Grade 4 Emergency Sub Plan
Teacher: Date:
Room: ______ Office/contact:
Nearby adult:
Attendance and lunch directions:
Dismissal and transportation-change procedure:
Emergency and health information location:
Share confidential student information only through the school's approved process. Do not place passwords in this packet.
Substitute quick start
“Good morning. I am your teacher today. Your teacher left a complete plan, and our goal is to learn, help one another, and leave the room ready for tomorrow. Please begin the morning task silently while I take attendance.”
Use the posted attention signal. If none is visible, say, “Voices off in three, two, one,” and wait before continuing.
- Follow directions the first time.
- Use the voice level that matches the task.
- Ask for help respectfully and keep people and materials safe.
Schedule
| Time | Block | Student product |
|---|
| 8:00-8:20 | Arrival, attendance, morning task | Morning response |
| 8:20-8:35 | Meeting and day preview | Partner responses |
| 8:35-9:50 | Reading | Questions 1-10 |
| 9:50-10:00 | Break | Ready materials |
| 10:00-11:05 | Math | Problems 1-12 |
| 11:05-11:25 | Recess | None |
| 11:25-12:10 | Writing | One-page narrative |
| 12:10-12:50 | Lunch | None |
| 12:50-1:50 | Paper engineering | Structure and reflection |
| 1:50-2:00 | Movement reset | Ready attention |
| 2:00-2:30 | Independent reading | Reading response |
| 2:30-2:45 | Pack-up and exit ticket | Exit ticket |
Morning task: What makes a set of directions easy to follow? Give one example from school or home.
Student Reading Page
Name: Date:
Vocabulary
route: a way from one place to another · hesitate: to pause because you are unsure
deliberate: planned and careful · landmark: an object or place that helps someone know where they are
The Map in Room 12
On Monday morning, Maya found a square of blue paper beneath the classroom bookshelf. Someone had drawn three arrows on it and written, “Begin where stories sleep.” Maya looked at the shelves. The classroom library was the obvious starting place, but the note felt like the first clue in a treasure hunt.
She slipped the paper into her notebook before Jordan could see it. Jordan sat beside her and had a habit of turning every mystery into a loud class announcement. Maya wanted time to think.
During independent reading, Maya studied the arrows. One pointed toward a tiny sketch of a clock. Another ended at a rectangle marked with an X. The last curved around a star. The marks were deliberate, but they did not match the room. The clock was above the whiteboard, the supply cabinet was a rectangle, and paper stars hung by the windows. Following that route would send a person in three different directions.
At recess, Maya showed Jordan. As expected, he almost shouted. Then he covered his mouth and whispered, “Maybe it is not a map of the room yet.”
“What else would it be?” Maya asked.
Jordan turned the paper sideways. “A plan for one.”
That changed everything. They began at the classroom library because stories did sleep there. Next, they walked to the clock, then to the supply cabinet, and finally to the paper stars. At each place, they looked for another clue. They found nothing.
Maya frowned. “So it is a plan for a map that does not work.”
Jordan traced the route with one finger. “Or a plan we are supposed to finish.”
The Map in Room 12, continued
Back inside, their teacher asked the class to clean up after an art project. Two new students stood near the sink, unsure where brushes and paper scraps belonged. Several classmates called directions at once.
“Blue bin!” one student said.
“No, the other blue bin!” called another.
Maya watched one new student turn in a slow circle. The room was familiar to everyone else, but it had no useful landmarks for someone seeing it for the first time.
Maya placed the blue paper on her desk. “I know what the map is for.”
She and Jordan asked their teacher for permission to make a classroom guide. They drew the room as a simple rectangle and added only the places a person might need: the library, supply cabinet, pencil station, hand-in tray, sink, and exit. Instead of decorating every corner, they used clear labels and one symbol for each place. They tested the map by asking one of the new students to find a ruler.
The student followed the route to the supply cabinet, opened the correct door, and held up a ruler. “This makes sense,” she said.
Jordan wanted to add a giant compass rose, four cartoon dragons, and a secret tunnel. Maya laughed, but she pointed to the empty space. “What would help someone complete a real task?”
They added a small key to explain the symbols and a note about returning materials. Then they tested the map again. This time, they asked a classmate to locate the hand-in tray and return to the meeting rug. He reached both places without asking a question.
At the end of the day, their teacher hung the map beside the door. The final landmark was not a star or a treasure chest. It was a small speech bubble near the center of the room. Inside, Maya had written, “If the map does not answer your question, ask someone kindly.”
Jordan nodded at it. “Best clue on the whole map.”
Maya agreed. A map could make the room easier to understand, but helping one another was what made it their classroom.
