (Faith Ringgold's Harlem rooftop, Maud Lewis's Nova Scotia and Grandma Moses's farms), learns how to look at the built places and traditions of any region, watches Ms. Maple record a boathouse, then draws a built place they know with a detail that shows how people use it or a tradition, and plans where it should be shown. Your child never needs to say where they live.

   Skills

   • Brainstorm many ideas for an artwork in quick thumbnails, choose one with criteria for a goal, and revise it after a talk.
   • Invent and test a technique by trying tools and materials in new ways and changing one thing at a time, choose one for a goal, and set up and clean up safely.
   • Record a built place of one's own region with its shapes, materials, use and traditions, say what artworks about real regions show, and compare where art lives and how technology shares it.

6. Music, Dance and Theatre Across Cultures and Times

   Three picture-book classes in Gull Point during Many Voices Week, when neighbors share the music, dance and theatre of their own traditions at the library. On Pan Night Mr. Baptiste's steel band plays the steelpan of Trinidad and Tobago; your child learns how the setting shapes a performance and how audiences act, meets the kora of the Mande jalis of West Africa, and performs a song they choose in two versions for two settings, judging it with criteria. On Dance Night Harpreet's team dances bhangra from Punjab and Ms. Romero dances flamenco from Andalusia; your child compares the styles with the same four looks instead of ranking them, feels how music shapes movement, and makes a dance from a celebration in their own life. On Shadow Play Night Mr. Demir performs Karagöz from Türkiye; your child meets wayang kulit of Indonesia and Chinese shadow puppetry, finds what a play shows about its community, checks where theatre words come from in two sources, and makes a three-part shadow play about a community problem by flashlight. Guests perform their own traditions; your child makes their own work and copies no costumes or sacred practices.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: MU:Pr4.1.4a Show and explain how interest, knowledge, setting and their own skill shape the music they choose to perform.; MU:Pr4.2.4c Explain how a social, cultural or historical setting shapes a performance.; MU:Pr4.3.4a Show and explain how choices of dynamics, tempo and timbre carry what a performer means.; MU:Pr5.1.4a Use agreed criteria and feedback to judge how accurate and expressive their own and a group's performances are.; MU:Pr6.1.4b Show the performer and audience manners that suit the setting, the place, the genre and the style.; MU:Re7.1.4a Show and explain how a piece of music connects to and is shaped by interests, experiences, purposes or settings.; MU:Re7.2.4a Show and explain how a piece's structure, its musical elements and its setting shape how we respond to it.; MU:Re8.1.4a Show and explain how performers use dynamics, tempo and timbre to show what they mean.; MU:Re9.1.4a Judge pieces and performances with agreed criteria and explain how well they suit the setting.; MU:Cn10.0.4a Show how their interests, knowledge and skills shape their choices when they make, perform and respond to music.; MU:Cn11.0.4a Show how music connects to the other arts, other subjects, settings and daily life.; DA:Re7.1.4b Show and explain how one dance style, or one cultural movement practice, differs from another.; DA:Cn10.1.4a Compare the main idea of a dance with their own experiences, relationships and ideas.; DA:Cn11.1.4a Describe the movements of one dance style and explain how they relate to the culture, time or community it comes from.; TH:Cn10.1.4a Find ways that a drama reflects the views of a community or culture.; TH:Cn11.1.4a Respond to community and social issues in a drama, and bring in other subjects.; TH:Cn11.2.4a Explore how different cultures tell stories through drama.; TH:Cn11.2.4b Find sources that explain where drama words and customs come from.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Pan NightA picture-book class that is mostly singing and tapping: on Pan Night at the Gull Point library, a steel band plays and the friends learn that every setting has its own sound and its own manners. Your child explores timbre, the color of a sound, hears about two living music traditions (the steelpan of Trinidad and Tobago and the kora played by West Africa's jalis), learns how the setting shapes loud and soft, fast and slow, and sound color, watches Ms. Maple plan and judge a song for a campfire sing-along, then performs a song of their choice two ways, for a quiet and a lively setting, and judges it with criteria.
   2. Dance NightA picture-book class that is mostly moving: on Dance Night at the Gull Point library, a bhangra team and a flamenco dancer share two very different living dance traditions. Your child moves to two beats, hears where bhangra (Punjab) and flamenco (Andalusia, Spain) come from and why their moves look the way they do, learns to compare dance styles with dance words, watches Ms. Maple turn her own garden into a dance, then makes and dances a short phrase from a celebration in their own life and compares it. Every move can be done standing in a clear space or sitting in a chair.
   3. Shadow Play NightA picture-book class that is mostly making and performing: on Shadow Play Night at the Gull Point library, a Karagöz shadow play makes everyone laugh, and the friends make their own shadow play about litter on their beach. Your child finds out where theatre words like break a leg come from (and why two sources matter), hears about three living shadow theatre traditions (wayang kulit in Indonesia, Karagöz in Türkiye and Chinese shadow puppets), learns what a play shows about its community, watches Ms. Maple plan a play about a bus stop with too few seats, then makes a puppet and performs a short shadow play by flashlight about a problem in a community they know. A flashlight only, never a candle.

   Skills

   • Choose music to perform for a setting, perform it with dynamics, tempo and timbre that fit, judge and refine it with criteria, and explain how settings and cultures shape music and how audiences act.
   • Compare dance styles from different cultures with dance words by the body, the energy, the music, and where and why they are danced; explain how music shapes movement; and make a dance from one's own experience and compare its main idea with other dances.
   • Describe how different cultures tell stories through shadow theatre, find what a drama shows about its community, make and perform a problem play with a fact from another subject, and check where theatre words come from in more than one source.

Physical and Health Education

1. Spring, Step and Land

   Three picture books with textbook pages about Nia and Ravi, two fourth graders on a mission to make a floor routine for their school's Spring Showcase with Coach Bea, the PE teacher: the spring-and-step take-off and a stuck landing, checked with a landing checklist; balances on different bases of support with tight muscles and stretched free parts, tested with a balance chart; and a routine that joins a travel, the take-off, the landing and a balance, practiced safely and responsibly with a partner when the teacher isn't right beside them, with a warm-up, a cool-down and stop, drink, rest and tell.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E1.4 Uses a range of locomotor skills in small practice tasks, dance and educational gymnastics.; S1.E3.4 Uses spring-and-step take-offs and landings, as in gymnastics.; S1.E7.4 Holds balances on different bases of support with tight muscles and stretched-out free body parts.; S3.E2.4 Takes an active part in PE, both teacher-led and on their own.; S4.E1.4 Acts responsibly when working with others without the teacher right beside them.; S4.E6.4 Works safely with others and with equipment.; 1.5.4 Describes ways to prevent common childhood injuries and health problems.; 7.5.3 Practices ways to avoid or lower health risks.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Spring and StepA picture-book class: Nia and Ravi start making a floor routine for the Spring Showcase, and your child learns the spring-and-step take-off (a step into a two-foot take-off with an arm swing) and how to stick a soft landing, checks their own landings with a four-point checklist, and moves for about half the class.
   2. Hold It StillA picture-book class: Nia and Ravi test balances for their Spring Showcase routine, and your child learns what a base of support is, why a bigger base is steadier, and how tight muscles, stretched free parts and eyes on a spot make a balance still, holding balances for about half the class.
   3. The Showcase RoutineA picture-book class: Nia and Ravi practice on their own, join their take-off, landing and balance into a routine and perform it at the Spring Showcase, and your child learns what a routine and a smooth transition are, how to practice responsibly with a partner when the teacher is busy, and to stop, drink, rest and tell when hot or dizzy, running their own routine for about half the class.

   Skills

   • Do a spring-and-step take-off: a step, both feet together with the knees bent, and an arm swing up into a two-foot take-off.
   • Stick a soft landing on two feet (feet about hip-width, knees bent, arms forward, still for 3 counts) and use a landing checklist and practice data to give and use feedback.
   • Hold balances on different bases of support (the body parts touching the floor), with tight muscles and stretched free parts, and tell how the base changes how hard a balance is.
   • Join a start shape, a travel, a take-off, a landing, a balance and an end shape into a short routine with smooth transitions, and take an active part in practicing it.
   • Practice safely and responsibly with a partner when the teacher isn't right beside you: follow the plan, take turns, give kind feedback, and use space and equipment safely.
   • Prevent injuries when moving (warm up, a clear space, cool down) and stop, drink water, rest and tell a grown-up when hot, thirsty, dizzy or hurt.

2. The Five Parts of Fitness

   Three picture books with textbook pages about Nia and Ravi, two fourth graders on a mission to write The Fitness Five, a guide for their Grade 2 buddies' Family Fitness Night, with Coach Bea, the PE teacher: the five parts of health-related fitness (heart-and-lung endurance, muscle strength, muscle endurance, flexibility and body composition, which is named only and never measured), a move for each part you can practice and why at least 60 minutes of activity a day helps; picking a pace for a short dash or a long run, warming up before and cooling down after a heart-and-lung challenge, and water before, during and after play; and a fitness check of your own, compared only with your own earlier result, a just-right goal with a tracking chart and helpers, and rating the fun of a challenge and of something you've mastered.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E2.4 Picks a good pace for different running distances.; S3.E3.4 Names the components of health-related fitness.; S3.E4.4 Warms up before and cools down after a heart-and-lung fitness challenge.; S3.E5.4 Takes part in fitness checks and, with the teacher's help, picks an area to work on and ways to improve it.; S3.E6.4 Talks about why water matters for activity and how to choose drinks for play.; S5.E1.4 Examines the health benefits of being physically active.; S5.E2.4 Rates how much they enjoy activities that challenge them and activities they have mastered.; 1.5.1 Describes how healthy behaviors and personal health are linked.; 6.5.1 Sets a personal health goal and tracks progress toward it.; 6.5.2 Names people and things that can help reach a personal health goal.; 7.5.2 Practices healthy behaviors that keep or improve health.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Fitness FiveA picture-book class: Nia and Ravi start writing a fitness guide for younger kids, and your child learns the five parts of health-related fitness (heart-and-lung endurance, muscle strength, muscle endurance, flexibility and body composition), tells strength from endurance, tests a four-station circuit, learns why kids need at least 60 minutes of activity a day, and moves for about half the class. Nothing about your child's body is checked or measured.
   2. Pace YourselfA picture-book class: in a 3-minute lap test, Ravi sprints off and runs out of puff while Nia keeps an even pace, and your child learns to pick a pace for the distance (sprint pace for a short dash, an even pace for a long run, checked with the talk test), to warm up before and cool down after a heart-and-lung challenge, and why water before, during and after play matters, and does a 3-minute even-pace challenge, moving for about half the class.
   3. My Fitness PlanA picture-book class: Nia and Ravi finish their fitness guide with its last page, My Fitness Plan, and your child does a fitness check of their own (moves only: nothing about their body is weighed or measured, and results are compared only with their own), picks a part of fitness to work on, learns to set a goal with what, how much, how often and by when, track it and name helpers, rates the fun of a challenge and a mastered move, and moves for about half the class.

   Skills

   • Name the five parts of health-related fitness (heart-and-lung endurance, muscle strength, muscle endurance, flexibility and body composition) and tell what each one means.
   • Tell which part of fitness an activity mostly builds, using clues (how hard, how many or how long, how it feels), and do a move for each part you can practice.
   • Tell how being active is linked to health, and that kids need at least 60 minutes of activity every day.
   • Pick a pace for the distance: a fast pace for a short dash and an even pace you can keep for a long run, checked with the talk test.
   • Warm up before and cool down after a heart-and-lung challenge, and drink water before, during and after activity.
   • Take part in a fitness check of your own, compare only with your own earlier result, and pick a part of fitness to work on.
   • Set a just-right fitness goal, track it on a chart, and name people and things that help; rate the fun of a challenge and of something you've mastered.

3. Fact Finders: Health Claims, Ads and Choices

   Three picture books about Nia and Ravi, two fourth graders who run their school's Fact Finders board: they check an ad that says Rocket Sneakers make you jump twice as far, spot the tricks behind a famous jumper's video and how screens help or get in the way of health, then make a careful decision about getting ready for the Spring Jump Contest and post a report with an opinion and accurate information.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E3.4 Uses spring-and-step take-offs and landings, as in gymnastics.; S3.E1.4 Looks at the chances to be active outside PE class and thinks about which to use.; S5.E1.4 Examines the health benefits of being physically active.; 2.5.3 Identifies how friends and classmates can influence healthy and unhealthy behavior.; 2.5.5 Explains how media influences thoughts, feelings and health behavior.; 2.5.6 Describes ways technology can influence personal health.; 3.5.1 Identifies the signs of valid health information, products and services.; 3.5.2 Finds people and places at home, at school and in the community that give valid health information.; 5.5.1 Spots health situations that need a careful decision.; 5.5.3 Lists healthy options for a health problem.; 5.5.4 Predicts the possible outcomes of each option in a health decision.; 5.5.5 Chooses a healthy option when making a decision.; 5.5.6 Describes the outcomes of a health decision.; 8.5.1 Gives opinions and accurate information about health issues.; 8.5.2 Encourages others to make healthy choices.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Rocket Sneaker AdA picture-book class: Nia and Ravi, the school's Fact Finders, check an ad that says Rocket Sneakers make you jump twice as far, and your child learns to ask who made a claim and what they want, to tell a claim from evidence, and to run a fair test.
   2. Behind the ScreenA picture-book class: the Fact Finders spot the #ad behind a famous jumper's video and notice how screens can help or get in the way of health, and your child learns four ad tricks, what media influence means, and how to plan active time.
   3. The Fact Finders' ReportA picture-book class: Nia decides how to get ready for the jump contest and the Fact Finders post their final report, and your child learns to list options, predict each outcome, choose, look back, and share an opinion with accurate information.

   Skills

   • Check a health claim or product for signs of valid information: who made it and what they want, evidence, an expert source, up to date, and not too good to be true.
   • Tell evidence from a claim, and use a fair test (same person, same move, a few tries each, one thing changed) to check a claim about a product.
   • Spot how ads and media try to influence thoughts, feelings and choices (a famous face, everyone has one, hurry, paid posts) and how friends can too.
   • Describe how technology can help health (tracking steps, move-along videos, looking things up with a grown-up) and get in the way (long sitting, screens at bedtime), find valid sources of health information, and pick chances to be active outside class.
   • Make a health decision step by step: name it, list healthy options, predict each option's outcome, choose, and look back at what happened.
   • Share an opinion with accurate information and its source about a health issue, and encourage others to make healthy choices.

4. Throw, Catch and Volley

   Three picture books with textbook pages about Nia and Ravi, two fourth graders who host the skill stations at their school's Play Day for the Grade 2 buddies and their families, with Coach Bea, the PE teacher, making a station card for each: an underhand throw with good form to a target and catching at every level with the right hands; an overhand throw with accuracy at a far target, fixing misses from a miss map, and listening to a correcting tip and trying it; and an underhand volley and a two-hand overhead volley with a balloon, picking the throw, volley or strike a game calls for, and welcoming and praising players of every skill level. Every throw is practised with soft things at a target that can't break, never at people or pets, with a seated version of every move.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E13.4 Uses the underhand throw with good form toward a partner or a target.; S1.E14.4 Throws overhand with good form when nothing around is changing, and to a partner or target with accuracy at a fair distance.; S1.E16.4 Catches a thrown ball above the head, at chest or waist level and below the waist, with good form.; S1.E22.4 Volleys underhand with good form, and volleys a light ball upward with two hands overhead.; S2.E5.4 Recognizes which kind of throw, volley or strike a game situation calls for.; S4.E3.4 Listens respectfully to correcting feedback from others.; S4.E4.4 Praises the movement of others, more and less skilled, and welcomes players of every skill level.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Target TossA picture-book class: Nia and Ravi start hosting skill stations for Play Day, and your child learns a good underhand throw in five parts (face the target, arm back, step with the opposite foot, let go between knee and waist, point), works out why Ravi's toss sails over the basket, tests the station with rolled-up socks and a basket, and catches at three levels with the right hands, moving for about half the class.
   2. Far TargetA picture-book class: at the Far Target station, Ravi throws as hard as he can and misses to the left, then learns to take Coach Bea's tip, and your child learns a good overhand throw in five parts (T, L, step and turn, let go in front, follow through), reads a miss map to pick a fix, throws at a pillow target with rolled-up socks, and practices taking a tip and trying it, moving for about half the class.
   3. Play Day VolleyA picture-book class: at Play Day, Lily misses a high balloon and feels she's no good, and Kai's grandpa asks to join, and your child learns an underhand volley and a two-hand overhead volley with a balloon, picks the throw, volley or strike a game calls for with a flowchart, and practices welcoming every player and giving praise that names what they did, moving for about half the class.

   Skills

   • Throw underhand to a target with good form: face it, arm back, step with the opposite foot, let go between knee and waist, and follow through pointing at the target.
   • Catch above the head, at the chest and below the waist with the right hands (thumbs together above the waist, pinkies together below it), eyes on the ball, reaching and giving.
   • Practise throwing, catching and volleying safely: soft things or a balloon a grown-up blows up, a target that can't break, a clear space away from windows, screens and stairs, never at people or pets, a grown-up's OK, or a seated version.
   • Throw overhand with good form and accuracy at a far target: side to the target with the other arm pointing at it, the arm back with the elbow up, a step with the opposite foot as the hips and shoulders turn, and a follow-through across the body; fix misses from where they land.
   • Listen respectfully to a correcting tip: look and listen to the whole tip, say thanks or ask a question, try it a few times and check whether it helped.
   • Volley a balloon underhand (a flat hand swings low to forward with a step) and upward with two hands overhead (a window of thumbs and fingers above the forehead, pushing up through the legs and arms).
   • Pick the throw, volley or strike a game situation calls for: hold it or hit it, near or far, high or low.
   • Welcome players of every skill level and praise what each one did well, by name of the skill, win or lose.

5. Dribble, Kick and Strike

   Three picture books with textbook pages about Nia and Ravi, two fourth graders who test games for the new lines painted on their school playground and write a rule card for each, with Coach Bea, the PE teacher: dribbling with either hand and speeding up and slowing down with the hands and feet, read from bounce maps; passing ahead of a moving partner, receiving on the move, and picking and making a kick along the ground or up in the air; and striking a balloon with a paper-plate paddle with good form, aiming it with the paddle face and matching the force to the target, in a wall rally played by the rules and good manners, with a swing bubble. Every ball and paddle skill is practiced safely at home, with a seated version of every move.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E17.4 Dribbles with the hands in self-space with both the preferred and the other hand, and in general space while speeding up and slowing down.; S1.E18.4 Dribbles with the feet in general space, keeping control while speeding up and slowing down.; S1.E19.4 Passes and receives a ball with the insides of the feet, to and from a partner who is moving.; S1.E21.4 Kicks along the ground and in the air with good form.; S1.E24.4 Strikes with a short-handled implement with good form, and keeps a rally going with a partner over a low net or against a wall.; S2.E1.4 Uses the idea of open spaces when traveling with a skill, such as dribbling.; S2.E3.4 Uses direction and force when striking with a short-handled implement toward a target.; S2.E5.4 Recognizes which kind of throw, volley or strike a game situation calls for.; S4.E5.4 Follows the rules and good manners of a range of physical activities.; S4.E6.4 Works safely with others and with equipment.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Dribble MazeA picture-book class: Nia and Ravi start testing games for the new lines on their school playground, and your child learns to dribble with either hand (and with the hand away from a cone), reads a bounce map to see when to slow down and when to speed up, works out why Ravi lost the ball at a sharp turn, and tests a mini maze at home with hands and feet, moving for about half the class.
   2. Pass and GoA picture-book class: Nia and Ravi test the Pass-and-Go Lane and the Over-the-River Kick on their school's new playground lines, and your child learns the lead pass (into the space in front of a moving partner) and receiving on the move, works out from a map why Ravi's pass rolled behind Nia, learns a kick along the ground and a kick in the air and which job each one fits, and practices passing and gentle kicks at home (kicks in the air only outside), moving for about half the class.
   3. The Rally BoxA picture-book class: on a rainy test day Nia and Ravi test the Rally Box in the gym with paper-plate paddles and a balloon, and your child learns a paddle strike with good form, aims with the paddle face and matches the swing to the distance, works out why Ravi's balloon flew off to the side, practices near and far hits and a wall rally at home, and plays by a rule card with fair calls and a swing bubble, moving for about half the class.

   Skills

   • Dribble in self-space with either hand (finger pads, about waist high, beside the foot on the same side), switch hands with a low push across, and use the hand away from a cone or player.
   • Dribble with the hands and feet in general space while speeding up and slowing down: the ball close with small pushes or taps to go slow and turn, pushed farther ahead to speed up into open space, eyes up; read a bounce map.
   • Practice ball and paddle skills safely at home: a soft ball, a clear space away from windows, screens, lamps and stairs, a grown-up's OK, gentle kicks along the floor indoors and kicks in the air only outside, a balloon a grown-up blows up for striking, nothing kicked or hit at people, pets or windows, or a seated version.
   • Pass with the inside of the foot ahead of a moving partner, into the space they are running to, and receive a pass on the move with a soft first touch into the space ahead.
   • Kick along the ground (plant beside the ball, knee over it, kick the middle, follow through low) and in the air (plant a little behind it, lean back a little, kick below the middle with the laces, follow through up), and pick the kick a game calls for.
   • Strike a balloon with a paper-plate paddle with good form: ready, side to the target, step with the opposite foot, swing low to high with a flat, firm paddle, hit in front, and follow through toward the target.
   • Use direction and force when striking toward a target: the balloon goes where the paddle face points, and a short swing sends it near while a longer one sends it far; harder is not always better.
   • Follow the rules and good manners of different games (ready?, take turns, fair calls, on the line is in, good game) and keep others safe with a swing bubble.

6. Dance and Jump-Rope Routines

   Three picture books with textbook pages about Nia and Ravi, two fourth graders who make acts for their school's Move Fest with Coach Bea, the PE teacher: a dance of your own in eights, with a step borrowed with respect from each of three living dances (bhangra, Irish step dance and ballet folklórico); a jump-rope routine with new tricks and link moves, with a pretend rope that is just as good, and rating how much you enjoy a trick you've mastered and one that challenges you; and show day, where everyone joins in: specific praise for every skill level, welcoming every player, the good social side of partner, small-group and large-group activity, ranking the activities you enjoy, and looking back at how you acted. Every move is practiced safely at home, with a seated version.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E5.4 Combines locomotor patterns and dance steps to make up and perform a dance of their own.; S1.E27.4 Makes up a jump-rope routine with a short rope.; S4.E2.4 Reflects on their own social behavior during physical activity.; S4.E4.4 Praises the movement of others, more and less skilled, and welcomes players of every skill level.; S5.E2.4 Rates how much they enjoy activities that challenge them and activities they have mastered.; S5.E3.4 Ranks how much they enjoy different physical activities.; S5.E4.4 Describes and compares the good social side of partner, small-group and large-group activity.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. My Own DanceA picture-book class: Nia and Ravi start making acts for their school's Move Fest, and your child tries a step in the style of three living dances (bhangra from Punjab, Irish step dance from Ireland and ballet folklórico from Mexico), learns to say where a borrowed step comes from, works out why Nia's first dance fell apart, and makes up and performs their own dance in eights with a start shape, a moving pattern, a dance step, one change and an end shape, moving for about half the class.
   2. Ravi's Rope RoutineA picture-book class: Ravi makes a jump-rope act for the Move Fest and Nia learns that a pretend rope counts, and your child learns four new tricks from footwork maps (the side straddle, the scissors, hops and the backward turn), works out why Ravi's rope kept tangling, practices with a real or pretend rope, rates how much fun each trick is, and makes up and jumps their own routine with a side swing between tricks, moving for about half the class.
   3. Show DayA picture-book class: at the Move Fest, Ravi leaves out a younger buddy, Nia welcomes him, and everyone dances together in a big circle; your child learns praise that names a move, welcomes every skill level, puts on a Move Fest at home and teaches a guest one eight, moves with a partner, a small group and a large group and compares them, ranks the activities they enjoy, and looks back at how they acted.

   Skills

   • Do a step in the style of bhangra (Punjab), Irish step dance (Ireland) and ballet folklórico (Mexico), and say where a borrowed step comes from, with respect, as part of a living dance.
   • Make up and perform a dance of your own in eights that combines a locomotor pattern and dance steps: a start shape, a moving pattern, a dance step, the step with one idea changed, and an end shape, showing a feeling.
   • Move safely at home: a clear space with room to reach, no socks on a smooth floor; for rope, a soft, flat surface, a grown-up's OK, room overhead and the rope never around anyone's neck; a pretend rope or a seated version is just as good.
   • Jump a short rope or a pretend rope with new tricks: the side straddle, the scissors, hops on one foot, and turning the rope backward; read a footwork map.
   • Make up a jump-rope routine in eights with a start pose, tricks, a side swing to link them and a finish pose, done the same way each time.
   • Rate how much you enjoy a trick you've mastered and one that challenges you, rank the activities you enjoy, and know that people enjoy different things.
   • Praise the movement of others, more and less skilled, with specific words, and welcome players of every skill level.
   • Describe and compare the good social side of partner, small-group and large-group activity, and look back at your own social behavior to pick one thing to do next time.

7. Health on Every Side: Family, Culture and Friends

   Three picture books with textbook pages about Nia and Ravi, two fourth graders who build their class's booth for the school's Family Health Night with Coach Bea, the PE and health teacher: the four sides of health (physical, emotional, intellectual and social) and how they affect each other, feelings and their body signals, four steps for a big feeling (Notice, Name, Calm, Check) and why sleep helps every side; how family and culture shape health habits (meals, games, dances and celebrations), food basics with no good or bad foods (a mix of foods, about half the plate vegetables and fruits, water when thirsty, meals together) and the school and community helpers that make healthy habits easier; and how friends pull toward healthy or unhealthy choices, clear words and body language, solving a conflict peacefully and cheering others on toward healthy choices. Practice uses story people and pretend situations, never the child's own family or feelings, and each lesson has a short movement break with a seated version.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.5.2 Gives examples of physical, emotional, intellectual and social health.; 1.5.3 Describes how a safe, healthy school and community help personal health.; 2.5.1 Describes how family influences health habits.; 2.5.2 Identifies how culture influences health habits.; 2.5.3 Identifies how friends and classmates can influence healthy and unhealthy behavior.; 2.5.4 Describes how school and community can support health habits.; 4.5.1 Uses clear words and body language that help health.; 4.5.3 Shows peaceful ways to handle or solve a conflict.; 8.5.2 Encourages others to make healthy choices.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Ravi's FluttersA picture-book class: Ravi gets the job of welcoming families at the class's Family Health Night booth, but after a late night his heart thumps, his mind goes blank and he snaps at Nia, until Coach Bea helps him calm down; your child learns the four sides of health (physical, emotional, intellectual and social), how feelings send body signals, four steps for a big feeling (Notice, Name, Calm, Check) with calming strategies, a calm-down movement break, and why sleep helps every side.
   2. Around Every TableA picture-book class: Nia's food poster has only a salad and an apple, until Ravi's nani's Sunday dinner and classmates' family habits show many ways to be healthy; your child learns how family and culture shape health habits, food basics with no good or bad foods (a mix, about half the plate vegetables and fruits, water when thirsty), plays hopscotch in place, maps the health helpers in a community, and builds a plate for Every Table.
   3. The Torn PosterA picture-book class: Nia and Ravi tear their Friend Zone poster in a tug-of-war and a classmate tells them to quit, until they cool down and talk it out; your child learns how friends pull toward healthy or unhealthy choices, clear words and body language, the fair-fix steps for a conflict, and how to cheer others on, with a friendly movement break and a pretend conflict to solve out loud.

   Skills

   • Give examples of physical, emotional, intellectual and social health, and tell how one side can affect another.
   • Notice a feeling's body signals, name it, use a safe calming strategy, and check: try another strategy or ask a trusted grown-up if it stays big (Notice, Name, Calm, Check).
   • Tell how sleep helps every side of health (at least 9 hours a night at this age) and that sleep and screen habits are a plan made with a grown-up.
   • Describe how family and culture shape health habits (meals, recipes, games, dances and celebrations), with respect for every family and every culture.
   • Use food basics without calling any food good or bad: a mix of foods over the day, about half the plate vegetables and fruits with grain foods and protein foods, water when thirsty, and enjoying meals together.
   • Describe how a safe, healthy school and community support health habits (parks and trails, pools and community centers, libraries, community gardens, clinics, school meals and the school nurse).
   • Tell how friends and classmates can pull toward healthy or unhealthy choices, and choose the healthy pull.
   • Use clear words and body language that help: an I-message, a calm voice, facing the person, open hands and listening.
   • Handle a conflict peacefully: cool down, say it with an I-message, listen and say it back, list fixes together and pick a fair one, or get a grown-up.
   • Encourage others to make healthy choices with kind words, a reason and an offer to do it together, without pushing.
   • Take a short movement break safely: a clear space, no socks on a smooth floor, or a seated version of every move.

8. Safe, Well and Ready to Ask

   Three picture books with textbook pages about Nia and Ravi, who build the school's Ready Board for Safety Week with Nurse Ama, the school nurse: getting help first and first aid for small hurts with a grown-up (a scrape, a nosebleed, a bump, too hot and dizzy), telling an emergency from a hurt to tell a grown-up about now and a check-up, and what to say on a pretend phone; a home fire plan made and practiced with a grown-up, and water and sun safety; and safe, kind messages online, private information, No, Go, Tell, trusted sources of health information and when a choice needs a grown-up's help. Calm and practical: the emergency number is always the emergency number where you live, practiced only on a pretend phone; practice uses story people and pretend situations, never the child's own health, family or home; and each lesson has a short movement break with a seated version.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.5.4 Describes ways to prevent common childhood injuries and health problems.; 1.5.5 Describes when it is important to get health care.; 3.5.2 Finds people and places at home, at school and in the community that give valid health information.; 4.5.2 Shows refusal skills that avoid or lower health risks.; 4.5.4 Shows how to ask for help with a health need.; 5.5.2 Works out when they need help to make a health decision.; 7.5.1 Names responsible personal health behaviors.; 7.5.3 Practices ways to avoid or lower health risks.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Scraped KneeA picture-book class: Jay scrapes his knee at recess and wants to hide it, until Ravi gets a grown-up and Nurse Ama shows what that made possible; your child learns the get-help steps, first aid for small hurts with a grown-up, which kind of help a problem needs (an emergency, telling a grown-up now, or a check-up), practices stop, drink and rest, and role-plays getting help at a pretend park, with a pretend phone for an emergency.
   2. Two Ways OutA picture-book class: Ravi's smoke alarm chirps and he and his dad make a fire plan, and at the lake Nia stops her little cousin from swimming with no grown-up watching; your child learns a home fire plan (smoke alarms, two ways out, get low, a meeting place, stay out), water rules (a grown-up watching, life jackets, feet first, reach or throw, don't go) and sun safety (shade, cover up, sunscreen again every 2 hours and after swimming), swims on dry land and plans a pretend home's fire plan out loud.
   3. Think Before You SendA picture-book class: a stranger in a game asks Jay for his school, Nia stops before sending a cross message, and Ravi checks a magic-bracelet video with the school nurse; your child learns what private information is, No, Go, Tell online (and to keep telling until someone helps), three questions before you send, who the trusted health helpers are and which choices need a grown-up's help, takes a screen-break stretch and decides what to do with pretend messages.

   Skills

   • Get help for a hurt: look first, get a trusted grown-up, say what's wrong and where, and stay close if it's safe.
   • Help with small hurts alongside a grown-up: clean and cover a small scrape, sit up and lean forward for a nosebleed, something cold wrapped in a cloth for a bump, and stop, drink water, rest in the shade and tell a grown-up when hot, thirsty or dizzy.
   • Tell an emergency (a grown-up calls the emergency number where you live) from a hurt to tell a grown-up about now, know that check-ups help even when you're well, and that only a grown-up gives medicine.
   • Know what to say in a real emergency when no grown-up is near, practiced only on a pretend phone: what's wrong, where, answer the questions and stay on the line.
   • Help make and practice a home fire plan with a grown-up: smoke alarms, two ways out, get low under smoke, a meeting place outside, get out and stay out.
   • Stay safe in water and sun: swim only with a grown-up watching, a life jacket on boats, feet first, reach or throw but don't go; shade, a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen again every 2 hours and after swimming.
   • Keep private information private online, send kind messages, and use No, Go, Tell: tell a trusted grown-up about anything that feels wrong, even if someone says don't tell.
   • Find people and places that give trustworthy health information (a parent or carer, the school nurse, the PE teacher, a doctor, a librarian) and work out when a choice needs a grown-up's help.
   • Take a short movement break safely: a clear space, no socks on a smooth floor, or a seated version of every move.

Math

1. Place Value and Powers of Ten

   A science-center story in three picture books: two fifth graders make cards for a microscope's Zoom Wall, finding that a digit is worth 10 times as much one place left and one tenth as much one place right, writing powers of ten with exponents, and multiplying and dividing whole numbers and decimals by powers of ten.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 5.NBT.A.1 In a number with several digits, a digit in one place is worth 10 times what it would be worth in the place to its right, and one tenth of what it would be worth in the place to its left.; 5.NBT.A.2 Explain the pattern in the number of zeros when a number is multiplied by a power of 10, and the pattern in where the decimal point goes when a decimal is multiplied or divided by a power of 10; write powers of 10 with whole-number exponents.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Ten Times or a TenthA picture-book class: a ladybug 0.7 cm long goes on a science center's screen at ×10 and Dev writes 0.07 cm, and the child learns that a digit is worth 10 times as much one place to the left and one tenth as much one place to the right, with a whole square cut into tenths and hundredths, place-value charts and two worked examples.
   2. The Zoom DialA picture-book class: a new microscope's dial says 10¹, 10² and 10³ and Dev reads 10³ as 30, and the child learns to write and read powers of ten with exponents and to multiply whole numbers by them, with base-ten blocks, a table of the pattern of zeros, place-value charts and two worked examples.
   3. Zoom In, Zoom OutA picture-book class: a mystery thing looks 70 mm wide on a microscope's screen at 10³ and Dev says it is 7 mm wide, and the child learns to multiply and divide whole numbers and decimals by 10¹, 10² and 10³, sliding digits on a place-value chart, with two worked examples.

   Skills

   • Explain that a digit in one place is worth 10 times what it is worth in the place to its right and one tenth of what it is worth in the place to its left, in whole numbers and decimals.
   • Write powers of ten with exponents, read them, and explain the pattern in the number of zeros when a whole number is multiplied by a power of ten.
   • Multiply and divide whole numbers and decimals by 10¹, 10² and 10³, and explain where the digits go and why the decimal point seems to move.

2. Decimals to Thousandths: Read, Compare, Round

   A science-center story in three picture books: on Ramp Race Day toy cars race down a ramp and a timer shows thousandths of a second, and two fifth graders learn to read and write decimals to thousandths (number names and expanded form), compare and order them with >, = and <, and round them to the nearest whole number, tenth or hundredth for the scoreboard.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 5.NBT.A.3 Read, write and compare decimals to thousandths: (a) read and write them in base-ten numerals, number names and expanded form (347.392 = 3 × 100 + 4 × 10 + 7 × 1 + 3 × (1/10) + 9 × (1/100) + 2 × (1/1000)); (b) compare two decimals to thousandths by the meaning of the digits in each place, recording with >, = and <.; 5.NBT.A.4 Round decimals to any place, with place value.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Read the TimerA picture-book class: on Ramp Race Day a timer's screen reads 2.046 seconds and Dev writes 2.46, and the child learns to read and write decimals to thousandths as numbers, number names and expanded form, with a meter cut into thousandths, place-value charts and two worked examples.
   2. Who Won?A picture-book class: in the big heat the Blue Comet runs 2.45 seconds and the Red Rocket 2.405, and Dev thinks he lost because 405 is more than 45; the child learns to compare and order decimals to thousandths place by place and with number lines, writing >, = and <, with two worked examples.
   3. Round for the ScoreboardA picture-book class: in the final the timers read 2.376 and 2.384, the big scoreboard has room for only two places after the point, and Dev leaves off the last digit; the child learns to round decimals to the nearest whole number, tenth or hundredth with number lines and halfway marks, with two worked examples.

