TeachersFirst's Substitutes - Ideas and Resources
This collection of ideas and reviewed resources is selected to help both substitute teachers and regular teachers leaving instructions for a substitute. The list includes useful time-fillers for when plans are not a perfect fit as well as teacher-friendly suggestions to make subbing a positive learning experience for all. Be sure to check "In the classroom" suggestions for practical tips and ways to use these offerings.
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The Achievery - AT&T
Grades
K to 12
tag(s): substitutes (38), map skills (110), internet safety (210), digital citizenship (139), media literacy (137), environment (462), order of operations (53), equations (224), measurement (240), operations (161), numbers (259), geometric shapes (230), graphic design (81), problem solving (407), Research (88), engineering (200), coding (129), STEM (353), social and emotional learning (106), narrative (33), writing (569), literature (387), blended learning (38), remote learning (75), spanish (165),
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site as a resource for lessons in many content areas to engage students using popular video clips. All lessons are created as remote learning activities making them easily adaptable for both in-class and out-of-class assignments. Easily find activities to differentiate instruction for different student ability levels by browsing options below or above the student's current grade level. Many lessons include worksheets in PDF format, turn these activities into a digital format by taking a screenshot of the document, then save as the background on Google Slides, reviewed here. Add text boxes in the appropriate place on the slide for students to add responses. Use Pear Deck Flashcard Factory, reviewed here, to create flashcards for students to practice the vocabulary highlighted in each lesson.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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World's Largest Lesson - Project Everyone
Grades
K to 12tag(s): substitutes (38), sustainability (63), environment (462), inequalities (34), STEM (353), energy (275), maps (415), cross cultural understanding (214), earth (344), engineering (200),
In the Classroom
Discover the many free educational resources found on this site to include with your lessons about global cultures, the environment, health, and technology. Use the activities and lessons found on the World's Largest Lesson to engage students in understanding and processing information related to serious global issues. Have students use a collaborative whiteboard tool such as Jamboard, reviewed here, to brainstorm solutions to problems using the sticky note feature or to create mind maps and flow charts to organize further research. Enhance learning by asking students to create an interactive, choose your own adventure story using StoryLab, reviewed here. Ask students to use information learned from their lessons to create a story that tells what happens if the earth continues on its current course vs. what happens when suggested changes are implemented.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Virtual Manipulatives - Toy Theater
Grades
K to 6This site includes advertising.
tag(s): fractions (335), decimals (179), place value (78), number sense (127), number lines (41), money (262), measurement (240), charts and graphs (296), tangrams (19), substitutes (38),
In the Classroom
If you teach elementary math, this site is a must-have to include with your bookmarked sites. Include manipulatives from this site with blended learning and remote teaching lessons to provide students opportunities to explore and practice math content. Include a link to manipulatives and other student sites using Symbaloo, reviewed here, and share with students as a resource for practicing math concepts. Items to include might be instructional videos, online games, and other practice activities. Add manipulatives within a learning system such as Curipod, reviewed here, to create a complete online lesson that has opportunities for students to share and discuss their learning. Encourage students to share their findings by creating a screen recording using Free Screen Recorder Online, reviewed here. Ask students to conduct a math talk as a response to a teacher prompt after having the opportunity to explore and interact with the virtual manipulatives.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Woo! Kids Activities - woojr.com
Grades
K to 6This site includes advertising.
tag(s): substitutes (38), Juneteenth (22), worksheets (89), preK (423), holidays (264), poetry (377),
In the Classroom
Use Woo! as a starting point for lesson ideas and activities, then go beyond worksheets to challenge your students. Ask your students to create their own templates and review materials using Google Documents. Incorporate game-play into your lessons using Bamboozle, reviewed here. Baamboozle is a quick and easy game creation tool that creates multiple types of games for two teams. Incorporate questions into videos using playposit, reviewed here. Students and teachers can comment and add responses directly into this video resource.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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A Year of Picture Prompts - New York Times
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): writing prompts (123), journals (34), creative writing (243), descriptive writing (76),
In the Classroom
Save this website to your favorites or link from your class web page. These inspirational ideas are perfect for journals, quick writes, or to develop into a full story or essay. There are plenty of unusual ideas to give even your most reluctant writer or artist an inspirational nudge. ENL/ELL students can be motivated easily with picture prompts. Share these prompts with your gifted students for some "out of the box" writing ideas. Keep these creative ideas in your "emergency" lesson plan folder for substitutes, or for your own spontaneous writing needs. Extend student learning and challenge them to share writing aloud in a podcast format using a site such as Buzzsprout, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Classroom Freebies - Charity Preston
Grades
K to 8tag(s): preK (423), worksheets (89), substitutes (38), back to school (89), classroom management (238), commoncore (135), book reports (51), posters (71),
In the Classroom
Bookmark Classroom Freebies as an excellent resource for teaching materials throughout the school year. Take advantage of the free printables for use on bulletin boards, for classroom management, and centers. Choose materials from the site to use in substitute folders. Be sure to share this site with your fellow teachers! You might consider finding snow day and vacation day activities to post on your class website for parent and student use.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Math Salamanders - Crispin Salamander
Grades
K to 6This site includes advertising.