Reading questions
- Where does Maya find the blue paper?
- Why does Maya hesitate to show the paper to Jordan?
- What does Jordan mean when he says, “Maybe it is not a map of the room yet”?
- What classroom problem helps Maya understand the paper's purpose?
- List two places Maya and Jordan include on their classroom guide.
- Why do they test the map with another student?
- In “The marks were deliberate,” what does deliberate mean? accidental / planned / faded / confusing
- Which detail best shows that Maya values usefulness over decoration?
- State one theme. Use two details from the text to support it.
- Write one additional clue that could help a new student find something in your classroom. Name the destination and use a clear landmark.
Student Math Page
Name: Date:
Show an equation or labeled work. Check whether your answer is reasonable.
- A teacher puts 7 pencils in each of 9 cups. How many pencils are there?
- The class library has 248 fiction books and 176 nonfiction books. How many books are there in all?
- Students collect 365 cans. They pack 128 cans for pickup. How many cans remain?
- Four tables each need 26 sheets of paper. How many sheets are needed?
- A box holds 96 markers shared equally among 8 groups. How many markers does each group receive?
- A reading challenge lasts 6 weeks. A student reads 35 pages each week. How many pages does the student read?
- The school orders 540 notebooks. It sends 185 to one grade and 167 to another. How many remain?
- A bus carries 48 students. Seven buses carry the same number. How many students altogether?
- A teacher has 144 index cards shared equally among 6 tables. Each table uses 9. How many does each table have left?
- The art room has 9 packs of 32 colored pencils. Students use 47. How many remain?
- A walkathon route is 625 yards. A class completes it 4 times. How many yards?
- The auditorium has 12 rows of 24 chairs. After 53 are removed, how many remain?
Exit check: A theater has 8 rows of 24 seats. If 17 seats are empty, how many people are seated?
Student Writing Page
Name: Date:
Prompt: Write a scene about a student who notices a small classroom problem and designs a simple solution. Show the moment the solution is tested. It may work, fail, or lead to a better idea.
The substitute models a short example for 5 minutes. Students plan for 5 minutes, draft for 25 minutes, and revise for 10 minutes.
Setting:
Problem:
First attempt:
Result or change:
Revision check
- □ I named the setting and the problem.
- □ My character took at least two specific actions.
- □ I used dialogue or a character's thoughts.
- □ The ending shows what changed.
- □ I checked capitals, punctuation, and paragraph breaks.
Write your draft on lined paper.
Paper Engineering: Build a Book Bridge
Materials per pair: two sheets of copy paper, up to 12 inches of tape, two equal-height books as supports, and approved identical weights.
- Place supports 8 inches apart.
- Sketch a bridge made from one sheet and no tape.
- Test with one weight at a time. Stop when it slips or touches the table.
- Use the second sheet and tape to change one feature.
- Test again under the same conditions.
First design: __________ Weights held: ____ Second design: __________ Weights held: ____
We changed . This affected the bridge by .
Our evidence isFor a fairer next test, we would keep the same.
Answer Key and Substitute Notes
Reading
- Beneath the classroom bookshelf.
- Jordan tends to announce mysteries loudly, and Maya wants time to think.
- The paper may be a plan for creating a map, not a finished map.
- Two new students cannot find where art supplies belong while classmates give conflicting directions.
- Any two: library, supply cabinet, pencil station, hand-in tray, sink, exit.
- To learn whether someone unfamiliar with the room can use it.
- Planned.
- Maya asks what would help someone complete a real task when Jordan suggests decorations. Accept an equivalent detail.
- Answers vary. One theme is that clear information and kind help make a shared place easier to use. Evidence may include the successful tests and final speech-bubble clue.
- Answers vary. Require a destination and clear landmark.
Math
| 1. 63 | 2. 424 | 3. 237 | 4. 104 |
| 5. 12 | 6. 210 | 7. 188 | 8. 336 |
| 9. 15 | 10. 241 | 11. 2,500 | 12. 235 |
Exit check: 8 × 24 = 192; 192 - 17 = 175 people.
If a block ends early
- Write directions for drawing a six-shape robot. Swap, test, and revise one unclear step.
- Use 3, 4, 6, and 8 at most once to make 48. One solution:
8 × 6 × (4 - 3). - Read a classroom book and record one important event or idea, one supporting detail, and one question.
End-of-Day Handover
Attendance changes or late arrivals:
Lessons completed and stopping points:
Reading or math items that caused widespread difficulty:
Private student follow-up recorded through:
Behavior or safety event and staff notified:
Materials used, missing, or moved:
Dismissal changes communicated by the office:
Collected work is located:
Other useful note for tomorrow: