St. Tammany Parish Public Schools Extended Learning at Home

Screen-Free Activities May 11 – May 15

Grades 3 – 6

Choose one of the possible activities from each content area listed below to complete each day.

Reading

Third Grade

This week’s focus is Text Structures.

RI 3.8 – Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text. (e.g. comparison, cause and effect, first/second/third in a sequence)

• I can identify the structure(s) of paragraphs. (comparison, cause/effect, sequence)

• I can determine how a text is organized.

Have your child read a book daily for 30-45 minutes

Text Structures are ways that a text can be organized. Some common types include: Cause and Effect, Sequencing, Description, Compare and Contrast, and Problem and Solution. Students are required to identify how the text is structured in 3rd grade, which will help them focus on critical thinking skills while reading. The use of a graphic organizer often help students make a connection between the text and a visual representation of the text.

Read the informational passage about superheroes and answer the comprehension questions that follow.

Questions – On a sheet of paper, answer each question using a RACE or RAPS Writing Strategy. (see below for anchor charts)

1. What is the main idea of the passage?

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2. What are the comparisons (similarities) between superheroes?

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3. What is the connection or relationship between the superheroes and the city leaders?

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4. How does the author help the reader to understand the word feminine in paragraph 5?

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5. What is the text structure of the first paragraph? Explain.

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6. What is the author’s point of view about superheroes? Is it similar or different from your point of

view? Explain. Use an illustration to help explain your reasoning.

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Read the following informational text about spring and on a sheet of paper, answer each question that follows using the RAPS or RACE Writing Strategy (see previous page for anchor charts).

1. Cite evidence from the text to explain the spring equinox. (RACE/RAPS)

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2. According to the text, why does the spring equinox happen?

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3. The author says, “Plants, animals, and people must adapt to spring.” What evidence/reasons

does the author give to support this idea?

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4. What is the focus of the 3rd paragraph?

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5. Find the word adapt at the end of paragraph one. How does the author show you the meaning

of the word?

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6. Find the word spring equinox in the beginning of paragraph four. How does the author show

you the meaning of the word?

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7. How does the author support the point made in the last sentence of paragraph two? “This

stimulates seeds, plants, and flowers to grow and thrive.”

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Daily Writing Activities

• In a two or more paragraph essay, answer one expository writing prompt of your choice for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

• Be sure to include the following: o A clear introductory paragraph o 1-2 paragraphs supporting your reasoning o Key facts and details in writing o Transition and linking words such as first, next, last, another reason, etc. o A clear conclusion

Writing Prompts

1. Explain why it is important to save water. 2. Who do you admire most in the world? Why? 3. If you could live as any one person for a day, who would you choose and why? 4. Who is/was your favorite teacher? How has he/she affected your education? 5. If time travel was possible, which year would you go back in time? Give reasons to your answer. 6. If you would change any one thing in the world, what would it be and why? 7. What kind of music do you like listening to? Why? 8. Who are your favorite singers or bands? Give reasons for choices. 9. If you could be any animal for a day, what would it be and why? 10. Describe a favorite day that you spent with

your family. Give at least three reasons why you enjoyed this day so much. Be as specific as possible.

• Use these sentence starters for the introduction of the essay to help you with your writing. o I really believe it is important to….. o You wouldn’t believe my favorite…. o Being kind to others is….. o Friendship is important to me because…. o Thinking about my future is exciting…. o You would never guess…. o A great teacher is someone who….

• Sentence starters for the body of the essay o One reason….. o Another reason… o Lastly, … o Additionally, … o Next…

o My first reason…. • Sentence starters for the conclusion of essay

o In conclusion… o For the reasons I have stated… o These are the reasons why….. o Now you know why… o

Vocabulary

Student’s Choice: Define 10 new or unfamiliar words that you have read in either your book or in a nonfiction passage. Next, choose the graphic organizer that you would like to complete your vocabulary words for the week.

1. Frayer Model 2. Create a foldable 3. Graphic Organizer

Frayer Model

Foldable Examples:

In your foldable please include:

● Word (outside flap)

● Definition (inside flap)

● A sentence using the word in a sentence (inside)

● Give one or two synonyms for the word (inside) or draw a picture

Graphic Organizer

Reading

Grades 4-6

This week’s focus is reading informational text/nonfiction.

• Have your child read a book daily for 30-45 minutes.

