TeachersFirst's Substitutes - Ideas and Resources
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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
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The Achievery is a free digital learning platform created by AT&T in collaboration with Warner Brothers that pairs video clips with lessons to engage students in learning across seven...more
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The Achievery is a free digital learning platform created by AT&T in collaboration with Warner Brothers that pairs video clips with lessons to engage students in learning across seven subject areas. Create an account to access activities such as a poetry scavenger hunt with Amanda Gorman or learn reading and writing skills from Wonder Woman video clips. Begin at the "All Units" link to find content by grade level, standards, subject, and additional filters. Most lessons are part of a larger learning unit; however, they are ready to use as individual teaching activities. Each lesson includes correlations to teaching and CASEL standards (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning), highlights relevant vocabulary, activity directions, and links to the featured video, and is available in PDF format. The Achievery lessons and activities are available in English and Spanish. This site would be a good one to leave for your substitute to use; it's high interest, no sign-in, and has lesson plans & video clips.
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.
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World's Largest Lesson - Project Everyone
Grades
K to 12
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World's Largest Lesson provides resources for educators who teach students about 17 Global Goals created by the leaders of the 193 countries of the United Nations. Visit the Resources...more
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World's Largest Lesson provides resources for educators who teach students about 17 Global Goals created by the leaders of the 193 countries of the United Nations. Visit the Resources portion of the site to browse through the many activities. Narrow your search using the provided filters to locate information by grade level, topic, type of activity, and more. In addition, if you are interested in a particular goal, say Zero Hunger, find the poster with the 17 goals and click on Zero Hunger to find activities and lessons. Downloadable lessons include complete directions, printable worksheets, and key questions highlighted during the lesson. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. This site would be a good one to leave for your substitute to use; it's high-interest, no sign-in, and has lesson plans & video clips.
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.
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Virtual Manipulatives - Toy Theater
Grades
K to 6
3 Favorites
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This site shares a large variety of virtual math manipulatives that are useful for many occasions. Select from virtual dice, number lines, place value disks, and much more. It even...more
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This site shares a large variety of virtual math manipulatives that are useful for many occasions. Select from virtual dice, number lines, place value disks, and much more. It even includes play money from several locations around the world! Many of the virtual manipulatives include interactive content to adjust settings, change color, and suggestions for use. Most items also include a link to further explanation of how to teach the content along with links to printables and worksheets. This site would be a good one to leave for your substitute to use; it's high interest, no sign-in, thorough directions, and some have worksheets.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
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 6
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Find crafts, activities, and printables for kids at Woo! Search for materials by holiday, age group, or by using the keyword search bar. Resources just for teachers include lesson plans,...more
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Find crafts, activities, and printables for kids at Woo! Search for materials by holiday, age group, or by using the keyword search bar. Resources just for teachers include lesson plans, templates, and poetry starters. Be sure to check out the recipe section for snack ideas and kid-friendly meal suggestions. This site would be a good one to leave for your substitute to use; it's high interest, no sign-in, thorough directions, and some have worksheets. This site does include some distracting advertisements.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
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.
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A Year of Picture Prompts - New York Times
Grades
5 to 12
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Do you need some ideas for writing projects? The New York Times offers a school year of prompts and images as inspiration for writing across many genres. Scroll through the ...more
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Do you need some ideas for writing projects? The New York Times offers a school year of prompts and images as inspiration for writing across many genres. Scroll through the site to find categories for images based on the form of writing encouraged for students. Also, a lesson idea bank inspires using pictures and writing in the classroom.
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 8
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The Classroom Freebies Resource Library contains thousands of free materials for grades K-8. Many different kinds of resources are included such as task cards, classroom management...more
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The Classroom Freebies Resource Library contains thousands of free materials for grades K-8. Many different kinds of resources are included such as task cards, classroom management charts, coloring sheets, worksheets, and posters. Use the search bar to find specific content or browse using links to grade level content and topics such as the End of the Year and Common Core Freebies. Follow links for directions about downloading materials.
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.
