15 high school sub activities that fill a period and keep it calm
Fifteen activities a substitute can run in a high school class, grades 9 to 12, with any subject the teacher left. Start each period with an opener, use a whole-period piece when the plans run short, keep discussion on ideas rather than people, and close with a last-ten-minutes routine the teacher can use. Every item says what to do, what you need and the grades it fits. Follow the teacher's plan first; these are for the gaps.
Openers
1. Two-minute quickwrite
Post one prompt on the board from the unit named in the plan, such as what the class learned last week or a question the topic raises. Students write without stopping for two minutes. Ask three volunteers to read one sentence each, then collect the papers for the teacher.
Grades 9–12You need Paper and a timerUse 2-minute timer
2. Three things I know
Write the unit's name on the board. Each student lists three facts they already know about it and one question they still have. Pairs merge their lists into the best five facts, and you write every question on a sheet for the teacher.
Grades 9–12You need Paper
3. Nine-term retrieval grid
Draw a 3 × 3 grid on the board and fill it with nine terms from the chapter review or the unit's word list. Students explain any five in a sentence each, from memory first, then check their notes and fix what they got wrong in a second color.
Grades 9–12You need The board and paper
Whole-period work
4. Textbook section jigsaw
Split the assigned section into four parts. Groups read one part and write its three key points on a half sheet. Then make new groups with one member from each part, and each member teaches their part in two minutes while the others take notes.
Grades 9–12You need The class textbookUse Random group maker
5. Practice, swap and check
Students work ten practice problems alone for fifteen minutes. They swap with a neighbor, check each answer against the key or the back of the book, and each student fixes one mistake on their own paper with a note on what went wrong.
Grades 9–12You need Ten practice problems from the textbook or a sheetUse High school math sub plan
6. Passage close read
Hand out the passage from the high school reading sub plan. Students read it once for the gist, then a second time marking two lines that matter and one word they had to work out, and answer the questions. Go over two answers together at the end.
Grades 9–12You need The printed passage and its questionsUse High school ELA sub plan
7. Claim, evidence, reasoning
Pose one open question from the subject, such as which cause mattered most or which design would work best. Students write one paragraph: a claim, two pieces of evidence from their notes or the book, and a sentence on why the evidence supports the claim.
Grades 9–12You need Paper and the class notes or textbook
8. One-page study guide
Each student builds a one-page study guide for the unit: five key terms with definitions, three big ideas in their own words, and two practice questions with the answers on the back. Collect them; the teacher can hand them back before the test.
Grades 9–12You need Paper and the textbook
9. Science reading with a data check
Hand out the passage from the high school science sub plan. Students answer its questions, then write one question the passage raises that an experiment could test, with what they would change and what they would measure.
Grades 9–12You need The printed science passageUse High school science sub plan
10. Two sources, one question
Students read two short texts on the same topic, from the plan or the textbook, and fill a two-column chart: what each says, who wrote it and when. They end with one sentence on where the two agree and one on where they differ.
Grades 9–12You need The social studies passage or two textbook pagesUse High school social studies sub plan
Calm discussion
11. Silent discussion on paper
Write one question from the unit at the top of each sheet. Students move from sheet to sheet in silence for ten minutes, writing a response or replying to someone else's line. Then each student reads aloud one comment, not their own, that made them think.
Grades 9–12You need Large sheets of paper or one sheet a table, and pens
12. Four corners on ideas
Read a statement about the unit's ideas, such as a claim from the reading. Students stand in the corner that fits and one person from each corner explains in thirty seconds. Keep statements about ideas in the subject, never about classmates, and leave out anything personal or political.
Grades 9–12You need Four signs: strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree
13. Question ladder
Write one topic word from the plan at the bottom of the board. Students take turns adding a question one step harder than the last: what is it, how does it work, why does it matter, what would change it. The class answers the top three together.
Grades 9–12You need The board
Last ten minutes
14. 3-2-1 exit ticket
Each student writes three things they did or learned today, two questions they still have, and one link to something outside class. Collect them at the door; they tell the teacher where the class got to better than any note you could write.
Grades 9–12You need Half sheets of paperUse Exit ticket maker
15. Quiz the sub
Students write three review questions on today's material, with answers on the back. Pick five and read them aloud while the class answers in their heads, then on paper for the last two. Put the cards in the teacher's tray as a ready-made review.
Grades 9–12You need Index cards or scrap paper
Making it work
- Take attendance every period from the seating chart, the way the school does it; in high school it changes hour by hour.
- Follow the school's phone rule and say it once at the start, calmly. Our scripts for what to say have the words for phones out and for "our teacher lets us".
- Keep every discussion on ideas in the subject. If a topic turns personal or heated, close it and move to written work.
- Write down, by period, what each class finished and anything that happened, then leave it in the note for the teacher.
- If the plans run short, the sub plan generator makes a high school period in a minute.
Questions teachers ask
- What do you do as a high school substitute with no plans?
- Tell the office first, then run an opener such as a quickwrite, a whole-period piece like a textbook jigsaw or a study guide, and a 3-2-1 exit ticket. Keep it to review of the current unit, never new material.
- How do you keep a high school class on task as a sub?
- Greet students at the door, post the period's three steps on the board, give a timed task in the first two minutes, and collect something at the end. Students work better when they know the work goes back to their teacher.
- What are good sub activities for any high school subject?
- A two-minute quickwrite, a nine-term retrieval grid, claim-evidence-reasoning paragraphs, a silent discussion on paper, a one-page study guide and quiz-the-sub cards all work with whatever unit the class is in.
- Should a sub show a movie in high school?
- Only if the teacher's plan says to and the school allows it. A video with nothing to do is the activity most likely to fall apart; written work with a clear end point keeps a period calm.
Written for teachers by Peabody Teach. No ads, no affiliate links. Something wrong or missing? Tell us.