Shhhhh!!!! Cyber Monday is Coming!

Black Friday? Schlmack Friday! Who needs those crowds, trampling, lack of sleep, lines, etc.? Well, i admit I did do some Black Friday shopping. But, I avoided the Wal-Marts and other gatherings of scaries, and only shopped during normal waking hours. Did I stand in some lines? Yes, but it was worth it.

What's also worth it, and you don't even have to get out of your pajamas or even your bed for (well, if you work like I do, then you probably have to do those things)? Anyway, I am not making much sense, am I? Let's just cut to the chase. The Teachers Pay Teachers Cyber Monday (and Tuesday) sale is nearly here!!!!

My whole store will be on sale as will so many of your other favorite sellers. Just stop by to spend a few measly dollars and buy some emergency sub plans to set your mind at ease. Never worry about those last-minute, have-to-be-absent days again by knowing you have sub plans ready to go and just waiting for implementation.

Also, now would be the time to clear out those Wish Lists. Stock up for the school year on all those units, lessons, and activities you've been eyeing. Just don't forget to enter "CYBER" at checkout to get that extra savings!

Pinky Swear! I Will Blog at Least Twice a Month

I am putting this in writing, so that you all can hold me accountable. 

I resolve to...

blog on Sub Hub at least twice a month... Pinky swear!

I thought a lot about this resolution. Since getting my own classroom in September, I had every intention of continuing Sub Hub. But that just didn't happen. I'm sure everyone who has undergone or is undergoing a first year of teaching completely understands what I just wrote. Although, honestly it's not terribly different from what I was doing long-term subbing. It just doesn't come to an end... which is wonderful in so many ways, but not so hot for the personal, outside-of-teaching life.

I do think I am at a point where I can certainly commit to twice a month of subbing advice, however. I definitely miss being able to share pointers, tips, advice, anything that may help your days of subbing or preparing for a sub a little easier. And now I feel like I can much better give advice from both sides.

I have a list of ideas to blog about, but I am always open to hearing from you. If there is a particular issue you are having, just email me or post on my Facebook page, and I will try to address it. I know one of the biggies is making sure you have activities to do. An idle student is a problem student, so don't let them become idle. Always have something for them to do.

If you are new to Sub Hub, you may not know that I have some freebies and products to help with just that. Click on the Emergency Lesson Plans tab above to get links to all my free sets of sub plans. Grades K-5 are currently available with the exception of fourth grade. Unfortunately, I discovered that Dr. Seuss has stricter copyright rules than most, and had to take down my lesson plans based on The Lorax. I am working on another free set of fourth grade plans on the top of my to-do list.

Also available are additional sets of one-day plans. There are two lines of those plans... Just Add Paper and CCSS-aligned plans. And there is a line called Down with Downtime with subject-specific filler activities so students never are left to their own devices again.

The Just Add Paper plans for grades K-5 are for those true emergencies, when you don't even have time or access to make copies of reproducibles. They incorporate foldables, graphic organizers, and other hands-on activities that only need paper to complete. All you need for those is paper and a picture book of your choice to read-aloud and base some of the activities on.

The CCSS-aligned plans for grades K-4 are one-day plans based on a picture book and aligned with the Common Core. Each lesson states which learning objective it addresses so even emergency sub days can be CCSS-focused.

If you have some of these plans and activities in your bag of tricks or your emergency sub folder, you will always have something on hand to keep students busy in a meaningful way.


And I mean it about holding me to my blogging resolution. It takes a support system to help you keep those buggers, so I need your help. Please, if you haven't heard from me in a couple of weeks, start bugging me! Message me, email me, spam me... whatever it takes. This is one resolution I WILL be keeping!

Back-to-School Product Premiere: Sub Plans

So, the wait is almost over. The Teachers Pay Teachers Back-to-School sale is August 12-13. During this time you can use the promo code of BTS12 to save 10% on all for-sale items. Additionally most sellers (including me) will be offering an additional 20% off, for a total savings to you of 28%! What a deal. 

