No Copy Emergency Sub Plans

About this resource

What's inside this resource

These emergency sub plans are designed for substitute teachers to bring to a sub job, just in case there are not any plans provided or in case the plans provided are not clear or are not working for any reason. There is no prep required, no copies needed, and no printing. The only actions you need to take are to download the resource and use it. You could print the documents if you would like, or you could access them electronically.

The only student materials needed are paper and pencils.

Details:

-This download comes with one PDF file.

-Contains detailed lesson plans + examples + additional activities.

-Easy to use: The sequence of activities repeats in each class period.

-Adaptable to any content area.

-Meant to replace one day of instruction.

-Geared toward middle and high school, but adaptable to other levels if departmentalized.

-Focuses on sheltered language acquisition activities and requires students to interact with each other while talking about content based academic vocabulary.

-Includes examples to help clarify the activities.

-Includes additional activities that are all no prep/no copy/no print!

Suggested ways to use:

1.Download the plans.

2.If you have time, you can print the plans and have them ready ahead of time.

3.If this is a last minute situation, you could just download the plans and access them electronically on a device of your choosing.

4.Reuse the same plans on another emergency sub day in the future (not intended for use with multi-day absences, although in a pinch, they could be used for that). Although the activities will be the same, the content can be different!

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Generate content-area vocabulary words systematically across the alphabet
Sort vocabulary into self-created categories and justify the placement
Compose a paragraph of at least 5 sentences that incorporates a set number of vocabulary words
Follow sequential verbal instructions to reproduce a described image

Teaching tips

Since the topic is left open, a substitute can ask the class what subject matter they were most recently studying and use that as the day's vocabulary topic.
The four backup activities are ordered from lowest to highest engagement; save the mystery-drawing activity for last, since its example script shows it takes the longest to set up.
Encourage the substitute to read the worked examples on pages 5-9 before class starts, since each one shows exactly what a completed student response should look like.

Skills covered

Vocabulary brainstorming — generating a word for as many letters of the alphabet as possible within a content topic
Categorization and justification — sorting brainstormed words into named categories and explaining the reasoning
Paragraph writing with vocabulary constraints — writing a 5+ sentence paragraph that uses a minimum number of specified words
Listening and following sequential instructions — reproducing a picture from step-by-step verbal directions alone

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

Does the lesson plan require a specific subject or topic?

No. The topic is left open so the substitute or teacher can plug in vocabulary from whatever subject the class is currently studying, from math to art history.

What backup activities are included if the main lesson finishes early?

Four no-prep options: a teacher read-aloud, independent work time, an acrostic word puzzle using the day's vocabulary, and a mystery drawing where students sketch a picture from step-by-step verbal instructions.