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4th grade sub plans: social studies

A 4th grade social studies block for a substitute: “The Three Branches of Government”, a 187-word nonfiction passage about government, 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 social studies block

Social studies: The Three Branches of Government

  1. Before reading, students fill in the first two columns of the K-W-L sheet: what they know about government, and what they want to know. After reading, the last column: what they learned.
  2. Hand out “The Three Branches of Government”, a nonfiction passage of 187 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.

📄 The Three Branches of Government (passage and key) · a K-W-L sheet

Break: Count and march (1 min). March in place while the class counts together in indoor voices: by twos to twenty, then by fives to fifty.

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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