To help you fill your TpT Wish List, many teacher-bloggers have gotten together to feature some of our favorite products from our stores in a Back-to-School Product Premiere linky. Check out my featured sub plans, and then visit the other blogs linked at the bottom to see what products they recommend from their own stores.

I am spotlighting (what else) my sub plans! I have two different lines of sub plans in my store — Just Add Paper (for grades K-5) and CCSS Emergency Plans (for grades K-3). 

The Just Add Paper line is meant for those true emergencies, and you don't have to make a single copy or gather anything more than a book and some paper. The whole day's plans can be done with those simple supplies. You could have these plans ready to go in your Sub Tub or even email them to a teammate in those cases of dire emergency. These plans are available for grades K-5 and have a warm-up lesson, a reading lesson, a language arts lesson, a math lesson, a science lesson, and a social studies lesson. They sell for $5 each, or all grade levels bundled for $20.

The CCSS Emergency Sub Plans feature the same kinds of lessons and are available for grades K-3 (4th and 5th grades are in the works and will be coming soon). They are based on a different picture book for each grade level and aligned with the Common Core State Standards. Never "waste" a day of instruction again. Even when you are out, you can still be teaching the CCSS. These plans also sell for $5 a piece. These plans do require copies and possibly some additional materials depending on the lesson.

And below is a linky of other bloggers showcasing some of their favorite products. So, get busy filling those wish lists and get ready to buy and save August 12 and 13 on Teachers Pay Teachers!

Back to School Blog Hunt: Day 8, Subbing Freebies

Welcome to Day 8 of the Back to School Blog Hunt! I sure hope you have been following the previous days' posts on various blogs. Yesterday was April from A Modern Teacher. Thanks to her for directing you here. And don't forget to go visit Kathy at Diary of a Not So Wimpy Teacher who I am sharing today with.

For my back-to-school advice, of course I am headed in the subbing direction. Teachers, in the midst of all your preparations, don't forget about subs. And subs, don't forget you have some prep to do as well.

For Teachers
Prepare your sub tub or sub binder with all the information a sub would need: basic information, class list, class schedule, dismissal list, classroom management strategy, procedures, helpful numbers, etc. And don't forget to include emergency sub plans. Sure, when you know you are going to be out, it's no problem to write plans and gather materials. But there are always those last minute illnesses and other emergencies when you don't have time to write plans. You can find my Free Emergency Sub Plans under the tab at the top of the blog or on Teachers Pay Teachers. Finally, make sure you teach your sub expectations to your class before you have to be out.

For Subs
Make sure you have completed all the requirements for subbing in your district. I have to renew my sub badge every year and leave review forms for the teachers I sub for. Also make sure to gather your things for your sub bag of tricks. Include all your personal and office supply items as well as some emergency activities and plans for those just-in-case moments. I always have a read-aloud book or two in my bag also. And make sure you have some way of tracking your jobs and the pay.

For Everyone
I have created two freebies for those subbing days. Complete packets of forms for both subs and teachers are in my Teachers Pay Teachers store, and these freebies are part of those packets. The first is a Daily Summary Form to be left by a teacher or carried and left by a sub.

The second freebie is a Caught Being Good ticket classroom management system. The sub fills out a ticket for students exhibiting exceptional behavior, sends one part home to the parents and leaves the other part at school for the teacher.

Be sure to check in tomorrow for Day 9 of the Back to School Blog Hunt brought to you by Jessica of Mrs. Stanford's Class and Marsha at A Differentiated Kindergarten. Happy blog hunting!

Just Add Paper 5th Grade Plan Now Ready!

Whew! Final set (for now) of the Just Add Paper line is now up on Teachers Pay Teachers. So visit the store and get your copy of Just Add Paper Fifth Grade. It has lessons/activities for character analysis, figurative language, geometric transformations, weather vs. climate, and slavery perspective writing. And a FREE sample is available here.

As a special just for subs who work in grades K-5, I am working on packaging the whole lot of Just Add Paper plans at a discount. So look for that coming soon. My hope is that you will have a binder of a day's worth of lessons for grades K-5 so you can be prepared for any situation.