   Skills

   • Read and write decimals to thousandths as base-ten numerals, number names and expanded form, naming a decimal by the place of its last digit and keeping the zeros that hold places.
   • Compare and order decimals to thousandths by the values of their digits, place by place from the left, and record comparisons with >, = and <.
   • Round decimals to thousandths to the nearest whole number, tenth or hundredth, using the halfway mark between the two numbers on either side.

3. Writing and Reading Expressions

   A science-center story in three picture books: on Puzzle Night a chest in the Puzzle Room has three locks, and each code is the value of a clue; two fifth graders learn to evaluate expressions with parentheses first and then multiplying and dividing before adding and subtracting, to work brackets and braces from the inside out, and to write expressions from words and read them without working them out (3 × (8 + 7) is three times as large as 8 + 7).

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 5.OA.A.1 Use parentheses, brackets or braces in numerical expressions, and evaluate expressions with these symbols.; 5.OA.A.2 Write simple expressions that record calculations with numbers, and read numerical expressions without evaluating them (3 × (8 + 2) is three times as large as 8 + 2).

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Parentheses FirstA picture-book class: on Puzzle Night Lock 1's clue is 2 × (9 + 6) and Dev's left-to-right 24 makes it buzz; with counters and step tables the child learns to evaluate expressions with parentheses first, then multiplying and dividing, then adding and subtracting, with two worked examples.
   2. Brackets and BracesA picture-book class: Lock 2's clue is 3 × [12 − (2 + 4)] and Dev's 42 makes it buzz; with rings round the groups and step tables the child learns to evaluate expressions with parentheses, brackets and braces from the innermost group out, and that grouping symbols can't be taken off, with two worked examples.
   3. The Word LockA picture-book class: Lock 3's clue is in words and Dev's 8 + 7 × 4 makes it buzz; with bars and step boxes the child learns to write expressions from words, with parentheses round a sum or difference that comes first, and to read expressions without working them out (6 × (35 + 47) is six times as large as 35 + 47), with two worked examples. The chest opens to an invitation to the Great Domino Run.

   Skills

   • Evaluate numerical expressions with parentheses by working inside them first, and expressions without them by multiplying and dividing before adding and subtracting, each from left to right.
   • Evaluate expressions with parentheses, brackets and braces, one inside another, from the innermost group out, and explain why the grouping symbols can't be taken off.
   • Write an expression that records a calculation given in words, with parentheses where a sum or difference is worked first, and read an expression without evaluating it (how many times as large, or how much more).

4. Multiplying Multi-Digit Whole Numbers

   A science-center story in three picture books: the open day ends with the Great Domino Run, a chain of dominoes round the main hall, and two fifth graders work out how many dominoes each part needs; they learn the short way (the standard algorithm) for two-, three- and four-digit numbers times two-digit numbers, each row a partial product and a row of the area model, keep the zeros in their places, and estimate to check before solving problems in more than one step.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 5.NBT.B.5 Multiply multi-digit whole numbers fluently with the standard algorithm.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Row by RowA picture-book class: the domino run has 24 sections of 136 dominoes, and Dev's 816 is far too small; with an area model and step boxes the child learns the short way for a two- or three-digit number times a two-digit number, each row a partial product (the tens row starting with a 0), checked by an estimate, with two worked examples.
   2. Zeros in the MiddleA picture-book class: the domino field has 36 lines of 1,205 dominoes, and Dev's 43,250 and Maya's 43,380 can't both be right; with an area model and step boxes the child learns to multiply numbers with zeros in them the short way, adding a regrouped digit even at a zero and keeping each digit in its place, with two worked examples.
   3. Enough Dominoes?A picture-book class: the domino field needs 43,380 dominoes and the club lends 32 crates of 1,450; with a number line, bars and step boxes the child learns to check a product with an estimate (a big slip lands far from it, a small slip needs a row check) and to answer a two-step question: multiply, then compare and find what is left over, with two worked examples.

   Skills

   • Multiply a two- or three-digit number by a two-digit number with the standard algorithm, each row a partial product, the tens row starting with a 0.
   • Multiply a four-digit number by a two-digit number with the standard algorithm, keeping zeros inside either factor in their places.
   • Estimate a product to check it, and solve problems in more than one step that multiply multi-digit whole numbers.

5. Dividing by Two-Digit Numbers

   A science-center story in three picture books: the center holds a Star Party, with shows in the planetarium dome, a goodie bag for every visitor and shuttle buses from the parking lot, and two fifth graders plan it one division at a time; they divide three- and four-digit numbers by two-digit numbers in chunks (partial quotients), show each division as an area model, estimate how many digits the quotient has, keep zeros in the quotient, check by multiplying, and decide what a remainder means in a story.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 5.NBT.B.6 Find whole-number quotients with dividends of up to four digits and two-digit divisors, with strategies based on place value and how multiplying and dividing are related, and show the work with equations, arrays and area models.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Rows in the DomeA picture-book class: 432 people fill the dome's rows of 24 seats, and Dev stops at 14 rows with 96 people left; with a table of 24s, division brackets and an area model, the child learns to divide a three-digit number by a two-digit number in chunks (partial quotients), keep going until what is left is less than the divisor, add the chunks, write a remainder and check by multiplying, with two worked examples.
   2. Stars in Every BagA picture-book class: 3,456 stars go into goodie bags of 32, and Dev turns 100 and 8 bags into 18; with a ladder of 32 × 10, × 100 and × 1,000, division brackets and a place-value chart, the child learns to count a quotient's digits first, divide a four-digit number by a two-digit number in chunks, keep a 0 where no group fits and check by multiplying, with two worked examples.
   3. One More BusA picture-book class: 645 visitors ride buses of 42 seats, and Dev orders 15 buses for 15 R 15; with small things in groups, division brackets and pictures of buses, the child learns to solve division stories and decide what the remainder means (one more group, left out, or the answer), with two worked examples.

   Skills

   • Divide a three-digit number by a two-digit number with partial quotients and an area model, and check by multiplying.
   • Divide a four-digit number by a two-digit number, estimating how many digits the quotient has and keeping zeros in the quotient.
   • Solve division story problems and decide what the remainder means: one more group, left out, or the answer itself.

6. Computing with Decimals

   A science-center story in three picture books: the center builds a rooftop garden, with borders around the beds, soil and seeds to buy, and rain to share among the plants, and two fifth graders do the garden's math one decimal at a time; they add and subtract decimals to hundredths by lining up the points, multiply decimals with a hundred grid and by placing the point from an estimate, divide decimals by whole numbers and by tenths, and change meters to centimeters and liters to milliliters.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 5.NBT.B.7 Add, subtract, multiply and divide decimals to hundredths, with concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, and explain the reasoning.; 5.MD.A.1 Convert among measurement units of different sizes within one system (5 cm to 0.05 m), and use the conversions in real-world problems with more than one step.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Line Up the PointsA picture-book class: a border goes along two sides of a garden bed, 2.5 meters and 1.25 meters, and Dev lines up the last digits and gets 1.50 meters; with a place-value chart, column work and money, the child learns to add and subtract decimals to hundredths by lining up the points, writing zeros in empty places, regrouping and checking with an estimate, with two worked examples.
   2. Beds on the RoofA picture-book class: a garden bed is 2.4 meters by 1.5 meters, and Dev multiplies 24 × 15 and says 360 square meters; with a hundredths square, an area model and column work, the child learns to multiply decimals by multiplying as whole numbers and placing the point with an estimate and by counting places, and finds that times a number less than 1 makes a smaller product, with two worked examples.
   3. Share the RainA picture-book class: 4.8 liters of rain are shared among 6 tomato plants, and Dev divides 48 ÷ 6 and says 8 liters each; by pouring water at home, thinking in tenths and changing to milliliters and centimeters, the child learns to divide decimals by whole numbers and finds that dividing by a number less than 1 makes a bigger answer, with two worked examples.

   Skills

   • Add and subtract decimals to hundredths by lining up the points, writing zeros in empty places and regrouping, and check with an estimate.
   • Multiply decimals to hundredths with a hundred grid and an area model, and place the point by estimating.
   • Divide a decimal by a whole number and a whole number by a tenth, with sharing, grouping and a check by multiplying.
   • Change meters to centimeters and liters to milliliters, and back, and use the change in a story problem.

7. Adding and Subtracting Fractions with Unlike Denominators

   A science-center story in three picture books: the rooftop garden holds a Harvest Day, and two fifth graders plan a new bed, run the weighing table and make soup for the volunteers; they add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators by making same-size pieces with a common denominator, add and subtract mixed numbers and regroup, and solve story problems, checking every answer with the benchmarks 0, 1/2 and 1.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 5.NF.A.1 Add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators, mixed numbers among them, by replacing them with equivalent fractions that have a common denominator.; 5.NF.A.2 Solve story problems that add and subtract fractions of the same whole, with unlike denominators, using fraction models or equations, and use benchmark fractions and number sense to estimate and check whether an answer makes sense.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Same-Size PiecesA picture-book class: Dr. Osei plans a new bed with 1/2 tomatoes and 1/3 beans, and Dev adds the tops and the bottoms and gets 2/5, less than the tomatoes' half alone; with folded paper, fraction strips, a clock and an area model, the child learns to add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators by renaming them with a common denominator, and to check with the benchmarks 0, 1/2 and 1, with two worked examples.
   2. Hours at the ScaleA picture-book class: on Harvest Day Maya worked 1 3/4 hours and Dev 2 1/3 hours at the weighing table, and Dev adds the parts to 13/12 and calls the total just over 3 hours; with clock jumps, strips and a number line, the child learns to add and subtract mixed numbers with unlike denominators, renaming the parts with a common denominator and regrouping a whole, and to check with an estimate, with two worked examples.
   3. Does It Make Sense?A picture-book class: Harvest Day ends with soup, and Dev adds the tops and the bottoms and says 1 4/5 liters of broth and 1 1/2 liters of juice leave lots of room in a 3-liter pot; with a folded benchmark strip, a bar model and a number line, the child learns to solve story problems that add and subtract mixed numbers with unlike denominators, estimating with the benchmarks 0, 1/2 and 1 first and checking that the answer makes sense, with two worked examples, one in two steps.

   Skills

   • Add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators by renaming them with a common denominator, and check with benchmarks.
   • Add and subtract mixed numbers with unlike denominators, regrouping a whole or an improper fraction part.
   • Solve story problems that add and subtract fractions of the same whole, estimating with benchmarks to check that the answer makes sense.

8. Fractions as Division

   A science-center story in three picture books: the science fair's setup crew shares loaves, banner paper, water and rice fairly, and two fifth graders find that a fraction is a division: 3 loaves shared by 4 helpers is 3 ÷ 4 = 3/4 of a loaf each, 7 meters shared by 3 tables is 7/3 = 2 1/3 meters each, and every sharing story's answer lies between two whole numbers that can be found before solving.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 5.NF.B.3 Understand a fraction as the numerator divided by the denominator, and solve story problems where sharing whole numbers equally gives a fraction or a mixed number, with fraction models or equations.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Share It FairlyA picture-book class: Dr. Osei brings 3 loaves of banana bread for 4 helpers, and Dev says 3 ÷ 4 can't be done; with folded paper strips, bars and a number line, the child learns that a fraction is a division, 3 ÷ 4 = 3/4 of a loaf each, with what is shared on top, and checks each share by multiplying back, with two worked examples.
   2. More Than One EachA picture-book class: 7 meters of banner paper for 3 tables, and Dev says 7 ÷ 3 is 2, remainder 1, so the last meter goes in the trash; with paper squares dealt like cards, bars and a number line, the child shares the leftover too, writes 7 ÷ 3 = 7/3 = 2 1/3 meters each, puts the leftover over the number of sharers and checks each share by multiplying back, with two worked examples.
   3. Between Two WholesA picture-book class: on fair day, 23 liters of bubble mix go into 4 tubs, Dev says 4 × 6 = 24 is close enough for 6 liters each, and Sam says 23/4 is less than 1; with paper clips dealt into cups and hops on a number line, the child solves sharing stories in four steps (what is shared, the two whole numbers, solve, check), 23 ÷ 4 = 5 3/4 liters, between 5 and 6, with two worked examples.

   Skills

   • Interpret a fraction as division: a wholes shared equally by b sharers is a/b of a whole each.
   • Share more wholes than sharers and write each share as a fraction greater than 1 and as a mixed number, sharing the remainder too.
   • Solve sharing story problems whose answers are fractions or mixed numbers, and say between which two whole numbers the answer lies.

9. Multiplying Fractions and Scaling

   A science-center story in three picture books: at Brookside Science Center's kitchen lab, two fifth graders make part of a recipe, share part of a leftover tray and scale the families' bake up and down; they find a fraction of a number (3/4 of 8 eggs is 6), multiply fractions by folding paper and by the area of a rectangle with fraction sides (2/3 of 3/4 of a tray is 6/12), and say before multiplying whether a product will be bigger or smaller than the number they started with.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 5.NF.B.4 Multiply a fraction or a whole number by a fraction: a/b × q is a parts of q cut into b equal parts, and the area of a rectangle with fraction sides is the product of its sides.; 5.NF.B.5 Understand multiplying as scaling: compare a product with one factor from the size of the other factor, without multiplying.; 5.NF.B.6 Solve real-world problems that multiply fractions and mixed numbers, with fraction models or equations.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Part of a RecipeA picture-book class: the pancake recipe needs 8 eggs and the class makes 3/4 of it, and Dev writes 3/4 × 8 = 24/32, less than 1 egg; with buttons in equal groups, bars and a double number line, the child finds a fraction of a number, 3/4 × 8 = 6, by cutting it into equal parts and taking as many as the top says, or by multiplying the top first, and checks each product against the number, with two worked examples.
   2. Part of a PartA picture-book class: 3/4 of a cornbread tray is left and the crew takes 2/3 of it, and Dev writes 2/3 × 3/4 = 6/4, more than the whole tray; with folded paper, a tray cut both ways and tiles on a square meter, the child multiplies a fraction by a fraction, tops times tops and bottoms times bottoms, finds the area of a rectangle with fraction sides, and checks that a part of a part is less than the part, with two worked examples.
   3. Bigger or Smaller?A picture-book class: families bake 1 1/2 batches of muffins and 3/4 of a batch of soup, and Dev says multiplying always makes more; with a paper strip and a ruler and bars shrunk and stretched, the child tells whether a product is more or less than a number by comparing the number they multiply by with 1, and multiplies by mixed numbers in real problems, with two worked examples.

   Skills

   • Find a fraction of a whole number: a/b × q is q cut into b equal parts, a of them, also when the answer is a fraction or a mixed number.
   • Multiply a fraction by a fraction by folding and by the area of a rectangle with fraction sides: a/b × c/d = (a × c)/(b × d).
   • Say whether a product is bigger or smaller than a factor from the other factor's size compared with 1, and multiply with mixed numbers in story problems.

10. Dividing with Unit Fractions

    A science-center story in three picture books: in Brookside Science Center's bird garden, two fifth graders share 1/2 liter of nectar among 3 feeders (1/6 liter each), count the 1/4-kilogram scoops in a 3-kilogram bag of seed (12 scoops), and decide which kind of division a story is; they fold paper, draw bars and hop along number lines, and check every quotient by multiplying.

    3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

    US curriculum: 5.NF.B.7a Divide a unit fraction by a whole number other than 0, with a story and a model, and check it by multiplying.; 5.NF.B.7b Divide a whole number by a unit fraction, with a story and a model, and check it by multiplying.; 5.NF.B.7c Solve story problems that divide a unit fraction by a whole number or a whole number by a unit fraction, with fraction models and equations.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. Sharing a PartA picture-book class: 1/2 liter of nectar is shared equally into 3 feeders, and Dev writes 1/2 ÷ 3 = 3/2; with folded paper, a bar cut both ways and a number line, the child divides a unit fraction by a whole number (1/2 ÷ 3 = 1/6), sees that a share of a part is less than the part, and checks each quotient by multiplying, with two worked examples.
    2. How Many Scoops?A picture-book class: a 3-kilogram bag of seed and a 1/4-kilogram scoop, and Dev writes 3 ÷ 1/4 = 3/4, less than 1 scoop; with folded strips and hops on a number line, the child divides a whole number by a unit fraction by counting how many parts fit (3 ÷ 1/4 = 12), sees that the order of a division matters, and checks each quotient by multiplying, with two worked examples.
    3. Which Division?A picture-book class: two bird garden jobs, 1/3 kilogram of seed into 2 feeders and 1/3-liter dishes from 4 liters, and Dev puts the whole number first both times; with paper strips and number lines, the child asks share or count before writing a division, writes it in the right order (1/3 ÷ 2 = 1/6, 4 ÷ 1/3 = 12), checks the size of each answer and checks it by multiplying, with two worked examples.

    Skills

    • Divide a unit fraction by a whole number by sharing it into equal parts: 1/d ÷ k = 1/(d × k), and check by multiplying.
    • Divide a whole number by a unit fraction by counting how many parts fit: n ÷ 1/d = n × d, and check by multiplying.
    • Decide whether a story shares a part or counts parts, write the division, solve it and check the answer by multiplying.

11. Converting Measurements and Line Plots

    A science-center story in three picture books: in Brookside Science Center's pond week, two fifth graders fill a 3-liter tadpole tank with 500-milliliter cups (3,000 milliliters, 6 cups), show 10 jars of pond water measured in eighths of a liter on a line plot (one X for every jar), and pour 8 jars together to share the water equally (3 liters, 3/8 liter each); they fold paper strips, draw double number lines and line plots, and check every answer by multiplying.

    3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

    US curriculum: 5.MD.A.1 Convert among metric units of different sizes (liters and milliliters, kilograms and grams, meters and centimeters), fractions of a unit among them, and use the conversions in two-step story problems.; 5.MD.B.2 Make a line plot of measurements in fractions of a unit (1/2, 1/4, 1/8), read it, and use adding, subtracting and dividing fractions to answer questions about its data, such as the equal share of the total.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. Cups for the TankA picture-book class: a 3-liter tadpole tank filled with 500-milliliter cups, and Dev writes 3 liters = 300 milliliters, less than 1 cup; with paper strips and a double number line, the child learns 1 liter = 1,000 milliliters, multiplies to change to a smaller unit (fractions of a liter too), divides to change back, and changes to the same unit first in two-step stories (6 cups), with two worked examples in grams and centimeters.
    2. An X for Every JarA picture-book class: 10 jars of pond water measured in eighths of a liter, and Dev puts 1/8 after 1/4 because 8 is more than 4; with a paper strip folded into eighths, the child makes a line plot, names its marks (2/8 = 1/4, 4/8 = 1/2), draws one X for every jar, and reads it (how many hold more than 1/4, biggest minus smallest), with two worked examples in fourths of a centimeter and eighths of a meter.
    3. Even It OutA picture-book class: 8 jars of pond water on a line plot, to be shared equally, and Dev adds each amount once; with piles of small things as eighths of a liter, the child adds every X (24 eighths, 3 liters), shares by the 8 jars (3/8 liter each), checks by multiplying and evens the jars out by pouring, with two worked examples in fourths of a liter and eighths of a kilogram.

    Skills

    • Convert between metric units of different sizes, fractions of a unit too, and use the conversion in a two-step story.
    • Make a line plot of measurements in eighths of a unit, one X for every measurement, and read it: counts and the difference between the biggest and the smallest.
    • Use a line plot to find the total of its measurements and the equal share of that total, and check by multiplying.

12. Volume

    A science-center story in three picture books: Brookside Science Center makes math kits for the town library's math club, boxes packed with centimeter cubes; two fifth graders measure volume by counting unit cubes layer by layer (a tall box and a wide box both hold 24), find a box's volume by multiplying its length, width and height or its base's area by its height (6 × 5 × 4 = 120 cubic centimeters), and find the volume of a stand made of two boxes by adding their volumes.

    3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

    US curriculum: 5.MD.C.3 Know volume as the space a solid takes up: a unit cube has 1 cubic unit of volume, and a solid packed with n unit cubes, no gaps or overlaps, has a volume of n cubic units.; 5.MD.C.4 Measure volumes by counting unit cubes, in cubic centimeters, cubic inches, cubic feet and other units.; 5.MD.C.5 Find the volume of a rectangular box by packing it with cubes and by multiplying its edges or its base's area by its height, and add the volumes of two boxes that make one solid.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. Pack It with CubesA picture-book class: the science center packs math kits with centimeter cubes, and Dev counts the squares on a tall box's outside and says it holds more; with coins standing for cubes and drawings of boxes, the child learns that volume is the space a solid takes up, measured by packing unit cubes with no gaps or overlaps, counts every cube layer by layer (both boxes hold 24 cubic centimeters), and helps Sam, who counts squares instead of cubes, with two worked examples.
    2. Layer by LayerA picture-book class: Dr. Osei designs a big kit box, 6 by 5 by 4 centimeters, and Dev multiplies 6 × 5 = 30 and stops; with coins stacked in layers and drawings of boxes, the child finds a box's volume as one layer times the number of layers, length times width times height (120 cubic centimeters), and as the base's area times the height, and helps Sam, who adds the edges, with two worked examples.
    3. Two Boxes in OneA picture-book class: Dr. Osei glues a tall box and a low box into a stand for the kits, and Dev multiplies the whole outline, 6 × 3 × 5 = 90; with coins in an L and drawings of solids, the child splits a solid into two boxes that don't overlap, finds each volume and adds (30 + 24 = 54 cubic centimeters), splits it another way for the same total, and helps Sam, whose two boxes overlap, with two worked examples.

    Skills

    • Measure volume by packing with unit cubes, no gaps or overlaps, and counting every cube layer by layer, in cubic units.
    • Find a box's volume as length times width times height, or as its base's area times its height, and use it in real problems.
    • Find the volume of a solid made of two boxes by splitting it into boxes that don't overlap and adding their volumes.

13. The Coordinate Plane: Maps, Points and Patterns

    A park-map mystery in three picture books: two fifth graders follow an old map's three stops with ordered pairs, distances on the grid, and a trail made from two number rules.

    3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

    US curriculum: 5.G.A.1 Use a pair of perpendicular number lines, the axes, to make a coordinate system, with the 0 of each line at the point where they meet, the origin; a point is located by an ordered pair of numbers, its coordinates: the first number tells how far to travel from the origin along the x-axis, the second how far along the y-axis, and the names of the axes and the coordinates match (x-axis and x-coordinate, y-axis and y-coordinate).; 5.G.A.2 Represent real-world and math problems by graphing points in the first quadrant of the coordinate plane, and interpret the coordinate values of points in the situation.; 5.OA.B.3 Make two numerical patterns from two given rules; find relationships between the matching terms; make ordered pairs of the matching terms and graph them on a coordinate plane (for example, with the rules add 3 and add 6, both from 0, each term of the second pattern is twice the matching term of the first), and explain informally why it is so.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. The Mapmaker's GridA picture-book class: two kids find an old park map in a library atlas, and the child finds Stop 1 with ordered pairs: (5, 2) is 5 along the x-axis and 2 up, the oak, not the duck pond at (2, 5).
    2. Ten Meters a UnitA picture-book class: from the oak, two kids follow the Mapmaker's directions 3 units north and 1 unit east to Stop 2, the carousel at (6, 5), and the child reads what each coordinate means in meters and finds distances by subtracting.
    3. The Two-Rule TrailA picture-book class: two kids make the Mapmaker's trail from two rules, add 1 and add 2, plot the pairs (0, 0), (1, 2), (2, 4), (3, 6) to the box under the pine, and the child finds that each y is 2 times its x.

    Skills

    • Name the ordered pair of a point on a coordinate grid and plot the point of an ordered pair, from the origin along the x-axis first and then up, and explain why the order matters.
    • Plot points from a real situation (a park map), say what each coordinate means there, and find the distance between two points in the same row or column by subtracting coordinates.
    • Make two number patterns from two rules, pair the matching terms as ordered pairs, graph them, and explain a relationship between the terms (each y is 2 times its x).

14. Sorting Two-Dimensional Figures

    A science-center story in three picture books: Brookside Science Center builds a tile wall at its front door; two fifth graders test tiles against the rules for families of shapes (a square has 4 right angles, so it is a rectangle and gets painted with the rectangles), build a family tree of four-sided shapes (quadrilaterals, parallelograms, rectangles, rhombuses and squares), and name triangle tiles by their sides and by their angles at once.

    3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

    US curriculum: 5.G.B.3 What is true of a whole category of shapes is true of each shape in its subcategories: a square is a rectangle, so it has every property every rectangle has.; 5.G.B.4 Sort two-dimensional shapes into a hierarchy, a family tree, by their properties.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. Paint Every RectangleA picture-book class: the plan for Brookside Science Center's tile wall says to paint every rectangle tile blue, and Dev skips the square tiles; with a sheet of paper's corner as a right-angle tester and true drawings of tiles, the child finds that a square follows the rectangle rule, so it is a rectangle, learns that what is true of every rectangle is true of every square but not the other way, and helps Sam, who sends a square's equal sides up to every rectangle, with two worked examples.
    2. The Shape Family TreeA picture-book class: Dr. Osei draws a family tree of four-sided tiles for the tile wall's sign, and Dev puts the squares under the rectangles only; with a paper strip, a paper corner and true drawings of tiles, the child builds the tree (quadrilaterals, parallelograms, rectangles and rhombuses, squares under both), reads it down and not up, says whether one family is always, sometimes or never another, and helps Sam, who sends a family's name up the tree, with two worked examples.
    3. Triangle TilesA picture-book class: the tile wall's triangle tiles each get two labels, and Dev says Maya's tile can't be right and isosceles at once; with a folded paper flap, a paper corner and true drawings of tiles, the child names triangles by their sides (equilateral, isosceles, scalene) and by their angles (acute, right, obtuse), tells which names can and can't go together, and helps Sam, who calls a right triangle acute, with two worked examples.

    Skills

    • Test a shape against a family's rule, and use what is true of every shape in a category to know what is true of its subcategories.
    • Place quadrilaterals, parallelograms, rectangles, rhombuses and squares on a family tree by their properties, and read it down and not up.
    • Name a triangle by its sides and by its angles, and say which pairs of names can and can't go together.

English Language Arts

1. Words That Paint Pictures: Figurative Language and Point of View

   Your child reads a three-part mission about Amara and Felix, two fifth graders who hunt for the time capsule a lighthouse keeper hid in 1926, and learns to explain similes and metaphors, idioms, adages and proverbs, and how each narrator's point of view shapes the way the same storm is told, quoting the words that show it.

   3 lessons · 30 to 35 minutes each

   US curriculum: RL.5.4 Work out what figurative language in a story means, such as similes and metaphors.; L.5.5a–b Explain similes and metaphors in context, and know and explain common idioms, adages and proverbs.; RL.5.6 Describe how a narrator's point of view shapes how events are described.; RL.5.3 Compare and contrast two characters' accounts of one event from specific details.; RL.5.1 Quote the text exactly as evidence for what you say and infer.; RL.5.10 Read a Grade 5 story on your own.; RF.5.4a–c Read with purpose, smoothly and with expression on rereading, using the sentence to check words.; SL.5.1d Explain your own thinking, and help a classmate see what the text shows.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Keeper's Riddle: Similes and MetaphorsA picture-book class: your child reads part 1 of a mission about Amara and Felix, two fifth graders who find a lighthouse keeper's 100-year-old riddle, learns to tell a simile from a metaphor, to name the two things compared and what they really mean, and quotes the story to crack the riddle.
   2. Walt's Letter: Idioms, Adages and ProverbsA picture-book class: your child reads part 2 of a mission about Amara and Felix, who find a 100-year-old letter full of sayings, learns to tell an idiom's literal meaning from its real meaning and to explain the advice in adages and proverbs, and quotes the letter to find where the time capsule is hidden.
   3. Two Sides of the Storm: A Narrator's Point of ViewA picture-book class: your child reads the last part of a mission about Amara and Felix, who open a 100-year-old time capsule holding two accounts of one storm, learns what a narrator, an account and a point of view are, and compares how a keeper at work and a boy at his window tell the same night, quoting each, then tells the storm from a third point of view.

   Skills

   • Tell a simile (a comparison with like or as) from a metaphor (one thing is called another), name the two things compared, and explain what it means in context.
   • Choose and quote the exact words of a text that back what you say about it.
   • Tell an idiom's literal meaning from its real meaning, and explain what common idioms mean in a sentence.
   • Explain the advice in a common adage or proverb, and when it fits.
   • Name an account's narrator and describe how their point of view (where they are, what they feel) shapes how events are described.
   • Compare and contrast two narrators' accounts of the same event, quoting details from each.

2. Word Builders: Greek and Latin Roots and Context Clues

   Your child reads a three-part mission: a month after the lighthouse's 100th birthday, Amara and Felix write the labels for the museum's new Weather Room, in the old workroom of Hattie Lund, the first keeper. They take long words apart into Greek and Latin roots and affixes, work out the hard words in Hattie's weather book from the days around the Great Storm of 1926 with context clues and rereading, and finish a guide for young visitors with a dictionary, a glossary, a thesaurus and linking words, reading a true fact text about lighthouse lenses. Every text is written for the course; the teacher models each skill on words of her own.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: L.5.4a–c Work out new words from clues in the sentence (a cause and its effect, a comparison or a contrast), from Greek and Latin roots and affixes, and with dictionaries, glossaries and thesauruses.; RF.5.3a Use word parts, roots and affixes, to read long, new words accurately.; RF.5.4b–c Read aloud with expression on a second reading, and use the sentence to check or fix a word, rereading when needed.; RI.5.4 Work out the topic words in a Grade 5 fact text.; L.5.6 Learn and use academic and topic words, including linking words such as however, although, similarly, moreover and in addition.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Weather Room: Greek and Latin RootsA picture-book class: as a new mission begins at the lighthouse museum, your child reads part 1 of Word Builders, learns to take long words apart into Greek and Latin roots and affixes, join their meanings and check them in the sentence, uses Amara's root chart on the brass plates and an old fog sign, and helps Sam fix a label that a sound-alike word tricked him into.
   2. Hattie's Weather Book: Context CluesA picture-book class: your child reads part 2 of Word Builders, the weather book the lighthouse's first keeper wrote around the Great Storm, learns to work out hard words from clues in the sentence (a cause and its effect, a comparison or a contrast) and to reread with the meaning in place, reads Hattie's pages aloud with expression, and helps Sam fix a note where the word next door tricked him.
   3. The Young Keepers' Guide: Dictionaries and Linking WordsA picture-book class: as the Word Builders mission ends, your child reads part 3 and a true fact text about lighthouse lenses, learns to read a dictionary entry (how to say a word, which meaning fits), to choose a dictionary, glossary or thesaurus, and to join ideas with linking words like however and moreover, and helps Sam fix a linking word in the visitors' guide.

   Skills

   • Work out a long word from its Greek and Latin roots and affixes, and check the meaning in the sentence.
   • Work out a word from a context clue, a cause and its effect, a comparison or a contrast, by following its signal word.
   • Reread with a meaning in place to check or fix it, and read a text aloud again with expression.
   • Use a dictionary entry to say a word and choose the meaning that fits, and choose a dictionary, a glossary or a thesaurus for the job.
   • Tell what a linking word shows, a contrast, a likeness or one more idea, and use one to join two ideas.

3. Fact Texts: Main Ideas, Summaries and Structures

   Your child reads a three-part mission at the lighthouse museum: visitors line up with questions about the sea, and Amara and Felix turn the hallway into a Fact Wall, a card for every question. Reading true fact files about fog and foghorns, the Bay of Fundy's tides and the icebergs off Newfoundland, they find two main ideas and sum a text up, quote it exactly, follow how the Moon and the shape of a bay are linked to the highest tides on Earth, tell what a text says from what it lets us infer, compare two texts built in different ways, and sum up a radio report they only hear. The story and the fact files are written for the course; the teacher models each skill on short texts of her own.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: RI.5.1 Quote a fact text exactly when explaining what it says outright and what you can infer from it.; RI.5.2 Find two or more main ideas in a fact text, explain how key details back them, and sum the text up.; RI.5.3 Explain how two or more ideas, events or concepts in a science or history text are related, using details from the text.; RI.5.5 Compare how two or more texts on one topic are built: time order, comparison, cause and effect, or problem and solution.; RI.5.10 Read and understand Grade 5 fact texts on your own.; SL.5.2 Sum up a text read aloud or information shared by voice, in pictures or in numbers.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Fog File: Main Ideas and SummariesA picture-book class: as a new mission starts at the lighthouse museum, your child reads a true fact file about fog and foghorns, finds its two main ideas and the key details that back them, sums it up in a few sentences of their own, quotes it exactly, and helps Sam fix a Fact Wall card that kept an opinion and lost the main ideas.
   2. The Tide File: How Ideas ConnectA picture-book class: as the Fact Wall mission goes on, your child reads a true fact file about the Bay of Fundy, follows how the Moon, the bay's shape and its size connect to make the highest tides on Earth, tells what the file says outright from what it lets us infer, backs ideas up with exact quotes, and helps Sam fix a card that got the cause wrong.
   3. The Iceberg Files: How Texts Are BuiltA picture-book class: as the Fact Wall mission ends, your child reads two true texts about icebergs side by side, one in time order and one a problem and its solution, names how each is built from its signal words, compares what each one shows best, and sums up a radio report about icebergs that they only hear.

   Skills

   • Find two or more main ideas in a fact text and the key details that back each one.
   • Sum up a fact text in a few sentences of your own, without small details or opinions.
   • Quote a text exactly as evidence for what it says outright and what it lets you infer.
   • Explain how ideas in a science text are related, such as a chain of causes, using the words that show the link.
   • Tell how a fact text is built from its signal words, and compare two texts on one topic built in different ways.
   • Sum up a report you hear, with its main ideas in your own words.

4. Writing Stories: Narrators, Pacing and Dialogue

   Your child helps Amara and Felix write the story of the Great Storm for Story Night at the lighthouse museum, a hundred years on, answering Hattie's last note: tell this story your way. Reading their drafts side by side, they choose a narrator (Walt at his window, or a teller outside the story), set up an opening for a whole town of listeners and plan the events in order; punctuate dialogue, add sensory details and slow down the big moment, Hattie's ninth climb; then end the story when the Nellie limps home, revise and edit it, and keep each voice in it its own, the captain's everyday talk and the logbook's formal English too. Along the way your child plans, tells and ends a story of their own, out loud. The story and the drafts are written for the course; the teacher models each move on short stories of her own.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: W.5.3 Write a story about real or made-up events: set up the situation and the narrator, use dialogue, description and pacing, show the order with transitions, use exact and sensory words, and give it an ending that follows from the events.; W.5.4 Write clearly, with ideas and their order fitting the task, the purpose and the reader.; W.5.5 With help, make writing stronger by planning, revising and editing.; W.5.10 Write often, in short sittings and longer ones, for different tasks and readers.; L.5.3 Combine, expand and trim sentences for meaning, interest and style, and compare the kinds of English used in stories.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Whose Storm Is It?: Narrators and OpeningsA picture-book class: Amara and Felix are to write the Great Storm's story for Story Night. Your child reads their two openings, one told by Walt at his window and one from outside the story, learns what a first-person and a third-person narrator can each tell, how a strong opening sets up the situation for its reader, and how to plan the events in order, then plans a story of their own out loud.
   2. Nine Climbs: Dialogue and PacingA picture-book class: Felix rushes the big moment of the Story Night story, and Amara slows it down. Your child reads both drafts of Hattie's ninth climb, learns to punctuate dialogue, to choose sensory details a reader can see and hear, and to slow down a big moment and speed through the rest, then tells the big moment of their own story out loud.
   3. Safe at Dawn: Endings, Revising and EditingA picture-book class: Felix wants to end the Story Night story with a dream, and Amara finds the real ending in Hattie's logbook. Your child reads her first draft beside the logbook, learns how a strong ending grows out of the story, how to combine, expand and trim sentences and then edit, and how a story keeps each voice its own, then ends their own story out loud.

   Skills

   • Choose a narrator, first person or third person, and tell what each one can know.
   • Open a story by setting up the situation, the narrator and the characters, in words that fit the reader, and plan the events in order with transitions.
   • Punctuate dialogue and start a new paragraph for each new speaker.
   • Slow down a big moment with sensory details and feelings, and speed through the rest with transitions.
   • End a story so that it settles the problem and shows how the character feels.
   • Revise by combining, expanding and trimming sentences, edit for errors, and keep each voice's kind of English its own.

