5th grade sub plans: market 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: “Write about a job you might want one day. Explain what a person in that job does and what skills they need.”
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: Silent word chain (1 min, silent). Think of a word. Then think of a new word that starts with the last letter of the first one. Keep the chain going in your head for as long as you can.

8:30–9:40Reading: The Last Lap

1. Hand out “The Last Lap”, a fiction passage of 241 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 Last Lap (passage and key)

9:55–10:45Writing

1. Write this on the board: “Write about a time you made a decision that was harder than it seemed. Use details to show your thoughts and feelings.”
2. Give partners two minutes to tell each other their idea out loud before anyone writes.
3. Students write for 35 minutes. Ask for two paragraphs: 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: 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.

10:45–11:50Math: two-digit by two-digit multiplication

1. Warm-up: write these on the board and solve them together, asking a student to explain each step: 96 × 68; 17 × 90; 11 × 29.
2. Hand out the two-digit by two-digit multiplication 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.

📄 Two-digit by two-digit multiplication (sheet and key)

1:15–1:35Read-aloud

1. Open the read-aloud shelf (/read-aloud) on the projector and pick a book for 5th 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: Draw with your foot (45 sec, silent). Lift one foot a little and draw a circle in the air with it, then a square, then a triangle. Switch feet.

1:35–2:20Social studies: Supply and Demand

1. Before reading, students fill in the first two columns of the K-W-L sheet: what they know about economics, and what they want to know. After reading, the last column: what they learned.
2. Hand out “Supply and Demand”, a nonfiction passage of 176 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.

📄 Supply and Demand (passage and key) · a K-W-L sheet

Break: Window wipers (30 sec, silent). Stretch your arms out in front of you and sweep them left and right, like windshield wipers on a rainy day.

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: Taffy pull (30 sec, silent). Pretend you are holding a piece of sticky taffy. Pull it out as wide as your arms go, squish it back together and twist it. Stay inside your own bubble of space.

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