Informational text

● is nonfiction writing, written with the intention of informing the reader about a specific topic. ● is typically found in magazines, science or history books, text books, encyclopedias, reference

materials, instruction manuals, and websites. (*Videos or movies/documentaries that provide information about specific topics can be used for the activities found below.)

● contains special text features that allow the reader to easily find key information and understand the main topic.

● may contain text features such as table of contents, index, glossary, headings, bold words, sidebars, pictures and captions, and labeled diagrams.

Activity 1: Identify Text Features in Informational Text

Go on a text feature scavenger hunt. See if you can find any informational text features in books/resources at your house. Identify and describe the text feature. Explain how the text feature helps you understand the text.

Activity 2: Summarize Informational Text

After reading any informational text: ● Sentence summary: Summarize the text in one sentence. Answer the following questions to

help you build your sentence summary. Hint for building a strong sentence: Begin your sentence with the answer you put for when.

Who or what? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Did what? Or Is what? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

When? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _

Where? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

How? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Why? _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sentence Summary: ______________________________________________________.

Activity 3: Add a Text Feature • Draw a picture or diagram that could be added to the text you have read. Make sure you write

a caption to go with the picture and label the parts of your diagram.

Activity 4: Find the Main Idea of Informational Text • Create a graphic organizer to show the topic, main idea, and key details of the text you have

read. o The topic is the person, place, thing or idea that an informational text is written about. o The main idea is what the author is saying about the topic of the text. o Key details are important pieces of information that support the main idea of a text.

• Create your own graphic organizer or use the one below:

Activity 5: Understanding the Main Idea of Informational Text

● After reading informational text or watching an informative video or movie, create a poster or pamphlet to share the information you learned with someone else. All of the images and information should be about the topic and main idea. How many details can you add to your work?

● After reading informational text or watching an informative video or movie, create a short commercial explaining the importance of the topic of the text.

Writing

Writing Activity 1: Choose a topic that you know about, want to learn about, or have read about. Write a sentence of each type about the topic you have chosen. For topic ideas, think about science and social studies.

Statement: ____________________________________________________________

Question: _____________________________________________________________

Exclamation: ___________________________________________________________

Command: ____________________________________________________________

Writing Activity 2: After reading informational text, write a summary using the frame below.

Summary of Informational Text – Frame

Chapter/Article: ____________________ Topic: ___________________

• In this reading selection, a number of critical points were made about … • First, the author(s) pointed out that… • This was important because… • Next, the author(s) mentioned that… • Furthermore, the author(s) indicated… • This was critical because… • Finally, the author(s) suggested that…

Writing Activity 3: Use the following writing frame to compare and contrast two topics. Pair suggestions for comparing and contrasting like: two different animals, two famous people, two popular places, two important inventions, two games you have played, or the view from the front of your house and the view from the back of your house. Come up with two topics you want to write about.

Compare and Contrast Frame

Same

_______________ and __________________ are similar in a number of ways.

First, they both……

Another critical similarity is ……

An equally important similarity is ……..

Finally, they ……

Different

The differences between ________________________ and _________________ are also obvious.

The most important difference is ……

In addition, they are ……

In the final analysis, ____________ differs from _______in two other major ways: …..

Mathematics

Third Grade ● Use electrical, painting, or masking tape to create two rectangles outside. Use a tape measure

or ruler to find the length of each side. Find the area of both rectangles. When finished, use chalk to color in the area of the shape with the largest area.

● Use a ruler or tape measure to find the length and width of your bedroom. Use these dimensions to find the area of your bedroom. Can you find a room in your house with a bigger area? Which room in your house has the greatest area? Measure each to find out.

● Use 24 square crackers (cheez-its, saltines, etc.) to make a rectangle. Record the length and width of your rectangle. Rearrange the crackers to make another rectangle using all 24 crackers. Record the length and width of your rectangle. How many rectangles with an area of 24 square crackers can you make?

● Spaghetti and Meatballs for All! Task ● Draw a figure with an area of 20 square units.

What is the perimeter of the figure you created? ___________________________________ Draw a figure with an area of 14 square units.

What is the perimeter of the figure you created? __________________________________

Spaghetti and Meatballs for All!