5. Chapters, Scenes and Stanzas: How Stories, Plays and Poems Are Built

   After Story Night, the town wants the storm's story again, in new shapes, and your child helps Amara and Felix make them. The library prints the story as a little book in three chapters, with a new first chapter, The Warning: your child tells what job each chapter does, finds the theme in how Hattie meets her challenge, and sums up the whole book. The museum puts on the night as a play in two scenes: your child learns the parts of a script and why a new scene starts, then performs Walt's lines in readers' theater, with expression, and rereads them to make them smooth. Last, the lighthouse tells the night in a poem of four stanzas, and Felix draws it as a comic: your child tells what each stanza does, says the poem's theme, and finds what the pictures add to the words. The story, the play, the poem and the comic are written for the course; the teacher models each move on short texts of her own.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: RL.5.2 Work out a story's or poem's theme from its details, including how characters meet challenges or how a poem's speaker thinks about its topic, and sum up the text.; RL.5.5 Explain how a series of chapters, scenes or stanzas fits together to give a story, play or poem its structure.; RL.5.7 Explain what pictures add to a text's meaning, tone or beauty, as in a graphic novel or a comic.; RL.5.10 Read Grade 5 stories, plays and poems on your own, and read them aloud accurately, at a good pace and with expression.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Longest Night: Chapters and ThemeA picture-book class: the library prints Amara and Felix's storm story as a book, and your child reads its new first chapter, The Warning. They learn the job each chapter does in a book, how a theme grows from the way a character meets a challenge (and how it differs from a topic), and how to sum up a whole book, a sentence per chapter.
   2. Storm on Stage: Scenes and Readers' TheaterA picture-book class: the museum puts on the storm story as a play. Your child reads the script, learns how a play is built (cast list, scene headings, stage directions, lines) and why a new scene starts, then performs Walt's part in readers' theater, reading with expression and rereading to make it smooth.
   3. The Keeper's Song: Stanzas and PicturesA picture-book class: the storm night becomes a poem told by the lighthouse, and a comic. Your child reads the poem, learns how stanzas build it, who its speaker is and what its theme is, then finds what the comic's pictures add to the words.

   Skills

   • Tell what job each chapter of a book does, and sum up a book in a sentence a chapter.
   • Say a story's or poem's theme as a sentence about life, from how a character meets a challenge or what a speaker comes to think.
   • Tell the parts of a script apart and explain why a play starts a new scene.
   • Read a part aloud accurately, at a good pace and with expression, and reread to make it smooth.
   • Explain how a poem's stanzas fit together: setting the scene, building and ending.
   • Tell what a comic's pictures add to its words: faces, colors, size and mood.

6. Same Genre, Different Stories: Comparing Mysteries and Adventures

   Winter comes to Gull Point, and Mr. Okafor starts a Story Club at the museum: each week, two stories of the same kind, then a talk. First, a mystery: a light blinks in an old boathouse every night, and Rosa Vega, with her notebook, finds out why; your child quotes the story's exact words to show what it says and what it lets a reader infer, and learns a mystery's parts, red herring and all. Next, a second mystery with a "ghost": Theo charges down Pier Nine while his little sister Bea stands still and listens; your child compares the two detectives, settings and events with details from both stories, and how both mysteries come at one theme in their own ways. Last, two short adventures, a canoe crossing in a storm and a foggy mountain path, show courage two ways, and your child joins the club's talk: coming ready with an idea and a quote, taking turns, building on others' ideas and summing up. Every story is written for the course; the teacher models each move on short texts of her own.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: RL.5.1 Quote a story exactly when telling what it says outright and what a reader can infer from it.; RL.5.2 Work out a story's theme from how its characters meet their challenges, and sum up the story.; RL.5.3 Compare two characters, settings or events, using details from the story.; RL.5.9 Compare how stories of one genre, such as mysteries and adventures, come at similar themes and topics.; SL.5.1 Talk in a group: come ready, follow the talk's rules, ask and answer questions, build on others' ideas, and sum up what the group now thinks.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Blinking Window: Quoting CluesA picture-book class: the museum's new Story Club reads a mystery about a light that blinks in an empty boathouse. Your child learns to quote a story exactly, to work out what it doesn't say outright, and to prove it with the story's own words, the way a detective does.
   2. The Ghost of Pier Nine: Comparing Two MysteriesA picture-book class: the Story Club reads a second mystery, about a moaning ghost on a pier, and puts it next to the first. Your child compares the two detectives, the two solutions and how both stories show the same theme, each in its own way.
   3. The Story Club: Comparing Adventures and Talking It ThroughA picture-book class: the Story Club reads two short adventures, a canoe trip in a storm and a foggy mountain path. Your child compares how each shows courage, then takes the club's third chair: comes ready with an idea and a quote, builds on others' ideas, and sums up the talk.

   Skills

   • Quote a story exactly, in quotation marks, to show what it says outright.
   • Infer from a clue and what you know, and back up the inference with the quote that proves it.
   • Name the parts that make a story a mystery or an adventure.
   • Compare two characters, settings or events with a detail from each story.
   • Tell how two stories of one genre show a shared theme, each in its own way.
   • Join a club talk: come ready, take turns, build on others' ideas, ask a question and sum up.

7. Sentences That Work: Verb Tenses, Conjunctions and Commas

   The Gull Point museum turns fifty, and the Story Club writes for it, with your child as the club's editor. First, letters for a time capsule to be opened in twenty-five years: your child learns the perfect tenses (had, has, will have), uses tense to show when things happen, and fixes Felix's letter, whose verbs keep jumping from the past to now. Next, packing day, with room for just one more thing, either Felix's lucky hat or Amara's photo: your child learns what conjunctions, prepositions and interjections do, uses either … or and neither … nor, and turns Felix's choppy note into smooth sentences. Last, for the museum's birthday newsletter, the club interviews Mrs. Doucet, ninety-one: your child learns the jobs commas do, how to show the title of a book or a song, and when to speak in an everyday or a formal way, and decides whether to keep Mrs. Doucet's own words. Every text is written for the course; the teacher models each skill on sentences of her own.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: L.5.1 Use grammar well: explain what conjunctions, prepositions and interjections do; form and use the perfect tenses; use tense to show times, order and conditions; fix tense shifts that don't fit; use either/or and neither/nor.; L.5.2 Use punctuation well: commas in a list, after an opening part, and to set off yes and no, a tag question and a name spoken to; show titles of works by underlining, italics or quotation marks.; L.5.3 Use what you know about language: join, add to and trim sentences for meaning and for the reader; compare the everyday, local and formal ways of speaking in stories, scripts and poems.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Letters to the Future: Perfect Tenses and Tense ShiftsA picture-book class: the museum turns fifty, and the Story Club writes letters for a time capsule. Your child learns the perfect tenses (had, has, will have), keeps verbs in the right time, and, as the club's editor, fixes Felix's letter, whose verbs keep jumping.
   2. Packing the Capsule: Conjunctions, Prepositions and InterjectionsA picture-book class: the Story Club packs its time capsule, with room for just one more thing. Your child learns what conjunctions, prepositions and interjections do, uses either … or and neither … nor, and turns Felix's choppy note into smooth sentences.
   3. A Voice from Long Ago: Commas, Titles and Ways of SpeakingA picture-book class: for the museum's birthday, the Story Club interviews Mrs. Doucet, ninety-one, about long ago. Your child learns the jobs commas do, how to show the title of a book or a song, and when to speak in an everyday or a formal way, and decides whether to keep Mrs. Doucet's own words.

   Skills

   • Form and use the past, present and future perfect tenses.
   • Use verb tense to show when things happen, and fix a tense shift that doesn't fit.
   • Use conjunctions, including either … or and neither … nor, to show how ideas connect.
   • Explain what a preposition and an interjection do in a sentence.
   • Join short sentences and trim repeated words to make writing smooth.
   • Use commas in a list, after an opening, and to set off yes and no, a tag question and a name.
   • Show titles of works correctly, and tell everyday, local and formal ways of speaking apart.

8. Many Accounts, Many Sources: Research and Reports

   Summer at Gull Point: the museum builds an exhibit about the night astronauts first landed on the Moon, July 20, 1969, and the Story Club does the research, with your child as the club's researcher. First, three accounts of that night: the astronauts' own words from NASA's record, Michael Collins circling above the Moon, and Mrs. Doucet's memory of watching on a neighbor's television. Your child compares where each teller stood and decides whether accounts that differ can all be true. Next, one research question, how did Apollo 11 get to the Moon and back?, and three sources (a timeline, a fact sheet and a map): your child finds the answers fast, takes notes in their own words and names the sources. Last, Moon Night: your child sees how a report that teaches is built (an opening, headings, a quotation, linking words, an ending), finishes the club's report and plans Amara's talk. Quoted words come only from NASA's public records and the plaque Apollo 11 left on the Moon; everything else is written or retold for the course and says so.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: RI.5.6 Look at several accounts of one event and note how their points of view are alike and different.; RI.5.7 Use several print and digital sources to find an answer quickly. RI.5.9 Join facts from several texts on one topic.; W.5.2 Write to teach: an opening, facts grouped under headings, facts, definitions and quotations, linking words and an ending. W.5.6 Type and publish writing with some help.; W.5.7 Do a short research project from several sources. W.5.8 Take notes in your own words and list your sources. W.5.9 Use evidence from texts to back what you say.; SL.5.4 Report on a topic in order, speaking clearly at a pace listeners can follow. SL.5.5 Add a visual when it makes the main ideas clearer.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Night of the Moon: Many Accounts, Many Points of ViewA picture-book class: the museum's new exhibit is about the night astronauts first landed on the Moon. Your child reads three accounts of that night, from the Moon, from a spaceship circling it and from a crowded front room on Earth, compares their points of view, and decides whether accounts that don't match can all be true.
   2. Mission Notes: Research from Many SourcesA picture-book class: the museum's exhibit needs an answer to one question, how the Apollo 11 astronauts got to the Moon and back. Your child reads a timeline, a fact sheet and a map, finds the answers fast, takes notes in their own words, and answers the question with facts from two sources and a list of the sources.
   3. Moon Night: Writing and Presenting a ReportA picture-book class: the museum's Moon exhibit opens, and the club's report needs finishing. Your child reads the report, sees how a report that teaches is built (an opening, headings, a quotation, linking words, an ending), finishes it, and plans the talk: a picture that helps, a clear voice and a steady pace.

   Skills

   • Compare several accounts of one event: who tells each, where they stood and how that shapes what they tell.
   • Explain why accounts that differ can all be true, using details from more than one.
   • Find the parts of several sources that answer a question, and note them in your own words.
   • Join facts from more than one source to answer a research question, and name the sources.
   • Write a report that teaches: an opening, facts grouped under headings, a quotation, linking words and an ending.
   • Present a report with a picture that helps, speaking clearly at a pace listeners can follow.

9. Opinions with Reasons and Evidence

   Autumn at Gull Point: the town council must decide what the old cannery by the harbor should become, and the Story Club follows the debate, with your child as the club's newest member. First, letters to the town paper: your child finds each writer's opinion and reasons, matches each piece of evidence to the reason it backs, and spots a reason with nothing behind it. Next, council night: your child sums up what each speaker claims and how it is backed, tells a backed claim from a merely confident one, and helps Felix say his idea the formal way a meeting calls for. Last, the council invites young people's letters: your child sees how an opinion piece is built (an opening, backed reasons in order, precise linking words, a conclusion), fixes Felix's choppy draft and plans an opinion piece of their own, with no name needed. The town and its people are made up, and every text is written for the course.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: RI.5.8 Explain how a writer backs points with reasons and evidence, and which reasons and evidence back which point.; W.5.1 Write an opinion piece: introduce the topic, state the opinion, give reasons in order backed by facts and details, link them with words like consequently and specifically, and write a conclusion. W.5.9 Use evidence from texts to back what you say.; SL.5.3 Sum up a speaker's points and explain how each claim is backed by reasons and evidence. SL.5.6 Fit your speech to the moment, using formal English when it fits.; L.5.6 Use Grade 5 words, including words for contrast and addition (however, although, nevertheless, similarly, moreover, in addition).

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Old Cannery: Reasons and EvidenceA picture-book class: the town council asks what the old cannery by the harbor should become. Your child reads a letter to the town paper, finds the writer's opinion and reasons, matches each piece of evidence to the reason it backs, and spots a reason with nothing behind it.
   2. Council Night: Speakers, Claims and Formal TalkA picture-book class: the town meets to decide about the old cannery. Your child reads what the speakers said, sums up each speaker's claim and how it is backed, spots a claim with nothing behind it, and helps Felix say his idea again in a formal way.
   3. Your Turn: Writing an Opinion with Linking WordsA picture-book class: the town council asks young people for letters about the old cannery. Your child reads Amara's letter, learns how an opinion piece is built (an opening, backed reasons in order, precise linking words, a conclusion), fixes Felix's choppy draft, and plans an opinion piece of their own.

   Skills

   • Explain how a writer backs an opinion with reasons and evidence, and which evidence backs which reason.
   • Sum up a letter's opinion, one reason and the evidence that backs it, using the text.
   • Sum up a speaker's claim and how it is backed, and tell a backed claim from one with nothing behind it.
   • Speak in a formal way when the moment calls for it: a greeting, full polite sentences and no slang.
   • Write an opinion piece: an opening with the opinion, reasons in order backed by facts or details, and a conclusion.
   • Choose a precise linking word by its job: adding, zooming in, a result or a contrast.

Science

1. Particles Too Small to See

   In a three-chapter mystery at a library's summer puzzle club, Priya and Marcus solve three puzzles about things too small to see: they find that air is matter because it takes up space and has weight, read how Robert Brown's jiggling bits and Einstein's explanation showed that all matter is made of particles, draw particle models of solids, liquids and gases, and keep a paper towel dry under water; they dissolve salt and prove it's still there by weighing it and letting the water evaporate, as salt ponds do; and they weigh ice in a sealed bag as it melts, read how Antoine and Marie-Anne Lavoisier weighed changes in sealed containers, and find that the total weight is conserved unless matter gets out.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 5-PS1-1 Use a model to show that all matter, even air, is made of particles far too small to see.; 5-PS1-2 Weigh and graph to give evidence that the total weight of matter stays the same when it is heated, cooled or mixed.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Dry Paper PuzzleA picture-book class: at a library's summer puzzle club, your child reads a true science text on how we know air is matter and that all matter is made of particles too small to see, reads a pumped-up basketball's weights, models a smell spreading and draws on particle models of a solid, a liquid and a gas, then solves the puzzle of a paper towel that goes under water and comes back dry, with a cup and a bowl of water at home.
   2. The Missing SaltA picture-book class: at a library's summer puzzle club, your child reads a true science text on how salt dissolves into particles too small to see, how people get salt back from seawater in salt ponds, and how weighing proves dissolved salt is still there, reads a weigh-in table and a drying dish's line chart, and weighs salt and water before and after on a kitchen scale at home with a grown-up.
   3. The Great Weigh-InA picture-book class: on the last day of a library's summer puzzle club, your child reads a true science text on how matter changes state with the very same particles, how Antoine and Marie-Anne Lavoisier weighed changes in sealed containers, and why an open glass of water gets lighter, reads a chart and a table of weights, and weighs ice in a sealed zip bag before and after it melts at home with a grown-up.

   Skills

   • Use evidence and a particle model drawn the same way every time to explain that matter, even air, is made of particles too small to see, and to describe solids, liquids and gases and changes of state.
   • Explain with evidence that salt or sugar that dissolves is still there as particles too small to see, and is left behind when the water evaporates.
   • Measure and graph weights before and after matter dissolves, melts, freezes or warms, and show that the total weight stays the same unless matter gets in or out.

2. Properties, Mixtures and New Substances

   In a three-chapter mystery at a library's Kitchen Science Fair, Priya and Marcus of the Puzzle Club identify four unlabeled white powders by testing their properties and comparing them with a table, never by tasting, read how gold rush miners told gold from fool's gold, and see why a cord has copper inside and plastic outside; they separate a spilled mixture of beans, rice, salt and paper clips with a magnet, a sieve and water, read how a recycling center sorts a giant mixture, and improve their plan where it fails; and at the Balloon Show they learn the signs of a new substance, hear why the Statue of Liberty turned green, weigh a change to show that no matter vanishes, and run a fair test that changes only one variable.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 5-PS1-3 Observe and test materials' properties to identify them.; 5-PS1-4 Investigate whether mixing materials makes a new substance.; 3-5-ETS1-3 Run fair tests that change one thing at a time to find where a plan fails and how to improve it.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Four White JarsA picture-book class: at a library's Kitchen Science Fair, your child reads a true science text on how scientists identify materials by their properties, hears how miners told gold from fool's gold, sees why copper and plastic make a good cord, then identifies four unlabeled jars of white powder from a table of test results, and tests two or three kitchen powders at home, without tasting.
   2. The Big Mix-UpA picture-book class: at a library's Kitchen Science Fair, your child reads a true science text on mixtures, hears how a recycling center separates a giant mixture with screens and a magnet, plans and tests a way to separate beans, rice, salt and paper clips, finds where the plan fails and fixes it, then separates a mix-up of their own at home with a magnet and a colander.
   3. The Balloon ShowA picture-book class: at a library's Kitchen Science Fair, your child reads a true science text on the signs of a new substance, hears why the Statue of Liberty turned green, weighs a milk-and-vinegar change and an open fizz cup to see where the matter goes, learns to plan a fair test that changes one variable, then runs a baking soda and vinegar fair test at home on a tray with a grown-up.

   Skills

   • Identify materials by observing and testing several properties and comparing them with a table, and explain how a material's properties suit a job.
   • Explain that the parts of a mixture keep their properties, choose tools by those properties to separate it, and improve a plan by changing the step that fails.
   • Use signs to tell when mixing makes a new substance, explain with weights that the total weight stays the same unless a gas escapes, and plan a fair test that changes one variable.

3. Matter and Energy in Ecosystems

   In a three-chapter mystery, two Garden Detectives follow a giant contest pumpkin from seed to compost heap: on the way children argue from weighed-soil evidence that a plant builds its body mainly from water and air, trace with flow charts the energy in an animal's food back to the sun, and model with a food web and a sealed compost jar how decomposers return the pumpkin's matter to the soil and air for new plants.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 5-LS1-1 Support an argument that plants get the materials they need to grow mainly from air and water.; 5-PS3-1 Use models to describe that the energy in animals' food, used for repairing the body, growing, moving and keeping warm, was once energy from the sun.; 5-LS2-1 Develop a model to describe how matter moves among plants, animals, decomposers and the environment.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Giant Pumpkin PuzzleA picture-book class: at a community garden, your child and two Garden Detectives puzzle over a giant pumpkin that grew from a tiny seed, learn that a plant builds its body mostly from water and carbon dioxide from the air, act out roots and leaves in a movement break, read a weighed-soil test and a famous 400-year-old experiment, and explain to a classmate, with evidence, why the pumpkin didn't eat the soil.
   2. The Night NibblerA picture-book class: a garden's trail camera catches a mouse nibbling a giant pumpkin, and your child and two Garden Detectives draw a food chain from the sun to the pumpkin to the mouse to an owl, learn the words producer and consumer, act out an energy relay, find out what animals use food energy for, and explain to a classmate why all that energy was once sunlight.
   3. The Vanishing PumpkinA picture-book class: a giant pumpkin slowly vanishes from a garden's compost heap, and your child and two Garden Detectives read a food web, meet the decomposers that break dead things down, wiggle like worms in a movement break, weigh a sealed jar while a pumpkin slice rots, and explain to a classmate how matter goes round in a cycle and is never used up.

   Skills

   • Argue from evidence, such as weights of a plant and its soil before and after, that a plant gets the matter it grows from mainly from water and carbon dioxide in the air, not from the soil.
   • Use a food-chain flow chart to describe how the energy an animal uses to move, grow, repair its body and keep warm was once energy from the sun, captured by a plant.
   • Use a food web and a model of decomposers to describe how matter moves among plants, animals, decomposers, the soil and the air, and is never used up.

4. Earth's Systems and Water

   In a three-chapter mystery, Priya and Marcus of the Puzzle Club build a library's World Water Day display: when rain turns a creek muddy, they learn Earth's four systems, hear how wind blew away the prairies' soil in the 1930s, and model rain wearing away bare soil while roots hold a grassy bank; with 100 paper cups they find that only about 2 and a half of every 100 parts of Earth's water are fresh, mostly frozen or underground, and read and make bar graphs as evidence; and answering a postcard from Vancouver, they find how the ocean and the air change each other, hear how lost bath toys showed scientists the ocean's currents, and use temperatures to tell a coastal climate from an inland one.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 5-ESS2-1 Make and use a model of an example to show how two of Earth's systems interact.; 5-ESS2-2 Describe and graph how much of Earth's water is salt water and fresh water, and where it is, as evidence.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Muddy CreekA picture-book class: at a creek behind a library, your child reads a true science text on Earth's four systems, the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere, hears how wind blew away the soil of the Great Plains and the Canadian prairies in the 1930s, draws a diagram model of rain wearing away soil and of roots holding it, then makes a model of rain on two small hills of soil at home with a grown-up.
   2. The Hundred CupsA picture-book class: building a library's World Water Day display, your child reads a true science text on salt water and fresh water, hears where Earth's fresh water hides, in thick ice and underground, reads and makes bar graphs of where the water is, checks a plan against the evidence, then builds a model of all of Earth's water with 40 dried beans at home with a grown-up.
   3. The Warm CoastA picture-book class: answering a postcard from Vancouver, your child reads a true science text on how the ocean and the air change each other, hears how thousands of bath toys lost at sea showed scientists the ocean's currents, compares the climates of Vancouver and Winnipeg, models lake-effect snow and wind-made waves, then makes wind and currents in a pan of water at home with a grown-up.

   Skills

   • Name Earth's four systems, sort the things in an example into them, and use a model to describe how two systems interact.
   • Describe and graph how Earth's water is shared between salt water and fresh water and where the fresh water is, and use the amounts as evidence.
   • Explain how the ocean and the air change each other, use temperatures to tell a coastal climate from an inland one, and tell weather from climate.

5. Protecting Earth: Design a Solution

   In a three-chapter story, Priya and Marcus of the Puzzle Club become the Birch Street Library's Green Team: when rain floods the path to the door and the parking lot's runoff carries litter into a creek, they learn how people change Earth's land, water, air and living things and how communities fix problems together, from the ozone layer to rain gardens, and define the problem with criteria and constraints; they compare rain barrels, a rain garden and porous pavers in a decision table, constraints first, after reading about green roofs in Toronto and a square in Rotterdam built to flood; and they fair-test a sponge rain garden on a baking tray, find where it fails, improve it and test again, so the library can build the real one.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 5-ESS3-1 Find and combine information about ways communities use science ideas to protect Earth's resources and environment.; 3-5-ETS1-1 Define a simple design problem for a need, with criteria for success and limits on materials, time or cost.; 3-5-ETS1-2 Come up with and compare several solutions by how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints.; 3-5-ETS1-3 Plan and carry out fair tests, changing one thing and finding where a model or prototype fails, to see how it can be improved.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Puddle PathA picture-book class: when rain floods the path to the library's door, your child reads a true science text on how people change Earth's systems and how communities protect them, hears how countries everywhere worked together to heal the ozone layer, defines a design problem with criteria and constraints, and models runoff carrying litter on a tilted baking tray at home with a grown-up.
   2. Three IdeasA picture-book class: choosing how to fix the library's puddle path, your child reads a true science text on rain gardens, green roofs and porous pavement, hears about a city square in Rotterdam built to flood, works out how much rain falls on a roof, compares three ideas in a decision table, constraints first, then tests which kitchen material soaks up the most water at home with a grown-up.
   3. The Rain TestA picture-book class: testing the library's rain garden on a model, your child reads a true science text on prototypes, fair tests and failure points, hears how Dutch engineers tested huge models in a forest, plans a fair test, finds the model's failure point in a bar graph, and tests a sponge garden on a baking tray at home with a grown-up.

   Skills

   • Explain how people change Earth's systems, like hard ground turning rain into runoff, and name ways communities and families protect the land, water, air and living things.
   • Define a design problem by its need, its criteria (what a solution must do) and its constraints (its limits).
   • Compare several solutions in a decision table, crossing out any that break a constraint and choosing the best of the rest, and explain a trade-off.
   • Plan and carry out a fair test of a model, changing one thing, find where it fails, and explain how to improve it and test again.

6. Gravity, the Sun and the Stars

   In a three-chapter story, the Puzzle Club plans a Star Night with Ruby, a pen pal in Australia: they find that Earth's gravity pulls everything toward its center, so down points toward the center everywhere and nobody falls off, and argue it from evidence with a plumb line; they test two matching flashlights near and far and argue that the sun is a star that looks brightest because it is closest; and they measure the sky in light-years with NASA's star distances and build a scale model of star distances on a paper strip.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 5-PS2-1 Support an argument that Earth's gravity pulls objects down, toward the planet's center.; 5-ESS1-1 Support an argument that the sun looks brighter than other stars because it is so much closer to Earth.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Which Way Is Down?A picture-book class: when Marcus asks a pen pal in Australia if she's upside down, your child reads a true science text on gravity and why down is toward Earth's center everywhere, hears how people have known for over 2,000 years that Earth is round, learns to back a claim with evidence and reasoning, and makes a plumb line at home with a grown-up.
   2. The Brightest StarA picture-book class: when Marcus says the sun can't be a star, your child reads a true science text on stars, brightness and the distances astronomers have measured, reads the club's light meter graph, argues from evidence that the sun looks brightest because it is closest, and tests two matching flashlights near and far at home with a grown-up.
   3. Stars to ScaleA picture-book class: when the Puzzle Club's pen pal in Australia says a star is 4.4 light-years away, your child reads a true science text on the speed of light, the light-year and how far real stars are (from NASA's distances), finds how old starlight is, shrinks space so the sun is 1 meter away, and makes a star distance strip at home at 1 centimeter for each light-year.

   Skills

   • Explain that Earth's gravity pulls everything toward the planet's center, so down points toward the center wherever you are, and support that claim with evidence and reasoning.
   • Explain that the sun is a star that looks brighter than other stars because it is much closer, and support that claim with evidence from a model and from measured distances.
   • Explain what a light-year is, compare star distances in light-years, and use a scale model to show and compare huge distances.

7. Shadows, Day and Night, and Seasonal Stars

   In a three-chapter story, the Puzzle Club and Ruby, their pen pal in Australia, find patterns in the sky: they graph a stick's shadow through a day, long in the morning, shortest at solar noon and long again, pointing north at noon in Canada and south in southern Australia; they find that Earth's rotation brings day and night and read real sunrise and sunset data to see that day length follows a yearly pattern that flips in the south; and at Star Night they find that as Earth orbits the sun, the night side faces different stars, so the constellations change with the seasons.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 5-ESS1-2 Show data in graphs to reveal patterns in the daily changes in shadows, in day and night, and in the stars seen in different seasons.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Shadow StickA picture-book class: when the Puzzle Club plans a sundial for the library's garden, your child reads a true science text on shadows, the sun's path and solar noon, reads a graph of a real stick's shadow computed for Toronto, finds which way the shadow points through the day (north at noon in Canada, south in southern Australia), and makes a shadow stick at home with a grown-up.
   2. Day and NightA picture-book class: when Ruby, the Puzzle Club's pen pal in Australia, answers their evening call at breakfast, your child reads a true science text on Earth's rotation, day and night and day length, reads graphs and tables of real sunrise and sunset times computed for Toronto, Iqaluit, Quito and Adelaide, and makes a spinning-orange model of Earth at home with a grown-up.
   3. Seasonal StarsA picture-book class: at the library's Star Night, Marcus can't find last summer's red star and Ruby, in Australia, can't find the Big Dipper. Your child reads a true science text on constellations, Earth's orbit and stars that never set, reads graphs of real star heights computed for Toronto and Adelaide, and walks a model orbit around a lamp at home with a grown-up.

   Skills

   • Describe and graph the daily pattern in a shadow's length and direction, and explain that it changes because Earth spins and the sun's place in the sky changes.
   • Explain that Earth's rotation brings day and night, and read graphs and tables of sunrise, sunset and day length to describe the yearly pattern and how it differs from place to place.
   • Explain that Earth's orbit makes the night side face different stars, so constellations change with the seasons, and read graphs of a star's height above the horizon to find when it can be seen.

Social Studies

1. Mapping North America

   How to read and make maps of North America, told as a mission in three picture books: Priya and Kenji of the Gullport Junior Herald, a made-up harbor town's kids' newspaper, make a big new map of North America for Ms. Ito's harbor office. They find the continent's 23 countries, its land regions, great lakes and rivers and where people live; learn latitude and longitude from an old globe, follow the 49th parallel border in a real treaty of 1818 and see how latitude changes climate; and compare a Mercator chart with an equal-area map, zoom in and out with scale bars, and finish the map with a title, a key, a compass rose, a scale and Indigenous names and nations. Every map is drawn by code from real longitude and latitude; Gullport itself is made up and never placed on the map, and nothing asks where the child lives.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Geo.1.3-5 Make maps and other graphics of places you know and places you don't.; D2.Geo.2.3-5 Use maps, satellite pictures and photos to explain how where places and regions are relates to their land, water and climate.; D2.Geo.3.3-5 Use maps of different scales to describe where cultural and natural features are.; D2.Geo.6.3-5 Describe how land, water, climate and culture affect where people live in a place or region.; D2.Geo.10.3-5 Explain why land, water and climate differ in different regions of the world.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Big MapA picture-book class: Ms. Ito asks the Gullport Junior Herald for a new map of North America, the Big Map, and Priya splits her big question into smaller ones. Your child learns that North America has 23 countries (Canada, the United States, Mexico, seven in Central America and 13 in the Caribbean), the three biggest countries' capitals, kinds of regions, and that hundreds of Indigenous nations live across the continent today; finds the Rockies, the Great Plains, the Canadian Shield, the Appalachians, the Great Lakes and the great rivers on a real map; sees why big cities grew by water; then reads a postcard's clues, writes smaller questions, and helps Sam.
   2. Lines on the MapA picture-book class: Ms. Ito finds an old globe covered in lines, Kenji sees that part of the Canada–US border is as straight as a ruler, and the Gullport Junior Herald invents a Mystery Places puzzle. Your child learns latitude and longitude, the equator and the prime meridian, and how to find a place from its coordinates on a real grid map; reads the words of a real treaty of 1818 that put the border on the 49th parallel, and meets the Blackfoot nations who live on both sides of it; sees how latitude, height and water change climate; then finds cities and a mystery star by their coordinates, and helps Sam.
   3. Which Map Is True?A picture-book class: a reader writes that the Gullport Junior Herald's Big Map shrank Greenland, Ms. Ito's old sea chart shows it enormous, and an orange peel won't lie flat. Your child learns why every flat map stretches something, why Mercator's map of 1569 helps sailors but makes the far north look too big, and when to use an equal-area map; reads a real map title from 1569; uses a scale, zooms in and out, and learns the parts of a map; meets names from Indigenous languages and Indigenous nations on the map today; then explains the stretch to the reader, finishes the Big Map, and helps Sam.

   Skills

   • Name North America's countries and regions, find its main land regions and great waters on a map, explain how land, water and climate affect where people live, and split a big question into smaller ones.
   • Use latitude and longitude to find and describe places, explain how latitude affects climate, and compare two sources about the 49th parallel border.
   • Explain why every flat map stretches something, compare a Mercator and an equal-area map, use a scale bar and maps of different scales, finish a map with a title, key, compass rose and scale, and read Indigenous place names and nations on a map.

2. Native Nations, Then and Now

   Indigenous nations of North America long ago and today, told as a mission in three picture books: the blue diamonds on the Gullport Junior Herald's Big Map mark nations' lands today, and Ms. Ito asks what these nations' lives were like long ago and are like now, so Priya and Kenji write a series, Nations, Then and Now. They find how different homelands shaped different ways of life (the Inuit, the Haida, the Niitsitapi and Lakota, the Haudenosaunee, the Hopi, the Diné, the Maya and the Nahua) and what has changed and stayed; learn how we know about the long past from oral history, nations' own records, things in the ground and newcomers' writings, and check them against each other; and meet people and nations who made changes, from Sequoyah and the Cherokee Phoenix of 1828 to nations teaching their languages today. Nations are named in their own names and written about as living nations; no Indigenous person, story or symbol is made up; Gullport itself is made up, and nothing asks where the child lives or about their family.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.His.2.3-5 Compare life in a particular time in the past with life today.; D2.His.3.3-5 Ask questions about people and groups who shaped important changes, and things that stayed the same.; D2.His.9.3-5 Summarize how different kinds of sources are used to explain the past.; D2.Geo.4.3-5 Explain how culture shapes the ways people change and adapt to their environment.; D2.Geo.8.3-5 Explain how where people settle and travel relates to where natural resources are and how they are used.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Many HomelandsA picture-book class: Ms. Ito asks the Gullport Junior Herald what the nations on the Big Map were like long ago and today, and an old picture book shows every people the same. Your child learns that hundreds of Indigenous nations live across Canada, the United States and Mexico, sees how homelands shaped ways of life for the Inuit, the Haida, the Niitsitapi and Lakota, the Haudenosaunee, the Hopi, the Diné and the Maya, compares then and now, then explains manoomin, finds changes for the Inuit, and helps Sam.
   2. How Do We Know?A picture-book class: an old encyclopedia says the Plains nations kept no records, and the Gullport Junior Herald finds out how we really know. Your child learns primary and secondary sources and four kinds of sources about nations' past (oral history, nations' own records like wampum belts and winter counts, things in the ground, newcomers' writings), five questions to ask of every source, and how Lakota winter counts, newspapers and a scientist's report agree on the winter the stars fell, 1833; then judges a made-up outsider's book, checks two made-up sources against each other, and helps Sam.
   3. Nations TodayA picture-book class: the Gullport Junior Herald finds the Cherokee Phoenix, a newspaper the Cherokee Nation first printed in 1828 and still publishes today. Your child reads three short articles: Sequoyah's syllabary, the hard and true story of removal and the Trail of Tears and how the Nation rebuilt, told plainly and with care, and nations today in the United States, Canada and Mexico; asks questions about Wilma Mankiller and the people of Bell, who brought water to their homes; explains a problem and its chances, the Cherokee language today; reads the Cherokee Nation's own words of 1829; and helps Sam see that nations are here today.

   Skills

   • Name Indigenous nations of different homelands across Canada, the United States and Mexico by their own names, explain how a homeland's land, water, climate and resources and a nation's culture shaped its homes, food and travel, and compare a nation's life long ago and today.
   • Name the kinds of sources about Indigenous nations' past (oral history, nations' own records, things in the ground, newcomers' writings), choose the source that fits a question, ask who made each source, when and whose view it gives, and check sources against each other.
   • Ask questions about people and nations who shaped important changes, explain the problems they faced and the chances they made, then and now, and say what changed and what stayed the same for nations today.

3. Encounters and Exchange

   What happened when peoples from across the oceans met the nations of North America, told as a new series of the Gullport Junior Herald, Across the Ocean, in three picture books. A cup of hot chocolate starts the question of what crossed the Atlantic after 1492, both ways (the Columbian Exchange: foods, animals, people and diseases) and how it changed places on both sides; an old book's line that Cortés "discovered" Tenochtitlan sends the kids to what people on both sides wrote about the meeting of 1519, and why they saw it differently; and a sweetgrass basket starts the hard and true story of Africans brought to the Americas by force, the knowledge and skills they brought, how they resisted and won freedom, and the cultures they keep. Hard history is told truthfully, plainly and with care; nations and peoples are named in their own names and written about as living peoples; no Indigenous or African person, story or quotation is made up; Gullport itself is made up, and nothing asks where the child lives or about their family.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.His.4.3-5 Explain why people living at the same time saw things differently.; D2.His.14.3-5 Explain the likely causes and effects of events and changes.; D2.Geo.5.3-5 Explain how the natural and cultural features of places change over time.; D2.Geo.7.3-5 Explain how land, water, climate and culture affect how people, goods and ideas spread and move.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Great ExchangeA picture-book class: the Gullport Junior Herald starts a new series, Across the Ocean, with Kenji's question, where does chocolate come from? Your child reads three short articles about what crossed the Atlantic after 1492, both ways: the Columbian Exchange, foods like corn, potatoes and cacao from the Americas and wheat and horses to them, and diseases that killed millions of Indigenous people, told plainly and with care; follows a cause and its effects, horses on the Plains; builds an explanation of how farms changed on both sides of the ocean; and helps Sam see that things crossed both ways.
   2. Two Views of One MeetingA picture-book class: an old library book says Cortés "discovered" Tenochtitlan in 1519, and the Gullport Junior Herald asks how people at the time saw it. Your child reads three short articles: Tenochtitlan, one of the biggest cities in the world; the meeting of 1519 and the war that followed, told plainly and with care; and two views of it, Cortés's letters and the Nahua elders' own account; asks why people at the same time saw it so differently; finds the big ideas behind a big question; compares two real sources side by side; and helps Sam see why one source is not enough.
   3. Africans in the AmericasA picture-book class: Ms. Ito brings a sweetgrass basket from South Carolina, made the same way as baskets in West Africa, and the Gullport Junior Herald asks how Africans shaped the Americas. Your child reads three short articles: Africans forced across the ocean and enslaved, told truthfully, plainly and with care; the knowledge and skills they brought, like growing rice; and how they resisted, won freedom and kept their cultures, like the Gullah Geechee people today; answers a big question from several sources; explains causes and effects in order; reads the title page of Olaudah Equiano's own book of 1789; and helps Sam see that Africans brought knowledge and skills.

