3rd grade sub plans: inventions day

8:10–8:30Morning work

1. Take attendance and the lunch count the way the office asked.
2. Put the morning board on the projector (/board/morning) and type today's schedule into it.
3. While you take attendance, students answer this on paper or in their journals: “Should kids get to choose their own bedtime? Give reasons for your opinion.”
4. Read the plan for the day out loud, so the class knows what's coming.

On the projector: Morning board for the projector

Break: Desk push (30 sec, silent). Press your palms flat against the edge of your desk and push for five seconds. Rest, and repeat three times.

8:30–9:40Reading: How a Lever Works

1. Hand out “How a Lever Works”, a nonfiction passage of 157 words. Print 24: the student copy is in this packet.
2. Students read it on their own. Anyone who finishes reads it a second time and underlines the sentence they think matters most.
3. Students answer the 6 questions under the passage, in full sentences.
4. With five minutes left, go over two questions out loud. The answers are on the key page: keep it with you.

📄 How a Lever Works (passage and key)

9:55–10:45Writing

1. Write this on the board: “Tell how a rainy day is different from a sunny day, using facts you know.”
2. Give partners two minutes to tell each other their idea out loud before anyone writes.
3. Students write for 35 minutes. Ask for a paragraph: a first sentence that says the idea, details, and an ending.
4. Volunteers read theirs aloud at the end. Collect the papers for the teacher.

On the projector: Writing prompts by grade

Break: Ear to shoulder (45 sec, silent). Lower your right ear toward your right shoulder while both shoulders stay low. Hold for three slow breaths, then switch sides.

10:45–11:50Math: rounding to the nearest ten

1. Warm-up: write these on the board and solve them together, asking a student to explain each step: Round 96 to the nearest ten:; Round 68 to the nearest ten:; Round 17 to the nearest ten:.
2. Hand out the rounding to the nearest ten sheet (16 problems). Print 24; the key is on its own page.
3. Students work on their own for twenty minutes, then check with a partner.
4. Early finishers write three problems of their own and swap with a neighbor.

📄 Rounding to the nearest ten (sheet and key)

1:15–1:35Read-aloud

1. Open the read-aloud shelf (/read-aloud) on the projector and pick a book for 3rd grade. Read it aloud, or let it read itself.
2. Before: ask what they think the book will be about, from the cover or the title.
3. After: ask who the story was about, what the problem was, and how it was solved.

On the projector: Read-aloud books for the projector

Break: Yes, no, maybe (45 sec, silent). Nod your head slowly for yes. Turn it slowly from side to side for no. Tip your head to one side and then the other for maybe. Go slowly and stop if anything feels sore.

1:35–2:20Social studies: The First Airplane Flight

1. Before reading, students fill in the first two columns of the K-W-L sheet: what they know about inventions and history, and what they want to know. After reading, the last column: what they learned.
2. Hand out “The First Airplane Flight”, a nonfiction passage of 172 words. Print 24: the student copy is in this packet.
3. Students read it on their own. Anyone who finishes reads it a second time and underlines the sentence they think matters most.
4. Students answer the 5 questions under the passage, in full sentences.
5. With five minutes left, go over two questions out loud. The answers are on the key page: keep it with you.

📄 The First Airplane Flight (passage and key) · a K-W-L sheet

Break: Find a spot (45 sec, silent). Pick one spot in the room, like the corner of the clock, and look at it softly. Notice its color, its edges and how it sits. Keep looking for thirty seconds.

2:20–2:40Extra time

1. Hand out the maze. Students who finish draw a maze of their own on the back and swap with a neighbor.
2. Anyone who would rather read may read their own book.

📄 a maze

If your school's filter allows peabody.kids: Deep Dig: put it on the projector and let the class call out the answers together

Break: Tall tree (30 sec, silent). Reach both arms up like branches and stretch as tall as you can. Wiggle your fingers like leaves, then bring your arms down slowly.

2:40–2:55Clean-up and the note

1. Tidy the room on a five-minute timer (/timer/5-minutes on the projector).
2. Ask each student for one thing they learned today. Passing is fine.
3. Fill in the note to the teacher (the last page) and leave it on the teacher's desk with the papers you collected.
4. Dismiss the class the way this school does it. If you're not sure how a student gets home, ask the office before you let them go.

On the projector: 5 minute timer