4th Grade Just Add Paper Ready!

Just one more to go! Now, fourth grade Just Add Paper emergency sub plans are up and ready for purchase at my Teachers Pay Teachers Store. And here is the FREE sample. Enjoy!

First Grade Just Add Paper Plans Now Available

Just completed and posted on my Teachers Pay Teachers store is the first grade version of Just Add Paper. Like the kindergarten ones posted yesterday, these first grade plans have reading, language arts, math, science, and social studies lessons and use only basic materials plus paper.

This set of plans covers sequencing, adjectives, addition story problems, life cycles, and inventions. They encourage making connections and the higher order thinking skill of creating.

For a free sample that includes the reading lesson, click here.

If you download the plans, please take the time to give me a rating. You can also rate the other free lesson plans. Enjoy and never worry again if you are unable to write sub plans or find yourself in a classroom with no plans!

Just Add Paper... New Line of Sub Plans

I am quite excited (mixed with a little bit of terrified) to launch into this my new phase of Sub Hub. What I have created is a new line of emergency sub plans... plans for true emergencies, when you don't have time to do any preparation at all. My new line of plans is called Just Add Paper, because that's pretty much all you need besides the downloaded plans.

Right now, Just Add Paper Kindergarten is ready for sale at Teachers Pay Teachers. And you can download a FREE sample of it as well. Plans for grades 1-5 will follow in the next week.

Much like my previous line of emergency lesson plans, they are designed to be one-day plans for use by a teacher or a sub. There are reading, language arts, math, science, and social studies lessons included.

Unlike the other lesson plans, the only additional materials you will need are basic school supplies (pencils, crayons, markers, scissors, and glue), a few picture books of your choice, and a variety of PAPER!

One other difference is that I am venturing into the world of paid products, but I will always provide my fans and followers with a free sample of the item. So, download the free sample, and if you like it, trek on over to my new store at Teachers Pay Teachers and purchase the full day's worth of lessons.

Seasonal Freebies

Have you seen this new page of seasonal freebies for teachers? It is a great one-stop shop for free seasonal teaching activities. December freebies are going up now, including my gingerbread plans and many others, so go check it out. And follow the page so you don't miss additional freebies as well as well as other holidays.

Run, Run, Run As Fast As You Can... And Catch These Gingerbread Lessons

I know it may be a little early to be thinking of what to teach for the winter holiday time of year, but I was too excited not to put these lessons out. What I have created is a 1-2 week unit based on gingerbread. The lessons can be used as is for grades 2-4 and could be modified to fit kindergarten or fifth grade.

At the heart of the unit is reading as many different versions of the Gingerbread Man as you can find. There is a list of some of my favorites in the plans. There are reading lessons, a writing idea to take students through the writing process, science lessons, math lessons, and even a couple of social studies ideas.

Many of these I did last year with a group of third graders. We started the lesson about a week and a half before Winter Break. We did some of the lessons each day until the last day when it culminated in sharing their gingerbread writing and having their winter party where they built and decorated gingerbread houses and played gingerbread games. I had goodie bags for the students with all gingerbread-themed items. We had so much fun.

I loved hearing their versions of the Gingerbread Man. I think my favorite was the Gingerbread Spurs basketball player who was being chased by Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant, and other stinky Lakers (sorry LA fans, but I am in San Antonio and so am a die hard Spurs fan). :-)

And, of course, you don't have to use the lessons as a whole unit, but can pick and choose which activities you'd like to do with your student. And they make great activities to leave for a sub and you can have everything ready well in advance.

So, run, run, run as fast as you can. And catch these FREE gingerbread plans.

FREE Fifth Grade Emergency Sub Plans

Finally, now my first set of elementary level emergency sub plans is complete! And just in time for cold and flu season. I just put the finishing touches on fifth grade plans based on the book Stellaluna by Janell Cannon. I know fifth grade teachers have differing opinions on the value of teaching through picture books. Many feel students at this age should be reading and analyzing higher level books.