   Skills

   • Name plants, animals and germs that crossed the Atlantic Ocean both ways after 1492, explain how the ocean went from a barrier to a path and how the exchange changed places on both sides, follow a cause to its effects, and build an explanation with a claim, reasons, examples and details in order.
   • Explain why people living at the same time saw the same events differently (who they were, what they wanted and what they knew), compare two primary sources about the meeting of 1519, name the big ideas behind a big question, and use several sources to answer it.
   • Explain truthfully the forced journeys of Africans to the Americas and slavery, and how Africans' knowledge, skills and cultures shaped the Americas and how they resisted and won freedom, using evidence from several sources and explaining causes and effects in order.

4. Life in the Colonies

   Life in North America's colonies, from the first towns to about 1763, told as a new guide of the Gullport Junior Herald, Colony Days, written for the library's Living History Day, in three picture books. Old towns by the water start the question of where colonial towns grew and why, and whose homelands they were built in (New France, Britain's thirteen colonies, Spanish Florida and the Indigenous nations, with their own governments and alliances); a question about fish and shoes leads to what each region made, the resources it took, the forced work of enslaved people, and why colonists traded and used money, from Spanish silver to New France's playing-card money; and Benjamin Franklin's apprenticeship at twelve leads to growing up in the colonies for different children, then and now, and to facts and opinions in old almanacs. Hard history is told truthfully, plainly and with care; nations are named in their own names and written about as living nations; real documents are quoted exactly and credited; Gullport itself is made up, and nothing asks where the child lives or about their family.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.His.1.3-5 Make and use a timeline of related events, and compare things that happened at the same time.; D2.His.2.3-5 Compare life in a particular time in the past with life today.; D2.Eco.3.3-5 Give examples of the resources used to make goods and services: natural resources, people's skills and know-how, and tools and machines.; D2.Eco.4.3-5 Explain why people, businesses and regions specialize and trade.; D2.Eco.5.3-5 Explain how money makes trading easier.; D2.Eco.6.3-5 Explain how learning new skills can help people work better and earn more later.; D2.Geo.8.3-5 Explain how where people settle and travel relates to where natural resources are and how they are used.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Where Towns GrewA picture-book class: the Gullport Junior Herald writes a guide, Colony Days, for the library's Living History Day, and Kenji notices that so many old towns stand by the water. Your child reads three short articles: North America in 1750, with New France, Britain's thirteen colonies and the Indigenous nations whose homelands most of the land still was; why towns grew by harbors, rivers, fish, forests and good soil; and the first towns, Port-Royal, Jamestown, Quebec and Plymouth, and whose homelands they were built in; compares two rows of a timeline; names the facts and the idea behind a question people saw differently; reads one line of John Smith's book of 1612; and helps Sam see that the land was not empty.
   2. Fish for Shoes?A picture-book class: the library sends the Gullport Junior Herald a copy of a Spanish silver dollar and a playing card with writing on it, both once money in the colonies. Your child reads three short articles: what each region made, from New England's fish and ships to New France's fur trade with Indigenous nations; the three kinds of resources, and the forced work of enslaved people, told plainly and with care; and trade and money, from barter to card money; learns why regions specialize and trade and how money makes trading easier; reads the promise printed on a paper bill of 1690; and helps Sam see that the colonies needed each other.
   3. Growing Up in the ColoniesA picture-book class: the library sends the Gullport Junior Herald copies of two old almanacs, and Ms. Ito says Benjamin Franklin started learning to print at twelve. Your child reads three short articles: learning a trade, from apprentice to master; different lives for farm children, Indigenous children, girls and women, and enslaved children, told plainly and with care; and almanacs, facts and opinions; compares an apprentice's life with life today; weighs up an explanation; reads Franklin's own words; compares two real almanacs; and helps Sam see that colonial kids didn't have it easy.

   Skills

   • Explain how harbors, rivers, fish, forests and soil shaped where colonial towns grew, use a timeline to compare what happened at the same time in New France and the British colonies, and name the facts and ideas behind whose land the towns were built on, the homelands of Indigenous nations.
   • Name the natural, human and capital resources used to make goods in the colonies (and the forced work of enslaved people), explain why regions specialized and traded, and explain how money made trading easier than barter.
   • Compare life in the colonies with life today for different people (apprentices, girls and women, enslaved and free Black people), explain how learning a trade helped people earn more later, tell facts from opinions in old sources, and weigh up an explanation: what is strong and what is missing.

5. The Road to Independence

   The years 1763 to 1783 told as a new series of the Gullport Junior Herald, Two Roads, in three picture books. A copy of a 1765 tax stamp starts the question of what taxes pay for and why a tax with no say angered so many colonists, after a war that ended with Britain taking New France, Pontiac and the allied nations fighting for their lands, and the Royal Proclamation; Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence lead to who each was made for, the complaints the Declaration lists as evidence, sources that disagree, and the people its words left out; and the choices of Patriots, Loyalists, people in between, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and enslaved and free Black people lead to the Treaty of Paris and to the Loyalists and Black Loyalists who went north to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec. Each side's reasons are given fairly; war and slavery are told truthfully, plainly and with care; nations are named in their own names and written about as living nations; real documents are quoted exactly and credited, and retellings are labeled; Gullport itself is made up, and nothing asks where the child lives, about their family, or which side their family was on.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.His.4.3-5 Explain why people living at the same time saw things differently.; D2.His.5.3-5 Explain how what was going on at the time connects to how people saw things then.; D2.His.6.3-5 Describe how people's points of view shaped the sources they made.; D2.His.10.3-5 Compare what different sources tell about the past.; D2.His.11.3-5 Use clues inside a source to work out who it was made for and why.; D2.His.12.3-5 Ask questions about several sources and how they connect to an event.; D2.His.13.3-5 Use who made a source, when and where, who it was for and why, to judge how useful it is for a question.; D2.His.16.3-5 Use evidence to make a claim about the past.; D2.His.17.3-5 Summarize the main argument of a history book or article written later.; D2.Civ.14.3-5 Show ways people have changed their communities and nations, long ago and today.; D2.Eco.12.3-5 Explain how a government pays for the goods and services it provides.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. No Say, No Tax?A picture-book class: the Gullport Junior Herald starts a new series, Two Roads, with a copy of a 1765 tax stamp from the town museum. Your child reads three short articles: North America after the war of 1763, with Pontiac and the Royal Proclamation; what taxes pay for and who decides; and how colonists pushed back with petitions, a congress and boycotts; learns how a town pays for what it needs; weighs up a British argument; compares the Stamp Act Congress's words with Parliament's; sees how each side's point of view shaped its words; and helps Sam see that the colonists' complaint was having no say.
   2. Declaring IndependenceA picture-book class: in the town museum's box, the Gullport Junior Herald finds a copy of a printed sheet from July 1776, the Declaration of Independence. Your child reads three short articles: from protest to war, with the Boston Tea Party and Lexington and Concord; Common Sense and the Loyalists' answers; and the Declaration of Independence, its rights, its complaints and the people its words left out, told plainly and with care; compares two sides' accounts of who fired first; builds a claim with evidence; reads the title page of Common Sense and three of the Declaration's complaints; and helps Sam see that the Declaration was about more than taxes.
   3. Choosing SidesA picture-book class: in the town museum's box, the Gullport Junior Herald finds a copy of a long list from 1783 of Black Loyalists sailing north. Your child reads three short articles: Patriots, Loyalists and people in between; Indigenous nations, among them the Haudenosaunee, and Black people choosing the side likelier to protect their lands and their freedom; and the roads north after the war, to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Sierra Leone and the Grand River, told plainly and with care; says an article's main argument in one sentence; judges which source about Valley Forge is more useful; reads words from the Treaty of Paris and the Haldimand Proclamation; and helps Sam see that not everybody wanted independence.

   Skills

   • Explain what taxes pay for and who decides them, connect Britain's debts and new rules after 1763 to why many colonists objected to taxes they had no say in, name petitions, a congress and boycotts as ways they pushed back, and explain how each side's point of view shaped its sources.
   • Use clues in Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence to say who they were made for and why, back a claim about why the colonies declared independence with evidence from the Declaration, compare sources that disagree, and say who the Declaration's words left out.
   • Explain why Patriots, Loyalists, people in between, Indigenous nations such as the Haudenosaunee, and enslaved and free Black people chose different sides, judge how useful a source is for a question, notice who is missing from a source like the Treaty of Paris, and tell where Loyalists and Black Loyalists went, to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec.

6. Building a Constitution

   The years 1781 to 1789 told as a new series of the Gullport Junior Herald, Rules for a Nation, in three picture books. A copy of the Articles of Confederation starts the question of why the first plan left Congress too weak to work and what that led to, beside the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and its Great Law of Peace, as Haudenosaunee people describe it; the summer of 1787 in Philadelphia leads to big states and small states, the Great Compromise, the three-fifths clause and who could vote then, told truthfully, and Canada's Senate of 1867 beside the US Senate; and the finished Constitution leads to the Preamble, the three branches, checks and balances, how a bill becomes a law, and Canada's Constitution Act, 1867. Real documents are quoted exactly and credited; the Haudenosaunee Confederacy is written about as a living government; the claim that its ideas shaped the Constitution is told as a question historians still discuss; Gullport itself is made up, and nothing asks where the child lives, about their family or their citizenship.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Civ.1.3-5 Tell apart what different government leaders are responsible for and can do, at different levels and in different branches, in different times and places.; D2.Civ.3.3-5 Look at where rules, laws and a government's founding plan come from and what they are for.; D2.Civ.5.3-5 Explain where different systems of government come from, what they do and how they are set up, including those set up by constitutions.; D2.Civ.6.3-5 Describe how working together helps people and is sometimes hard, in government, at work, in volunteer groups and in families.; D2.Civ.8.3-5 Name the main civic virtues and democratic ideas that guide governments, communities and people.; D2.Civ.10.3-5 Name the beliefs, experiences and values behind your own and other people's points of view on a public question.; D2.Civ.11.3-5 Compare how decisions are made in different settings: a class, a school, a town, a state, a country.; D2.His.14.3-5 Explain the likely causes and effects of events and changes.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Too Weak to WorkA picture-book class: in the town museum's box, the Gullport Junior Herald finds a copy of the Articles of Confederation, the first plan for the United States. Your child reads three short articles: a league of friendship; why the plan was too weak to work, with no taxes, unpaid debts and quarrels over trade; and another confederacy, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy under the Great Law of Peace, as Haudenosaunee people describe it; follows a chain of causes and effects to the meeting in Philadelphia in 1787; compares the two confederacies; reads George Washington's worry of 1786 and the Articles' rule for changing them; and helps Sam see that the Articles made Congress too weak, not too strong.
   2. A Summer of CompromiseA picture-book class: in the town museum's box, the Gullport Junior Herald finds a copy of a newspaper from September 1787 with the new Constitution printed inside. Your child reads three short articles: a summer in Philadelphia, with who had a seat and who could vote; big states and small states and the Great Compromise; and the three-fifths clause and the slave trade, told truthfully and with care; names the views and values behind each side; weighs what each side gave up and got; compares the US Senate's words of 1787 with Canada's of 1867; uses a chart of four states' people in 1790; and helps Sam see that in a compromise each side gives up something and gets something.
   3. Checks and BalancesA picture-book class: the Gullport Junior Herald gets the town museum's display ready, with a banner that says We the People. Your child reads three short articles: the signing, the Preamble and the promised Bill of Rights; the three branches and the states' own governments; and checks and balances; follows a made-up bill to a law; compares who makes, carries out and decides on laws in the United States and in Canada; reads the Preamble in its own words; compares the words that set up the US Congress and Canada's Parliament; and helps Sam see that the President can't make any law alone.

   Skills

   • Explain why the Articles of Confederation left the national government too weak, follow the chain of causes and effects that led to the meeting in Philadelphia in 1787, and compare the Articles' Congress with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy's Grand Council under the Great Law of Peace, as Haudenosaunee people describe it.
   • Explain why delegates from big and small states, and from states with and without slavery, saw the plan differently, describe the Great Compromise and what each side gave up and got, say truthfully who the three-fifths clause and the voting rules of 1787 left out, and compare the US Senate with Canada's Senate of 1867.
   • Use the Preamble to say what the Constitution is for, explain what Congress, the President and the courts do, how checks and balances keep any one branch from getting too strong and how a bill becomes a law, and compare the US Constitution with Canada's Constitution Act, 1867.

7. Rights and Responsibilities

   Rights and the responsibilities that come with them, told as a new series of the Gullport Junior Herald, Free and Fair, in three picture books. An unsigned letter telling the Herald to stop writing about the new ferry horn starts the question of what the Bill of Rights protects, and from whom, what limits rights have, and what we owe each other, with a fair trial in the Sixth Amendment beside Canada's Charter; the amendments and laws that widened rights, and the people in both countries who worked for them; and a made-up town council's plan for a crowded harbor path, careful talk and fair decisions, and what citizens of any age can do. Real documents are quoted exactly and credited; rights are taught as protecting people, not only citizens; Gullport itself is made up, and nothing asks where the child lives, about their family, religion or citizenship.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Civ.2.3-5 Explain how a democracy needs people to take part responsibly, and what that means for how each person takes part.; D2.Civ.4.3-5 Explain how groups of people make rules that give people responsibilities and protect freedoms.; D2.Civ.7.3-5 Use civic virtues and democratic ideas in class and school.; D2.Civ.9.3-5 Use careful talk and listening (deliberation) to make decisions as a group.; D2.Civ.12.3-5 Explain how rules and laws change a community, and how people change rules and laws.; D2.Civ.13.3-5 Explain how a government makes a plan (a policy) to solve a public problem.; D2.Civ.14.3-5 Show ways people have changed their communities and nations, long ago and today.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. A Bill of RightsA picture-book class: an unsigned letter tells the Gullport Junior Herald to stop writing about the new ferry horn, and the Herald starts a series about rights. Your child reads three short articles: why people wanted a bill of rights and how it was added in 1791; what it protects, and from whom; and why rights have limits and come with responsibilities, with the words of Canada's Charter; works out who a right protects people from; weighs a right, its limit and its responsibility in a made-up rumor; compares the Sixth Amendment with section 11 of the Charter; explains why a free press matters to everyone; and helps Sam see that a free press still has to check its facts.
   2. Rights for More PeopleA picture-book class: in the town museum's box, the Gullport Junior Herald finds a copy of the Provincial Freeman, the newspaper Mary Ann Shadd started in 1853. Your child reads three short articles: the amendments after the Civil War and the voters still blocked, told truthfully and with care; women's long work for the vote; and four people in both countries who changed unfair laws; reads the 15th Amendment's words one question at a time; sorts ways to work for change; compares the 19th Amendment with section 3 of Canada's Charter; weighs whether change takes one brave person or many; and helps Sam see that rights didn't reach everyone in 1791.
   3. Citizens in ActionA picture-book class: the harbor path in made-up Gullport is packed with bikes and walkers, and the town council calls a meeting where everyone may speak. Your child reads three short articles: how a council makes a plan; how a group talks a choice through and decides fairly; and how people of every age take part; watches a made-up group decide fairly, and weighs a made-up council idea; reads the 26th Amendment; chooses between two made-up plans for the path with a benefit, a cost and a prediction; and helps Sam see that kids can take part before they can vote.

   Skills

   • Explain why the Bill of Rights was added in 1791, what it protects and that it limits the government, name a limit and a responsibility that go with a right, explain why a right matters to other people, and compare a fair trial in the Sixth Amendment and in Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
   • Explain how amendments and laws widened rights after 1791, compare the words of two amendments, and describe how people in both countries worked to change laws, by writing, speaking, petitioning, going to court and voting.
   • Explain how a government makes a plan for a public problem, use careful talk and listening to make a fair group decision, and describe what citizens of any age can do to take part responsibly, and predict what might happen.

8. Money and the Economy

   Money, choices and the economy, told as a new series of the Gullport Junior Herald, Money Matters, in three picture books. Kenji's bike helmet is too small, and a new one costs as many made-up tokens as the Harbor Fair boat ride, which starts the question of what a choice costs and how rewards and penalties change choices, with Benjamin Franklin's whistle and two made-up letters to weigh; why Haddad Bikes fixes more bikes than it sells bells (profit), how a new tool and training help it fix more, and the good and bad side effects of a new cargo dock, with Adam Smith's pin factory; and what banks and credit unions do, interest out of every 100 tokens a year, Canada's dollar and the US dollar as two different moneys, and facts and opinions in made-up ads, with Franklin's words on money that makes money. Every business, bank, ad and price is made up and says so, no real bank or brand is named, and nothing asks about the child's or family's money.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Eco.1.3-5 Compare the benefits and costs of a person's choices.; D2.Eco.2.3-5 Name rewards and penalties (incentives) that change the choices people make.; D2.Eco.7.3-5 Explain how profit affects what sellers do in a market.; D2.Eco.8.3-5 Give examples of good and bad side effects of a choice on other people.; D2.Eco.9.3-5 Describe what banks and other money services do in an economy.; D2.Eco.10.3-5 Explain what interest rates are.; D2.Eco.13.3-5 Describe how people can make more with better tools and new skills.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Costs and ChoicesA picture-book class: Kenji's bike helmet in made-up Gullport is too small, and a new one costs as many pretend tokens as he'd need for the Harbor Fair boat ride. Your child reads three short articles: every choice has a cost, the best thing given up being the opportunity cost; rewards and penalties change choices; and how to weigh an argument; watches Kenji weigh his choice and a made-up letter get weighed; reads Benjamin Franklin's words about a whistle he bought at 7; weighs two made-up letters; and helps Sam see that a free thing can still cost something.
   2. The Busy Bike ShopA picture-book class: made-up Haddad Bikes has a long line for repairs, and trucks from Gullport's new cargo dock rumble past. Your child reads three short articles: profit is the money a business takes in, minus its costs; better tools and new skills help people make more; and a choice can have good and bad side effects; works out the profit on a bell and a repair in pretend tokens; follows a mechanic who fixes twice as many tires; reads Adam Smith's words about a pin factory; weighs two made-up letters about the dock; and helps Sam see that profit is what's left after the costs.
   3. Banks and InterestA picture-book class: Anchor knocks over Kenji's jar of pretend tokens, and two made-up flyers, from a bank and a credit union, both say they're the best. Your child reads three short articles: what banks and credit unions do; what interest is, so much out of every 100 each year; and how Canada's dollar and the US dollar are two different moneys; counts interest by hundreds; sorts a made-up flyer into facts and opinions; reads Benjamin Franklin's words on money that makes money; chooses whether to trust a made-up ad or a made-up news report; and helps Sam see that banks lend money too.

   Skills

   • Name the benefit, cost and opportunity cost of a choice, tell a reward from a penalty and say how an incentive changes a choice, and weigh an argument's claim, reasons and evidence and what is missing.
   • Explain profit as the money a business takes in minus its costs and how it changes what sellers offer, explain how better tools and new skills help people make more, and name good and bad side effects of a choice on other people.
   • Describe what banks and credit unions do, work out interest as so much out of every 100 each year for savers and borrowers, name Canada's dollar and the US dollar as two different moneys, and use facts and opinions to judge how far an ad or report can be trusted.

9. A Connected World

   How places, prices and jobs are linked across the world, told as a mission in three picture books: two kid reporters in Gullport, a made-up harbor town whose bike shop runs out of tires before the big race, follow the tire's supply chain to a storm far away, find out what a new price tag says about inflation and jobs, and write a front page about who was helped and hurt and what to do next time.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: D2.Eco.11.3-5 Explain what inflation, deflation and unemployment mean.; D2.Eco.14.3-5 Explain how trade makes regions and countries depend on each other more and more.; D2.Eco.15.3-5 Explain how growing interdependence between nations affects different groups within them.; D2.Geo.9.3-5 Look at how disasters in nature or caused by technology affect where people settle and move.; D2.Geo.11.3-5 Describe how the kinds of work in a place change over time because of its links with places near and far.; D2.Geo.12.3-5 Explain how disasters, natural or human-made, in one place affect people living in other places.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Missing TiresA picture-book class: a harbor town's bike shop runs out of tires before the big race, and two kid reporters follow the tire's supply chain across the ocean, so your child learns what a supply chain and interdependence are, and how a natural disaster far away can reach people here.
   2. The Price Tag PuzzleA picture-book class: the new bike tires in a harbor town cost 12 tokens instead of 8, and two kid reporters check the facts, so your child learns to tell one price going up from inflation and deflation, and what unemployment means.
   3. Front Page NewsA picture-book class: a letter from a faraway island tells how a storm changed its town, and two kid reporters write their front page, so your child learns what a settlement and migration are, how the same change can help some groups and hurt others, and how to back a plan with evidence.

   Skills

   • Follow a product's supply chain from raw material to store, explain interdependence, and explain how a natural disaster in one place can affect people in places far away.
   • Tell one price rising because something is scarce from inflation (most prices rising over time) and deflation (most prices falling), and explain who is unemployed, using a price table and other evidence.
   • Explain how a disaster changes where people settle and move (settlement, migration), how trade and its interruptions help some groups and hurt others, and back a claim and a plan with evidence.

Arts Education

1. Music: Chords, Form and Composing Our Own

   Three picture-book classes with the Fernwood Youth Players, three fifth graders who find an old page in their theater's piano bench: The Fernwood Welcome, the song that opens every season, written only as Roman numerals, I, IV, V, I, with a note on the back: the tune is yours to write. Your child builds chords by stacking every other note, reads them on a treble staff, names I, IV and V in a key and sings the chart as broken chords and a bass line; learns how a song's form is built from phrases and sections (A B A) and how a tune fits its chords, then improvises tunes over the chords for a purpose; and composes a tune of their own for the song, writes it down, checks it with criteria, revises it after feedback, keeping track of the change, rehearses the hard spot and performs it, telling what it expresses. Along the way they meet lead sheets, the 12-bar blues, Nashville's number charts, Louis Armstrong's solos, Beethoven's sketchbooks, Florence Price and Duke Ellington. Every part can be sung, hummed, clapped and patted at home; a keyboard or app is welcome but not needed.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: MU:Cr1.1.5a Improvise rhythm, melody and harmony ideas and explain how they fit a purpose and a setting, such as a social, cultural or historical one.; MU:Cr1.1.5b Make up musical ideas, such as rhythms, melodies and accompaniment patterns, in related tonalities and meters and over simple chord changes.; MU:Cr2.1.5a Choose and develop musical ideas for an improvisation, arrangement or composition so that it shows what they mean, and explain how it fits its purpose.; MU:Cr2.1.5b Put their own rhythm, melody and two-chord harmony ideas in order and keep them, with standard or iconic notation or a recording.; MU:Cr3.1.5a Judge and improve their own music, keeping track of the changes, with criteria and feedback, and explain why they changed it.; MU:Cr3.2.5a Share the final version of their own music with care and craft, and tell what they wanted it to express.; MU:Pr4.2.5a Show that they understand the structure and elements (rhythm, pitch, form and harmony) of the music they perform.; MU:Pr4.2.5b Read and perform rhythm, melody and harmony from notation when studying a piece.; MU:Pr5.1.5b Rehearse to make a piece more accurate and expressive, solve its hard parts and show improvement over time.; MU:Pr6.1.5a Perform music, alone or with others, with expression, accuracy and a fitting interpretation.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Piano BenchA picture-book class that is mostly singing: in the Fernwood Theater's piano bench, the Fernwood Youth Players find an old page with only four marks, I, IV, V, I. Your child warms up breath, voice and beat, hears how three chords carry thousands of songs (from lead sheets to the 12-bar blues and Nashville's number charts), learns to build chords by stacking every other note and to read them on a treble staff, watches Ms. Maple sing a chart as broken chords with knees, clap and shoulders, then builds the IV and V chords and sings the Fernwood chart as broken chords and as a bass line.
   2. Making It UpA picture-book class that is mostly improvising: the back of the old page gives the Fernwood Welcome's form, A B A, and a 1979 program gives a name, Ruth Lam. Your child warms up a groove, hears how songs are planned (verse and chorus, A B A) and how musicians from Louis Armstrong to today's raga and extempo calypso performers make music up on the spot, learns that a tune's strong beats sing notes of the bar's chord, watches Ms. Maple choose the chords for Mary Had a Little Lamb, then improvises rhythms and tunes over the Fernwood chords for a welcome.
   3. First NightA picture-book class that is mostly composing: the Fernwood Youth Players write their tune down, find Ruth Lam's 1979 sketchbook full of crossed-out drafts, and sing their own Welcome on First Night, where Ruth Lam herself stands up to sing. Your child warms up the voice, hears how Beethoven, Florence Price and Duke Ellington drafted and revised, learns the composer's loop and the notes of the treble staff, watches Ms. Maple compose and revise a section, then composes a tune of their own over the Fernwood chords, writes it down, checks it with a list, revises it after feedback with a log, rehearses the hard spot and performs it.

   Skills

   • Build triads by stacking every other note, read them on a treble staff, name I, IV and V in a major key, and sing a chord chart as broken chords and a bass line.
   • Describe a song's form (phrases, sections, A B A), choose chords that fit a melody from the notes on its strong beats, and improvise rhythms and tunes over I, IV and V for a purpose.
   • Compose a tune over a chord chart, write it down in notation, check it with criteria, revise it after feedback while keeping track of the change, rehearse the hard spot, and perform it, telling what it expresses.

2. Theatre: Opening Night (Objectives, Body and Voice, Design and Theme)

   Three picture-book classes with the Fernwood Youth Players, three fifth graders who have five days to get an old play, Wren and the Paper Kite, ready for opening night while a mystery helper leaves notes by the stage lamp: your child finds a character's objective, obstacle and inner thoughts, shows feelings with posture, gesture and vocal tone, and designs lights and sound that tell the story and its theme.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: TH:Cr1.1.5c Imagine and describe a scripted character's inner thoughts and objectives.; TH:Pr4.1.5a Describe the thoughts and feelings underneath a character's dialogue and actions.; TH:Re8.1.5c Look at how feelings change posture, gesture, breathing and the voice in a drama.; TH:Cr3.1.5b Explore body and voice to develop a character.; TH:Pr4.1.5b Use physical choices to make meaning in a drama.; TH:Cr1.1.5b Suggest design ideas that support the story and the given circumstances of a drama.; TH:Re9.1.5b Judge how well technical elements show the theme of a drama.; TH:Cr3.1.5c Come up with new solutions to design and technical problems in a drama.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Note by the LampA picture-book class: the Fernwood Youth Players have five days to get an old play ready, and a mystery note by the stage lamp says "Ask what Wren wants", so your child finds a character's objective, obstacle and inner thoughts in the script, uses stage directions as evidence, and says one line three ways with three different wants.
   2. When the Body SpeaksA picture-book class: the Lamp's note says "Now let her body speak", so your child learns how feelings show in posture, gesture and vocal tone, warms up like an actor, makes two freeze frames of Wren, then rehearses and performs Wren's storm scene with director's notes, before the old wind machine breaks.
   3. Lights, Sound, Storm!A picture-book class: the wind machine is broken the day before opening night, so your child joins the crew, learning technical elements, theme and cues, making a storm with their hands, choosing lights and sound that fit each scene and the play's theme, and finding out at last who the Lamp is.

   Skills

   • Describe a scripted character's objective, obstacle and inner thoughts, using lines and stage directions as evidence.
   • Choose posture, gesture, breath and vocal tone that show what a character feels and wants, and read feelings from them.
   • Choose and judge lights, sound, costumes and props that fit a scene's mood and the play's theme, and solve a technical problem.

3. Visual Art: Combining Ideas, Practising Techniques, Artist Statements

   Three picture-book classes with the Fernwood Youth Players, who fill the bare wall of their theater's lobby with a show of their own, Things That Matter. Your child chooses an object or a place that matters to them and builds a new idea for an artwork by combining it with a second idea, investigating with a word web and three quick thumbnails and choosing one with a reason; practises techniques for light and dark (hatching, cross-hatching, stippling and blending) on a practice page, takes care of tools and paper, and draws something that matters from looking; then finishes the artwork and writes a statement card that explains its choices with art words. Along the way they meet Arcimboldo's Vertumnus, Picasso's Bull's Head, the alebrijes made in Mexico today, Dürer's Young Hare, ink painters' bamboo strokes, the Canadian painter Mary Pratt, Vincent van Gogh's letter about his bedroom and Georgia O'Keeffe's big flowers. Everything is drawn with a pencil and paper at home, and work is shared with a grown-up at home, never by photo.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: VA:Cr1.1.5a Combine ideas to come up with a new idea for making art.; VA:Cr1.2.5a Try different ways of investigating, and choose one to begin a work of art.; VA:Cr2.1.5a Practise several art-making techniques and approaches to build skill.; VA:Cr2.2.5a Show careful craft by looking after and using materials, tools and equipment well.; VA:Cr2.3.5a Describe and record, in pictures, places or objects that matter to them.; VA:Cr3.1.5a Write an artist statement with art words that explains their choices.; VA:Cn10.1.5a Use art and design words to see their surroundings in new ways through making art.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Two IdeasA picture-book class that is mostly sketching: the Fernwood Youth Players plan a show for their theater's bare lobby wall, Things That Matter, and Kit thinks her grandpa's flashlight is too ordinary for art. Your child warms up by finding shapes in everyday things, hears how Arcimboldo, Picasso and the makers of alebrijes built new art from old ideas, learns four ways to combine two ideas, watches Ms. Maple turn a watering can into Star Rain, then builds a new idea of their own: a word web, three thumbnails and a choice with a reason.
   2. Practice PagesA picture-book class that is mostly drawing: Kit's first try smudges and her flashlight's beam comes out gray, until the friends make practice pages. Your child warms up lines and a contour of their hand, hears how Albrecht Dürer, ink painters and the Canadian painter Mary Pratt practiced and looked closely, learns value, hatching, cross-hatching, stippling and blending and careful craft, watches Ms. Maple shade a mug from looking, then makes two value scales and draws something that matters to them from looking.
   3. Statement CardsA picture-book class that is mostly making: the Lobby Show's drawings are finished, but the friends' statement cards only say I like it, until Ms. Maple asks for one choice and why. Your child finishes their own artwork for the show, hears how Vincent van Gogh and Georgia O'Keeffe explained their choices, learns six art words and how to explain a choice with a reason, watches Ms. Maple write a card, then writes and reads their own statement card.

   Skills

   • Build a new idea for art by combining an object or a place that matters with a second idea, investigate it in several thumbnails and choose one to begin, with a reason.
   • Practise value techniques (hatching, cross-hatching, stippling, blending) on a practice page with careful craft, and draw an object or a place that matters from observation.
   • Finish an artwork and write an artist statement with art words that explains its choices with reasons, using art words to see surroundings in new ways.

4. Dance: Many Sources, One Main Idea, Feedback

   Three picture-book classes with the Fernwood Youth Players, who make a dance for the theater's evening of dance, Fernwood Moves, after a feather, a bus ticket and a postcard of birds turn up on the stage. Your child finds ideas for a dance in many kinds of sources and turns one into an 8-count phrase of still and moving shapes, floor and air pathways and a steady beat or breath timing; builds a dance study around one main idea with a beginning, a middle and an end, choreographic devices and movement qualities; then takes feedback in four steps, records a change in a change log, rehearses with self-checks, fits the study to a new space, chooses one production element that strengthens it and judges it with criteria. Along the way they meet Isadora Duncan, Doris Humphrey's Water Study, Katherine Dunham, Fred Astaire's dance with a hat stand, Martha Graham's Appalachian Spring, Kathak dance from North India, Merce Cunningham's coin tosses, Loie Fuller's Serpentine Dance and Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process. Every move has a seated version; the child dances in a clear space with no socks on a smooth floor, or in a sturdy chair, and shares the dance with a grown-up at home, never by photo or video.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: DA:Cr1.1.5a Build ideas for a dance from several sources, such as music, words, objects, pictures, nature, events and experiences.; DA:Cr1.1.5b Develop a dance phrase that expresses an idea or a feeling, and discuss what the movement choices do.; DA:Cr2.1.5a Change choreographic devices to find more possibilities and develop a main idea, and explain the movement choices.; DA:Cr2.1.5b Build a dance study from chosen movements to share a main idea, and discuss how a dance speaks without words.; DA:Cr3.1.5a Use feedback from others to explore and clarify a short dance study, and explain how the feedback helped.; DA:Cr3.1.5b Record changes in a dance sequence with writing, symbols or media.; DA:Pr4.1.5a Combine still and moving shapes and floor and air pathways, relate to other dancers with focus, and project movement outward.; DA:Pr4.1.5b Dance to different rhythms and to music with and without a steady meter, keeping space and timing with others.; DA:Pr4.1.5c Choose and use the movement qualities and dynamics that fit a dance best.; DA:Pr5.1.5a Remember and perform a series of dance phrases with basic dance skills, such as alignment, balance and coordination.; DA:Pr5.1.5b Practice with others to refine dances, and set group expectations for performing.; DA:Pr5.1.5c Rehearse with self-checks and feedback, and use what they learn to improve.; DA:Pr6.1.5a Adapt a dance to a new performance space by changing its spacing and movements.; DA:Pr6.1.5b Choose production elements, such as lights, sound and costumes, that strengthen what a dance means.; DA:Re7.1.5a Find the meaning or intent in the movement patterns of a dance.; DA:Re8.1.5a Interpret what a dance means from its movements, and explain with dance words how they share its main idea.; DA:Re9.1.5a Name what makes a dance interesting as art, and use those qualities to judge dances.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Five SourcesA picture-book class that is mostly dancing: Fernwood Moves is on Saturday, the Fernwood Youth Players are actors, not dancers, and small things keep turning up in the middle of the empty stage. Your child warms up (stack, cross, balance), hears where Isadora Duncan, Doris Humphrey, Katherine Dunham and Fred Astaire found ideas for dances, learns to turn a source into a phrase with shapes, pathways and timing, watches Ms. Maple make a phrase from the steam of her tea, then makes and dances a phrase from a source of their own. Every move has a seated version.
   2. One Main IdeaA picture-book class that is mostly dancing: the friends' three phrases look like three different dances, until a postcard of thousands of starlings moving as one gives them a main idea, alone, then together. Your child warms up by dancing one phrase four ways, hears how Martha Graham, Kathak dancers and Merce Cunningham made dances speak without words, learns to build a dance study with a beginning, a middle and an end, choreographic devices and movement qualities, watches Ms. Maple build A Quiet Morning, then builds and dances a study of their own. Every move has a seated version.
   3. Fernwood MovesA picture-book class that is mostly dancing: the stage is being varnished, so the friends must dance Alone, then together in the long, narrow lobby, and their swirl doesn't fit. Your child warms up like a dance company, hears how Loie Fuller made silk and light part of her dance and how Liz Lerman's four steps of feedback work, learns to revise and record a change, adapt a dance to a new space, choose lights, sound and costumes that help, and judge with criteria, watches Ms. Maple make version 2 of her study, then revises, records, adapts and performs their own. At the end, the mystery of the things on the stage is solved. Every move has a seated version.