tag(s): substitutes (38), time (177), money (262), measurement (240), geometric shapes (230), number sense (127), numbers (259), place value (78), multiplication (285), addition (307), worksheets (89), subtraction (249), preK (423), division (215),
In the Classroom
Although there is relatively heavy advertising on this site, the many resources make it worth a look. Take advantage of the free worksheets on Math Salamander for use with students needing additional practice, to send home when parents request additional work, or to keep in your substitute folder for quick practice activities. Be sure to share a link on your class page for parents to access at home. Create a link to online interactives on your classroom computers for use as a math center.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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CommonLit - CommonLit
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): Teacher Utilities (201), literature (387), themes (18), critical thinking (186), spanish (165), differentiation (129), reading comprehension (223), substitutes (38),
In the Classroom
CommonLit is an excellent resource for literature teachers, speech and debate teachers, and history teachers. Share the site with students on an interactive whiteboard or projector, and ask the class what themes they would like to investigate. Under each theme are two questions. Divide the class into small groups with each group investigating one of the questions for one of the themes and reading the accompanying text. Differentiate for students by having students read on the same theme, but at their reading level. Challenge individuals, pairs, or small groups to create a graphic organizer for the story they read replacing paper and pencil and using a tool like Holt Interactive Graphic Organizers, reviewed here. You could take this to another level and have two groups read different selections on the same theme, use a graphic organizer to make comparisons for how the theme was presented, and then enhance learning by challenging the groups to present their findings to the class via video. Use a simple video creator like Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here. This site would also work when you have to make substitute plans unexpectedly. Just put the link in your plans and tell the sub what theme you want students to read about, or better yet, let the sub choose!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Form Time Ideas - Jonathan Hall
Grades
5 to 9tag(s): riddles (20), literacy (184), vocabulary (467), numbers (259), grammar review (51), news (382), substitutes (38),
In the Classroom
Form Time Ideas is perfect for daily review and bell work as students arrive in class or as a quick review at the end of class. Print out different pages for use during quiet times or send home for absentee students to complete. This site is excellent for enrichment. Include it on your class web page for students to access both in and out of class. Substitutes will love the handy ideas on this site!Comments
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NameCoach - Praveen Shanbhag
Grades
K to 12tag(s): substitutes (38), classroom management (238), pronunciation (49),
In the Classroom
Create a master list of student names in your school or class using NameCoach. Provide a subset for different activities such as award ceremonies, after-school programs, or for student tutors. Share with your school's ENL/ELL teacher as an authentic way to learn and practice unfamiliar names. Provide this list (and URL) to any substitute coming to your classroom. Use it in world language classes to help students learn pronunciation of new names.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Free Math Worksheets - Pre-Algebra through Calculus - Kuta Software
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): substitutes (38), ratios (84), geometric shapes (230), volume (66), transformations (25), area (96), polynomials (39), inequalities (34), quadratics (42), equations (224), factoring (38), factors (58), exponents (58),
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site for use throughout the year. Quickly download and print worksheets for review. Use with a substitute or for extra student practice. Share a link to the site on your class website for students to access at home for review and practice of concepts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Famous People Lessons - Sean Banville
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): fluency (45), reading comprehension (223), summarizing (28), word choice (36), parts of speech (98), spelling (225), biographies (141),
In the Classroom
This is an excellent site to use as part of a biography unit to match biographies to individual student interests. Allow students to choose a person, then print activities for them to complete. Use this site to practice reading fluency, informational texts, and comprehension with any student, Use this site in your substitute folder. Choose several biographies and print accompanying activities for students to complete. Enhance student learning by having them create an annotated image of a biographical character including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Google Drawings, reviewed here. Google Drawings allows you to annotate an image with links to videos, text, websites, and more. Not familiar with Google Drawings? Watch an archived OK2Ask session to learn how to use: OK2Ask Google Drawings, here. Share with learning support teachers as well as ENL/ELL teachers to use as a high interest activity for older students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Math Centers and Games - Shari Sloane
Grades
K to 4This site includes advertising.
