1st grade sub plans: sky and seasons day

8:10–8:35Morning work

1. Take attendance and the lunch count the way the office asked.
2. Put the morning board on the projector (/board/morning) and type today's schedule into it.
3. While you take attendance, students answer this on paper or in their journals: “Tell about something that grows. What does it need?”
4. Students who can't write it yet draw it and tell you about it.
5. Read the plan for the day out loud, so the class knows what's coming.

On the projector: Morning board for the projector

Break: Smell the soup, cool the soup (1 min, silent). Pretend you are holding a warm bowl of soup. Breathe in through your nose to smell it. Blow out slowly through your lips to cool it down. Repeat five times.

8:35–9:40Reading: The Moon

1. Hand out “The Moon”, a nonfiction passage of 98 words. Print 24: the student copy is in this packet.
2. Read it aloud once while the class follows along with a finger. Then partners read it to each other in whisper voices.
3. Ask the 5 questions out loud, one at a time. Students answer with a partner first, then share. Each student draws a picture of their favorite part.
4. With five minutes left, go over two questions out loud. The answers are on the key page: keep it with you.

📄 The Moon (passage and key)

9:55–10:40Writing

1. Write this on the board: “What happens when a bear walks into your classroom?”
2. Give partners two minutes to tell each other their idea out loud before anyone writes.
3. Students draw a picture first, then write one or two sentences about it. Sound words out together rather than spelling each one for them.
4. Volunteers read theirs aloud at the end. Collect the papers for the teacher.

On the projector: Writing prompts by grade

Break: One good thing (45 sec, silent). Think of one good thing from today, big or small. Hold it in your mind for three slow breaths.

10:40–11:40Math: subtraction within 20

1. Warm-up: count together by ones to 100, then by tens to 100.
2. Hand out the subtraction within 20 sheet (16 problems). Print 24; the key is on its own page.
3. Students work on their own for twenty minutes, then check with a partner.
4. Early finishers write three problems of their own and swap with a neighbor.

📄 Subtraction within 20 (sheet and key)

1:05–1:30Read-aloud

1. Open the read-aloud shelf (/read-aloud) on the projector and pick a book for 1st grade. Read it aloud, or let it read itself.
2. Before: ask what they think the book will be about, from the cover or the title.
3. After: ask who the story was about, what the problem was, and how it was solved.

On the projector: Read-aloud books for the projector

Break: Count ten breaths (2 min, silent). Breathe normally and count each breath in your head, from one to ten. If your mind wanders, start again at one. That is part of it.

1:30–2:20Science: The Four Seasons

1. Before reading, students fill in the first two columns of the K-W-L sheet: what they know about weather and seasons, and what they want to know. After reading, the last column: what they learned.
2. Hand out “The Four Seasons”, a nonfiction passage of 74 words. Print 24: the student copy is in this packet.
3. Read it aloud once while the class follows along with a finger. Then partners read it to each other in whisper voices.
4. Ask the 5 questions out loud, one at a time. Students answer with a partner first, then share. Each student draws a picture of their favorite part.
5. With five minutes left, go over two questions out loud. The answers are on the key page: keep it with you.

📄 The Four Seasons (passage and key) · a K-W-L sheet

Break: Carry the glass (1 min, silent). Imagine you are carrying a glass filled right to the top with water. Walk slowly in your mind across the room without spilling a single drop.

2:20–2:40Extra time

1. Hand out the maze. Students who finish draw a maze of their own on the back and swap with a neighbor.
2. Anyone who would rather read may read their own book.

📄 a maze

If your school's filter allows peabody.kids: Sandstorm: put it on the projector and let the class call out the answers together

Break: Swim across the lake (45 sec, silent). Swim across a lake with your arms: front crawl, then breaststroke, then backstroke. Keep your arms close so you do not touch anyone.

2:40–2:55Clean-up and the note

1. Tidy the room on a five-minute timer (/timer/5-minutes on the projector).
2. Ask each student for one thing they learned today. Passing is fine.
3. Fill in the note to the teacher (the last page) and leave it on the teacher's desk with the papers you collected.
4. Dismiss the class the way this school does it. If you're not sure how a student gets home, ask the office before you let them go.

On the projector: 5 minute timer