   Skills

   • Find ideas for a dance in several kinds of sources and turn one into a phrase of still and moving shapes, floor and air pathways and fitting timing, projected outward, and find the idea in a phrase's pattern of moves.
   • Build a dance study that shares one main idea, with a beginning, a middle and an end, choreographic devices and movement qualities chosen to fit it, and interpret a dance's main idea from its movements.
   • Use feedback to clarify a dance study, record the change, rehearse with self-checks and group expectations, adapt it to a new space with production elements that strengthen it, and judge dances with criteria.

5. Theatre: Devising a Drama and Presenting It to an Audience

   Three picture-book classes with the Fernwood Youth Players, who must make their own play for Open Doors Night, when the whole neighborhood comes to the theater for free, and all they have is an old suitcase nobody can explain, with a red mitten, a map, a small bell and a tag that says Wait for me. Your child devises a scene from an object with five questions, chooses the character's given circumstances and shows inner traits with physical qualities; takes on a job in a company, chooses acting exercises and safe technical elements, writes cues in a prompt book and improves the scene by running, reviewing and running it again; then presents the play for an invited grown-up at home, stays in character when something goes wrong, takes a curtain call, responds to a drama with reasons and their own experiences and judges it with a plan. Along the way they meet Stanislavski's given circumstances and magic if, Viola Spolin's theater games, the sound effects of radio plays and Jack Foley, the stage manager's prompt book, Aristotle's six parts of a play and the critic's review. Every move has a seated version; props come from safe things at home, a grown-up switches any lamp, there are no flames and no climbing, and invitations carry no names or addresses.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: TH:Cr1.1.5a Name physical qualities that could show a character's inner traits in the imagined world of a drama.; TH:Cr2.1.5a Devise original ideas for a drama that grow from the group's questions about characters and their circumstances.; TH:Cr2.1.5b Take on a defined job in presenting a drama, such as director, actor, stage manager or designer.; TH:Cr3.1.5a Revise and improve an improvised or scripted drama by repeating it and reviewing it themselves.; TH:Pr5.1.5a Choose acting exercises that can be used in a drama.; TH:Pr5.1.5b Show how technical elements are used in a drama.; TH:Pr6.1.5a Present a drama for an invited audience.; TH:Re7.1.5a Explain their own reactions to the artistic choices in a drama, as a participant or a watcher.; TH:Re8.1.5a Back up their responses to a drama with their own experiences.; TH:Re9.1.5a Make and use a plan to judge a drama.; TH:Re9.1.5c Recognize how a character's circumstances change how the audience sees the story.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The SuitcaseA picture-book class that is mostly acting: the Fernwood Youth Players must make their own play for Open Doors Night, and all they have is an old suitcase nobody can explain. Your child warms up body and voice, hears how Stanislavski's given circumstances and magic if and Viola Spolin's theater games help actors invent, learns to devise a scene from an object with five questions, to show a character's inner traits with physical qualities and to see how circumstances change a story, watches Ms. Maple devise a scene from an old key, then devises and performs the beginning of a one-minute play from a safe object at home. Every move has a seated version.
   2. Run It AgainA picture-book class that is mostly rehearsing: the friends' first run of their own play is a mess, and Omar wants to climb a ladder for snow. Your child warms up like an actor, hears how radio plays and Jack Foley made sounds by hand and how a stage manager's prompt book keeps every cue, learns the jobs in a company, how to choose acting exercises and safe technical elements and how to write cues, watches Ms. Maple rehearse her own scene, then rehearses their scene with an exercise, a sound or light and a cue, reviews it, changes one thing and runs it again. Every move has a seated version; a grown-up switches any lamp, and there are no flames and no climbing.
   3. Open Doors NightA picture-book class that is mostly performing: on Open Doors Night the friends present Wait for Me to the whole neighborhood, and the bell rings far too early. Your child warms up for a show, hears about Aristotle's six parts of a play, critics' reviews and the curtain call, learns to present, to respond to a play with reasons and their own experiences and to judge it with a plan, watches Ms. Maple present her scene to her neighbor, then presents their own play for an invited grown-up at home (or for the teacher), asks two questions and judges it. At the end, the old suitcase is no longer empty. Every move has a seated version.

   Skills

   • Devise original ideas for a scene from an object with a group's questions, choose physical qualities that show a character's inner traits, and recognize how given circumstances change the story.
   • Take on a defined job in a company, choose acting exercises and safe technical elements a drama needs, write its cues, and improve a scene by repeating and reviewing it.
   • Present a drama for an invited audience, explain reactions to artistic choices with reasons and personal experiences, and judge a drama with a plan of criteria and evidence.

6. Visual Art: Curators, Interpretations and Art That Changes Minds

   Three picture-book classes with the Fernwood Youth Players, who have until Saturday to empty the storeroom under their theater's stage before everything left in it goes in the dumpster, and who turn what they find into a show in the lobby, Under the Stage. Your child learns what curators do and curates a small show of their own art at home: a big idea, three to five works chosen with reasons, prepared with care, and a plan of the wall; describes, analyzes, interprets and judges an artwork with evidence, compares interpretations, notices the meanings images carry in a culture and chooses criteria that fit the kind of art, with a painting found under the stage that has no title and no name; then writes labels and a wall text, sets up the show safely, gives a tour and learns how art can inform people and change what they believe, value and do. Along the way they meet the crowded walls of the Paris Salon, museum storerooms and light, Monet's Impression, Sunrise and the critic who named the Impressionists, Picasso's dove, Thomas Moran's pictures of Yellowstone, Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series and Smokey Bear's posters. Labels carry no names, towns or schools; the show goes up only with a grown-up's OK and is shared with a grown-up at home, never by photo.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: VA:Pr4.1.5a Explain what a curator does and what it takes to keep, care for and show objects and artwork.; VA:Pr5.1.5a Give reasons for safe and good ways to prepare and present artwork.; VA:Pr6.1.5a Use evidence to explain how an exhibition presents ideas and information about a topic.; VA:Re7.1.5a Compare their own interpretation of an artwork with other people's.; VA:Re7.2.5a Identify and explain the cultural associations that images suggest.; VA:Re8.1.5a Interpret art from its form and structure, its context, its subject, its visual elements and its media, to find its ideas and mood.; VA:Re9.1.5a Recognize that the criteria for judging art differ with style, genre, medium and historical and cultural setting.; VA:Cn11.1.5a Identify how art is used to inform people or change what they believe, value or do.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Under the StageA picture-book class that is mostly curating: the storeroom under the Fernwood Theater's stage must be empty by Saturday, and the lobby wall holds only eight things. Your child hears what curators do, from the Latin word for taking care to the crowded walls of the Paris Salon, learns a curator's four jobs, watches Ms. Maple curate a small show of her drawings, then curates a small show of their own art at home: a big idea, three to five works chosen with reasons, prepared with care, and a plan of the wall.
   2. The Painting with No LabelA picture-book class that is mostly looking and responding: the painting from under the stage has no title and no name, and the friends have three different ideas about what it means. Your child draws it from memory, hears how a critic laughed at Monet in 1874 and how pictures carry meanings that people learn from their culture, learns the critic's four steps (describe, analyze, interpret, judge), watches Ms. Maple look at a painting and compare ideas with her neighbor, then is the critic of a picture at home, with evidence at every step and criteria that fit.
   3. Leave the Light OnA picture-book class that is mostly making and presenting: the lobby show Under the Stage opens, the painting with no label gets its label, and grumpy Mr. Pruitt changes his mind. Your child hears how Thomas Moran's pictures helped make Yellowstone the first national park, how Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series tells a part of America's history, and how Smokey Bear's posters change what people do, learns what labels and a wall text say, watches Ms. Maple finish her own show, then finishes theirs: labels with "by me" instead of a name, a wall text, a safe set-up with a grown-up's OK, and a tour.

   Skills

   • Explain what a curator does, choose works for a show around a big idea with reasons, care for and prepare them safely, and plan how to arrange them for their viewers.
   • Describe, analyze, interpret and judge an artwork with evidence from its subject, elements, media and context, compare interpretations, explain the meanings images carry in a culture, and choose criteria that fit the kind of art.
   • Write labels and a wall text, present a show safely so that it shares its idea with evidence, and explain how art can inform people or change what they believe, value or do.

7. Music, Dance and Theatre in Their Times and Cultures

   Three picture-book classes with the Fernwood Youth Players, whose theater turns one hundred this year, and who make Centennial Night: one evening that tells a hundred years in music, dance and theater. Your child sings one song three ways for three settings, choosing dynamics, tempo, timbre and articulation on purpose, judges which way fits best with criteria and learns the manners of different audiences; learns the hand jive from a neighbor who danced it in 1958, makes a then-and-now dance and compares styles with dance words; then finds historical sources for theater words and customs, compares stories from different cultures and plays a short scene set in one of the theater's times. Along the way they meet the Hill sisters' Good Morning to All, the ballpark's Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Lift Every Voice and Sing, the Charleston, the hand jive, breaking, Yeh-Shen and Cendrillon, A Raisin in the Sun, and the words matinee and encore. Voices stay gentle, every move has a seated version, and the child shares their work with a grown-up at home or describes it to the teacher, never on camera.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: MU:Pr4.1.5a Show and explain how interest, knowledge, purpose, setting and their own skill shape the music they choose to perform.; MU:Pr4.2.5c Explain how a social, cultural or historical setting shapes a performance.; MU:Pr4.3.5a Show and explain how a performer's choices of dynamics, tempo, timbre and articulation carry what they mean.; MU:Pr5.1.5a Use agreed criteria and feedback to judge how accurate and expressive their own and a group's performances are.; MU:Pr6.1.5b Show the performer and audience manners that suit the setting, the place, the genre and the style.; MU:Re7.1.5a Explain, with evidence, how a piece of music connects to and is shaped by interests, experiences, purposes or settings.; MU:Re7.2.5a Explain, with evidence, how a piece's structure, its musical elements and its setting shape how we respond to it.; MU:Re8.1.5a Show and explain how performers use dynamics, tempo, timbre and articulation to show what they mean.; MU:Re9.1.5a Judge pieces and performances with agreed criteria and explain, with evidence from the music, how well they suit the setting.; MU:Cn10.0.5a Show how their interests, knowledge and skills shape their choices when they make, perform and respond to music.; MU:Cn11.0.5a Show how music connects to the other arts, other subjects, settings and daily life.; DA:Re7.1.5b Describe the style of a dance from their own movement practice with dance words, and compare it with another style.; DA:Cn10.1.5a Compare two dances with different themes, and relate them to their own experiences.; DA:Cn10.1.5b Choose a topic from another subject and find out how other art forms have expressed it, then show it in dance.; DA:Cn11.1.5a Describe how the movements of a dance style share the ideas of the culture, time or community it comes from.; TH:Re8.1.5b Explain how culture shapes the content and the meaning of a drama.; TH:Cn10.1.5a Explain how drama connects them to their community or culture.; TH:Cn11.1.5a Investigate historical, global and social issues shown in drama.; TH:Cn11.2.5a Compare stories set in different cultures, finding what they share and how they differ.; TH:Cn11.2.5b Find historical sources that explain theater words and customs.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Birthday SongA picture-book class that is mostly singing: the Fernwood Theater turns one hundred, and the friends argue about how to sing Happy Birthday to it. Your child hears how a kindergarten song from 1893 became Happy Birthday to You, how audiences behave at an orchestra concert, a jazz club and a ballpark, and how Lift Every Voice and Sing spread across the country; learns a performer's four choices (dynamics, tempo, timbre and articulation); then sings one song three ways, for a napping baby, a giant picnic and the theater's hundredth birthday, and judges which way fits best.
   2. The Hand JiveA picture-book class that is mostly dancing: Mrs. Delgado, who remembers the winter the theater went dark in 1958, teaches the friends the hand jive she danced in a diner too crowded to dance in. Your child hears how the Charleston, the hand jive and breaking each grew from their time and place, learns to compare dances with dance words (body, energy, space and time), then learns the hand jive in a chair, adds eight counts of a move from their own everyday life and compares the two parts.
   3. Centennial NightA picture-book class that is mostly acting: the friends find the Fernwood Theater's 1926 Cinderella script, with two old words in pencil, matinee and encore. Your child hears where theater words come from, compares Yeh-Shen from China with Cendrillon from France, and learns how a play like A Raisin in the Sun shows its time; then plans and plays a short scene set in 1926, 1958 or now, with a detail from a source, and says what it shows about its time. Centennial Night ends with an encore and the ghost light.

   Skills

   • Choose and perform music to fit a setting, shaping dynamics, tempo, timbre and articulation on purpose, show the audience manners that suit the setting, and judge performances with agreed criteria.
   • Describe how a dance style shares the ideas of the time and place it comes from, compare styles with dance words, relate dances to their own experience, and show a topic from another subject in dance.
   • Explain how culture and history shape a drama's content and meaning, compare stories from different cultures, find historical sources that explain theater words and customs, and connect drama to their community.

Physical and Health Education

1. Moves in Combination: Travel, Jump and Balance

   Three picture books with textbook pages about Tessa and Jonah, two fifth graders who crack Coach Reyes's Move Code, three task cards written in symbols, and then write their own code for the class's Code Show: locomotor and manipulative skills joined into a combination that flows (a travel into a spring-and-step, a ready landing, a toss and catch); the same combination changed with movement concepts (direction, level, pathway, speed and force) on a floor map drawn from above, with a practice plan the child leads; and a partner sequence of balances and weight transfers, matched or mirrored, practiced safely and responsibly in different places, with stop, drink, rest and tell.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E1.5 Combines locomotor skills with manipulative skills in small practice tasks and game-like play, and travels with good form in dance and gymnastics.; S1.E3.5 Uses spring-and-step take-offs and landings in gymnastics-like moves.; S1.E4.5 Combines jumping and landing with other locomotor and manipulative skills in dance, gymnastics and small practice tasks.; S1.E7.5 Combines balances and transfers of weight into a short sequence or dance with a partner.; S2.E1.5 Combines ideas about space with locomotor and non-locomotor movements in small groups, in dance, gymnastics and games.; S2.E2.5 Combines movement ideas (direction, levels, force, time) with skills in small practice tasks, dance and gymnastics, leading their own practice.; S3.E2.5 Takes an active part in all the activities of PE.; S4.E2.5 Acts responsibly in different activities, places and with equipment.; S4.E6.5 Applies safety principles in physical activities for their age.; 1.5.4 Describes ways to prevent common childhood injuries and health problems.; 7.5.3 Practices ways to avoid or lower health risks.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Crack the CodeA picture-book class: Tessa and Jonah crack the first card of Coach Reyes's Move Code, and your child learns locomotor and manipulative skills, reads a combination from a task card, and makes 3 gallops, a spring-and-step, a stuck landing and a toss and catch flow, moving for about half the class.
   2. Change It UpA picture-book class: Tessa and Jonah crack card 2 of the Move Code, and your child learns five movement concepts (direction, pathway, level, speed and force), reads a task card and its floor map drawn from above, coaches themselves with a practice plan, and makes their own version of the combination, moving for about half the class.
   3. Mirror and MatchA picture-book class: Tessa and Jonah do card 3 of the Move Code together, and your child learns balances on the feet, kneeling and sitting, the weight transfers that join them, how to match or mirror a partner safely at an arm's length, and partner and place safety, then writes their own code for the Code Show, moving for about half the class.

   Skills

   • Tell locomotor skills (which move the body) from manipulative skills (which move an object), and read a combination from a task card.
   • Join a travel, a spring-and-step, a stuck landing and a toss and catch into a combination that flows: no extra stops, each move ending ready for the next, eyes on what comes next.
   • Change a combination with movement concepts (direction, level, pathway, speed and force), read them from a floor map drawn from above, and lead their own practice with a practice plan.
   • Join balances and weight transfers into a short sequence with a partner, matching or mirroring, on the feet and in kneeling and sitting balances.
   • Practice safely and responsibly in different places: warm up, check the space, use equipment only as planned, never pull or lean on a partner at home, and stop, drink water, rest and tell a grown-up when hot, thirsty, dizzy or hurt.

2. Two Kinds of Fitness and My Activity Plan

   Three picture books with textbook pages about Tessa and Jonah, two fifth graders who help Coach Reyes get ready for Fitness Lab Day: station cards that sort each station into health-related fitness (heart-and-lung endurance, muscle strength, muscle endurance, flexibility, body composition) or skill-related fitness (agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time, speed), with an Activity Menu that compares what different activities build; Fun Run cards that match a pace to a short dash, a lap and a long loop, pick a warm-up that fits the activity and a cool-down after it, and plan water before, during and after; and each child's own active week, charted, checked only against their own earlier results with the teacher, with an activity goal, a way to track it and the people and things that help. No numbers about the child's body, weight or food.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E2.5 Uses a good pace for a range of running distances.; S3.E1.5 Charts their own physical activity outside PE class.; S3.E3.5 Tells health-related fitness from skill-related fitness.; S3.E4.5 Explains why warm-ups and cool-downs are needed for different activities, and does them.; S3.E5.5 Looks at their own fitness-check results with the teacher and plans activity to improve their fitness.; S3.E6.5 Looks at how food and drink choices go with physical activity, sports and health.; S5.E1.5 Compares the health benefits of different physical activities.; 1.5.1 Describes how healthy behaviors and personal health are linked.; 6.5.1 Sets a personal health goal and tracks progress toward it.; 6.5.2 Names people and things that can help reach a personal health goal.; 7.5.2 Practices healthy behaviors that keep or improve health.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Fitness LabA picture-book class: Tessa and Jonah label the stations for Fitness Lab Day, and your child learns the two kinds of fitness (health-related and skill-related, with agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time and speed), labels activities by the part they build, compares activities on an Activity Menu, and links being active to health, moving for about a third of the class and more while learning.
   2. Fun Run ReadyA picture-book class: Tessa and Jonah fill in the Fun Run cards, and your child learns to pick a pace that fits the distance (fast for a dash, steady for a long run, with the talk test), to warm up by moving with moves that fit the activity and cool down after, and to drink water before, during and after being active, moving for about a third of the class and more while learning.
   3. My Active WeekA picture-book class: Jonah charts his active week and learns it's not a race, and your child learns what counts as active time, reads a week chart, looks at their own results compared only with their own, and sets their own goal for the week with what, when and how often, a way to track it and helpers, moving for about a third of the class and more while learning.

   Skills

   • Tell health-related fitness from skill-related fitness, name the parts of each, and sort stations and activities by the kind and part they build.
   • Compare the health benefits of different activities with an Activity Menu, and mix activities so a week builds many parts.
   • Choose a good pace for a short dash, a lap and a longer run: fast for short, steady for long, so they can keep going to the end.
   • Explain why a warm-up and a cool-down are needed, pick a warm-up that fits the activity, and lead one.
   • Tell how water and food go with being active: drink water before, during and after, and fuel the body the way their family chooses, with no good or bad foods.
   • Chart their own activity outside PE, look at their own fitness-check results with the teacher (compared only with their own earlier results), set an activity goal, track it, and name people and things that help.

3. Throw, Catch and Volley on the Move

   Three picture books with textbook pages about Tessa and Jonah, two fifth graders who take Coach Reyes's On the Move Challenge, three challenge cards for skills in a real game, where everything moves: a lead pass to the space ahead of a moving receiver, underhand to a near partner and overhand for distance with power from the whole body, read from a map drawn from above and checked in a practice log; catching on the move at different heights, from different paths (flat, a high arc, a bounce) and with different objects, by moving the feet to get in line before the hands reach and giving with soft hands; and a two-hand overhead volley sent up to a target, with picking the throw, volley or strike a game calls for and simple net-game tactics. Every throw, catch and volley is practiced at home with soft things or a balloon a grown-up blows up, at a target that can't break, with a grown-up's OK, a solo or partner version and a seated version of every move; every log is the child's own, never compared with anyone's.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E13.5 Throws underhand to a partner or a target with reasonable accuracy.; S1.E14.5 Throws overhand with good form for distance and power, and with accuracy to a moving partner and to a target.; S1.E16.5 Catches with good form from different heights and paths, with different objects, while moving.; S1.E22.5 Volleys with a two-hand overhead pass, sending a light ball up toward a target.; S2.E5.5 Uses simple offensive and defensive strategies and tactics in invasion and net games, and recognizes which throw, volley or strike a game situation calls for.; S4.E2.5 Acts responsibly in different activities, places and with equipment.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Lead the PassA picture-book class: Tessa and Jonah take Coach Reyes's On the Move Challenge, and your child learns to throw a lead pass to the space ahead of a moving receiver, throws overhand for distance with power from the whole body, reads a practice log, and logs five lead passes of their own, moving for about a third of the class and more while learning.
   2. Catch on the MoveA picture-book class: Tessa takes Coach Reyes's second challenge, and your child learns to read a throw's path (flat, a high arc, a bounce) and how different objects fly, catches with the right hands for each height, catches on the move feet first with soft hands, reads a catch log, and logs catches of their own, moving for about a third of the class and more while learning.
   3. Volley UpA picture-book class: Tessa and Jonah take Coach Reyes's last challenge, and your child learns the two-hand overhead pass (get under it, a window above the forehead, finger pads, a push from the legs and arms, a finish toward the target), picks the throw, volley or strike each game moment calls for, uses a simple net-game tactic, takes care of the space and the gear, and logs overhead passes to a target of their own, moving for about a third of the class and more while learning.

   Skills

   • Throw a lead pass to a moving receiver, to the space ahead on their path, underhand to a near partner and overhand to a far one, leading more when the receiver is faster or farther and less when slower or closer.
   • Throw overhand for distance with power from the whole body: side-on, arm back with the elbow up, a long step with the opposite foot, the hips then the shoulders turn, and a follow-through across the body.
   • Catch on the move with good form at different heights, from different paths and with different objects: eyes on it, move the feet to get in line first, thumbs together above the waist and pinkies together below, and soft hands that give.
   • Volley a balloon or a light ball up toward a target with a two-hand overhead volley: move under it, window hands above the forehead, finger pads, push up and out through the legs and arms, and finish with the arms reaching toward the target.
   • Recognize which throw, volley or strike a game situation calls for, and use simple tactics: lead a running teammate, set the ball high to a teammate, send it to an open space in a net game, and get back to a ready spot.
   • Keep and read a practice log of their own tries, compare it only with their own earlier tries, and pick the next fix.
   • Practice responsibly in different places and with equipment: soft things or a balloon a grown-up blows up, a target that can't break, a clear space away from windows, screens and stairs, a grown-up's OK, stopping when someone walks into the space, and caring for the equipment and putting it away.

4. Game Plan: Space, Defense and Fair Play

   Three picture books about Tessa and Jonah, two fifth graders on the Comets, a team that has lost all six of its games of End Zone Ball this fall: with a game map of the field from above they find the first clue (everyone crowds the ball, so no one is open), the second (on defense everyone chases the ball, so the Hawks are open) and the last, which isn't on the map (arguing, unkind feedback and a teammate who never gets a pass), and they play the Fall Cup with a plan and fair play.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E1.5 Combines locomotor skills with manipulative skills in small practice tasks and game-like play, and travels with good form in dance and gymnastics.; S2.E3.5 Uses open spaces when traveling with a skill, closes spaces in small practice tasks, and changes direction and speed while dribbling.; S2.E5.5 Uses simple offensive and defensive strategies and tactics in invasion and net games, and recognizes which throw, volley or strike a game situation calls for.; S3.E4.5 Explains why warm-ups and cool-downs are needed for different activities, and does them.; S4.E1.5 Acts responsibly with others in physical activity: classmates, teachers and referees.; S4.E3.5 Gives corrective feedback to classmates respectfully.; S4.E4.5 Welcomes and involves players of every skill level in activities and group projects.; S4.E5.5 Thinks about the etiquette and rules of different games and why they matter.; S4.E6.5 Applies safety principles in physical activities for their age.; S5.E4.5 Describes and compares the good social side of partner, small-group and large-group activity.; 1.5.4 Describes ways to prevent common childhood injuries and health problems.; 4.5.1 Uses clear words and body language that help health.; 4.5.3 Shows peaceful ways to handle or solve a conflict.; 7.5.3 Practices ways to avoid or lower health risks.; 8.5.2 Encourages others to make healthy choices.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Find the Open SpaceA picture-book class: Tessa and Jonah study a game map to find out why their team, the Comets, keeps losing, and your child learns what offense and open space are, why spreading out helps, and how to pick an open teammate for a pass, then practices it with a get-open drill, a catching challenge, a warm-up and a cool-down.
   2. Close the SpaceA picture-book class: the Comets score now, but the Hawks still score more, and your child learns what defense is, how to guard one player each from goal side, and how to play defense safely and fairly.
   3. The Fair Play FinalA picture-book class: the Comets' last clue isn't on the map, and your child learns game etiquette, how to give kind, clear feedback, how to solve a disagreement calmly, and why including every teammate helps the whole team.

   Skills

   • Use open space on offense: spread out, find a part of the field with no players near it and move into it, and say why spreading out helps.
   • Read a game map to choose an open teammate and a clear path for a pass, and get open with a fake and a quick move the other way.
   • Close the space on defense: guard one player, stay between them and the end zone an arm's length away in a ready position, and switch to defense the moment the ball changes teams.
   • Play defense safely and fairly: no grabbing, pushing or tripping, call for the ball, and stop play and tell a grown-up if someone is hurt.
   • Show fair play and game etiquette, include players of every skill level, and warm up before and cool down after a game.
   • Give corrective feedback respectfully (kind, clear, about the skill) and solve a game conflict peacefully (stop, listen to each side, agree on a fair fix).

5. Dribble, Kick and Strike: One on One

   Three picture books with textbook pages about Tessa and Jonah, two fifth graders who climb Coach Reyes's One-on-One Ladder, three rungs for skills when it's just you and one other player: dribbling with the hands past a defender, protecting the ball (eyes up, the ball on the far side, the body in between) and beating the defender with a change of pace, a crossover and the open space, playing the ball and never the player; dribbling with the feet in close control, passing to the space ahead of a moving partner and receiving with a soft first touch, and kicking and punting with good form; and keeping a rally going with a paper-plate paddle against a wall or over a low net, with the etiquette and rules that keep a game fair. Every skill is practiced at home with a soft, bouncy ball, rolled-up socks or a balloon a grown-up blows up, a chair or a pillow as the defender, a grown-up's OK and a seated version; punts only outside with a soft ball and a grown-up's OK; every count is the child's own, never compared with anyone's.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E17.5 Combines dribbling with the hands with other skills in one-on-one practice tasks.; S1.E18.5 Combines dribbling with the feet with other skills in one-on-one practice tasks.; S1.E19.5 Passes and receives a ball with the feet while both partners are moving.; S1.E21.5 Kicks and punts with good form in small practice tasks.; S1.E24.5 Strikes with a short-handled implement with good form, keeping a rally going with a partner over a low net or against a wall.; S2.E3.5 Uses open spaces when traveling with a skill, closes spaces in small practice tasks, and changes direction and speed while dribbling.; S2.E5.5 Uses simple offensive and defensive strategies and tactics in invasion and net games, and recognizes which throw, volley or strike a game situation calls for.; S4.E5.5 Thinks about the etiquette and rules of different games and why they matter.; S4.E6.5 Applies safety principles in physical activities for their age.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Beat the DefenderA picture-book class: Tessa and Jonah start Coach Reyes's One-on-One Ladder, and your child learns to protect the ball while dribbling (eyes up, the hand away from the defender, the body in between), to beat a defender with a change of pace or a crossover into the open space, to pass or shoot when the space closes, and to play the ball, not the player, then logs tries past a still defender at home, moving for about a third of the class and more while learning.
   2. Feet on the MoveA picture-book class: on rung 2 of Coach Reyes's One-on-One Ladder, your child learns close control with the feet (small touches with both feet, the ball a step away, the body between, a cut away into space), passing with the inside of the foot ahead of a moving partner and taking a pass with a soft first touch, and the punt, then logs first touches off a wall at home, moving for about a third of the class and more while learning.
   3. Rally RulesA picture-book class: on the last rung of Coach Reyes's One-on-One Ladder, your child learns to strike a balloon with a paper-plate paddle with good form (a short swing, out in front, the face to the target), to keep a rally going or play for a point in the open space, and the etiquette and rules that keep a game fair (ask Ready?, honest calls, a let when unsure, good game), then logs a best rally at home, moving for about a third of the class and more while learning.

   Skills

   • Dribble with the hands past a defender in a one-on-one task: eyes up, the ball on the hand away from the defender, the body side-on in between with an arm bar, and a change of pace or a crossover into the open space, combined with a pass or a shot.
   • Dribble with the feet in close control in a one-on-one task: small touches with both feet (inside, outside and sole), the body between the defender and the ball, and a quick cut into the open space.
   • Pass and receive with the feet while both partners move: a pass with the inside of the foot to the space ahead of the partner, and a soft first touch out in front, into space.
   • Kick along the floor and punt with good form: plant beside the ball, kick with the inside or the laces, follow through toward the target; for a punt, drop the ball and kick it with the laces before it bounces.
   • Strike a balloon or a light ball with a short-handled paddle with good form (ready, short backswing, step, hit in front, paddle face to the target, follow through, back to ready) and keep a rally going against a wall or over a low net.
   • Use open spaces and change direction and speed while traveling with a ball, close the space as a defender, and pick simple tactics: a pass to an open teammate, a cooperative rally to the partner, or a shot to the open space to win a point.
   • Explain the etiquette and rules of one-on-one games and why they matter: play the ball and not the player, serve when the other player is ready, call your own side honestly, take a do-over when unsure, and say good game.
   • Practice safely at home and with others: a soft ball or a balloon, a grown-up's OK, a clear space away from windows, screens, lamps and stairs, a stop word, swing space around a paddle, punts only outside, and putting the gear away.

6. Group Dances and Partner Rope Routines

   Three picture books with textbook pages about Tessa, Jonah, Wren and Ollie, four fifth graders who get ready for Family Move Night, where every act needs a group with everyone in it: a group dance for four that mixes moves that travel and moves that stay with dance steps, on a shared plan of counts, formations, paths, a canon and a group shape, like the circle, line and row dances people dance today; partner jump-rope routines made in eights, side by side in time, as an echo and sharing one rope, with each partner's part made to fit; and Move Night itself, where the group welcomes every family member at every skill level, looks at which activities they enjoy and which challenge them and why, and compares moving with a partner, a small group and a large group. Every movement card starts with a safety step and has a seated version; rope only on a soft, flat surface with a grown-up's OK and room overhead, or a pretend rope, which counts just the same; at home the other dancers are a grown-up, a brother or sister, or the teacher counting, and nothing is ever compared with anyone's.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: S1.E5.5 Combines locomotor and non-locomotor movements and dance steps to make up and perform a dance with others.; S1.E27.5 Makes up a jump-rope routine with a partner, with a short or a long rope.; S4.E4.5 Welcomes and involves players of every skill level in activities and group projects.; S5.E2.5 Expresses the enjoyment or challenge of a favorite activity in words, art or dance.; S5.E3.5 Looks at different activities for enjoyment and challenge and gives reasons for liking them or not.; S5.E4.5 Describes and compares the good social side of partner, small-group and large-group activity.; 2.5.2 Identifies how culture influences health habits.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Dance in FormationA picture-book class: Tessa, Jonah, Wren and Ollie make a group dance for Family Move Night, and your child learns moves that travel (locomotor) and moves that stay in one spot (non-locomotor), reads a group dance map (count in together, a formation, a path to each new spot, a canon, a group shape with levels), meets formations people dance in today, and makes and dances a group dance of their own, moving for about a third of the class and more while learning.
   2. Rope for TwoA picture-book class: Tessa, Jonah, Wren and Ollie make partner rope routines for Family Move Night, and your child learns to count in together and turn at the slower partner's speed, to jump in sync, as an echo and sharing one rope, to read a partner routine chart, and to modify moves so every partner gets a part, then makes and jumps a partner routine with a grown-up, a brother or sister, or the teacher, with a real rope or a pretend one, moving for about a third of the class and more while learning.
   3. Move NightA picture-book class: on Family Move Night, Tessa, Jonah, Wren and Ollie help Jonah's dad join in, and your child learns to welcome movers of every skill level (invite them in, find a part that fits, teach it slowly, cheer the try), to find their own just-right challenge with the Fun and Challenge Finder and change one thing to get there, to say or show how an activity feels, and to compare the good side of partner, small-group and big-group activity, moving for about a third of the class and more while learning.

   Skills

   • Tell locomotor moves (they travel) from non-locomotor moves (they stay in one spot), name dance steps, and mix them in eights.
   • Make up and perform a dance with others on a shared plan: count in together, a formation, a path to each new spot, a canon or moves all at the same time, and a group shape with levels.
   • Make up and perform a partner jump-rope routine in eights: a shared count-in and speed, side by side in time, an echo, sharing one rope, and side swings between tricks, with a real rope or a pretend one.
   • Welcome and involve people of every skill level: invite them, give everyone a part, and make it fit (slower counts, a pretend rope, a seated or arms-only version).
   • Look at activities for enjoyment and challenge, give reasons for liking them or not, find the just-right challenge, and express what an activity feels like in words or in a dance.
   • Describe and compare the good social side of moving with a partner, in a small group and in a large group.
   • Identify how culture and family shape health habits, like dancing together at celebrations, with every culture's dances respected.
   • Move safely with others: room to reach, no socks on a smooth floor, an arm's length apart, no pulling or pushing, rope only on a soft, flat surface with room overhead and never around the neck, and stop, drink, rest and tell when hot, dizzy or hurt.

7. Influences and Information

   Three picture books with textbook pages about Tessa, Jonah, Wren and Ollie, four fifth graders who become their school's Health News Team and make three short episodes for the hallway screen: what shapes our health (the four sides of health; family of every kind, culture, friends and classmates, school and community; being a healthy influence), what is behind a message (how ads, videos and posts try to shape what we think, feel and do, four questions to ask about any message, and how screens help or get in the way of health, with where you live kept private online), and how to check health information (who made it and why, real evidence, an expert source, up to date) with trusted people and places, then share an opinion with accurate information. Every ad, post, product and account is made up for the lessons; health facts are checked with a trusted grown-up; nothing asks about the child's own family, home or health; each lesson has one short movement break with a safety step and a seated version.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.5.2 Gives examples of physical, emotional, intellectual and social health.; 1.5.3 Describes how a safe, healthy school and community help personal health.; 2.5.1 Describes how family influences health habits.; 2.5.2 Identifies how culture influences health habits.; 2.5.3 Identifies how friends and classmates can influence healthy and unhealthy behavior.; 2.5.4 Describes how school and community can support health habits.; 2.5.5 Explains how media influences thoughts, feelings and health behavior.; 2.5.6 Describes ways technology can influence personal health.; 3.5.1 Identifies the signs of valid health information, products and services.; 3.5.2 Finds people and places at home, at school and in the community that give valid health information.; 8.5.1 Gives opinions and accurate information about health issues.; 8.5.2 Encourages others to make healthy choices.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. What Shapes UsA picture-book class: the four friends become the Health News Team, and your child learns the four sides of health with examples, how family, culture, friends, school and community shape our health habits, and how to be a healthy influence by inviting, cheering and showing it, with a short movement break for all four sides.
   2. Behind the MessageA picture-book class: the Health News Team compares a made-up drink ad with a made-up rec center poster, and your child learns how media tries to shape what we think, feel and do, four questions to ask about any message, and how screens can help health or get in the way, with where you live kept private online, plus a commercial-break movement break.
   3. Check It OutA picture-book class: the Health News Team checks a made-up post that sounds too good to be true, and your child learns four signs of good health information, who the trusted helpers are at home, at school and in the community, and how to speak up for health with a fact and where it's from, plus a germ-buster movement break.

   Skills

   • Give examples of physical, emotional, intellectual and social health.
   • Describe how family, culture, friends and classmates, and school and community shape health habits, and how a safe, healthy community helps health.
   • Be a healthy influence: spot a pull, then invite, cheer and show the healthy choice.
   • Explain how media shapes thoughts, feelings and behavior, and ask who made a message, what they want, how it wants me to feel and what's left out.
   • Describe how technology can help health (tracking, a move-along video, looking up facts with a grown-up) and get in the way (long sitting, autoplay, screens at bedtime), and keep where you live private online.
   • Spot the signs of valid health information: who made it and why, real evidence, an expert source, up to date, and no too-good-to-be-true promises.
   • Find trusted people and places for health information (a parent or carer, the school nurse, a doctor or pharmacist, the PE and health teacher, a librarian) and check health facts with a grown-up.
   • Share an opinion about health with accurate information and where it's from, and encourage others to make healthy choices.

