5th grade sub plans: sun and space 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: “Choose an animal’s adaptation and explain how it helps the animal survive.”
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: 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.

8:30–9:40Reading: How Plants Make Food

1. Hand out “How Plants Make Food”, a nonfiction passage of 183 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 6 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.

📄 How Plants Make Food (passage and key)

9:55–10:45Writing

1. Write this on the board: “Write about a character who has to keep a secret that is hard to keep. Show what happens.”
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: Melting ice pop (1 min, silent). Start as stiff and frozen as an ice pop. Then slowly melt: your shoulders drop, your arms soften, your jaw relaxes and you settle into a calm, comfortable position.

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: Seated march (45 sec, silent). Lift one knee, lower it softly, then lift the other, as if you are marching while sitting down. Add arm swings if you like.

1:35–2:20Science: Jupiter, the Giant Planet

1. Before reading, students fill in the first two columns of the K-W-L sheet: what they know about space, and what they want to know. After reading, the last column: what they learned.
2. Hand out “Jupiter, the Giant Planet”, a nonfiction passage of 221 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.

📄 Jupiter, the Giant Planet (passage and key) · a K-W-L sheet

Break: Hand on belly (1 min, silent). Rest a hand on your belly. Breathe in for a count of four so your belly pushes your hand out. Breathe out for a count of four so your hand sinks back in.

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: Seated twist (30 sec, silent). Sit tall. Put your right hand on your left knee and gently turn your upper body to look behind you. Hold for two slow breaths, then switch sides.

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