Sub Tub

I can not believe I never came up with this idea before! Creating sub plans has always been a challenge, especially considering it is a rare event when my sub speaks Spanish, so a day out is a day lost. Browsing on Pinterest, I came across another teacher's Sub Tub, and with modifications, I have created a marvel (or so I think!). My goal was to create a tub filled with activities that were reusable, easy for a sub who doesn't speak Spanish to manage, and were cultural or linguistic in nature, but accessible for students. I started by thinking of the necessary components:
-Plan book (In this I have, of course, my schedule, emergency info, and instructions for how to use the sub tub and more- see below for a longer listing.)

-Activities organized by grade level (The bulk of these activities are games, each in its own bag, with instructions for how to lead the game/activity and materials to play. See below for a listing of the activities I've included.) The sub chooses one of these activities to do with each class. They are organized by grade level.

-Additional Materials (ball for greeting games, bingo chips, playing cards, etc)

Though it took a lot of time and effort to get the tub together, now I do not need to worry about heading into work in the morning when I am really sick, the plans are always ready to go!

 PLAN BOOK CONTENTS:
-Introduction to Sub Tub
-Class notes, including assigned seats, class rules and routines, food allergy info, how to transition classes
-Conducting a Lesson (Three components: Greeting, Poem, Activity)... this details how to run the three components of the lesson
-Greeting Activities- I start all classes with a greeting activity. I've included four activities which are easy for a sub to manage; materials such as a ball for 'Ball Roll' are in the tub.
-Basic Instructions for Class Activities
-Schedule
-Map of School
-Phone Extensions

ACTIVITIES
-Poems- I have a book entitled 'Poetry Celebrating Life in the Amazon Rainforest' which the kids love. I've made a checklist of each class and each poem, so as one is read, the sub checks off the poem and which class has heard it. This creates a visual reference should I be out again; the next sub will know which poems have been read to which classes.

-Fairytales- I have included a selection of fairytales and folktales from various Spanish speaking countries and a checklist for these. (K, 1)
-Bingo (Lotería)- This could be any vocabulary set, but mine is colors and numbers to 10. The call cards have the word and pronunciation on the back for the sub. (K-2)
-Gato (TicTacToe) (K-3)
-Memorama (Memory)- I made a version with various pictures and vocabulary having to do with Days of the Dead. You could use any vocabulary set or cultural images. (3,4)
-Puzzles- I took a variety of large pictures and maps of cultural images, glued each to a stiff piece of paper, laminated them, and then cut them into pieces. Each puzzle goes into a little baggie. Kids can do the puzzles in pairs. Should they finish one puzzle, they can choose another. (1, 2, 3)
-Reloj (a card game from Spain) (4)

All games have been played with classes at some time in the past so the classes are familiar with them. I've noted the grade levels for each activity in parenthesis. Many other types of games could be included; I plan on adding others in the future to mix it up a bit and add choice. Yay to the Sub Tub!

We've created a Sub Tub Kit ready to print out and put together! Games, activities and more to create your own... get it here!

Get it here!