8. Safe Choices, Help and Health Care

   Three picture books with textbook pages about Tessa, Jonah, Wren and Ollie, four fifth graders who run their school's Safe Choices Club and make three posters for Safety Week: how to play it safe (get ready, play fair, gear up, beat the heat), when to get health care, and everyday habits that keep us healthy; how to stop and think before a choice (decision steps, clear words and body language, and saying No, Go, Tell); and how to ask a trusted grown-up for help, what an emergency is, and that a grown-up calls the emergency number where you live. Nothing is scary or graphic; the child is never asked to share personal experiences, secrets or anything about their home; each lesson has one short movement break with a safety step and a seated version.

   3 lessons · about 30 minutes each

   US curriculum: 1.5.4 Describes ways to prevent common childhood injuries and health problems.; 1.5.5 Describes when it is important to get health care.; 4.5.1 Uses clear words and body language that help health.; 4.5.2 Shows refusal skills that avoid or lower health risks.; 4.5.4 Shows how to ask for help with a health need.; 5.5.1 Spots health situations that need a careful decision.; 5.5.2 Works out when they need help to make a health decision.; 5.5.3 Lists healthy options for a health problem.; 5.5.4 Predicts the possible outcomes of each option in a health decision.; 5.5.5 Chooses a healthy option when making a decision.; 5.5.6 Describes the outcomes of a health decision.; 7.5.1 Names responsible personal health behaviors.; 7.5.3 Practices ways to avoid or lower health risks.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Play It SafeA picture-book class: the Safe Choices Club makes its first Safety Week poster, and your child learns four ways to play it safe (get ready, play fair, gear up, beat the heat), when to get health care, and everyday habits that keep us healthy, plus a warm-up movement break.
   2. Stop and ThinkA picture-book class: the Safe Choices Club makes its second Safety Week poster, and your child learns to stop and think before a choice that needs care, to use clear words, strong body language and real listening, and to say No, Go, Tell to a risky dare, plus a stand-tall movement break.
   3. Ask for HelpA picture-book class: the Safe Choices Club makes its last Safety Week poster, and your child learns how to ask a trusted grown-up for help and keep asking, what an emergency is (a grown-up calls the emergency number where you live), and the difference between telling and tattling, plus a calm-and-ready movement break.

   Skills

   • Describe ways to prevent common injuries and health problems: warm up and clear the space, play fair, wear a helmet and a seat belt, and use water, shade and rest in the heat.
   • Describe when to get health care: check-ups when well, and telling a grown-up right away when hurt, sick or dizzy.
   • Name responsible health habits that keep us and others healthy.
   • Use decision steps: spot a choice that needs care, know when to get help, list healthy options, think what could happen, choose, and look back.
   • Use clear words and body language that help health, and listen.
   • Say No, Go, Tell to avoid a risk, and keep telling a trusted grown-up until someone helps.
   • Ask a trusted grown-up for help with a health need: name the problem, say what you need, and keep asking.
   • Tell an emergency from a problem that can wait, know that a grown-up calls the emergency number where you live, and tell the difference between telling and tattling.

Math

1. Ratios and Rates

   An investigation in four lessons: three sixth graders run the drink stand at their neighborhood's summer fair and want it fair, with the same taste in every cup and honest prices. The student reads and writes ratios (1 part lemon juice to 4 parts water is 1/5 lemon juice), scales a recipe with ratio tables, tape diagrams and double number lines, finds unit rates to pick the better buy, and reads a percent as a rate per 100.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: 6.RP.A.1 Understand a ratio and use ratio language to describe how two quantities are related.; 6.RP.A.2 Understand the unit rate that goes with a ratio, and use rate language.; 6.RP.A.3 Solve ratio and rate problems with tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number lines and equations: equivalent ratios (a), unit rates, unit pricing and constant speed (b), and percent as a rate per 100 (c).

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. For EveryA 40-minute textbook class: Kofi's grandmother's lemonade card says 1 part lemon juice to 4 parts water, and Elena says a quarter of the jug is lemon juice; with coins and buttons, a tape diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student learns ratio language (1:4, 1 to 4, for every), that the order follows the words, and that part to whole adds the parts first, so lemon juice is 1/5 of the jug.
   2. Same Taste, Bigger JugA 40-minute textbook class: Nadia's test pitcher of iced tea is 2 scoops for 3 cups of water, the cooler takes 12 cups, and Elena adds 9 scoops; with batches of coins, a ratio table and a double number line that build step by step and two worked examples, the student makes equivalent ratios by multiplying or dividing both amounts by the same number (8 scoops for 12 cups) and compares two mixes at the same amount of water.
   3. The Better BuyA 40-minute textbook class: the Corner Market sells 3 tubs of lemon mix for $12.00 and the Big Box Store 5 tubs for $17.50, and Kofi picks the smaller bill; with coins dealt into cups, two double number lines that come down to 1 tub and two worked examples (a steady bike speed and two bottle sizes), the student finds unit rates ($4 and $3.50 per tub) and uses them to compare prices and speeds and to find other amounts.
   4. Out of 100A 40-minute textbook class: the fair asks every stand for 15% of its first day's $80, and Elena says $15; with a folded percent strip, a 10-by-10 grid, a percent table and tapes of 10 boxes, the student reads a percent as a rate per 100, finds 15% of $80 ($12) and other percents of amounts, finds a whole from a part, and says what percent a part is.

   Skills

   • Describe two amounts with a ratio (a : b, a to b, for every a there are b), keep its order, tell part to part from part to whole, and use a tape diagram.
   • Find equivalent ratios by multiplying or dividing both amounts by the same number, with ratio tables, tape diagrams and double number lines, and compare ratios.
   • Find a unit rate (the amount for 1) and use it to compare prices and speeds and to scale up.
   • Read a percent as a rate per 100, find a percent of an amount, and find the whole from a part and its percent.

2. Ratio Graphs and Converting Units

   The Fair Stand goes on in four lessons: on the fair's second weekend new helpers join, so the team makes graphs anyone can read and orders supplies in gallons, quarts, liters and pounds. The student plots a ratio table's pairs on the coordinate plane (they lie on a line through 0, 0), reads and extends the line, compares two ratios by which line is steeper and by the height at 1 (the unit rate), and converts measurement units with ratio reasoning: within US customary units (16 cups in a gallon), within metric (1000 grams in a kilogram) and across the two, deciding first whether the number gets bigger or smaller.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: 6.RP.A.3 Solve ratio and rate problems with tables of equivalent ratios, double number lines and graphs: plot the pairs of a ratio table on the coordinate plane, find missing values and compare ratios (a), and convert measurement units with ratio reasoning, multiplying or dividing the quantities (d).

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Points on a LineA 40-minute textbook class: Nadia wants a poster graph of her iced tea, 2 scoops for every 3 cups; with coins on a grid, a coordinate plane that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student plots a ratio table's pairs as points (across, up), sees that they lie on a straight line through (0, 0), reads and extends the line (4.5 cups, 3 scoops; 15 cups, 10 scoops), checks with batches, and tells whether a mix is on the line.
   2. Steeper Means MoreA 40-minute textbook class: next door's iced tea, 3 scoops for every 5 cups, goes on the same plane as Nadia's 2 for every 3; with two staircases of coins, a graph that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student compares two ratios and two rates on one graph: at the same x the steeper line has more, the height at 1 is the unit rate, the ratio tables agree, and where a line stops says nothing.
   3. Cups, Quarts and GallonsA 40-minute textbook class: the fair's 3-gallon cooler serves 1-cup drinks and Elena says 12; drawing a gallon cut into quarts, pints and cups, a diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student converts US customary liquid units as a ratio (16 cups : 1 gallon, 48 cups in the cooler) with ratio tables, double number lines and unit rates, deciding first whether the number gets bigger (multiply) or smaller (divide).
   4. Across the BorderA 40-minute textbook class: a recipe from Nadia's cousin in Canada uses liters and grams, the store sells pounds, and the fun run is 5 kilometers (Elena says 8 miles); with a ruler's two edges, a diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student converts inside the metric system (steps of 1,000) and between metric and customary units with exact (1 inch = 2.54 cm) and rounded facts (1 mile about 1.6 km, 1 kg about 2.2 lb, 1 liter about 4.2 cups), asking bigger or smaller first and checking that the answer makes sense.

   Skills

   • Plot the pairs of a ratio table as ordered pairs (across, up) on the coordinate plane, see that they lie on a line through (0, 0), and read and extend the line to find missing values.
   • Compare two ratios or rates on one graph: at the same x, the steeper line has more; the height at 1 is the unit rate; check with ratio tables.
   • Convert US customary units of liquid volume (cups, pints, quarts, gallons) with ratio tables, double number lines and unit rates, multiplying into a smaller unit and dividing into a bigger one.
   • Convert within the metric system and between metric and customary units with exact or rounded conversion ratios, and check that an answer makes sense.

3. Dividing Fractions by Fractions

   Fall Planting in four lessons: Nadia, Kofi and Elena help at their neighborhood's community garden, watering seedling trays, sharing out seed, packing bulbs and weighing the harvest. The student reads a division by a fraction as how many groups of the divisor fit (3 ÷ 3/4 = 4 trays) or as how much makes one whole group (3/4 of a row gave 1 and 1/2 kilograms, so a whole row gives 2), models it with folded paper strips, tapes and number lines, divides with common denominators (3/6 ÷ 4/6 = 3/4 of a packet), explains why dividing by a fraction is multiplying by its reciprocal, and checks every quotient by multiplying back.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: 6.NS.A.1 Interpret and compute quotients of fractions, and solve story problems that divide a fraction by a fraction, with visual fraction models and equations.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. How Many Fit?A 40-minute textbook class: how many 3/4-liter trays will a 3-liter can water? With folded paper strips, a tape that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student reads a division by a fraction as how many groups of the divisor fit, cuts the wholes into the divisor's pieces and counts the groups (3 ÷ 3/4 = 4), counts a leftover as part of a group (2 ÷ 3/4 = 2 and 2/3), checks by multiplying back, and sees why dividing by a number less than 1 gives more.
   2. Count the PiecesA 40-minute textbook class: how many 1/8-cup scoops are in 3/4 of a cup of seed, and how much of a 2/3-cup packet does 1/2 cup fill? With strips folded into eighths and sixths, two tapes that build step by step and two worked examples, the student renames both fractions with a common denominator and divides the numerators (6/8 ÷ 3/8 = 2), makes sense of quotients with a part left over (5/6 ÷ 1/3 = 2 and 1/2) and less than 1 (1/2 ÷ 2/3 = 3/4, not 0), and checks by multiplying back.
   3. Why Flip?A 40-minute textbook class: Elena's cousin says to divide by a fraction, flip it and multiply, and Nadia won't use a rule she can't explain. With paper strips in thirds, a figure that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student finds how many of a fraction fit in 1 (2/3 fits 3/2 times), sees why dividing by a fraction is multiplying by its reciprocal (5 ÷ 2/3 = 5 × 3/2), flips only the divisor, writes mixed numbers as fractions first, divides by a whole number, and checks by multiplying back.
   4. How Much for One?A 40-minute textbook class: 3/4 of a bean row gave 1 and 1/2 kilograms before the rain; how much will the whole row give? With a paper strip, a tape that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student meets division's other question, how much for one whole: finds one part, then the whole (2 kilograms), writes the missing-factor equation (3/4 × ? = 1 and 1/2) and divides, finds an amount per 1 (14 liters a minute) and a missing side of a rectangle (3/5 of a meter), and checks whether the answer should be more or less than the amount.

   Skills

   • Read a division by a fraction as how many groups of the divisor fit, find it with tapes and number lines, count a leftover as a fraction of a group, and check by multiplying back.
   • Divide a fraction by a fraction by renaming both with a common denominator and dividing the numbers of pieces, including quotients less than 1.
   • Explain why dividing by a fraction is multiplying by its reciprocal, use it with fractions, whole numbers and mixed numbers, and check by multiplying back.
   • Solve how-much-for-one problems with fractions (a whole from a fraction of it, a rate per 1, a missing side of a rectangle), writing the missing-factor equation and the division.

4. Dividing Multi-Digit Numbers and Computing with Decimals

   The Bike Shop in four lessons: Nadia, Kofi and Elena volunteer at a community bike shop that fixes donated bikes. The student divides multi-digit numbers with the standard long division algorithm (3,780 spokes, 36 to a wheel: 105 wheels, a 0 holding the tens), adds and subtracts multi-digit decimals with the points lined up and zeros written in (20 − 13.45 = 6.55 km), multiplies decimals by multiplying as whole numbers and counting places ($4.80 × 0.75 = $3.60), and divides by a decimal by shifting both points to make the divisor whole (12.6 ÷ 0.35 = 1,260 ÷ 35 = 36), estimating first and checking every answer.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: 6.NS.B.2 Divide multi-digit numbers fluently with the standard algorithm.; 6.NS.B.3 Add, subtract, multiply and divide multi-digit decimals fluently with the standard algorithm for each operation.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. One Digit at a TimeA 40-minute textbook class: the community bike shop gets 3,780 donated spokes, 36 for each wheel; with a times ladder, a long division that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student divides multi-digit numbers with the standard algorithm (estimate, divide, multiply, subtract, compare, bring down), writes a 0 where the divisor doesn't fit (105 wheels, not Sam's 15), fixes a digit that is too small, and says what a remainder means.
   2. Mind the ZerosA 40-minute textbook class: on the bike shop's 20-km ride, how far is left after 13.45 km? With place columns on paper, a subtraction that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student adds and subtracts multi-digit decimals with the standard algorithm: estimate, line up the points, write in zeros (20 = 20.00), regroup across them and check by adding back (6.55 km, not Sam's 7.45).
   3. Count the PlacesA 40-minute textbook class: what does a 0.75-liter bottle of chain cleaner cost at $4.80 a liter? With a shaded hundredths square, a multiplication that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student multiplies multi-digit decimals with the standard algorithm (estimate, multiply as whole numbers, count the places), sees why tenths times hundredths are thousandths, and that multiplying by less than 1 gives less ($3.60, not more than $4.80 as Sam thinks).
   4. Shift Both PointsA 40-minute textbook class: how many 0.35-liter bottles can the bike shop fill from 12.6 liters of cleaner? With a ruler and a paper strip, a division that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student divides decimals with the standard algorithm: estimate, make the divisor whole by shifting both points the same number of places (1,260 ÷ 35 = 36 bottles, not Sam's 3.6), put the point straight up, write zeros in to keep dividing, and check by multiplying.

   Skills

   • Divide multi-digit numbers by two- and three-digit numbers with the standard algorithm, after an estimate, writing 0s where the divisor doesn't fit, and say what a remainder means.
   • Add and subtract multi-digit decimals with the standard algorithm, the points lined up, zeros written in and regrouping across zeros, checked by adding back.
   • Multiply multi-digit decimals with the standard algorithm, placing the point by counting places, and tell first whether the product is more or less than a factor.
   • Divide decimals with the standard algorithm, shifting both points to make the divisor whole, the point straight up and zeros written in, checked by multiplying.

5. Common Factors and Multiples

   The Garden Crew in four lessons: Nadia, Kofi and Elena volunteer at their neighborhood's community garden, building a raised bed from 36 square planting boxes, sharing seedlings into identical kits, planning two watering schedules and packing trays for the plant sale. The student finds every factor pair of a number by trying factors in order and stopping when the pairs meet, tells prime from composite, finds the greatest common factor of two numbers up to 100 (the most identical groups) and the least common multiple of two numbers up to 12 (when two schedules meet, matching packs), uses the distributive property to write a sum as its GCF times a sum with no common factor (36 + 8 = 4 × (9 + 2)), and decides which tool a problem needs.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: 6.NS.B.4 Find the greatest common factor of two whole numbers up to 100 and the least common multiple of two whole numbers up to 12; use the distributive property to write a sum of two whole numbers with a common factor as a multiple of a sum with no common factor.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Thirty-Six SquaresA 40-minute textbook class: the Garden Crew must build a raised bed from 36 square planting boxes; with coins in rectangles, a figure that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student finds every factor pair of a number by trying factors in order and stopping when the pairs meet, draws a factor rainbow, and tells prime numbers (exactly two factors) from composite ones.
   2. Same Kits, Nothing LeftA 40-minute textbook class: the Garden Crew shares 18 tomato and 24 pepper seedlings into identical kits with nothing left over; with coins and paper squares in piles, a figure that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student lists common factors, finds the greatest common factor (GCF(18, 24) = 6), tests the smaller number's factors from the top, and uses the GCF to say what goes in each group.
   3. When Do They Meet?A 40-minute textbook class: the tomato bed is watered every 4 days and the herb bed every 6, both today; with coins on a paper strip, a number line that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student lists multiples, finds common multiples and the least common multiple (LCM(4, 6) = 12), counts by the bigger number to find it fast, and uses it for "when together again?" and matching packs.
   4. Pull Out the FactorA 40-minute textbook class: the Garden Crew packs 36 marigolds and 8 basil plants into identical trays for the plant sale; with coins and buttons in rows, a rectangle of squares that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student uses the distributive property to write a sum as its greatest common factor times a sum with no common factor (36 + 8 = 4 × (9 + 2)), checks it both ways, and decides whether a problem needs the GCF or the LCM.

   Skills

   • Find all the factor pairs of a whole number up to 100 by trying factors in order and stopping when the pairs meet, and tell prime numbers from composite ones.
   • Find the common factors and the greatest common factor of two whole numbers up to 100, and use the GCF to make the most identical groups with nothing left over.
   • Find common multiples and the least common multiple of two whole numbers up to 12, and use it for when-together-again and matching-packs problems.
   • Use the distributive property to write a sum of two whole numbers as their GCF times a sum with no common factor, and choose between the GCF and the LCM.

6. Negative Numbers and Absolute Value

   The Winter Rink in four lessons: Nadia, Kofi and Elena take the morning shift at their park's outdoor skating rink, keep the rink log, help with the winter-trail map, check which nights are cold enough to make new ice, and close the club's accounts in spring. The student uses positive and negative numbers for amounts in opposite directions and says what 0 means (0 °C, sea level, no change), places integers, decimals and fractions on number lines across and up, finds opposites and the opposite of the opposite, orders numbers and writes comparisons with < and > in real situations (−3 °C is warmer than −8 °C), and finds absolute value as distance from 0 and as the size of an amount, telling it apart from order (−40 < −25, but a debt of 40 dollars is bigger).

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: 6.NS.C.5 Know that positive and negative numbers together describe amounts with opposite directions or values (temperatures above and below zero, heights above and below sea level, money in and out), use them in real situations, and explain what 0 means in each.; 6.NS.C.6 (a and c) See a rational number as a point on a number line extended past 0 in both directions: opposite signs mark places on opposite sides of 0, the opposite of the opposite is the number itself, and integers, fractions and decimals are found and placed on horizontal and vertical number lines.; 6.NS.C.7 Order rational numbers and understand absolute value: an inequality as the positions of two numbers on a number line; statements of order in real situations; absolute value as distance from 0 and as the size of an amount; comparisons of absolute value told apart from statements of order.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Above and Below ZeroA 40-minute textbook class: the rink log shows 6 °C for a day 6 degrees below zero and a day 6 above; with a paper-strip thermometer, a scale that builds step by step and two worked examples (a lamp at 25 m and a diver at −7 m, money in and out of the snack shack), the student uses positive and negative numbers for amounts in opposite directions, reads −6 as negative 6, and says what 0 means each time.
   2. Opposites on the LineA 40-minute textbook class: the park's winter-trail map measures places east (+) and west (−) of the warming hut; with a folded paper number line, a big number line that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student places integers, decimals and fractions on number lines across and up (−2.5 between ⁠−3 and ⁠−2), finds opposites as the same distance from 0, and explains why −(−3) = 3.
   3. Which Is Colder?A 40-minute textbook class: the rink crew makes new ice only on nights colder than −5 °C; with seven cards on a number line, a big number line that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student orders positive and negative numbers (farther right is greater: −3 > −8), writes comparisons with < and >, and says what they mean in real situations: warmer or colder, higher or deeper.
   4. How Far From ZeroA 40-minute textbook class: the rink club closes its accounts, a sharpening balance of −40 dollars this spring and −25 last spring; with a string on a number line, a big number line that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student finds absolute value as the distance from 0 (|⁠−7| = 7), uses it as the size of an amount (a debt of 40 dollars), and tells order from size: −40 < −25, but |⁠−40| > |⁠−25|.

   Skills

   • Use positive and negative numbers for amounts in opposite directions, read and write them, and say what 0 means in the situation.
   • Place integers, decimals and fractions on horizontal and vertical number lines, and find opposites and the opposite of the opposite.
   • Order positive and negative numbers, write comparisons with < and >, and explain them in real situations.
   • Find absolute value as the distance from 0, use it as the size of an amount, and tell comparisons of size from statements of order.

7. The Coordinate Plane in Four Quadrants

   The Park Map in four lessons: in spring, at the park of the Winter Rink, Nadia, Kofi and Elena map the flags of a hunt for younger kids on a grid with the warming hut at the origin, make four teams' courses fair by mirroring them across the paths, work out how far the kids walk between flags, and help mark out a new soccer field and garden from their corners. The student names and plots points with positive and negative coordinates in all four quadrants, tells a point's quadrant from its signs, finds reflections across one or both axes as pairs that differ only in their signs, finds distances between points that share a coordinate (adding the distances from the axis on opposite sides, subtracting them on the same side), and draws rectangles and other polygons from their corners to find side lengths, perimeter, area and a missing corner.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: 6.NS.C.6 (b and c, on the coordinate plane) Extend the coordinate axes past 0 in both directions: the signs of an ordered pair tell its quadrant, pairs that differ only in their signs are reflections across one or both axes, and pairs of integers and other rational numbers are found and placed on the coordinate plane.; 6.NS.C.8 Solve real-world and math problems by graphing points in all four quadrants, including distances between points with the same first or the same second coordinate.; 6.G.A.3 Draw polygons in the coordinate plane from the coordinates of their corners, and use coordinates to find the length of a side whose ends share the first or the second coordinate, in real-world and math problems.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Every Place Has a PairA 40-minute textbook class: the Spring Map Hunt needs a park map that goes every way from the warming hut; with a sheet folded into four parts, a big grid that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student names and plots points in all four quadrants (across first, then up or down), tells a point's quadrant from its signs, and explains why a point with a 0 lies on an axis.
   2. Mirror PointsA 40-minute textbook class: four teams in the Spring Map Hunt need equally long courses, so their flags mirror each other across the park's two main paths, the axes; with a folded paper map, a big grid that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student reflects points across the x-axis, the y-axis or both, and explains why pairs that differ only in their signs are reflections.
   3. How Far Apart?A 40-minute textbook class: every flag of the Spring Map Hunt needs a sign with the distance to the next one; with coins on the folded map, a big grid that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student finds the distance between two points that share a coordinate (each point's distance from the axis as an absolute value, added on opposite sides of the axis and subtracted on the same side) and turns squares into meters.
   4. Shapes on the MapA 40-minute textbook class: the park office plans a new youth soccer field from its four corners on the map; with coins on the folded map, a big grid that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student draws polygons from the pairs of their corners, finds the lengths of sides that run across or up and down (counting spaces, not grid points), and uses them for perimeter, the area of a rectangle and a missing corner.

   Skills

   • Name and plot points with positive and negative coordinates in all four quadrants, and tell a point's quadrant or axis from its signs.
   • Reflect a point across the x-axis, the y-axis or both, and recognize pairs that differ only in their signs as reflections.
   • Find the distance between two points that share their first or their second coordinate, using absolute value, and use it in real problems.
   • Draw polygons from the coordinates of their corners, find the lengths of horizontal and vertical sides, and use them for perimeter, area of rectangles and missing corners.

8. Expressions and Exponents

   The Saturday League in four lessons: Nadia, Kofi and Elena help run their neighborhood's youth soccer league, with a rain-day call chain, a standings board two calculators disagree on, team shirts to order and snack bags for the end-of-season party. The student writes repeated multiplication as a power and finds its value (3 × 3 × 3 × 3 = 3⁴ = 81), uses the order of operations with exponents (parentheses, exponents, multiplying and dividing from left to right, adding and subtracting from left to right), writes and reads expressions with letters (9n + 20: terms, coefficient, constant), evaluates expressions and formulas, makes equivalent expressions with the distributive property and like terms (3(x + 2) = 3x + 6, y + y + y = 3y), and tells whether two expressions are equivalent.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: 6.EE.A.1 Write and evaluate numerical expressions with whole-number exponents.; 6.EE.A.2 Write, read and evaluate expressions in which letters stand for numbers: write expressions that record operations with numbers and letters, name the parts of an expression (sum, term, product, factor, quotient, coefficient), and evaluate expressions and formulas at given values with the conventional order of operations.; 6.EE.A.3 Apply the properties of operations to make equivalent expressions.; 6.EE.A.4 Tell when two expressions are equivalent: they name the same number whatever number is put in for the letter.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Powers That GrowA 40-minute textbook class: the Saturday league's rain-day call chain, where everyone called makes 3 more calls; folding paper and a figure that builds round by round (3, 9, 27, 81), the student writes 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 as 3⁴, names the base and the exponent, reads powers aloud (squared, cubed, to the fourth power), finds their values one factor at a time, and tells an exponent (factors multiplied) from a plain multiplication (copies added).
   2. Which Step First?A 40-minute textbook class: two calculators give 14 and 20 for the league's standings, 2 + 3 × 4; with cover-up strips, a figure that works an expression rung by rung and two worked examples, the student uses the order of operations with exponents (parentheses, exponents, multiply and divide from left to right, add and subtract from left to right), rewrites the expression after each step, and writes an expression for a situation.
   3. Letters for NumbersA 40-minute textbook class: the Saturday league's shirt bills, $9 a shirt plus a $20 setup fee for every team, become one expression, 9n + 20; with coins under cups, a figure that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student writes expressions with letters from situations and words, names their terms, coefficients and constant terms, and evaluates expressions and formulas (A = s²) with the order of operations.
   4. Same Value Every TimeA 40-minute textbook class: snack bags for the Saturday league's party are counted as 3(x + 2) and as 3x + 6; with paper bags, an area model that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student uses the distributive property with letters both ways (4(2a + 5) = 8a + 20, 12 + 18n = 6(2 + 3n)), combines like terms (x + x + x = 3x, not x³), and tells whether two expressions are equivalent by the properties and by testing values.

   Skills

   • Write a repeated multiplication as a power, name its base and exponent, read it aloud and find its value.
   • Evaluate numerical expressions with exponents in the conventional order: parentheses, exponents, multiplying and dividing from left to right, adding and subtracting from left to right.
   • Write expressions with letters from words, name their parts (term, coefficient, constant, sum, product), and evaluate expressions and formulas at given values.
   • Make equivalent expressions with the distributive property and like terms, and tell whether two expressions are equivalent by the properties and by testing values.

9. Equations and Inequalities

   The Canoe Trip in four lessons: Nadia, Kofi and Elena help their community center's youth paddling club get ready for a Saturday on the river: they check the life jackets and paddles, write the trip plan with letters, weigh the gear on the boathouse scale and read the boathouse rules. The student learns that an equation is a sentence that is true or false and tests numbers from a set in it (only 11 makes r + 7 = 18 true), uses letters for an unknown number or for any number in a set (3c paddles for c canoes) and writes expressions and equations for real situations, solves equations like b + 2.5 = 9 and 4j = 18 by doing the same to both sides and checks the solution, and writes inequalities like p < 9 for a limit, knows they have infinitely many solutions, and shows them on a number line.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: 6.EE.B.5 Understand solving an equation or inequality as answering which values, if any, make it true, and use substitution to check whether a number from a set makes it true.; 6.EE.B.6 Use letters to stand for numbers and write expressions for real-world or math problems, knowing a letter can stand for an unknown number or for any number in a set.; 6.EE.B.7 Solve real-world and math problems by writing and solving equations of the forms x + p = q and px = q, where p, q and x are nonnegative rational numbers.; 6.EE.B.8 Write an inequality of the form x > c or x < c for a limit in a real-world or math problem, know such an inequality has infinitely many solutions, and show them on a number line.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. What Makes It True?A 40-minute textbook class: the paddling club needs 18 life jackets, 7 are in its bin and two helpers counted the boathouse rack differently; with counters, a pan balance that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student learns that an equation says two amounts are equal, substitutes numbers from a set to test it, and calls a number that makes it true a solution, decimals too.
   2. Say It With a LetterA 40-minute textbook class: the team writes a canoe-trip plan that works for any number of canoes and finds a smudged number on the river map; with a letter card, a diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student learns that a letter stands for a number (any number from a set, or one unknown number), writes expressions and equations for real situations, and tells an expression from an equation.
   3. Keep It BalancedA 40-minute textbook class: at the boathouse, the scale shows only totals (a dry bag and a 2.5 kg tent weigh 9 kg; 4 equal water jugs weigh 18 kg); with a paper balance, a pan balance that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student solves equations like x⁠ + p⁠ = q and px = q with whole numbers, decimals and fractions by doing the same to both sides, and checks each solution by substituting it.
   4. Under the LimitA 40-minute textbook class: the boathouse rules say each pack must weigh less than 9 kg and swims need water warmer than 18 °C; with a paper number line, a number line that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student writes inequalities like p⁠ < 9 and t⁠ > 18 for real limits, tests numbers in them, learns they have infinitely many solutions, and shows them on a number line with an open circle and a ray.

   Skills

   • Say what an equation states, substitute numbers from a set, and tell which one, if any, makes it true.
   • Use a letter for an unknown number or for any number in a set, and write expressions and equations for real situations.
   • Solve equations like x + p = q and px = q with whole numbers, decimals and fractions, and check the solution.
   • Write an inequality like x < c or x > c for a real limit, test values in it, and show its infinitely many solutions on a number line.

10. Two Quantities That Change Together

    The Walk-a-thon in four lessons: Nadia, Kofi and Elena run the lap board at their community center's first walk-a-thon on the park's 400-meter track. Kofi's aunt gives $3 for every lap, Elena's lap clicker was never reset, and Kofi walks at a steady pace while Elena rides the water around on her bike. The student names two quantities that change together and tells the independent variable from the dependent variable (the dollars depend on the laps), writes an equation for the dependent variable that fits every row of a table (m = 3n, c = n + 4), graphs it with the independent variable across and reads the graph, table and equation as one story (a line from (0, 0), a line from (0, 4)), and uses d = rt for a steady speed (d = 80t; a lap in 5 minutes; the steeper line is the faster one).

    4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

    US curriculum: 6.EE.C.9 Use letters for two quantities that change together; write an equation for one quantity, the dependent variable, in terms of the other, the independent variable; analyze the relationship with graphs and tables and relate them to the equation (d = 65t for a constant speed).

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. What Depends on What?A 40-minute textbook class: Kofi's aunt gives $3 for every lap he walks in the walk-a-thon; with a paper strip cut into pieces, a table that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student names two quantities that change together, tells the independent variable from the dependent variable with the sentence test, keeps them in a table, and sees that the number that stays the same is the rule, not a variable.
    2. Write the RuleA 40-minute textbook class: Kofi wants to know his dollars for 20 laps, and Elena's clicker is always 4 ahead; with two coin piles, two tables that build step by step and two worked examples, the student writes equations with the dependent variable alone (m⁠ = 3n, c⁠ = n⁠ + 4), checks a rule on every row instead of one, and uses the equation for any value.
    3. See It on a GraphA 40-minute textbook class: the team graphs Kofi's dollars, m⁠ = 3n, and Elena's clicker, c⁠ = n⁠ + 4, for the center's newsletter; with coins on a grid, two graphs that build step by step and two worked examples, the student puts the independent variable across, plots a rule's table as points on a line, finds where each line starts by putting in 0, reads the graph both ways and checks it with the equation.
    4. Steady SpeedA 40-minute textbook class: Kofi walks a steady 80 meters a minute and Elena rides her bike at 200; with a race of two coins on paper, a graph that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student writes a steady speed as d = rt, reads its table and graph both ways (a 400-meter lap in 5 minutes), compares speeds by their rates and the steepness of their lines, and reads a flat part as a stop, not a hill.

    Skills

    • Name two quantities that change together, tell the independent variable from the dependent variable, and show them in a table.
    • Write an equation for the dependent variable in terms of the independent variable that fits every row of a table, and use it for any value.
    • Graph two variables with the independent variable across, and connect the graph, the table and the equation.
    • Use d = rt for a steady speed in tables, graphs and equations, compare speeds, and read a distance-time graph as numbers, not as a picture.

11. Area of Triangles and Polygons

    The Community Garden in four lessons: in spring, the garden committee orders compost, mulch and seed by the square meter, and Nadia, Kofi and Elena work out the area of every new bed, though hardly any of them is a rectangle: a parallelogram bed between two slanted paths, a triangular shade sail and corner bed, a trapezoid bed along the fence and a kite-shaped herb bed, and finally the garden's new lot with a corner cut off. The student finds the area of a parallelogram by cutting off a triangle and sliding it into a rectangle (A = b × h, with the height at a right angle to the base, inside or outside the shape), of any triangle as half of a parallelogram or rectangle (A = ½ × b × h), of trapezoids, kites and rhombuses by cutting them into triangles and rectangles or doubling them into a parallelogram, and of other polygons by adding pieces that don't overlap or by taking pieces away from a rectangle around them.

    4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

    US curriculum: 6.G.A.1 Find the area of right triangles, other triangles, special quadrilaterals and polygons by composing them into rectangles or cutting them into triangles and other shapes, in real-world and math problems.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. Slide the TriangleA 40-minute textbook class: a community garden's new bed is a parallelogram; by cutting a paper parallelogram along a height and sliding the triangle, with a big grid that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student finds that a parallelogram has the area of a rectangle as long as its base and as tall as its height, A = b × h, and that the slanted side is not the height.
    2. Half a ParallelogramA 40-minute textbook class: a community garden's shade sail and corner bed are triangles; with two paper triangles that make a parallelogram, a big grid that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student finds that a right triangle is half of a rectangle and any triangle half of a parallelogram, A = ½ × b × h, with the height inside, outside or along a side.
    3. Trapezoids and KitesA 40-minute textbook class: a community garden's trapezoid bed and kite-shaped herb bed; with two paper trapezoids that make a parallelogram, a big grid that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student finds the area of trapezoids, kites and rhombuses by cutting them into rectangles and triangles or doubling them into a parallelogram, and sees that every way of cutting gives the same area.
    4. Add or Take AwayA 40-minute textbook class: the community garden's new lot is a rectangle with a corner cut off; by cutting a corner off a paper card, with a big grid that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student finds the area of polygons by adding rectangles and triangles that don't overlap or by taking pieces away from a rectangle around them, and checks one way with the other.

    Skills

    • Find the area of a parallelogram by cutting and sliding it into a rectangle, A = b × h, with the height at a right angle to the base.
    • Find the area of right triangles and other triangles as half of a rectangle or a parallelogram, A = ½ × b × h, with the height inside or outside the triangle.
    • Find the area of trapezoids, kites and rhombuses by cutting them into triangles and rectangles or doubling them into a parallelogram.
    • Find the area of other polygons by adding pieces that don't overlap or by taking pieces away from a rectangle around them, in real problems.

12. Surface Area and Volume

    The Seed Library Box in four lessons: in late spring the community garden's seed library gets a wooden box at the front gate and the garden builds new raised planters, and Nadia, Kofi and Elena work out the paint and the soil. The student unfolds a box into its net and finds its surface area as the area of every face (the box, 2,700 square centimeters, in three matching pairs of faces), finds the surface area of triangular prisms and square pyramids from nets with triangles (the box's tent-shaped roof, a gatepost cap), packs a planter with half-meter cubes to find its volume with fractional edges (6 cubes of 1/8 cubic meter, 3/4 of a cubic meter, the same as 1 1/2 × 1 × 1/2), and uses V = l × w × h and V = B × h to order soil (3/4 of a cubic meter, 750 liters, 15 bags).

