Middle School Sub Plans, Any Subject, Emergency Substitute Binder, 9 No Prep Activities

Woke up sick? Your middle schoolers already have a whole day planned. These no prep middle school sub plans work in any subject: emergency sub plans and a substitute binder in one, with 9 one-period activities the sub runs straight from the printout. Every activity brings its own content, a sub script with a Read This Out box, and every answer printed, so the sub never has to know your subject. Two activities are new in this edition: Read and Sketchnote and a Logic Grid Mystery. No prep and no tech for you: print it once and keep it in your sub tub.

Perfect For

• A sudden sick day: emergency sub plans that are ready before you need them
• A sub who does not know your subject: it works in science, social studies, ELA, math, electives or advisory
• Any class or period: run one activity per period, or the same one all day
• Your sub tub or emergency sub folder, printed once for the whole year
• Your own no prep day, or a planned absence like a conference or training

How It Works

1. Print the binder and leave it on your desk. The lesson plan on page 4 is already filled in: every activity with its page, its minutes and three short steps.
2. Each activity starts with a sub script: how to set it up, a Read This Out box written to be read aloud word for word, the timing, and the answer key wherever there are answers.
3. Every activity fits one class period (33 to 45 minutes), so the sub can run a different one each period or the same one all day. They all stand alone.
4. The quiet activities settle a class. The group games are optional, a fun way to end a class or to fill extra time.
5. Writing comes back to you, and the keys settle every answer, so the sub never has to grade or judge.

What’s Inside: 38 Pages

• 7 front pages: a binder cover, important information, a note to the substitute, the lesson plan already filled in, a schedule of the day, a class list and dismissal sheet, and a “how it went” sheet for the sub
• Quiet Reading (quiet single, 45 min): Two short passages with questions and keys. Fiction and nonfiction. It practices close reading of fiction and nonfiction, finding evidence in the text, making inferences.
• New: Read and Sketchnote (quiet single, 40 min): One surprising science article, five words in context, and a one-page sketchnote. It practices reading nonfiction for the main idea and key facts, figuring out words from context, summarizing in pictures and few words.
• Finish the Story (quiet single, 42 min): Six openers, three planning boxes, one page of silent writing. It practices planning and writing a short narrative with characters, a problem and an ending.
• Math Menu (quiet single, 45 min): Three math sheets to choose from: color by answer, number mazes, word problems. It practices order of operations, integers, fractions and percents, multiples and primes, multi-step word problems.
• Draw and Pass (quiet group, 33 min): Telephone with pictures. Write, draw, guess, in silence. It practices describing an idea clearly in words and in pictures, interpreting what someone else meant.
• Brain Teaser Tournament (group or single, 43 min): 24 riddles in 3 rounds, read aloud or solved in silence. It practices logical reasoning, wordplay and number sense, agreeing on an answer as a team.
• New: Logic Grid Mystery (team logic, 40 min): Who left the hamster’s cage open? A practice puzzle, then a real logic grid case for teams. It practices deductive reasoning with a logic grid, reading clues precisely (not, before and after, either/or), explaining an answer with evidence.
• Category Race (group, writing, 41 min): One letter. Ten categories. Three minutes. It practices vocabulary, spelling and quick recall of words across subjects.
• This or That Stand-Off (whole class, talking, 42 min): Pick a side, hear one speaker each, vote again. Most votes wins. It practices giving reasons for a choice, speaking persuasively, listening to other points of view.
• A sub script for every activity, with the answer keys printed on it (10 pages), and 21 student pages

Here is a quick look at the binder: