5th grade sub plans: science

A 5th grade science block for a substitute: “Jupiter, the Giant Planet”, a 221-word nonfiction passage about space, with 5 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 5th grade ▸

The science block

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

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.
Hand out “Jupiter, the Giant Planet”, a nonfiction passage of 221 words. Print 24: the student copy is in this packet.
Students read it on their own. Anyone who finishes reads it a second time and underlines the sentence they think matters most.
Students answer the 5 questions under the passage, in full sentences.
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: Snow globe (45 sec, silent). Shake your hands, arms and shoulders like a snow globe that has just been shaken. Then stop and be as still as you can while the snow settles slowly, one breath at a time.

The sheets, on their own pages

Jupiter, the Giant Planet: the passage, questions and answer key
K-W-L chart

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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