Subplanners Tips #3

Use morning and afternoon messages and provide "bookends" to each school day.  I used them in my 6th grade classroom to:

• provide an intro to what we will do today in school
• practice current skills and new vocabulary
• provide a "wrap up" of what we did in school today

I set up each message on the computer and always made copies for each kid.  The upside for me was having finished papers in a designated folder to use as "evidence" of good or questionable work at the parent conference.  Downside, of course, is waste of paper.  If using too much paper bothers you, use the projected (smartboard, activeboard, overhead) version for all to read together.  Click here to view examples of a morning and afternoon message and see how they could be adapted for use in your classroom. 

Subplanners Super Skills Pages

Just added to all of my Grades K-1 full day plans is a "Subplanners Super Skills" page for the sub (or you) to use anytime during the school day.  My objective in adding these pages is that I believe kids learn best when they learn and master one skill at a time!  Spiraling of skills, just to make sure every last one is introduced before test time, just isn't effective for all learners.  Deep down we all know that kids need to build their own individual learning foundations step by step.  skill by skill.  Hence, the skill building page.

So I'll get off my soapbox now and  Click here for the free download of the K-1 skills practice page.  Will hopefully get going on 2nd grade to 6th grade during the week.

If you live in the upper midwest where I do, stay warm and stay healthy! 

New 4th Grade Full Day Sub Plans and Activity Center on Ears and Eyes

As a teacher of the deaf/hard of hearing, you'd think I would have included sub plans on this topic long ago!  This one was fun to write and I hope you'll be able to use (either the sub plans or the activity center).  Here are sign language and braille pages to download free. 

Go to the teacherspayteachers.com link above to view other products. 

Civil Rights Activities for 4th, 5th, and 6th Graders

With Martin Luther King Day coming soon, I wanted to put together some activities that have been successfull in my own classroom.   I always tell my kids how well I remember the day MLK was assassinated.  I was a junior in college and thought the world was surely ending. 
Click here for a preview of activities in this folder. 
Click here to get to my store on TPT.

3 in 1 Packs Now Available!

Many teachers have ordered 3 full days of plans, so I've created a new product category: "3 in 1 Packs" which combines (for $12.00) 3 of the grade level plans sold separately for $4.50.  I'm hopeful this will be useful to you.   As always, your feedback is needed! 

New K-1 Full Day Plan for Subs on BUGS!

I added a new full day subplan this week dedicated to my grandson, Gunnar, who loves bugs and knows a lot more about them than I do!   Included in the file are morning and afternoon messages;  pages for counting, adding, and subtracting bugs; reading comprehension passages about the spider and ladybug; words to cut out and paste inside the "magic sentence maker" cloud; and an ABC Book of Bugs to draw, color, and assemble.  The full day of activities includes scripts for the sub, ideas for variations, supplies needed, and forms for you to write notes to the sub and for her/him to write back to you. 

Even though these subplans are designed for your substitute teacher when you can't  be there, you might just find these activities to be useful in your own teaching practice.

  Click here to view sample pages from BUGS!