First, read Spaghetti and Meatballs for All by Marilyn Burns. After reading the book:

Pretend that four people live at your house (Your mom, dad, sister, and you). Aunt Sue, Uncle John and their six children (Jamal, Kevin, Carl, Annie, Stephanie, and Maxine) are coming for dinner. Uncle Kenny is coming, too. He is bringing his wife (Aunt Jenny) and four kids (Earl, Charles, Jasmine and Justine). Mom has six square folding tables she can use but you don’t have to use all of them. (Each folding table seats four, one on each side.) You can put two or more of the folding tables together to form a rectangle if you like. You have two jobs to make this family feast a success. Job #1: Your job is to work with a parent or partner to decide on a seating arrangement that is best for your family and guests. When finished, draw a picture of the table arrangement and label each place to show who will be sitting there. Mom has the following rules:

• There should be no empty seats. • There must be at least one grown-up at each table.

Write a few sentences to describe what happened to the perimeter as tables were pushed together. Then explain why the arrangement you chose is the best possible arrangement. Job #2 Next, you need to determine what size tablecloth your mom needs in order to cover the table. Each side of each square is 3 feet long. The tablecloth should be a perfect fit.

Grade 4

• Create a poster or sidewalk art illustrating and defining geometry vocabulary: Parallel lines, intersecting lines, perpendicular lines, angles (acute, obtuse, right), triangle, square, rectangle, rhombus, trapezoid, pentagon, hexagon, octagon.

• Each day has 24 hours. Make a schedule showing how you can use the next 24 hours. • Weather Math:

o Design a way to measure rainfall amounts. Record and graph how much rain falls each day this week.

o March was a dry month. It only rained 1.06 inches but, in April it rained 7.4 inches. How much more rain fell in April than in March?

• Think of 5 to 10 math equations that equal 100. • Writing in Math:

o How do parentheses affect a math problem? o Compare and contrast the values of 7 in the following numbers: 47.963; 763,514;

94,732.

A baby elephant typically weighs about 200 pounds. An adult female elephant is about 30 times heavier than a baby elephant. List some possible weights of a female elephant. How do you know?

Source: Illustrative Math

• Factor Gators: o Circle or color the gators that are factors of the given number.

PRODUCTS FACTORS

45 2 9 15

🐊🐊 🐊🐊 🐊🐊

36

2 12 5 🐊🐊 🐊🐊 🐊🐊

60 3 10 7 🐊🐊 🐊🐊 🐊🐊

63 7 12 8 🐊🐊 🐊🐊 🐊🐊

24 4 3 8

🐊🐊 🐊🐊 🐊🐊

88 4 11 6

🐊🐊 🐊🐊 🐊🐊

• Use a deck of playing cards or make a set of 0-9 cards by cutting paper into squares and writing one number on each card. Draw cards to create 10 two-digit by two-digit multiplication problems. Solve each problem.

• Nifty Fifty: Deal a deck of playing cards between all players. Each player turns over 4 cards and makes a 2-digit + 2-digit addition problem or a 2-digit – 2-digit subtraction problem. The equation with an answer closest to fifty gets a point. Aces are worth 1, face cards and 10s are worth 0, and all other cards are worth face value. Once cards are used, they are placed in a discard pile. The first player to 5 points wins.

Grades 5 – 6 • Picturing math:

An African forest elephant’s tusks grow about 17 cm each year. If an elephant lives to be 65 years old, about how long, in meters, would their husks be?

Source: Illustrative Math

• What are the high and low temperatures according to this week’s forecast? Which day has the largest range of temperatures? Why do you think this day has a larger range?

• 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34… is a special sequence of numbers called the Fibonacci Sequence. Think about the pattern. What do you notice? What do you wonder?

• Race cars can drive about 5 miles on one gallon of gasoline. If a race car goes 265 miles in one race, about how many gallons of gasoline will it use?

• Javier drinks one cup of milk each day for lunch. How many gallons of milk does Javier drink in two weeks?

• Order of Operations: o How do parentheses and brackets affect a math problem? o Explain the order of operations and why it is needed in mathematics. o Max is trying to help his brother Graham with his homework. They are working on the

problem: 9 + 2 x (4 – 2) =? When Graham solved it, he got 42. When Max solved it, he got 13. Determine what each of the brothers did and whose answer is correct.

o Add parentheses to make the equation true: 3 x 4 + 5 – 2 = 25.

Look at the first three stages of a pattern of squares above.

• Draw what you think stage 4 might look like. • Draw or describe what you think stage 10 might look like. • Label how many squares are in each stage.

• (Sixth)

Which One Doesn’t Belong? Ratios Determine which ratio from the four below doesn’t belong and justify your answer. Hint: There is more than one possible answer.

What statistical question might have been asked to collect the data to the left?