    4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

    US curriculum: 6.G.A.2 Find the volume of a right rectangular prism with fractional edge lengths by packing it with unit cubes of the right unit-fraction edge length, show that it is the same as multiplying the edge lengths, and use V = l w h and V = b h in real-world and math problems.; 6.G.A.4 Represent three-dimensional figures with nets made of rectangles and triangles, and use the nets to find their surface areas, in real-world and math problems.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. Unfold the BoxA 40-minute textbook class: the community garden's new seed library box, 30 by 20 by 15 centimeters, needs paint on every face. Cutting open a real box and a net that builds step by step, the student finds that a box's net has six rectangles in three matching pairs and that the surface area is the area of the whole net (2,700 square centimeters), then works with a cube's net and a tray with no lid.
    2. Triangles in the NetA 40-minute textbook class: the seed library box gets a tent-shaped roof. With a paper tent and a net that builds step by step, the student finds that a triangular prism has two triangle ends and three rectangles, one for each side of the triangle (2,160 square centimeters in all, 1,296 for the roof with no bottom), then finds the surface area of a square pyramid cap and a wedge with right-triangle ends.
    3. Smaller CubesA 40-minute textbook class: the garden's first raised planter, 1 1/2 by 1 by 1/2 meters, needs soil sold by the cubic meter. Building a big cube from 8 small ones and a figure that builds step by step, the student packs the planter with half-meter cubes (6 of them, each 1/8 of a cubic meter: 3/4), sees that multiplying the edges gives the same volume, and uses quarter-meter cubes (1/64 each) for smaller fractions.
    4. Base Times HeightA 40-minute textbook class: the herb planter, 2 by 3/4 meters with soil 1/2 meter deep, needs soil sold in 50-liter bags. Tracing a box's base and a figure that builds step by step, the student finds B, the area of the base (1 1/2 square meters), and the volume V = B × h (3/4 cubic meter, the same as l⁠ × w⁠ × h), changes it to liters (750, 15 bags) and finds a missing depth by dividing the volume by B.

    Skills

    • Draw and recognize nets of boxes and cubes, and find surface area as the total area of every face.
    • Use nets made of rectangles and triangles to find the surface area of triangular prisms and square pyramids, counting only the faces a real object has.
    • Find the volume of a box with fractional edges by packing it with unit-fraction cubes, and show it equals the product of the edge lengths.
    • Use V = l × w × h and V = B × h to solve real problems with fractional edges, telling volume from surface area.

13. Statistical Questions and Data Displays

    The Bike Shop Survey in four lessons: the community bike shop wants to plan with data, not guesses, and Nadia, Kofi and Elena collect it: how long flat-tire fixes take, how old the riders on the family ride are, and whether new tools make fixes faster. The student tells a statistical question, one that expects answers that vary, from a question with one answer; shows numerical data in dot plots, histograms and box plots on a number line; and describes a distribution in words by where it centers, how spread out it is and its shape (clusters, peaks, gaps, outliers, symmetric or with a long tail), comparing two data sets with box plots. Measures of center and spread as single numbers (mean, median, MAD, IQR) are the next unit.

    4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

    US curriculum: 6.SP.A.1 Recognize a statistical question: one that expects variability in its answers and accounts for it.; 6.SP.A.2 Understand that data collected to answer a statistical question have a distribution that can be described by its center, its spread and its overall shape.; 6.SP.B.4 Display numerical data in plots on a number line: dot plots, histograms and box plots.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. Questions That VaryA 40-minute textbook class: the bike shop wants to plan with data, and Nadia's whiteboard mixes questions with one answer and questions whose answers vary; by counting letters in a sentence, sorting the whiteboard's questions and two worked examples, the student learns that a statistical question expects variability in its answers, names the data set that would answer it, and turns a one-answer question into a statistical one.
    2. A Dot for Every FixA 40-minute textbook class: Elena has timed 20 flat-tire fixes and the shop needs a sign; with a hands-on dot plot of pumps, a dot plot that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student makes and reads dot plots, keeps the value under a stack apart from how many dots it has, and describes a distribution in words by its center, its spread and its shape (clusters, peaks, gaps and outliers).
    3. Bars With No GapsA 40-minute textbook class: 40 riders aged 6 to 67 came on the bike shop's family ride, and a dot plot of their ages is too spread out to read; with a hands-on tally of loop times, a histogram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student groups data into equal intervals, makes and reads histograms with touching bars and empty intervals that keep their place, describes shapes (two peaks, symmetric, a long tail), and says what a histogram can't show.
    4. Boxes and WhiskersA 40-minute textbook class: the bike shop got new tools, and the team compares 11 flat fixes with the old tools and 11 with the new; with paper cards in order, a box plot that builds step by step over a dot plot and two worked examples, the student makes a box plot from its five numbers, reads its parts (the middle line splits the data in half, the box holds the middle half, each part about a quarter, long parts spread out, not fuller) and compares two sets by their centers and spreads.

    Skills

    • Tell a statistical question from a question with one answer, and say what data would answer it.
    • Make and read dot plots, keeping a stack's value apart from its height.
    • Group data into equal intervals and make and read histograms, keeping empty intervals in place.
    • Make a box plot from five numbers, read its parts as quarters of the data, and compare two box plots.
    • Describe a distribution in words by its center, its spread and its shape: clusters, peaks, gaps, outliers, symmetric or a long tail.

14. Center and Spread

    The Bike Shop Report in four lessons: the neighborhood board asks the community bike shop for a spring report with numbers, and Nadia, Kofi and Elena need one number for what is typical and one for how much things vary. The student finds the mean as a fair share and as a balance point, the median of odd- and even-sized data sets, the mean absolute deviation and the interquartile range; chooses the measures that fit the data's shape (an outlier or a long tail calls for the median and the IQR); and writes a summary of a data set in its context: how many values, what was measured and how, the units, the center and spread, the pattern and anything that stands out.

    4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

    US curriculum: 6.SP.A.3 Know that a measure of center sums up all the values of a numerical data set with one number, while a measure of variation says with one number how its values vary.; 6.SP.B.5 Summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context: the number of observations; the attribute, how it was measured and its units; measures of center (median, mean) and variability (interquartile range, mean absolute deviation), the overall pattern and any striking departures; and the choice of measures, related to the shape of the data and the context.

    The lessons, and the skills they build

    1. Level the StacksA 40-minute textbook class: the neighborhood board wants one number for how many bikes the shop fixes on a Saturday; with stacks of blocks leveled by hand, a figure that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student finds the mean as a fair share (add, then divide by how many), sees it as the balance point of a dot plot (distances below equal distances above), and learns that a mean need not be one of the values.
    2. Find the MiddleA 40-minute textbook class: the shop's sign will say how long half the flat fixes take, and Elena's 10 times have no middle card; with paper cards taken away from both ends, a figure that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student finds the median of odd- and even-sized data sets (order first; the middle value, or halfway between the two middle values), reads it from a dot plot, and says what it means: half the values at or below, half at or above.
    3. How Spread Out?A 40-minute textbook class: two volunteers' brake adjustments have the same mean, 10 minutes, but very different spreads; with steps counted on a number line, a figure that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student finds the mean absolute deviation (the mean distance from the mean) and the interquartile range (upper quartile take away lower quartile, the box's length), says what they mean in context, and sees why taking the distances below away from those above always gives 0.
    4. Pick the MeasureA 40-minute textbook class: the board asks how long a repair takes, and one vintage bike waited 30 days, so the mean (5 days) is more than 9 of the 10 waits while the median is 2; with one changed card, a figure that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student sees an outlier pull the mean and not the median, chooses the median and IQR for skewed data or outliers and the mean and MAD for roughly symmetric data, and writes a summary in context: how many, what was measured, how and in what units, the center and spread, the pattern and what stands out.

    Skills

    • Find the mean as a fair share (add the values, divide by how many) and read it as the balance point of a dot plot.
    • Find the median of odd- and even-sized data sets by putting the values in order.
    • Find the mean absolute deviation as the mean distance of the values from the mean, and say what it means.
    • Find the quartiles and the interquartile range, the length of the box that holds the middle half.
    • Choose the mean and MAD or the median and IQR to fit the shape of the data, its outliers and the context.
    • Summarize a data set in its context: how many values, what was measured, how and in what units, the center and spread, the pattern and anything that stands out.

Science

1. From Cells to Body Systems

   In a four-part investigation, the Zoom Team fills a science center's exhibit wall from the smallest living piece of a person to the whole person: they find that every living thing is made of cells and learn the jobs of a cell's parts with a microscope and labeled diagrams; see how specialized cells, shaped for their jobs, form the four kinds of tissue; take apart the heart, an organ built from muscle, epithelial, connective and nervous tissue, and count their own heartbeats; and show with data how the circulatory, respiratory and digestive systems work together in one body.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: MS-LS1-1 Gather evidence through investigation that every living thing is made of cells, some of a single cell and others of many cells of many kinds.; MS-LS1-2 Build and use a model of a cell as a whole and of how its parts help it work.; MS-LS1-3 Argue from evidence that a body is a system of smaller systems that interact, each made of groups of cells.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Too Small to SeeA picture-book class: as the Zoom Team starts a science center's exhibit wall, your child reads how cells were discovered and what the cell theory says, works out a microscope's magnification and a cell's real size, learns the jobs of the parts of animal and plant cells from big labeled diagrams, and builds a zip-bag cell at home with a grown-up.
   2. Built for the JobA picture-book class: as the Zoom Team fills frame 2 of a science center's exhibit wall, your child reads how specialized cells are shaped for their jobs and how they team up into the four kinds of tissue, reasons from a cell's shape to its function, works out how many cells fit in a millimeter, and hunts for four tissues in their own hand and arm.
   3. Inside the HeartA picture-book class: as the Zoom Team fills frame 3 of a science center's exhibit wall, your child reads what makes a body part an organ, looks inside the heart at its chambers, valves and four kinds of tissue, works out how many times a heart beats in a day, decides whether the stomach is an organ, and takes their own pulse.
   4. Systems Working TogetherA picture-book class: as the Zoom Team fills the last two frames of a science center's exhibit wall, your child reads how organs team up into systems, traces oxygen and nutrients to a single cell, builds the whole chain from cell to organism, argues from heart and breathing data that the systems work together, and measures their own pulse and breathing before and after moving.

   Skills

   • Explain with evidence that living things are made of cells, use a microscope's magnification, and describe the jobs of the main parts of animal and plant cells.
   • Explain how a specialized cell's shape fits its job, and that groups of similar cells form the four kinds of tissue.
   • Explain that an organ is made of several kinds of tissue working together, using the heart and its four tissues as the example.
   • Use the levels from cell to organism, and argue from data that the circulatory, respiratory and digestive systems work together.

2. Senses, Nerves and the Brain

   The unit opens with a deer at the edge of a meadow at dawn, ears turned toward a person far away, and asks how it knows someone is there, how a message gets from its ears to its legs so fast, and whether it will remember. In four parts, the Zoom Team builds a science center's Signal Path exhibit: they find out how sense receptors turn light, sound, chemicals and touch into signals and why a fingertip feels more than a forearm; follow a signal along neurons and nerves from a stubbed toe to the brain and work out how long it takes; measure their reaction time by catching a dropped ruler and tell a reflex from a decision; and see practice turn into memory as their times on a new skill fall try by try.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: MS-LS1-8 Gather and combine information on how sense receptors respond to the world and send messages to the brain, which leads to actions or to memories.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Two Points or One?A picture-book class: at a science center's new Signal Path exhibit, your child finds out why two swabs feel like one touch on a forearm but two on a fingertip, reads how sense receptors respond to light, sound, chemicals, touch, warmth, cold and pain and send signals to the brain, ranks made-up two-point results, and maps their own sense of touch at home with two cotton swabs and a partner.
   2. The Stubbed ToeA picture-book class: when Kofi stubs his toe and says ow twice, your child follows the signal from the toe along neurons and nerves, up the spinal cord to the brain, reads how a signal is electrical along a neuron and chemical across the gap to the next, works out how long the bump and the ache take at a nerve's speed, and measures their own message line at home with a piece of string.
   3. Catch the RulerA picture-book class: at the Signal Path's Catch Station, your child finds out why a dropped ruler falls some way before anyone can catch it, reads how the brain takes in signals, decides and sends orders to the muscles, turns made-up ruler catches into reaction times, sees how a reflex skips the decision, and measures their own reaction time at home with a ruler and a partner.
   4. Faster Every TryA picture-book class: at the Signal Path's last station, your child watches Mei's times fall as she learns to stack cups, reads how the brain keeps some signals as short-term and long-term memories and stores a practiced skill, reads a made-up learning curve over two days, learns four ways to help memory, and graphs their own learning curve at home with six cups and a timer.

   Skills

   • Explain how sense receptors respond to light, sound, chemicals, touch, warmth, cold and pain and turn them into signals for the brain, and use touch data to compare parts of the skin.
   • Describe how signals travel along neurons and nerves, through the spinal cord to the brain and out to the muscles, and use distance and speed to find how long a signal takes.
   • Explain how the brain takes in signals and chooses a response, measure reaction time with data, and tell a reflex from a response the brain decides.
   • Explain that the brain stores some signals as short-term or long-term memories, and use practice data to show how learning changes a response.

3. Particles, Temperature and Heat

   During a July heat wave, the Zoom Team runs the Riverside Science Center's new Heat Lab bench, four stations that answer the questions visitors bring in from the hot street: they find that all matter is made of particles that never stop moving and that temperature measures their average motion; explain changes of state, evaporation below boiling and the visible 'steam' over a kettle with particles; trace thermal energy moving from warmer to cooler things by conduction, convection and radiation; and tell temperature from thermal energy with a cooling graph and a fair test, ready for the next unit's design challenge, Keep It Cool.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: MS-PS1-4 Use a model to show how adding or removing thermal energy changes how particles move, the temperature and the state of a pure substance.; MS-PS3-4 Plan an investigation to find how the energy moved, the kind of matter, its amount and its change in temperature are related.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Particles on the MoveA picture-book class: on the hottest day of the summer, the Zoom Team starts a science center's Heat Lab; your child drops food coloring into cold and hot tap water (a grown-up pours the hot water), reads how scientists found out that matter is made of moving particles, learns that temperature measures the particles' average motion, reads a thermometer, and builds an explanation from a particle model and made-up data.
   2. Where Did the Puddle Go?A picture-book class: the puddle by the curb has vanished, and the Zoom Team's second Heat Lab station asks where it went; your child watches a wet streak dry and a cold glass get wet, learns solids, liquids and gases as particles, explains melting, evaporation, boiling and condensation as thermal energy added or removed, reads a heating graph, and finds out that the white cloud over a kettle is tiny drops of liquid water.
   3. Heat on the MoveA picture-book class: the playground's metal slide feels cold and the plastic seat doesn't, yet both read 24°C, and the Zoom Team's third Heat Lab station asks why; your child tries a metal and a wooden spoon, learns that heat always moves from warmer to cooler, finds conduction, convection and radiation on a hot street and in a pot of soup, and sorts conductors from insulators.
   4. Temperature Is Not HeatA picture-book class: a visitor asks whether a bathtub of warm water or a cup of hot cocoa has more heat, and the Zoom Team's last Heat Lab station finds out; your child melts two ice cubes, learns that temperature is not the same as thermal energy, finds how mass, material and temperature difference change a temperature, reads a cooling graph and plans a fair test, ready for the Keep It Cool challenge.

   Skills

   • Use a particle model to explain that matter is made of particles that never stop moving, and that temperature measures their average kinetic energy.
   • Explain changes of state as thermal energy added or removed, with evaporation below boiling and condensation, using particle arrangement and motion.
   • Explain that thermal energy moves from warmer to cooler things until their temperatures are equal, by conduction, convection and radiation, through conductors and insulators.
   • Tell temperature from thermal energy, use a cooling graph to show how mass, material and temperature difference affect a temperature change, and plan a fair test.

4. Design Challenge: Keep It Cool

   The Zoom Team takes on Dr. Lindqvist's challenge from the end of the Heat Lab: the Riverside Science Center's day campers' cold drinks are warm by lunch, so the team designs a Cool Keeper that any family can make at home. They define the problem with measurable criteria and constraints, design three Cool Keepers from the science of conduction, convection and radiation, test them fairly in a warm cabinet and choose with a decision matrix, then combine the best features and improve the design one change at a time, round after round.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: MS-PS3-3 Use science ideas to design, build and test a device that keeps thermal energy in or out as well as possible.; MS-ETS1-1 State a design problem precisely, with criteria and constraints that take people and the environment into account.; MS-ETS1-2 Judge competing designs with a step-by-step method against the criteria and constraints.; MS-ETS1-3 Use test data from several designs to find the best features of each and combine them.; MS-ETS1-4 Build a model that gives data for testing a design, changing it and testing it again.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Warm Drink ProblemA picture-book class: the Zoom Team gets a real design challenge, keeping the day campers' drinks cold until lunch; your child watches a cold cup warm on a table, learns how engineers turn a wish into a design problem with criteria and constraints, finds the three ways heat sneaks into a cold drink, and reads a made-up warming graph to see that a plain cup fails.
   2. Slow the Heat DownA picture-book class: the Zoom Team starts designing Cool Keepers from a pile of things from home; your child tests an ice cube in a wool sock against a bare one, learns why trapped air makes the best insulation, sees how a good design blocks conduction, convection and radiation, explains the team's sketches part by part, and chooses a wall material from made-up test data.
   3. Which Design Wins?A picture-book class: on test day the Zoom Team's three Cool Keepers go into a warm cabinet; your child races three ice cubes at home, learns how a fair test of designs works and why trials are repeated and averaged, reads made-up test results against the criterion, and chooses a winner with a decision matrix, seeing why the coldest design can still lose.
   4. Better Every RoundA picture-book class: the Zoom Team joins Mei's foil-covered lid to Kofi's light sleeve and improves the new Cool Keeper round by round; your child finds the weak spot of a wrapped cup of ice water by feel, learns why engineers change one thing per round, reads made-up results of three rounds, meets Dewar's vacuum flask, and sees when a design is good enough to share.

   Skills

   • Define a design problem with measurable criteria and constraints that include people and the environment, using the science of how heat gets into a cold drink.
   • Design a device that slows thermal energy flow, explaining each part by the path it blocks: conduction, convection or radiation.
   • Test designs fairly, read the data against the criteria, and choose among them with a decision matrix and its trade-offs.
   • Improve a design by finding its weak spot, combining the best features of several designs and changing one thing per round.

5. Water, Air Masses and Weather

   The unit opens with a thunderstorm over prairie farmland and asks where its rain comes from, why the cloud grows so tall with a flat top, and how you could tell what the weather will do next. In four parts, the Roof Crew runs a science center's rooftop weather station and fills its Weather Wall: they follow water around the water cycle, moved by the sun's energy and by gravity; find out how rising air cools to its dew point and makes clouds of droplets, and why a thunderstorm's top spreads into an anvil; read made-up station data to see air masses meet at cold and warm fronts, and highs and lows; and read a weather map and their station's readings to forecast the weather, with a chance of rain and a plan for lightning.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: MS-ESS2-4 Model how water moves through Earth's systems, driven by the sun's energy and by gravity.; MS-ESS2-5 Use data to show how moving air masses meet and mix and so change the weather.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. The Water Cycle EngineA picture-book class: the unit opens with a thunderstorm over prairie farmland, then the Roof Crew starts a science center's Weather Wall; your child reads where Earth's water is and how the sun's energy and gravity move it through evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, runoff and groundwater, follows one drop, balances a made-up water budget, and builds a water cycle in a bowl with a grown-up.
   2. How Clouds FormA picture-book class: on a hot afternoon on the science center's roof, your child finds out why a cold glass gets wet on the outside and why puffy clouds have flat bottoms, reads how rising air cools to its dew point and condenses on specks of dust into droplets, works out a cloud's height from made-up station data, sees why a thunderstorm grows tall and flattens into an anvil, and finds the dew point at home with a glass of water and ice cubes.
   3. When Air Masses MeetA picture-book class: after the temperature on the science center's roof falls 12 degrees in an hour, your child finds out what air masses are and where they form, reads what happens at cold and warm fronts and in highs and lows, uses made-up station readings and a sky log to tell which front passed, and makes two air masses meet at home with cold blue water and warm red water.
   4. Reading the WeatherA picture-book class: the Roof Crew must forecast the weather for Family Science Day, so your child learns the weather station's instruments, reads the clues in how pressure, humidity and wind change, reads a made-up weather map and works out when a front will arrive, finds out what a chance of rain really means and what to do when thunder roars, and keeps a three-day weather log at home with a jar rain gauge.

   Skills

   • Use a model to explain how the sun's energy and gravity move water through evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, runoff and groundwater, and where Earth's water is.
   • Explain how rising air cools to its dew point and water vapor condenses on tiny particles into a cloud of droplets or ice, and why a thunderstorm grows tall and spreads into an anvil.
   • Describe air masses by where they form, and use data to explain what happens at cold and warm fronts and in highs and lows.
   • Read weather data and a simple weather map to make and explain a forecast, including what a chance of rain means, and know what to do when thunder roars.

6. Winds, Currents and Climate

   In a four-part investigation, the team builds the stations of a science center's Air and Ocean hall and solves the mystery of a cold, foggy beach in July: they find that the sun heats land and water unevenly, so warm air rises and wind blows from higher to lower pressure (the sea breeze and the land breeze); that ocean currents, moved by wind and by differences in temperature and saltiness, carry warmth and cold around the world and make some coasts cool and foggy; that weather is what happens now while climate is the pattern over about 30 years, read from climate graphs of two towns at the same latitude; and that global wind belts, set up by uneven heating and bent by Earth's spin, with mountains and oceans, give each region its climate.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: MS-ESS2-6 Model how uneven heating of Earth's surface and Earth's spin set up the patterns of winds and ocean currents that help shape regional climates.; MS-ESS3-5 Ask questions about what has caused Earth's average temperature to rise over the past century.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Why Wind BlowsA picture-book class: as the team builds the Breeze Box for a science center's Air and Ocean hall, your child tests a cold-air wind at the fridge door, reads why land heats faster than water and how warm air rising makes air pressure differences, follows a big diagram of the sea breeze loop, works out the wind from temperatures and pressure readings, and explains the land breeze at night.
   2. Rivers in the OceanA picture-book class: as the team builds a floor map of ocean currents for a science center, your child watches cold and salty water sink in a glass, reads what drives ocean currents, follows warm and cold currents on a world map drawn from real coastlines, explains with real temperatures why two beaches at the same latitude differ by 11 degrees and why Ireland's winters are milder than Labrador's, and works out why a cold current brings fog.
   3. Weather or Climate?A picture-book class: as the team builds a Two Towns wall for a science center, your child tells weather from climate, models with a flashlight why sunlight warms the poles less, reads climate graphs of a coast town and an inland town at the same latitude, and explains with latitude, altitude and the ocean why their climates differ.
   4. Global WindsA picture-book class: as the team finishes the Wind Globe for a science center, your child models Earth's spin on a turning paper plate, learns the wind belts and why rainforests sit at the equator and many deserts near 30°, explains rain shadows with real places, and hears calmly how scientists measure climate change.

   Skills

   • Explain with data and a convection-loop model why land and water heat unevenly, why wind blows from higher to lower pressure, and why sea and land breezes turn around between day and night.
   • Use a map and data to explain how ocean currents move, driven by wind and by differences in temperature and saltiness, and how warm and cold currents shape the climate of coasts.
   • Tell weather from climate and read climate graphs to explain how latitude, altitude and nearness to the ocean shape a place's climate.
   • Use a model of global wind belts, Earth's spin and mountains to explain where rainy and dry regions are, and ask how scientists measure climate change.

7. The Rock Cycle

   The unit opens with a deep canyon and asks how its flat layers got there, how a river could cut so deep, and where the dark rock at the bottom came from. In four parts, Kofi, Mei and Ana build the Rock Cycle Path in a science center's new Rock Garden, around six very different boulders: they learn to read a rock's texture clues and sort rocks into three families; find out how melted rock from Earth's hot interior cools into igneous rock, with big crystals deep down and tiny ones at the surface; follow weathering, erosion and deposition as sediment settles in layers and is pressed and glued into sedimentary rock, from a rockfall in seconds to a canyon in millions of years; and see heat and pressure change rock into metamorphic rock, then join all three into the rock cycle, driven by the sun's energy, gravity and Earth's inner heat.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: MS-ESS2-1 Model how Earth's materials cycle, and the flow of energy from the sun and Earth's interior that drives it.; MS-ESS2-2 Explain how processes such as erosion, volcanoes and moving plates change Earth's surface over very different spans of time and space.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Reading a RockA picture-book class: six very different boulders arrive at a science center's new Rock Garden, and your child learns what rocks are made of, how the three families of rock (igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic) form, and how to read the texture clues a rock keeps instead of trusting its color; then they become a rock detective at home with a magnifying glass and the vinegar fizz test.
   2. From Melted RockA picture-book class: at a science center's Rock Garden a geologist explains why one igneous boulder has big crystals and another tiny ones full of holes. Your child learns where melted rock comes from inside Earth, reads crystal size as a cooling clock (granite, basalt and glassy obsidian), works out how deep rock gets hot enough to melt, follows the volcanic island Surtsey from 1963, and grows salt crystals fast and slowly at home.
   3. From Sand to StoneA picture-book class: after a rainstorm washes sorted sand and gravel across a science center's Rock Garden, your child learns how weathering breaks rock down, how erosion carries the pieces, and how slowing water drops them, sorted by size, in layers that are pressed and glued into sedimentary rock; they work out where a river drops each grain and how long a river takes to cut a canyon, and watch sediment settle into layers in a jar at home.
   4. Around the Rock CycleA picture-book class: at a science center's Rock Garden a striped boulder turns out to be granite that was squeezed deep underground without melting. Your child learns how metamorphic rock forms, builds the whole rock cycle with its many paths, finds the energy that drives it (the sun, gravity and Earth's hot interior), follows one grain of quartz around it, works out how fast mountains rise, and makes a crayon rock-cycle model at home by pressing and warming in their hands only.

   Skills

   • Tell minerals from rocks, and use texture clues as evidence to sort rocks into the igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic families.
   • Explain where melted rock comes from and how cooling speed sets crystal size, and use Earth's inner heat to explain melting.
   • Explain how weathering, erosion, deposition, compaction and cementation make sedimentary rock, and work out how long slow surface changes take.
   • Use a model of the rock cycle to trace Earth's materials through many paths, name the energy that drives each step, and compare how fast the steps happen.

8. Moving Plates and Earth's History

   The unit opens with a photo of a wide valley split between two long cliffs of layered dark rock and asks what could split the ground, whether the two sides are still moving, and what rock layers tell us about Earth's past. In four parts, the team builds the science center's Moving Earth wall: they weigh the evidence that the continents were once joined (coasts that fit, fossils, rocks and mountain chains that line up across the Atlantic) and why the idea took decades to be accepted; follow the maps of the ocean floor to a mountain range down the middle of the Atlantic, where new seafloor forms and spreads a few centimeters a year, and to the trenches where old seafloor sinks; map earthquakes and volcanoes along the edges of Earth's plates and sort the edges into pulling apart, pushing together and sliding past, with drop, cover and hold on; and read rock layers from the bottom up, date them with index fossils and lay Earth's 4.6 billion years out on a strip of paper.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: MS-ESS2-2 Explain how processes such as volcanoes and moving plates change Earth's surface over very different spans of time and space.; MS-ESS2-3 Analyze fossil, rock, continent-shape and seafloor data as evidence that plates have moved.; MS-ESS1-4 Use rock layers to explain how the geologic time scale organizes Earth's long history.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. A Puzzle Across the OceanA picture-book class: your child opens a new unit with a photo of a valley split between two cliffs, then finds out why scientists think South America and Africa were once joined: coasts that fit, the same fossils and old rocks lining up across the Atlantic, and mountains that make one chain. They build a case from evidence, weigh it against the land-bridge idea, learn why the idea of continental drift took 50 years to be accepted, and test Wegener's torn-newspaper comparison with a sheet of paper.
   2. The Seafloor SpreadsA picture-book class: your child finds out how ships mapped the dark ocean floor with echoes and how Marie Tharp found a mountain range down the middle of the Atlantic, reads how new seafloor forms at mid-ocean ridges and sinks at trenches, works out a depth from an echo and a spreading speed of a few centimeters a year from made-up drill samples, and models a spreading seafloor with paper strips pushed up through a slit in a box.
   3. Where Plates MeetA picture-book class: your child maps where earthquakes and volcanoes happen and finds them in belts along the edges of Earth's plates, learns that the plates move over hot, solid rock that flows very slowly, sorts the edges into pulling apart, pushing together and sliding past, works out how far plates move from made-up GPS readings, models a fault with a book and a rubber band, and learns drop, cover and hold on.
   4. The Story in the LayersA picture-book class: your child finds out why lower rock layers are older, how tilted layers, faults and sea fossils on mountaintops show that rocks were moved after they formed, how index fossils match layers on different continents, and how the geologic time scale organizes Earth's 4.6 billion years. They put the events in a made-up cliff in order and lay out Earth's history on 46 squares of paper.

   Skills

   • Use the fit of the continents, fossils, and matching rocks and mountain chains as evidence that the continents were once joined, and argue for the claim that best explains the evidence.
   • Explain how new seafloor forms at mid-ocean ridges and sinks at trenches, and use seafloor ages and distances to find how fast plates move.
   • Use maps of earthquakes and volcanoes to find plate edges, describe what happens where plates pull apart, push together and slide past, and know how to stay safe in an earthquake.
   • Read rock layers to put events in order, use index fossils to match layers, and use a scaled time line to show how the geologic time scale organizes Earth's long history.

Math

1. Proportional Relationships

   The Family Ride in four lessons: Nadia, Kofi and Elena, now in seventh grade, help the community bike shop plan a fall Family Ride and Walk on the river trail. The student finds unit rates from ratios of fractions (3/4 kilometer in 1/6 hour is 4 1/2 kilometers per hour), decides whether two quantities are proportional by checking that y ÷ x is the same in every row of a table (the shop's $5 an hour is; a rental stand's $4 fee plus $3 an hour is not), finds the constant of proportionality k in tables, words and diagrams and writes y = kx (c = 5h), and reads a proportional graph as a straight line through (0, 0) whose point (1, k) shows the unit rate and whose every point (x, y) tells a story.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: 7.RP.A.1 Find unit rates from ratios of fractions, with lengths, areas and other quantities in the same or different units.; 7.RP.A.2 Recognize and show proportional relationships between quantities: decide whether two quantities are proportional (equivalent ratios in a table, a straight-line graph through the origin), find the constant of proportionality, write the relationship as an equation, and explain what a point on its graph means.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Rates with FractionsA 40-minute textbook class: Kofi walks 3/4 kilometer in 1/6 hour for the bike shop's route sheet; with a paper strip folded into sixths, a double number line that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student finds unit rates from ratios of fractions (4 1/2 kilometers per hour, 14 kilometers per hour), writes the division as a complex fraction, finds both unit rates of a ratio of liters and square meters, and checks that a rate makes sense.
   2. Proportional or Not?A 40-minute textbook class: two bike rentals, $5 an hour against a $4 fee plus $3 an hour; with coins on a ruler, two tables that build step by step and two worked examples, the student decides whether two quantities are proportional by testing every row of a table (the same quotient, doubling, 0 with 0), finds the unit rate when they are, and explains why equal jumps or a fee paid once break the test.
   3. The Constant kA 40-minute textbook class: the gate helpers need one rule for the rental price; with paper clips end to end, a table that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student finds the constant of proportionality k (y⁠ ÷ x, the unit rate, not the jump between rows) in tables, words and double number lines, writes the relationship as y = kx (c⁠ = 5h, d⁠ = 16t, L = 0.75b) and uses the equation forward and backward.
   4. What a Point MeansA 40-minute textbook class: Kofi's poster graph of two rental prices; with two tables on squared paper and a pencil, a graph that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student decides from a graph whether a relationship is proportional (a straight line through the origin, not just any straight line or curve), finds k at the point (1, k), and explains what any point (x, y) on the graph means, (0, 0) among them.

   Skills

   • Find unit rates from ratios of fractions, with lengths, areas and other quantities, by counting parts on a double number line and by dividing, and check that a rate makes sense.
   • Decide whether two quantities in a table are proportional by checking that y ÷ x is the same in every row and that 0 goes with 0.
   • Find the constant of proportionality k, the unit rate, in tables, diagrams and descriptions in words.
   • Write a proportional relationship as an equation y = kx and use it to find missing values.
   • Decide from a graph whether a relationship is proportional (a straight line through the origin), read k at the point (1, k), and explain what any point (x, y) on the graph means, (0, 0) among them.

2. Scale Drawings

   The Clubhouse in four lessons: the community center gives the youth club an empty storage hall, and Nadia, Kofi and Elena, now in seventh grade, plan it from a floor plan with no lengths on it, only a scale; then they plan the club's first hike on a park map and redraw the plan for a poster and a flyer. The student reads a scale like 1 cm : 2 m as a proportional relationship (real length = 2 × drawing length) and finds real lengths and drawing lengths, finds real areas from a scale drawing (every square centimeter of a 1 cm : 2 m plan stands for 2 m by 2 m, 4 square meters), reads a scale without units like 1 : 50,000 as a scale factor and uses a scale bar, and redraws a scale drawing at another scale, multiplying every length by the same factor so the shape stays the same.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: 7.G.A.1 Solve problems with scale drawings of geometric figures: find actual lengths and areas from a scale drawing, and redraw a scale drawing at another scale.; 7.RP.A.2 Recognize and show proportional relationships between quantities: (a) decide whether two quantities are proportional, by checking for equivalent ratios in a table or for a straight-line graph through the origin; (b) find the constant of proportionality, the unit rate, in tables, graphs, equations, diagrams and descriptions in words; (c) write a proportional relationship as an equation (total cost c = 1.5n for n items at 1.5 dollars each); (d) explain what a point (x, y) on the graph means in the situation, especially (0, 0) and (1, r), where r is the unit rate.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Read the ScaleA 40-minute textbook class: the youth club's new clubhouse comes as a floor plan with no lengths, only Scale 1 cm : 2 m; with a paper scale strip, a plan and double number line that build step by step and two worked examples, the student finds real lengths by multiplying (6 cm is 12 m), drawing lengths by dividing (a 5 m stage is 2.5 cm), sees the scale as the constant of a proportional relationship, and finds a lost scale from one known length.
   2. Area on the PlanA 40-minute textbook class: the clubhouse's big room needs floor tiles sold by the square meter, and it covers 30 square centimeters of a 1 cm : 2 m plan; with paper squares, a zoomed-in plan square and two worked examples, the student finds that one square centimeter stands for 2 m by 2 m, 4 square meters, so the floor is 120 square meters, not Sam's 60, finds real areas either from the real lengths or from the plan area, and works back from a real area to the plan.
   3. The Trail MapA 40-minute textbook class: the club's first hike is on a park map with the scale 1:50,000 and no units; with a string along the trail, a map that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student reads a scale without units as a scale factor (1 cm is 50,000 cm, 500 m), finds the 7 cm trail is 3.5 km, not Sam's 350,000 m, goes from the ground to the map by changing units first, and sees why a scale bar survives a photocopier.
   4. Redraw the PlanA 40-minute textbook class: the open house wants the clubhouse plan as a big poster at 1 cm : 1 m and a pocket flyer at 1 cm : 4 m; with an L-shaped room redrawn on squared paper, the three drawings side by side at true size and two worked examples, the student redraws a scale drawing at a new scale through the real lengths or with one factor (2 for the poster, ½ for the flyer, not Sam's doubling), sees that a bigger number in the scale makes a smaller drawing, and that one factor keeps the shape while the area changes by the factor times itself.

   Skills

   • Find real lengths from a scale drawing and drawing lengths from real ones with a scale like 1 cm : 2 m, seeing the scale as the constant of a proportional relationship, and find a scale from one known length.
   • Find real areas from a scale drawing: every square of the drawing stands for a square whose sides are the scale's length, so areas grow by the scale times itself.
   • Read a scale without units like 1 : 50,000 as a scale factor, convert units to find real distances on a map, and use a scale bar.
   • Redraw a scale drawing at another scale by multiplying every drawing length by the same factor, and tell what happens to the shape, its angles and its area.

3. Percent Problems

   The Trip Fund in four lessons: Nadia, Kofi and Elena's youth club buys gear and raises money for a fall camping weekend. The student finds a percent of a price from 10% and 1% and adds sales tax and tips (an $80 tent with 8% tax is $86.40, 1.08 × 80), takes off markdowns and adds markups as one product (25% off $60 is 0.75 × 60 = $45; a 50% markup on $8 is $12) and solves multistep sale-and-tax problems, finds simple interest on savings, commissions and fees (3% a year on $500 for 4 years is $60), and finds percent increase, decrease and error by dividing the change by the starting amount (40 members to 50 is up 25%, not 20%).

