4th grade sub plans: a whole 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: “Explain how a machine you use every day, such as a bicycle, a can opener or a water fountain, works.”
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: Mirror the leader (1 min, silent). One leader makes slow, simple movements and everyone copies them, like a mirror. Switch leaders every twenty seconds. Leaders choose moves that can be done sitting or standing.

8:30–9:40Reading: The Lemonade Stand

1. Hand out “The Lemonade Stand”, a fiction passage of 216 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 5 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.

📄 The Lemonade Stand (passage and key)

9:55–10:45Writing

1. Write this on the board: “Is it more important to be smart or to be kind? Explain your thinking.”
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: Swim across the lake (45 sec, silent). Swim across a lake with your arms: front crawl, then breaststroke, then backstroke. Keep your arms close so you do not touch anyone.

10:45–11:50Math: equivalent fractions

1. Warm-up: write these on the board and solve them together, asking a student to explain each step: 4/6 = 8/; 1/2 = 5/; 1/5 = ____/20.
2. Hand out the equivalent fractions 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.

📄 Equivalent fractions (sheet and key)

1:15–1:35Read-aloud

1. Open the read-aloud shelf (/read-aloud) on the projector and pick a book for 4th 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: 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.

1:35–2:20Science: Lightning and Thunder

1. Before reading, students fill in the first two columns of the K-W-L sheet: what they know about weather, and what they want to know. After reading, the last column: what they learned.
2. Hand out “Lightning and Thunder”, a nonfiction passage of 195 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.

📄 Lightning and Thunder (passage and key) · a K-W-L sheet

Break: Look, listen, feel (2 min, silent). Slowly look around the room and quietly find three things you can see. Then find two things you can hear. Then find one thing you can feel, like your feet on the floor. Keep your answers in your head.

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: Rocket Number Blast: put it on the projector and let the class call out the answers together

Break: Eye tour (45 sec, silent). Keep your head still. Look up, then down, then left, then right, then make a slow circle with your eyes. Look at something far away, then something close. Stop if your eyes feel tired.

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