However, my thinking here is twofold:
1) Practically speaking, these plans are meant to be completed in one day while a substitute teacher is in the room. A higher level chapter book cannot even be read in one school day, much less have time to complete activities.
2) Philosophically speaking, I am on the other side of the debate. I am an adult and still many times get much out of picture books. Fifth graders can take picture book analysis to a much higher level. So while, many students may already know the story in the picture book, they have not done such challenging activities with it.

All that being said, here are the fifth grade plans based on Stellaluna. As with my other plans, these contain a warm-up, a reading lesson, a language arts activity, a social studies lesson, a science activity, and some math problems.

Paint with Words

I always tell my students that writing is like painting with words. The writer needs to paint a clear image of what is in the story, just like an artist paints details into a picture. I use this handout with a mini lesson on using descriptions and specific words. This should be used after the students know adjectives and adverbs. And you probably should have done some lessons on "tired" words to help students choose more specific ones. This activity is a culmination of those lessons. It is quite simple. The students look at the basic, boring sentence and choose words to add to it to make it a more descriptive, exact sentence. I usually have the students choose their favorite expanded sentence and illustrate it on the back according to their descriptions. So if your students need some practice with Painting with Words, then download this freebie.

Using "Smart" to Introduce Money Unit

When introducing a unit, I love to generate interest by reading a story or, in this case, a poem. My favorite to introduce a unit on money is "Smart" by Shel Silverstein. It can be found in Where the Sidewalk Ends. The poem is about a boy who trades a dollar for two quarters because two is more than one. It continues until he ends up with only five pennies and is very proud of himself.

To start with, I read the poem straight through and ask students to write in their math journals if they feel "Smart" was an appropriate title for the poem and to explain their answer. We usually come to the conclusion that money isn't about how many of each coin you have; it is about the value of those coins.

I then read the poem through again while the students use manipulatives to show the trades and calculate how much money was lost at each level.

The students love this poem because they love to point out how they are smarter than the boy in the poem.

FREE Scary Story Map

I decided I wanted my third graders to write scary stories for Halloween. Many of my students are into reading Goosebumps and other scary book series, so I thought this would be a perfect writing exercise. I always like to start off any new writing assignment with a planning sheet, and so began looking for the perfect scary story map. When I was unable to find exactly what I wanted, I created my own. And I wanted to share it with you all. I think it would make a great activity for a substitute, but teachers may want to use it in October as well. I will be using it with my students this week and will let you know how it goes.

So, download my Scary Story Map for FREE and see what kind of "dark and stormy night" stories you can get your students to write.

Kinder Emergency Sub Plans Ready!

OK, kindergarten subs and teachers. Ready... set... DOWNLOAD!!! Here are some emergency kindergarten sub plans for you. These are based on If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and include a craft warm-up, a reading lesson, a language arts lesson, a social studies lesson, a science lesson, and a math lesson.

I have to say these have been the hardest ones so far for me to write because of all the things I needed to create. So, hats off to all you kinder teachers!

My husband was just telling me, "I like how all your plans are based around a theme. I don't think it would be good to theme teach every day, but it's nice to have something different when a sub is there." That is basically my purpose in theme-planning the lessons. And I also try to use as few materials as possible because a sub never knows what will be available when they walk into a classroom. Anyway, I hope these plans help even just a few teachers and subs. Enjoy!

Seeing Things from Another Perspective

One of my favorite higher order thinking skills to work on is seeing things from another perspective. I got this idea from my children's gifted and talented teacher Wendy Brake, and I adapted it for use in a regular classroom. Before the first perspective activity we do, I have students make "perspectacles." When worn, these glasses allow students to see an event from someone else's perspective.

I give each student five chenille sticks, two for the eyes and two for the ear pieces and one to cut up for decoration. The student then twist them together to form a pair of glasses, using extra pieces to decorate. I've had students add eyelashes, a moustache, and all sorts of details. It's fun to see their creativity and personality come through.