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: 7.RP.A.3 Use proportional relationships to solve multistep ratio and percent problems, such as simple interest, tax, markups and markdowns, tips and commissions, fees, percent increase and decrease, and percent error.; 7.EE.A.2 Understand that writing an expression in another form can show something new about a problem and how its quantities are related (p - 0.2p = 0.8p: taking 20% off a price is the same as paying 80% of it).; 7.EE.B.3 Solve multistep real-life and math problems with positive and negative rational numbers in any form (whole numbers, fractions, decimals), choosing tools wisely: use the properties of operations, change between forms when it helps, and check that answers are reasonable with mental math and estimates.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Tax and TipA 40-minute textbook class: the youth club buys an $80 tent with an 8% sales tax; with a 10-centimeter bar on a ruler, a percent line that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student finds a percent of a price from 10% and 1%, adds sales tax and tips to find totals ($86.40, $36.80), and writes a total with tax as one product, p⁠ + 0.08p⁠ = 1.08p.
   2. Markups and MarkdownsA 40-minute textbook class: a camping shop's end-of-season sale takes 25% off a $60 backpack, and the club marks up its $8 water bottles for the fair; with a paper strip folded into quarters, a bar that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student tells the discount from the sale price ($15 off, $45 to pay), writes a markdown and a markup as one multiplication (0.75 × 60, 1.5 × 8), and solves two steps in a row, a sale and then tax on the sale price.
   3. Interest, Commissions and FeesA 40-minute textbook class: the youth club keeps $500 in a savings account at 3% simple interest a year; with paper slips for each year's interest, a table that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student finds simple interest for any number of years (interest = principal × rate × years, $60 in 4 years, $560 in all), a commission as a percent of sales ($70 on $1,400), and a total with a percent fee and a flat fee ($65.60).
   4. Percent Change and ErrorA 40-minute textbook class: the youth club's report says it grew from 40 members to 50; with rows of ten dots, a percent line that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student finds a percent increase or decrease by dividing the change by the starting amount (10 ÷ 40 = 25%, 12 ÷ 80 = 15% down) and a percent error by dividing the error by the actual value (1.5 ÷ 7.5 = 20%).

   Skills

   • Find a percent of an amount by building it from 10% and 1%, and add sales tax or a tip on to find a total.
   • Find a price after a markup or a markdown, and after two steps in a row, such as a sale and then sales tax.
   • Write a price after a percent is added on or taken off as one product (1.08p, 0.75p) and explain why the two forms are the same.
   • Find simple interest on savings, commissions and fees (flat or a percent), and the totals they make.
   • Find a percent increase or decrease by dividing the change by the starting amount, and a percent error by dividing the error by the actual value.

4. Adding and Subtracting Rational Numbers

   The Lake Weekend in four lessons: the youth club (Nadia, Kofi and Elena, now in seventh grade) saves up for an early-spring weekend at Cedar Lake and pays for it from the club's account. The student sees that opposite amounts combine to make 0 and adds with zero pairs (+45, −30 and −15 add to 0); adds positive and negative numbers, decimals and fractions among them, as moves on a number line (−4.5 °C and 7 degrees warmer is 2.5 °C); subtracts by adding the opposite (removing a wrong −$35 charge: −20 − (−35) = −20 + 35 = 15); and finds the distance between two numbers as the absolute value of their difference (a lookout 12.5 m above the lake and a loon 3.5 m under it are 16 m apart), solving problems with several steps.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: 7.NS.A.1 Extend adding and subtracting to all rational numbers, and show them on horizontal or vertical number lines: (a) describe situations where opposite quantities combine to make 0 (gaining 5 points and losing 5 points); (b) understand p + q as the number |q| away from p, in the positive or the negative direction by the sign of q, and that a number and its opposite add to 0 (additive inverses), and interpret sums in real-world contexts; (c) understand subtracting as adding the additive inverse, p - q = p + (-q), and that the distance between two rational numbers on the number line is the absolute value of their difference, in real-world contexts; (d) use the properties of operations as strategies to add and subtract rational numbers.; 7.NS.A.3 Solve real-world and math problems with the four operations on rational numbers (here adding and subtracting: temperatures, heights and depths, and money in an account).

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Zero PairsA 40-minute textbook class: the youth club's money log shows +45, −30 and −15 and a balance that ends where it started; with coins as yellow and red counters, a diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student sees that opposite amounts combine to make 0, that a number and its opposite are additive inverses, and adds positive and negative numbers by making zero pairs (5 + (−3) = 2, −6 + 2 = −4, −2 + (−3) = −5).
   2. Moves on the LineA 40-minute textbook class: it is −4.5 °C on the cabin porch at 6 a.m. and will be 7 degrees warmer by noon; with a paper strip number line and a clip, a diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student adds positive and negative numbers, decimals and fractions too, as moves on a number line (p + q is |q| from p: −4.5 + 7 = 2.5, 2.5 + (−9.5) = −7), states the rule for the sign, and groups opposites first.
   3. Add the OppositeA 40-minute textbook class: the club's statement shows a −$35 charge twice and a balance of −$20, and the office will take the extra charge away; with coins as counters, a diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student subtracts by adding the opposite (2 − (−3) = 2 + 3 = 5, 4 − 9 = 4 + (−9) = −5, −20 − (−35) = −20 + 35 = 15), finds a change as end − start, and explains why taking away a negative number makes the answer bigger.
   4. The Distance BetweenA 40-minute textbook class: at Cedar Lake's cliff lookout, 12.5 m above the water, the club wonders how far it is to the loons' shelf, 3.5 m below; with a paper strip held up like a pole, a diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student finds the distance between two numbers as the absolute value of their difference, |p − q|, in either order (12.5 − (−3.5) = 16, |⁠−3.5 − 12.5| = 16), and solves problems with several signed changes.

   Skills

   • Describe situations where opposite amounts combine to make 0, find additive inverses, and add integers with counters by making zero pairs.
   • Add rational numbers as moves on a horizontal or vertical number line (p + q is |q| from p), with integers, decimals and fractions, and group opposites first.
   • Subtract rational numbers by adding the opposite, p − q = p + (−q), and find a change as end − start.
   • Find the distance between two rational numbers on a number line as the absolute value of their difference, in either order.
   • Solve real problems with temperatures, heights and depths, and money, adding and subtracting rational numbers in several steps.

5. Multiplying and Dividing Rational Numbers

   The Stats Crew in four lessons: Nadia, Kofi and Elena, seventh graders, keep the numbers for a made-up winter indoor soccer league at the community center. The student multiplies a positive and a negative number as equal groups (four losses by 3 goals: 4 × (−3) = −12); finds why a negative times a negative is positive with a pattern and the distributive property (a temperature falling 2 degrees an hour was (−3) × (−2) = 6 degrees warmer three hours before kickoff); divides with the same sign rules, writes −(p/q) = (−p)/q = p/(−q) and never divides by 0 (−18 ÷ 6 = −3 a game, −18 ÷ (−3) = 6 games); and changes fractions into decimals by long division, seeing that each one ends or repeats (5/8 = 0.625, 2/3 = 0.666…), with real problems in several steps.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: 7.NS.A.2 Extend multiplying and dividing to all rational numbers: (a) understand that keeping the properties of operations, the distributive property above all, leads to (−1)(−1) = 1 and the sign rules for products, and interpret products in real-world contexts; (b) understand that integers can be divided when the divisor is not 0, that every quotient of integers is a rational number, that −(p/q) = (−p)/q = p/(-q), and interpret quotients in real-world contexts; (c) use the properties of operations as strategies to multiply and divide rational numbers; (d) change a rational number to a decimal by long division, and know that its decimal form ends in 0s or repeats.; 7.NS.A.3 Solve real-world and math problems with the four operations on rational numbers, complex fractions among them (here multiplying and dividing: goal differences, rates of change over time, money shared out, standings).; 7.EE.B.3 Solve multistep real-life and math problems with positive and negative rational numbers in any form (whole numbers, fractions, decimals), choosing tools wisely: use the properties of operations, change between forms when it helps, and check that answers are reasonable with mental math and estimates.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Groups of NegativesA 40-minute textbook class: the Otters lost 4 soccer games by 3 goals each, and the coach wants one number for their goal difference; with coins as counters, a diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student multiplies a positive and a negative number (4 × (−3) = −12, (−3) × 4 = −12, 8 × (−3/4) = −6, 6 × (−9.50) = −57 with the distributive property), says what the product means, and explains why multiplying can make a number lower.
   2. Negative Times NegativeA 40-minute textbook class: the temperature fell 2 degrees an hour to 0 °C at a 6 p.m. kickoff, and the game report needs the 3 p.m. temperature; with coins as counters, a pattern, the distributive property and two worked examples, the student multiplies two negative numbers ((−3) × (−2) = 6, (−5) × (−1.5) = 7.5, (−1/2) × (−4) × (−3) = −6), uses the sign rules for products and the count of negative factors, and explains why (−1) × (−1) = 1.
   3. Dividing with SignsA 40-minute textbook class: the Otters' goal difference is −18 after 6 games, and the coach wants it per game while Kofi asks how many −3s make −18; with coins, a diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student divides with signs (−18 ÷ 6 = −3, −18 ÷ (−3) = 6, −37.50 ÷ 3 = −12.50, (−3/8) ÷ (1/2) = −3/4), writes a negative fraction three ways, explains why nothing divides by 0, and checks every quotient with a multiplication.
   4. Decimals That RepeatA 40-minute textbook class: the league's final standings show wins ÷ games, and 2 of 3 games gives a decimal that never ends by hand; with paper, long division that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student changes fractions into decimals (5/8 = 0.625, 2/3 = 0.666…, 3/11 = 0.2727…, −25 ÷ 6 = −4.1666…), tells by the remainders whether a decimal ends or repeats, writes the repeat with a bar, and explains why every fraction's decimal does one or the other.

   Skills

   • Multiply a positive and a negative number, integers, decimals and fractions, as equal groups or jumps on a number line, in either order, using the distributive property to make it easy.
   • Multiply two or more negative numbers with the sign rules for products, and explain them with a pattern or the distributive property.
   • Divide positive and negative numbers with the sign rules, write a negative fraction three ways, and explain why nothing can be divided by 0.
   • Change a fraction, negative ones too, into a decimal by long division, and tell from the remainders whether it ends or repeats.
   • Solve real problems with the four operations on positive and negative numbers in any form, complex fractions included, and check that the answer is reasonable.

6. Equivalent Expressions

   The Garden Season in four lessons: Nadia, Kofi and Elena's youth club helps the community garden through a spring. The student collects like terms with their signs (the seedling table's cash log 6p − 2 − 4p + 5 is 2p + 3, not Sam's 10p + 3), expands expressions with negative and fraction factors and subtracts whole groups (the sale's profit 4n − (1.5n + 10) is 2.5n − 10), factors with the greatest common factor, a negative or a fraction (a tiller bill 12h + 18 shared as 6(2h + 3)), and sees that rewriting an expression can show something new (a border of 4s + 4 stones is 4(s + 1), always a multiple of 4; h − (1/4)h = (3/4)h).

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: 7.EE.A.1 Use the properties of operations to add, subtract, factor and expand linear expressions with rational coefficients (2(x - 3) - x as x - 6; 6y + 9 as 3(2y + 3)).; 7.EE.A.2 Understand that writing an expression in another form can show something new about a problem and how its quantities are related (p - 0.2p = 0.8p: taking 20% off a price is the same as paying 80% of it).

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Collect Like TermsA 40-minute textbook class: Nadia's cash log for the garden's seedling table, 6p⁠ − 2⁠ − 4p⁠ + 5, is too long; with two-color paper tiles, a diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student names terms with their signs, collects like terms (decimals, fractions and hidden coefficients of 1 among them) to write equivalent expressions such as 2p⁠ + 3, and checks them by putting in a number.
   2. Expand with NegativesA 40-minute textbook class: the plant sale's profit for n pots is 4n − (1.5n⁠ + 10), and Nadia and Sam get answers ten dollars apart; with flipped paper tiles, a diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student expands expressions with negative and fraction factors and a minus in front of parentheses (the opposite of every term), collects like terms (2.5n⁠ − 10) and checks with a value.
   3. Factor It OutA 40-minute textbook class: a rented tiller costs 12h⁠ + 18 for h hours, and three plot teams or six families share it; with paper tiles shared into equal groups, a diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student factors linear expressions by dividing every term by a common factor (the greatest one, a negative one or a fraction: 6(2h⁠ + 3), −4(2x⁠ − 3), (1/2)(x⁠ + 6)), says what the group means, and checks by expanding.
   4. What the Form ShowsA 40-minute textbook class: the garden's new square beds need borders of paving stones, and Nadia, Kofi and Elena write three different rules, 4s⁠ + 4, 4(s⁠ + 1) and 2(s⁠ + 2) + 2s; with coins around a paper bed, a diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student shows the forms are equivalent by expanding and collecting, and says what each form shows (how it was counted, h − (1/4)h = (3/4)h kept, 3(n⁠ + 1) as 3 times the middle row).

   Skills

   • Collect like terms with rational coefficients, keeping every term's sign, and check an equivalent expression with a value.
   • Expand expressions with negative and fraction factors and subtract a whole expression by adding the opposite of every term.
   • Factor a linear expression with the greatest common factor, a negative factor or a fraction, and check by expanding.
   • Show that expressions in different forms are equivalent and say what each form shows about the problem.

7. Two-Step Equations and Inequalities

   The Fun Run in four lessons: Nadia, Kofi and Elena's youth club puts on a 5-kilometer run in the park for the food bank. The student writes and solves two-step equations px + q = r by undoing the last step first (a stained receipt, 12s + 15 = 111, so s = 8, not Sam's −5.75), solves p(x + q) = r by dividing first or expanding first (6 crates of b + 4 bottles hold 90, so b = 11), solves and graphs inequalities px + q < r and px + q > r and says which solutions make sense (medals at $4.50 and a $60 arch under $150: m < 20, at most 19 medals), and reverses the inequality when multiplying or dividing by a negative number (40 − 6w > 10 gives w < 5, not Sam's w > 5), estimating first and checking that every answer is reasonable.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: 7.EE.B.3 Solve multistep real-life and math problems with positive and negative rational numbers in any form (whole numbers, fractions, decimals), choosing tools wisely: use the properties of operations, change between forms when it helps, and check that answers are reasonable with mental math and estimates.; 7.EE.B.4 Use letters for quantities in real-world or math problems and build simple equations and inequalities to solve them: (a) solve word problems that lead to equations px + q = r and p(x + q) = r, where p, q and r are given rational numbers, solve such equations fluently, and compare solving with algebra to solving with arithmetic step by step; (b) solve word problems that lead to inequalities px + q > r or px + q < r, where p, q and r are given rational numbers, graph the solutions and explain them in the situation.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Undo Two StepsA 40-minute textbook class: a stained receipt for 12 volunteer shirts and a $15 setup fee, $111 in all, becomes 12s⁠ + 15⁠ = 111; with envelopes on a paper balance, a tape diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student solves two-step equations px + q⁠ = r with decimals, fractions and negative numbers by undoing the last step first on both sides, estimates first, checks, and compares the algebra with step-by-step arithmetic.
   2. Equations with GroupsA 40-minute textbook class: six donated crates, each with b bottles of water and 4 of juice, hold 90 bottles, 6(b⁠ + 4) = 90; with cups of clips in equal groups, a tape diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student solves equations p(x⁠ + q) = r with whole numbers, fractions, decimals and negative factors two ways, dividing first or expanding first, and checks that both agree.
   3. Stay Under BudgetA 40-minute textbook class: the finish-line arch and medals must cost less than the bakery's $150, 4.5m⁠ + 60⁠ < 150; by testing medal counts, a diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student solves inequalities px + q⁠ < r and px + q⁠ > r like equations (with a positive p), graphs the solutions with an open circle and a ray, and decides which solutions make sense: at most 19 medals, at least 11 laps.
   4. When the Sign FlipsA 40-minute textbook class: on race day the water station's cooler must keep more than 10 liters, 40⁠ − 6w⁠ > 10; with a paper number line folded at 0, a diagram that builds step by step and two worked examples, the student learns that multiplying or dividing both sides by a negative number reverses an inequality (w⁠ < 5, not Sam's w⁠ > 5), checks with a test value, reads the solutions in the problem, and solves a several-step problem with mixed numbers by estimating first.

   Skills

   • Write and solve two-step equations px + q = r with rational numbers by undoing the steps in reverse order, and compare the algebra with arithmetic.
   • Solve equations p(x + q) = r by dividing first or by expanding first, and check.
   • Write, solve and graph inequalities px + q < r and px + q > r, and say which solutions make sense in the problem.
   • Reverse an inequality when multiplying or dividing both sides by a negative number, and check with a test value.
   • Solve several-step problems with rational numbers in any form, estimating first and checking that the answer is reasonable.

6 more units are planned for Grade 7 Math.

Science

1. Atoms, Molecules and Substances

   The unit opens on the shore of a salt lake, where salt crystals grow as little cubes, and asks what the water, the salt and the air are made of, why the crystals are cubes, and whether the lake water is one substance or several. In four parts, Kofi, Mei and Ana build a science center exhibit called What Is It Made Of?: they find out how small atoms are and what an element is; build ball-and-stick models of water, carbon dioxide, oxygen and methane and read their formulas; compare small molecules with giant repeating structures such as salt, diamond and copper; and sort pure substances from mixtures, then trace how people turn natural resources into synthetic materials such as nylon and plastic, with their benefits and costs.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: MS-PS1-1 Build models of how atoms make up simple molecules and large repeating structures.; MS-PS1-3 Gather information to describe how synthetic materials are made from natural resources and how they affect society.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Everything Is Made of AtomsA picture-book class: at the science center, your child starts a new exhibit about what everything is made of, finds out how small atoms are by cutting a paper strip in half again and again, reads what an element is and how chemical symbols work, works out how many cuts it would take to reach an atom, and sorts particle pictures into elements and not.
   2. When Atoms Join UpA picture-book class: at the science center, your child builds models of water, carbon dioxide, oxygen and methane from clay and toothpicks, reads how atoms join into molecules and how a chemical formula counts them, finds out why water puts out fires though hydrogen burns, counts the atoms in propane, and names two mystery models from their colors.
   3. Giant StructuresA picture-book class: at the science center, your child looks at salt and sugar grains through a magnifying glass, reads why salt has no separate molecules and grows as cubes, finds out why diamond and pencil lead are both pure carbon yet so different and why copper bends while salt cracks, counts a layer of a salt crystal, and uses melting points as clues to how a substance is built.
   4. Natural or Made?A picture-book class: at the science center, your child sorts particle pictures into pure substances and mixtures, finds out why dissolved salt is still there, reads how crude oil is separated and how nylon, polyester and glass are made from natural resources, weighs the benefits and costs of plastics, and goes on a kitchen hunt for natural and synthetic materials.

   Skills

   • Explain that all matter is made of atoms far too small to see, tell an element (one kind of atom) from other substances, and read chemical symbols.
   • Build and read models and formulas of simple molecules, such as water, carbon dioxide, oxygen and methane, counting their atoms of each kind.
   • Compare simple molecules with extended structures, such as salt, diamond and metals, and use structure to explain properties such as a high melting point.
   • Tell pure substances from mixtures with particle models, and describe how synthetic materials are made from natural resources and how they affect society.

2. Chemical Reactions and Conservation of Mass

   The unit opens on an old steel footbridge over a river, where rusty bolts sit beside shiny new ones, and asks whether rust is just dirty steel or a new substance, how you could tell for sure, and whether a bolt gets lighter or heavier as it rusts. In four parts, Kofi, Mei and Ana build a science center exhibit called Before and After: they tell physical changes from chemical reactions and read the clues (and the clues that fool you) in a fizz cup; compare property data before and after, such as density and melting point, to prove a new substance formed, and turn milk and vinegar into curds; count the atoms in particle models to see that a reaction only rearranges them; and weigh reactions in open and closed systems to find that mass is conserved, so a rusting bolt gains mass from the air.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: MS-PS1-2 Analyze data on the properties of substances before and after they interact to decide whether a chemical reaction has happened.; MS-PS1-5 Use a model to show that the total number of atoms stays the same in a chemical reaction, so mass is conserved.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Is It a New Substance?A picture-book class: with a rusty old bolt and a shiny new one from a footbridge, your child learns to tell a physical change from a chemical reaction, reads the clues that a new substance formed and the ones that fool you, finds out why a painted bridge rusts where the paint chips, and does a fizz test with baking soda and vinegar in an open cup with a grown-up nearby.
   2. Properties Before and AfterA picture-book class: your child learns which properties name a substance (density, melting point, solubility), works out density as mass divided by volume, compares real property data before and after to prove when a new substance formed (iron and sulfur heated into iron sulfide; salt dissolved and dried back into salt), and turns milk and vinegar into curds at home with a grown-up nearby.
   3. Same Atoms, New PartnersA picture-book class: your child finds out what happens to atoms in a chemical reaction, counts every kind of atom on both sides of particle models (hydrogen and oxygen into water, charcoal and natural gas burning, and the baking soda and vinegar fizz), sees why the products have new properties and where the fizz's gas came from, and builds reactions from paper circles at home.
   4. Where Did the Mass Go?A picture-book class: your child finds out why a reaction keeps its mass (conservation of mass), reads how Lavoisier proved it with tin in sealed glass, learns open and closed systems, works out how much gas left an open fizz cup and why rusting steel wool gains mass, and weighs two reactions on a kitchen scale at home with a grown-up nearby.

   Skills

   • Tell a physical change from a chemical reaction and use observations (a gas, a color change, a precipitate, a temperature change) as evidence, knowing when a clue can fool you.
   • Use characteristic properties such as density, melting point and solubility, before and after, to decide whether a new substance formed.
   • Use particle models to show that a reaction rearranges atoms into new substances, with the same number of each kind of atom before and after.
   • Explain with atoms why mass is conserved in a reaction, and why a scale changes when a gas leaves or joins an open system.

3. Design Challenge: A Pack That Warms or Cools

   The unit opens on a campfire in a snowy clearing, where the snow has melted all around the stones, and asks where a fire's warmth comes from, whether a reaction can take warmth in instead, and how you could carry a reaction's warmth or cold with you safely. In four parts, Kofi, Mei and Ana design the Pack Lab, a station where visitors to the science center's Family Science Day make a cool pack from kitchen chemicals in an open cup: they learn that exothermic reactions warm their surroundings and endothermic ones cool them, and test whether rusting steel wool warms; study how real hand warmers and cold packs are built, define the problem with criteria and constraints, and test a first prototype; run fair tests with one variable and repeated trials to find how the amount of citric acid and baking soda changes the cooling; and test, change and test again, wrapping the cup to keep the cold in and weighing trade-offs, until the design meets every criterion.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: MS-PS1-6 Design, build, test and change a device that releases or takes in thermal energy through a chemical process.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Reactions That Warm or CoolA picture-book class: starting from a campfire in the snow and a hand warmer with no battery, your child learns that every reaction moves energy, that exothermic reactions warm their surroundings and endothermic ones cool them, why cold doesn't flow, how a thermometer tells them apart, and tests whether rusting steel wool warms up, with a grown-up handling the steel wool.
   2. What Makes a Good Pack?A picture-book class: your child studies how real hand warmers and cold packs are built, turns a wish list into a design problem with measurable criteria and constraints, learns why a fizzing pack must stay open, and builds a first cool-pack prototype from citric acid and baking soda in an open cup with a grown-up, checking it against the criteria.
   3. A Fair Test for the PackA picture-book class: your child learns to test a design fairly, changing one variable and keeping the rest the same, averages three trials and spots an odd one, explains with particles why twice the citric acid and baking soda cools the water about twice as much, reads the results against a criterion on a graph, and runs a fair test of two cool packs in open cups with a grown-up.
   4. Test, Change, Test AgainA picture-book class: your child learns how engineers improve a design round by round, why a cool pack warms back up and how a dish towel around the cup keeps it cold for longer, weighs trade-offs to choose the best design from test data, sees how hand warmers are tuned the same way, and tests a plain against a wrapped cool pack, both open, with a grown-up.

   Skills

   • Tell exothermic from endothermic processes by the temperature of the surroundings, and explain that energy flows from warmer to colder.
   • Define a design problem with measurable criteria and constraints, and check a prototype's test results against them.
   • Plan and read a fair test of a design: one variable changed, the others controlled, repeated trials averaged.
   • Use test data to improve a design one change at a time, weighing trade-offs against the criteria.

4. Photosynthesis, Respiration and Growth

   The unit opens on a field of tall corn with an old oak at its edge and asks where all that mass came from, what the green leaves are doing in the sunshine, and how a plant uses its food to live and grow. In four parts, Kofi, Mei and Ana build a greenhouse exhibit called Light into Life: they use van Helmont's willow and a dried plant to find that a plant builds itself mostly from carbon dioxide and water, not soil; watch photosynthesis work with leaf disks that float up under a lamp and count the atoms of its balanced equation; find that cellular respiration releases the energy stored in food in every living cell, plants too, day and night, with yeast blowing up a balloon; and follow food's atoms as they are rearranged to build a body or to release energy, with seedlings grown in the light and in the dark.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: MS-LS1-6 Explain from evidence how photosynthesis moves matter and energy into and out of organisms.; MS-LS1-7 Model how food is rearranged through chemical reactions into new molecules that let an organism grow or release energy as the matter moves through it.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Where Do Plants Get Their Mass?A picture-book class: with a willow that grew from a bare stick, your child meets van Helmont's 400-year-old experiment, finds out that a plant builds itself mostly from carbon dioxide in the air and water, not soil, learns what photosynthesis makes in a leaf's chloroplasts, and starts beans growing on a damp paper towel in a jar with no soil.
   2. Making Sugar from LightA picture-book class: with leaf disks that float up under a lamp and pondweed that bubbles, your child looks inside a leaf, counts the atoms of photosynthesis on both sides of its equation, follows light energy into the chemical energy of sugar, reads made-up data on light and bubbles, and does the leaf disk float test at home with a grown-up.
   3. Releasing the EnergyA picture-book class: with yeast that blows up a balloon and a plant in a sealed jar whose carbon dioxide rises at night, your child learns how cellular respiration in the mitochondria releases the energy stored in food, counts its atoms, tells breathing from respiration, finds that plants respire day and night, and tests yeast and sugar in warm water at home with a grown-up.
   4. Food for GrowthA picture-book class: with bean seedlings grown in the light and in the dark, your child learns how digestion and the blood bring food's small molecules to every cell, where they are built into the body or respired for energy, finds that dry mass, not height, shows real growth, traces one carbon atom from the air into a plant, into food and back out with a breath, and grows beans in light and dark at home.

   Skills

   • Use evidence to explain that photosynthesis uses light energy to turn carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen, so a plant's mass comes mostly from the air and water, and the energy is stored in the sugar.
   • Explain that cellular respiration in every living cell, in plants day and night as well as animals, breaks glucose down with oxygen into carbon dioxide and water, releasing its stored energy, and count the atoms on both sides of both reactions.
   • Model how the atoms of food are rearranged in an organism, built into new body molecules for growth or broken down for energy, and use data to say how light and other conditions affect a plant's growth.

5. Resources and Interactions in Ecosystems

   The unit opens on zebras and wildebeest crowding at a shrinking savanna waterhole in the dry season, with two lionesses watching, and asks why so many animals crowd around one pool, what happens if it dries up, and how the lions, the zebras and the grass depend on each other. In four parts, Kofi, Mei and Ana build an exhibit on the science center's pond trail called Who Needs Whom?: they read a meadow's vole counts beside the rain and the reindeer of St. Matthew Island to see how resources limit a population and set its carrying capacity; measure how crowding and weeds hold plants back and see how competing species share or divide what is scarce; follow snowshoe hares and lynx, and moose and wolves, to see how predator and prey populations rise and fall together; and test what bees do for squash flowers before finding the same three kinds of interaction in a desert, a forest and a coral reef.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: MS-LS2-1 Analyze data to show how the resources available affect organisms and populations in an ecosystem.; MS-LS2-2 Explain and predict the patterns of interactions among organisms, competition, predation and mutually helpful relationships, across different ecosystems.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. When Resources Run ShortA picture-book class: on a dry summer's day by the science center's shrunken pond, your child finds out what living things need from their surroundings, why a population grows faster and faster and then levels off at its carrying capacity, reads a meadow's vole counts beside the rain, works out how many deer an island's winter food can feed, follows the reindeer of St. Matthew Island to their crash, and models an island's rabbits with dried beans on a paper grid.
   2. Competing for ResourcesA picture-book class: in the science center's trail garden, your child finds out how weeds hurt beans without touching them, reads how living things compete for scarce light, water, food and space, works out each plant's share in crowded pots and what the weeds cost Ana's beans, sees how one kind of paramecium pushed out another and how five kinds of warblers divide a spruce tree, and starts a three-week crowding test with beans in two cups.
   3. Predators and PreyA picture-book class: from a trail camera's clip of a fox diving into the snow for a vole, your child finds out how predators and their prey affect each other, reads how the lynx follow the snowshoe hares in waves about 10 years apart and what scientists learned from Isle Royale's moose and wolves, reads which population peaks first on a made-up graph, works out whether wolves caused a moose crash, and models hares and a lynx with paper squares on a table.
   4. Partners and PatternsA picture-book class: in the science center's pollinator garden, your child finds out why squash flowers inside net bags make no squash, reads how bees and flowers, clownfish and anemones, yuccas and moths, and fungi and trees each gain from each other, reads the results of a squash-flower test, sorts interactions with a who-gains test, finds the same three patterns in a desert, a forest and a coral reef, and plays bee with a cotton swab and a pinch of flour.

   Skills

   • Use data and simple math to explain how the resources available limit a population, what a limiting factor and carrying capacity are, and how a population can overshoot and crash.
   • Explain competition within and between species for limited resources, use data to show its effects, and explain how species can share a resource by dividing it up.
   • Explain how predator and prey populations affect each other, read population graphs that rise and fall together, and tell a predator's effect from the effect of food or weather.
   • Explain mutualism with examples such as pollination, and find and use the same patterns of competition, predation and mutualism across different ecosystems to predict what a change will do.

6. Food Webs, Energy Flow and Cycling Matter

   The unit opens on a pond at the edge of a wood, with a heron in the shallows and a rotting log on the bank, and asks where the heron's food came from, what happens to the fallen leaves and the log, and why there is only one big hunter at the pond. In four parts, Kofi, Mei and Ana build an exhibit beside their science center's pond called Where Does It Go?: they draw food chains and a pond food web with arrows from food to eater; find out how decomposers turn dead leaves into carbon dioxide, water and nutrients, with leaf bags left out for a year; follow the energy up an energy pyramid, where only about a tenth reaches each next level and the rest leaves as heat; and seal a jar of pond water, pondweed and snails to see that matter cycles while energy flows through.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: MS-LS2-3 Model how matter cycles and energy flows among the living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. Who Eats Whom?A picture-book class: at a pond where a heron swallows a fish, your child sorts living things into producers and consumers, learns which way the arrows of a food chain point and why, follows every path in a pond food web back to the algae, and builds a backyard food web from a list with paper slips.
   2. Nothing Goes to WasteA picture-book class: with a bag of leaves left out for a year and a rotting log by the pond, your child meets the decomposers, fungi, bacteria and the worms and pill bugs that help them, finds out that rotting turns dead matter into carbon dioxide, water and soil nutrients without destroying anything, reads made-up leaf-bag data to see what makes it fast or slow, and watches bread mold in two sealed bags.
   3. Where Does the Energy Go?A picture-book class: puzzled by thousands of water fleas, a few dozen fish and one heron, your child follows energy from sunlight through the pond, finds that each living thing uses most of its food's energy to live and loses it as heat, builds an energy pyramid where only about a tenth passes up each level, and models it at home with a relay of tap water.
   4. A World in a JarA picture-book class: with a jar of pond water, pondweed and snails sealed for two months, your child follows carbon atoms around the carbon cycle through photosynthesis, eating, respiration and decomposition, finds that matter cycles while energy flows through, sees why a sealed jar keeps its mass but still needs light, and plays a carbon atom's trip with a die.

   Skills

   • Draw and use food chains and food webs, with arrows from food to eater, to show how matter and energy move from producers to consumers, and name each organism's role and feeding level.
   • Explain how decomposers break down dead matter and waste into carbon dioxide, water and nutrients that producers use again, and use data to say what makes decomposition fast or slow.
   • Use an energy pyramid to explain that energy enters an ecosystem as sunlight, that only about a tenth passes to each next level while the rest leaves as heat, and so why top predators are few and energy is not recycled.
   • Model the carbon cycle through photosynthesis, eating, respiration and decomposition, and use a sealed ecosystem as a system with a boundary to show that matter cycles and is conserved while energy flows in and out.

7. Changing Ecosystems and Biodiversity

   The unit opens on a mountain forest a few summers after a wildfire, black trunks standing in a carpet of pink fireweed and young pines, and asks where the new plants came from, who does better and who worse after a fire, and whether the hillside will ever be forest again. In four parts, Kofi, Mei and Ana build an exhibit at the science center called What Happens Next?: they follow a planned prairie burn, Yellowstone after 1988 and Mount St. Helens after 1980 to see how a disturbance changes populations and how ecosystems grow back in stages; follow sea otters, Yellowstone's wolves and zebra mussels to see how adding or removing one species ripples through an ecosystem; compare a dry lawn with a prairie to see why biodiversity keeps an ecosystem steady and what services it gives people; and judge a fence, tunnels and a wildlife bridge for a road that cuts through a valley, using data and a decision table.

   4 lessons · about 40 minutes each

   US curriculum: MS-LS2-4 Argue from evidence that changes to the physical or living parts of an ecosystem affect its populations.; MS-LS2-5 Judge competing designs for keeping biodiversity and the services ecosystems give people.

   The lessons, and the skills they build

   1. After the FireA picture-book class: in the science center's prairie patch, green and blooming a few months after a planned burn, your child finds out how a disturbance like a fire, flood or drought changes an ecosystem's physical parts and its populations, sees who loses and who gains after a forest fire, follows Yellowstone after 1988 and Mount St. Helens after 1980 to learn how ecosystems grow back in stages, reads a burned plot's counts and a before-and-after survey, and models wind-blown pioneer seeds with tissue paper and beans.
   2. One Species, Many RipplesA picture-book class: at the science center's river dock, beside a rope crusted with zebra mussels, your child finds out how losing or gaining one species ripples through an ecosystem: sea otters, urchins and kelp forests, wolves returning to Yellowstone and why scientists still argue about what they caused, and zebra mussels in the Great Lakes; reads two valleys' data to tell a likely cause from a coincidence, follows a bay's changes, and pulls the sea otter out of a paper-and-string kelp forest web.
   3. Why Variety MattersA picture-book class: in a dry August, beside the science center's brown lawn and its still-green prairie, your child finds out what biodiversity is, reads a real drought study in which grassland plots with many kinds of plants kept far more of their growth, learns which ecosystem services people depend on, from pollinated crops to wetlands that clean water, sees how one banana variety fell to a disease, works out a wetland's cleaning in percents, and tests two paper fields against a disease and a drought.
   4. Designing for WildlifeA picture-book class: as the county plans to widen River Road between the science center's woods and the marsh, your child finds out how roads split habitats, sees how overpasses and underpasses on the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff let animals cross, learns to judge competing designs with criteria, constraints, evidence and a weighted decision table, reads how New York City protected the forests that clean its water, works out which crossing which animals use, scores three designs for River Road, and measures how inviting two model tunnels are.

   Skills

   • Use evidence to explain how a change to an ecosystem's physical parts, a disturbance, changes its populations, and how the ecosystem recovers in stages through succession.
   • Use evidence to explain how adding or removing one species, a keystone or an invasive species, changes other populations, and tell a likely cause from a coincidence.
   • Explain what biodiversity is, why a varied ecosystem is steadier and recovers better, and which goods and services ecosystems give people.
   • Judge competing designs for protecting biodiversity and ecosystem services against criteria and constraints, using data and a decision table.

2 more units are planned for Grade 7 Science.