Unexpected Sub Days: Lesson Plans
As someone who has made it to my page, you are likely into the whole concept-based and inquiry approach. So, I probably don't need to tell you how authentically imbedding skills into the learning is the gold standard. But I have had someone reach out to ask about how do you deal with unexpected sub days, which made me think about how so many of us are having to cover for other teachers during our planning periods with the teacher shortage. So, I thought, what if I could think of some ideas that would allow students to work on their ATL or 21st Century Skills on days the teacher is out but require just a little bit of sub-input?
First, I decided to go to Thinking Skills. Mostly because Harvard’s Project Zero already has SO MANY amazing resources for this and you can easily find a visible thinking tool that could be used in a lesson.
I will keep updating ideas on how to use them for unexpected sub days, but I wanted to start with Circle of Viewpoints. It is one of my favorites when thinking about literature or social studies as it allows for so much creativity from the students and each time has led to a student taking a viewpoint I had not even considered. The trick is typically to not structure where they should be coming from on this. Don’t even limit it to people if you want to truly get some interesting feedback.
That being said- in my earlier elementary version I will have a bit more guidance, as this abstract thinking often needs to be modeled and played with a bit. However, it really is amazing how quickly even our youngest learners will grasp and discuss complex ideas.
Alright so what is this one already? The idea is students get to choose a perspective and think about the topic differently. It can take off pressure to be putting their own ideas onto more complex or controversial issues as well if this is just a perspective and not necessarily their own point of view.
Straight from Project Zero it says:
1. Brainstorm a list of difference perspectives.
2. Choose one perspective to explore, using these sentence-starters:
• I am thinking of ... the topic ... from the viewpoint of ... the viewpoint you’ve chosen
• I think ... describe the topic from your viewpoint. Be an actor—take on the character of your viewpoint
• A question I have from this viewpoint is ... ask a question from this viewpoint
Great so you’ve read all this and where are the plans already?
This tool can be used in many subjects, and I recommend using in your classroom at other times and not just for this sub day. I also tried to give multiple options in each section. I hope you find a story or video that would be interesting for your sub and hopefully tie in with your units. I have many more ideas for skills building that I am working on and if you like these plans- please do share and let them know more will be coming soon!
Please do feel free to reach out with suggestions or any feedback as this a first go and I love to collaborate and am open to adapting. Here you go:
I also created a template for visible thinking which can be accessed here