The perspectacles live in the students' cubbies throughout the year, and every time we do a lesson or activity using perspective, the students are allowed to wear their glasses. The students ask me almost every day if we will be doing something with perspective because they just love to wear the glasses.

Third Grade Emergency Sub Plans

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to get these going, and I promise the wait will not be as long for the fourth grade set. Getting settled into my long-term subbing position has been challenging, but I think I am falling into a nice routine.

Here are my third grade emergency sub plans. I based them on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett. Just like the other sets of plans, these have a warm-up, reading, language arts, social studies, science, and math lesson. Although intended to be used as one day's worth of lessons for third grade, they can be used on their own or modified for other grade levels.

Antonym Charades

Need a new, fun way to learn about antonyms and get those kinesthetic learners on their feet? Try antonym charades. I used it today with my third graders with a good deal of success. All it took to prepare was writing some words like first, take, sitting, raise, etc. on scraps of paper. I folded them and put them in a cup. Next I chose two students (I used my stick drawing system to randomly pick them). The students came up and drew a word from the cup. One student pantomimed the word until the class guessed it. And then the other student pantomimed the antonym. I recorded the results on chart paper. We continued until all the words and their antonyms had been pantomimed. It was great fun, and we created a whole list of words with their antonyms.

What's in a Name?

What an amazingly long week this has been! Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday... and early release for my district. I wanted to share a reading lesson that worked really well for me today with my third graders. All week long we have been working on drawing conclusion, making inferences and making predictions as well as being able to figure things out about a character. So I modified a lesson that I had heard about being used for writing.

First I wrote four "signatures" on the board. Then I asked the students to look at the signatures and use what they already know to draw conclusions, make inferences, and make predictions about who these characters are. I asked for three ideas about each character, and then they could draw what they thought one character looked like.

I got some great responses like Sandy being a girly girl, pretty, and friendly. I also had some students who concluded she was popular, stuck-up, and mean. I was able to point out that because of knowledge we already have, sometimes our conclusions are different even if we have the same clues.

The students were able to predict age of the characters and even infer some interests. Most concluded that Sandy and Rex were somewhere between 10 and 15; Mary was a grown-up; and David was a child. And many thought Rex was into dinosaurs because of his name and the Jurassic Park-like font I used.

It was a really fun activity that brought home using clues and your own knowledge to draw conclusions, make inferences, and make predictions.

Scheduling with Scaredy Squirrel

I am so sorry it's been so long since I have posted. I have been long-term subbing in a third grade classroom and coming home dog tired every evening. Then this weekend my brother, who just returned from an air force deployment in United Arab Emirates, came to visit so I was spending as much time as possible with him. I promise more emergency sub plans are coming, but until then I thought I'd share one of my favorite literature-based math activities.

The activity is based on Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt. I absolutely this book (and all the subsequent Scaredy Squirrel stories). It can be used to spark interest in a number of topics from patterning to telling time to health and safety. What I most like to teach out of this book is scheduling. Every time unit I have seen has schedules incorporated, and this activity is perfect for the students to demonstrate learning. I have used this activity in first, second, and third grades. It is easy to modify by adding or taking away events and the level of detail expected.

I start off by reading the book (dramatically... the story lends itself well to that). And I just ordered a Scaredy Squirrel puppet off of Amazon. I can't wait to incorporate the puppet into the reading of the story. In the book is Scaredy Squirrel's daily routine and (a little later in the story) his new and improved daily routine.

After reading the book, I explain about schedules, making sure to touch on the time-ordered sequence and a.m./p.m. notation meaning. Then I have the students create their own schedule display. Each student gets 3-5 index cards (depending on how many events you'd like them to include). I ask the students to write a sentence explaining what they do in each part of their day. The sentence must include the time with a.m./p.m. notation and the event. And they may illustrate each event as well. Each event goes on a separate card.

Once the cards are done, I give each student a length of yarn, and the events are taped in sequence order vertically on the piece of yarn. The schedules can then be hung as a great classroom work display.