tag(s): preK (423), probability (179), addition (307), substitutes (38), subtraction (249), money (262),
In the Classroom
Use ideas provided on the site for math centers in your classroom. Share this link (or specific activities) on your class website). Choose a game or two to included in your substitute folder for an easy math activity while you are gone.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Art Lessons and Lesson Plans - Ken Rohrer
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): art history (128), japan (102), symmetry (65), recycling (96), geometric shapes (230), colors (114), origami (20), native americans (148), insects (123), animals (498), painting (104), artists (134), preK (423),
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site as a resource for art projects throughout the year, especially if budget cuts have taken away your art teacher! Be sure to check out the link to Sub Lessons. Print and save a couple of these to have in your substitute folder for use if necessary. Share with your art teacher (if you have one) as a resource.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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HHMI - BioInteractive - Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): flips (12), genetics (150), bacteria (39), human body (172), body systems (80), heart (50),
In the Classroom
Spice up your life science or biology curriculum with these activities. Use them as dry labs prior to the hands-on or classroom "wet lab." Alternatively, they could be used as a substitute laboratory when supplies are low, if students are learning online or from a distance, or if students have ethical objections to using live specimens. Thinking about blended learning or flipping your classroom even just a little? These activities are great because they can take some of the practice typically done in class to the home setting, allowing you to further delve into student driven experiments and inquiry in the classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Story Starter, Jr. - Joel Heffner
Grades
2 to 6tag(s): writing (569), writing prompts (123), creative writing (243),
In the Classroom
Save this site in your favorites and link to it from your class webpage. For even quicker access, save this as a favorite on your Teachersfirst membership page to come back to whenever you are planning a pre or post reading/writing assignment. (If you are not already a member, join TeacherFirst for FREE.) These creative ideas are also great to file in your "emergency" lesson plan folder for a substitute teacher or when you are just looking for a spontaneous writing or journal assignment. Students may use it the traditional way by writing the story starter sentence on a piece of paper. With access to a class set of computers students could copy and paste into a word document or class wiki page and start writing their stories, poems, or journal entries. Enhance student learning by challenging them to share their writing aloud on a podcast using a site such as PodOmatic, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Learning Network - The New York Times Company
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): writing prompts (123), vocabulary (467), news (382),
In the Classroom
Share this site on your class web page for students to find challenges or activities. Substitute teachers can always find an appropriate current events or vocabulary/writing activity if there are no lesson plans. English, social studies, and gifted teachers will want to explore the many lesson ideas that draw on current news stories. Find many prompts for student opinion blogs at this site. If you are beginning the process of integrating technology, replace pen and paper and have students create blogs sharing their learning and understanding using Weebly, reviewed here. This blog creator requires no registration.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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EZSchool - EZSchool
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): substitutes (38), writing (569), vocabulary (467), spanish (165), japanese (72), japan (102), grammar (310),
In the Classroom
Reinforce learning with these supplemental materials. Your students may practice as much as they want - for free! Print worksheets to leave in a folder for emergency substitute lesson plans or for homework, provide the link on your classroom web page or wiki for students to easily access from any computer, and project the interactives and other learning activities on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Note that some websites may be blocked.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Energizing Brain Breaks - Dave Sladkey
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): back to school (89),
In the Classroom
"Brain Breaks" is a Learning Focused Schools buzzword, but we all know students sometimes just need a 5-minute break with a built-in way to refocus at the end. Brain Breaks can be especially helpful when teaching on block schedule with longer classes. Here are some ideas to do that. Share one of the examples on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Take a 5-minute "brain break" and have cooperative learning groups brainstorm additional "brain break" ideas to use within your classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Icebreakers, Games, and Fun Group Activities - icebreakers.ws
Grades
K to 12tag(s): substitutes (38), remote learning (75), firstday (37), back to school (89), newbies (24),
In the Classroom
New or veteran teachers who want students to get to know each other as they enter a new school (starting middle school, for example), want to observe them so YOU get to know them, or need to build better team skills with a challenging class or club, will find ideas to try. Mark this one as a Favorite so you can find it again, since "first day" activities tend to get lost in the flurry ---and in the fading memory-- during the year.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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