Substitute Plans · Grade 5
5th Grade Substitute Plans
Five ready-made packets for grade 5, each a full day of student work and each ready to hand to a substitute with no preparation and no explanation.
The days
- Day 1 — reading: “The Frame Underneath” (science) · free
- Day 2 — reading: “The Ditch That Built New York” (social studies)
- Day 3 — reading: “When the Ground Opens” (science)
- Day 4 — reading: “The Smallest Working Part” (science)
- Day 5 — reading: “The Purchase That Doubled the Country” (social studies)
What is in every day
A substitute plan is not a stack of worksheets. It is a plan: a schedule with timings, what to hand out and when, what to collect, what to do with a child who finishes early, and a space to write back to the returning teacher.
Every packet is 15 pages. Page 1 is the teacher’s. Pages 2 to 13 are the student work — a warm-up, two reading passages with questions, a math review, word problems, a writing prompt, word work, a science or social studies activity, a wrap-up, and an optional page for early finishers. Pages 14 and 15 are the answer key and the marking notes.
Nothing continues a lesson. A guest teacher has no content expertise, no relationship with the class, and no idea what was taught yesterday. Nothing in these packets asks them to have any of it.
At a glance
| Grade | Grade 5 |
| Days | 5 |
| Pages each | 15 |
| Student working time | About 220 minutes |
| Preparation | None |
| Answer key | Included in every packet |