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3rd grade sub plans: science

A 3rd grade science block for a substitute: “Solids, Liquids, and Gases”, a 151-word nonfiction passage about matter, with 6 questions and an answer key, and a K-W-L sheet for before and after reading. 5 steps, from handing it out to going over the answers.

Checked October 30, 2026. Made from Peabody Teach's own passages, worksheets and brain break cards.

Make the whole day at 3rd grade ▸

The science block

Science: Solids, Liquids, and Gases

  1. Before reading, students fill in the first two columns of the K-W-L sheet: what they know about matter, and what they want to know. After reading, the last column: what they learned.
  2. Hand out “Solids, Liquids, and Gases”, a nonfiction passage of 151 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 6 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.

📄 Solids, Liquids, and Gases (passage and key) · a K-W-L sheet

Break: Five-finger trace (1 min, silent). Hold up one hand with your fingers spread. With a finger of your other hand, slide up the side of your thumb as you breathe in and down the other side as you breathe out. Do all five fingers.

The sheets, on their own pages

Subbing 3rd grade

Third graders read to learn: they can take a page of text and a set of questions, and most can write a full paragraph. Multiplication facts are often this year's math, so the sheets here are review a class has usually met.

  • Ask them to answer in full sentences that use words from the question.
  • Keep math to practice; if a sheet turns out to be new to them, switch to the warm-up problems on the board.
  • A new adult gets tested gently. Say the plan out loud in the morning, and stick to it.

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