4th grade sub plans: rocks and fossils 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 the water cycle, using the words evaporation, condensation and precipitation.”
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: Square breathing (1 min, silent). Trace a square with one finger. Breathe in along the first side, pause along the second, breathe out along the third, and pause along the fourth. Count to four on every side. If pausing your breath is uncomfortable, just keep breathing slowly.

8:30–9:40Reading: Fossils Tell a Story

1. Hand out “Fossils Tell a Story”, a nonfiction passage of 172 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 7 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.

📄 Fossils Tell a Story (passage and key)

9:55–10:45Writing

1. Write this on the board: “Write a story that begins with a character waking up and realizing it is the same day all over again.”
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: 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.

10:45–11:50Math: multiplication facts to 12

1. Warm-up: write these on the board and solve them together, asking a student to explain each step: 12 × 9; 2 × 11; 2 × 4.
2. Hand out the multiplication facts to 12 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.

📄 Multiplication facts to 12 (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: One good thing (45 sec, silent). Think of one good thing from today, big or small. Hold it in your mind for three slow breaths.

1:35–2:20Science: How a Volcano Erupts

1. Before reading, students fill in the first two columns of the K-W-L sheet: what they know about earth science, and what they want to know. After reading, the last column: what they learned.
2. Hand out “How a Volcano Erupts”, a nonfiction passage of 178 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 7 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.

📄 How a Volcano Erupts (passage and key) · a K-W-L sheet

Break: Raise the roof (30 sec, silent). Push your palms up toward the ceiling as if you are lifting the roof, then lower it slowly. Do it eight times.

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: Toe circles (45 sec, silent). Lift one foot a little and draw a circle in the air with your toes. Switch feet. Wiggle your toes inside your shoes.

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