Choose your adventure sub tub!

I am soooo excited to show you what I made this week!

I FINALLY put my sub tub together {and sub binder}...it's only been on my to do list for 4 years.  

I've put this off because it is not easy to prep for a sub for any teacher but add in that all of my students have special needs and many have autism and do NOT respond to change well and planning for a sub becomes slightly more than overwhelming.

I decided that I wanted to make sub plans for any time I'm out, not just an emergency.  It's just easier for me and now I'm all set for any meeting or workshop I have this year.

I also decided that I wanted to keep my routine the same when a sub is in the room.  All of the sub plans that I found/bought did not fit into my regular routine so I made my own (and you can too, for free!).

I'm going to walk you through what I did:

First, I scoured the internet and found FREE activities to fill the folders with.  

Don't have time to search for activities?  No worries friends, I did it for you.

I compiled this into a file for you along with generic plan templates...it's free here.  I'm not updating that file anymore so as I find new things I'm pinning ideas onto my pinterest board. Another great place to find materials is your filing cabinet.  I inherited a lot of random worksheets that seem good but I probably won't use them (because they are hidden in my filing cabinet).  I pulled a bunch of them out and tossed them into the sub tub!

Once I figured out what activities I liked that could be used all year, I wrote Choose Your Own Adventure lesson plans based on those activities.

Here is how it works....

I choose a few activities for each subject.  For science & social studies, I have 3 graphic organizers that can be used with any non-fiction topic (KWL chart, Bubble map, Fact Finder flip book).  For science, I bought the Magic School Bus dvd set from Amazon (that wasn't free but I wanted it for my classroom anyways).  

In my sub plans, I gave the sub a list of episodes that (s)he can choose from with instructions to cross off the one chosen.  Next, I give the substitute an option of what graphic organizer (s)he uses.  I explain all 3 in the plans.  This way, the sub can choose the option (s)he is most comfortable with.  I noted that the KWL chart will take longer than the other options so (s)he can choose a shorter option if time is short.

Here is what my science plans look like (large so you can read it): 

 

I keep the lesson plans in my sub binder under the lesson plan tab.  I am also going to print them and keep them in the front of the sub tub. 

Finally, I grabbed a file box and file folders.  I made a file folder for each reading group and each math group.  I also have a folder for each writing, science, and social studies activity.  I printed out the activities and made copies.  Just paper clip the copies together in the folder if you have multiple items in a folder.

Here is a look in some of the folders:

Reading mini books for reading groups from Super Teacher Worksheets.  I also printed reading comprehension packets from that site as well.  I am going to go back and put the comprehension packets in their own folder.  I'll label each folder with Opt. 1 and Opt 2 so the sub knows.  

Math folders have a lot of these coloring fact sheets (filing cabinet finds).  These take forever so they are perfect for a sub!

Science and Social studies folder...As I said, I have one folder for each graphic organizer.  I completed an organizer as an example for the sub and keep it in the front of each folder.  This organizer came from Ashley Reed.  

 

These are the writing prompts I used in my writing folder.  I printed about 8 of them for the class and paper clipped each prompt together.  You can get them from Creekside Teacher Tales for free!

(These folders look empty because they are...I didn't make all of the copies yet because I don't know how many kids are in each grade level).

I can't tell you how relieved I am to have this done.  If it's been on your list, do it now!  Grab your materials and set aside a few hours and get it done.  I seriously am prepared for 10-15 days and I could easily print more worksheets for more days.

Onto the sub binder.  Every page is editable so you can completely customize it to your classroom.  If you don't live in an area with tornados, you don't have a spot for tornado drills (makes sense right?) Here is a look inside (tons of pages are missing): 

Sorry that was so long...I think I was just overly excited that I finished this!  

Thank you Tara for hosting Monday Made It!!!