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5th grade sub plans: a half day

Booked for the morning only? Here is a 5th grade half day a substitute can run with nothing left on the desk: morning work, reading, writing, math, clean-up and the note, from 8:10 until you hand over at lunch, 11:50. The last ten minutes are for clean-up and the note, so the teacher who takes the afternoon knows what was done. For the afternoon half, choose The afternoon in the generator.

Checked October 30, 2026. Made from Peabody Teach's own passages, worksheets and brain break cards.

Make a half day at 5th grade ▸

First, before the bell
  1. Write your name and the date on the board.
  2. Find the attendance and send it the way the office asked. Not sure how? Ask the office before the bell.
  3. Find the emergency folder or the drill map by the door, and say hello to the teacher next door.
  4. Ask the class which signal their teacher uses for quiet, and use theirs. If nobody knows, use the one below.
  5. Read this whole plan once before the students come in.

Signal for quiet: Say “If you can hear me, clap once,” then “If you can hear me, clap twice.” Wait for quiet before you speak.

5th grade: the morning

8:10Morning work
8:30Reading: The Last Lap 📄
9:40Recess
9:55Writing
10:45Math: adding decimals 📄
11:40Clean-up and the note
11:50Lunch: your half day ends

Block by block

Morning 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: “Should zoos exist? State your opinion and support it with facts and reasons.”
  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: Row the boat (45 sec, silent). Pretend to row a boat with big, slow pulls: reach forward, pull back. Row faster for a while, then slow down again.

Reading: 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)

Writing

  1. Write this on the board: “Explain how a local park, library or school helps your community. Use facts and details.”
  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: Wave breath (1 min, silent). Breathe in as a wave rolls toward the beach and breathe out as it slides back. Let one hand move like the wave in time with your breath.

Math: adding decimals

  1. Warm-up: write these on the board and solve them together, asking a student to explain each step: 9.64 + 6.86; 1.66 + 9.05; 1.08 + 2.91.
  2. Hand out the adding decimals 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.

📄 Adding decimals (sheet and key)

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.

Clean-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

Before you leave at lunch

Leave the note for the teacher: what you did, who helped, anything that happened, and any messages. It is the last printed page.

The sheets, on their own pages

Subbing 5th grade

Fifth graders are usually the oldest in the building and respond to being treated that way: tell them the plan, give a choice where you can, and hold them to the schedule. They can read a passage alone and write two paragraphs.

  • Explain the whole day in the first five minutes, including what happens if work is finished early.
  • Offer a small choice (which question to share, where to read) rather than a reward.
  • Hand out the extra-time sheet with the main sheet, so nobody waits for you.

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