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4th grade sub plans: science

A 4th grade science block for a substitute: “How a Volcano Erupts”, a 178-word nonfiction passage about earth science, with 7 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 4th grade ▸

The science block

Science: 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: 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.

The sheets, on their own pages

Subbing 4th grade

Fourth graders can run a lot of their own routines if you let them, and partners and table groups work well. The math often reaches long division and fractions this year, so the plan keeps math to facts and practice they already know.

  • Give the class a job to run: handing out papers, the timer, the lunch count.
  • Let partners check answers against each other before you go over the key.
  • Collect every paper in one pile per block, labeled, for the teacher.

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