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Math Salamanders - Crispin Salamander
Grades
K to 6
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Math Salamander offers a huge selection of math worksheets and interactives for preschool through 5th grade. Browse the site by grade level or topic to find the resources available....more
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Math Salamander offers a huge selection of math worksheets and interactives for preschool through 5th grade. Browse the site by grade level or topic to find the resources available. In addition to worksheets, choose the Online Practice for online interacitves to practice math knowledge and skills.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
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 12
3 Favorites
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Access commonly taught themes for classic literature and discussion questions for that theme. Plus there are Text Sets perfect for social studies teachers! Choose a Lexile'''''®...more
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Access commonly taught themes for classic literature and discussion questions for that theme. Plus there are Text Sets perfect for social studies teachers! Choose a Lexile'''''® grade level for reading and download the text in PDF format or read online. Each text has a menu across the top offering Paired Texts, Related Media, a Teachers Guide, and a Parent Guide. Accompanying the text are critical thinking questions, an Assessment, and some have Guided Reading Mode. Choose the size of the font, listen to the Read Aloud (and pause it), translate to Spanish, and Highlight. Track student progress. You can search by Book, Genre, Grade Level, Literary Device, Text Set, Theme, and Spanish Texts. All of this for free! What else could one want? Well, you can also request a text, and they will negotiate with the copyright holders to have that text on their site. Take a look at their blog, too! You'll find lots of suggestions and thoughtful reflections for using nonfiction texts with your students.
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!
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Form Time Ideas - Jonathan Hall
Grades
5 to 9
5 Favorites
1 Comments
Form Time Ideas offers a constantly changing selection of daily quick activities in many subjects. (For American teachers, "form time" is roughly equivalent to "homeroom" time.) Choose...more
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Form Time Ideas offers a constantly changing selection of daily quick activities in many subjects. (For American teachers, "form time" is roughly equivalent to "homeroom" time.) Choose the Home Page to view a mix of topics such as Brainteasers, In the News Today, and Word of the Day. Select links to choose activities for only specific topics such as literacy, numeracy, or news. Easily print any page using the link in the top right corner of each section. If finished early, refresh the page for a new set of activities! You can also click on the button under each question to only refresh that particular question/statement. The site was created in the UK, so some of the pronunciations and spellings may differ from those in American English. This is a perfect site for you to leave for your substitute for early finishers!
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
AWESOME RESOURCE!Patricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12
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NameCoach - Praveen Shanbhag
Grades
K to 12
1 Favorites
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Never mispronounce a name again, thanks to the help of NameCoach! Record names using your own computer or any other device. Add phonetic spelling or pronunciation tips. You can listen...more
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Never mispronounce a name again, thanks to the help of NameCoach! Record names using your own computer or any other device. Add phonetic spelling or pronunciation tips. You can listen to the names as often as you wish. Create your account to make lists for Back to School, award ceremonies, graduations, and much more. After creating your name page, share a link with peers through email or as a link on your class webpage or blog. Share the link in your substitute plans, too! Create a master list with sublists for use in different departments, classes, or for individual events.
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 12
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Find and print many worksheets for upper level math skills. Worksheets are divided by subject and content at this easy to navigate site. Subjects include Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Algebra...more
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Find and print many worksheets for upper level math skills. Worksheets are divided by subject and content at this easy to navigate site. Subjects include Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Algebra 2, Geometry, and Calculus. Choose your course then topic area to find a problem set. Click to print. View answers on a copy of the worksheet included.
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This site includes advertising.
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.
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Famous People Lessons - Sean Banville
Grades
6 to 12
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This collection of over 150 lessons provides biographies and profiles of well known personalities for ENL/ELL (and other) students. The famous people range from 50 Cent to Walt Disney....more
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This collection of over 150 lessons provides biographies and profiles of well known personalities for ENL/ELL (and other) students. The famous people range from 50 Cent to Walt Disney. Scroll through the list of names. The main page shows each person's profession (or claim to fame), nationality, birthdate and date of death (when appropriate). Choose a name to go to the lesson. Lessons include a short biography (7-8th grade level reading) and activities to accompany it. Examples of activities include synonym match, cloze activities, spelling, and discussion questions.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
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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