Day Before Thanksgiving Sub Plans Grades 3-5

A flight leaves Tuesday afternoon, the room will be loud from the first bell, and the person covering your class needs a whole day they can follow without asking anyone anything. This is a one-day, dated plan for grades 3 to 5, written for Tuesday, November 24 or Wednesday, November 25, 2026 (Thanksgiving is November 26). It is a plan for that one day, not a binder.

What's inside (25 pages):
- You fill in once (2 pages): the day's date and times, when children leave for lunch and specials, who can help, who needs support, math levels by initials, your school's own procedures in your words, and a note to your sub.
- For the sub: a first page with five rules and what to say in the first two minutes, a schedule of six blocks (195 classroom minutes), and a page for arrival, a freeze-and-count-down stop signal, and moving between blocks.
- Reading, 45 minutes: a two-page nonfiction passage built around the one surviving eyewitness letter about the 1621 harvest at Plymouth, with Wampanoag people today in their own words. Ten questions, a says-or-does-not-say sheet, and an answer key. No costumes, no role play, and a page of sources for the teacher.
- Math, 50 minutes: "Plan a Harvest Share," 18 word problems on three levels (A, B, C), with an answer key that shows the work. Every answer was calculated by a program.
- Writing, 40 minutes: a thank-you letter to someone at school, with a planning page and a letter page.
- Afternoon game, 30 minutes: School Charades, with a team table for 12 to 34 children, 36 cards, and written stop rules that say what ends the game and what happens next. A quiet backup game, an early finishers menu, a page on what to cut if you are short on time, and an end-of-day report for the sub.

Each of the five lessons (arrival, reading, math, writing and the game) lists its minutes step by step, an easier and a harder version, and an if-it-goes-wrong table; pack-up has its own minutes on the report page. It is a fillable PDF with 88 form fields on 5 pages, plus a greyscale print version of the same 25 pages with no form fields. Both come in the zip. The pack gives no emergency or medical instructions; it gives you lines to write your own school's procedure.

Made with AI assistance, then checked page by page. Use first names or initials, and follow your district's rules on what can be left for a substitute.

Made by Made for This Day — we wrote it, we sell it, and we answer for it.

Instant digital download. Nothing is posted to you — the file is yours the moment you pay, and you can print it as many times as you like.