Are you prepared for those unexpected absences? With a little advance planning, you can ensure that your substitute and your students have a productive, smooth-flowing day.
To ensure my students have a fun, successful day of learning with content that meets common core standard, I created thematic units for each month. Thematic instruction is the organization of curriculum around "themes". The instruction integrates basic disciplines like reading, math, and science with the exploration of a broad subject. I use the Swallowed Series to guide my monthly lessons.
When I began to plan my monthly tubs, I took each book and placed them all on the dining table. Using sticky notes, I pulled ideas for each content area. I played on words, pictures, and swallowed items to guide my focus. For instance, planning writing...
August {Swallowed Some Books}- Response to Literature
September {Swallowed Some Leaves}-Poetry
October {Swallowed a Bat}- Narrative
November {Swallowed a Pie}- Procedural
December {Swallowed a Bell}-Persuasive
January {Swallowed Some Snow}-Procedural
February {Swallowed a Rose}-Friendly Letter
March {Swallowed a Clover}-Procedural
April {Swallowed a Chick}-Informational
May {Swallowed a Shell}-Procedural
October comes with great imagination as we are deep into narrative writing and inspired by Halloween costumes, decorations, and parties. Persuasive couldn't come at a better time with all the desires of a holiday wishlist. Friendly letters are common when creating Valentine's Day cards.
October comes with great imagination as we are deep into narrative writing and inspired by Halloween costumes, decorations, and parties. Persuasive couldn't come at a better time with all the desires of a holiday wishlist. Friendly letters are common when creating Valentine's Day cards.
My goal was to teach each genre by allowing the book to drive the content. The year I created the file, my students were challenged with procedural writing. I decided to use fun topics to draw on their schema from life experiences or books. My topics included: How to build a snowman, How to catch a leprechaun, How to make a sandcastle. Some papers were specific while others allowed for their imagination to run wild.
Once I had the writing lessons, I planned science, social studies, or health. December is a great time to discuss needs and wants. April is a great time to discuss life cycles. For March, I planned skills lessons with compound words so why not learn about insects that have compound eyes. Integrating the disciplines drives students engagement.
I prepped my tubs two years ago. Because I love the Swallowed series so very much, I decided that if a sub wasn't needed, I would complete the assignments with my students on the Friday before the specified holiday. Once you prep the tub, the consumables are the only parts of the file that will need to be reprinted. I keep the lessons and artifacts for teaching laminated and set for the following year.
Here's a preview of each month...
August
September
October
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
