2nd grade sub plans: a whole 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: “Should every school have a garden? Tell why or why not.”
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: Rock climb (30 sec, silent). Reach one hand up and then the other, as if you are climbing a tall rock wall. Pull yourself up higher and higher, then climb slowly back down.

8:35–9:40Reading: Magnets Push and Pull

1. Hand out “Magnets Push and Pull”, a nonfiction passage of 105 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. Students answer the 6 questions under the passage, in full sentences.
4. With five minutes left, go over two questions out loud. The answers are on the key page: keep it with you.

📄 Magnets Push and Pull (passage and key)

9:55–10:40Writing

1. Write this on the board: “Explain why people need sleep, food and exercise to stay healthy.”
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: Count back (45 sec, silent). Count backward from twenty to zero in your head, slowly. Then try counting back by twos.

10:40–11:40Math: two-digit addition without regrouping

1. Warm-up: write these on the board and solve them together, asking a student to explain each step: 87 + 12; 10 + 26; 63 + 10.
2. Hand out the two-digit addition without regrouping 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.

📄 Two-digit addition without regrouping (sheet and key)

1:05–1:30Read-aloud

1. Open the read-aloud shelf (/read-aloud) on the projector and pick a book for 2nd 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: 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.

1:30–2:20Science: The Water Cycle

1. Before reading, students fill in the first two columns of the K-W-L sheet: what they know about weather and water, and what they want to know. After reading, the last column: what they learned.
2. Hand out “The Water Cycle”, a nonfiction passage of 116 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. Students answer the 6 questions under the passage, in full sentences.
5. With five minutes left, go over two questions out loud. The answers are on the key page: keep it with you.

📄 The Water Cycle (passage and key) · a K-W-L sheet

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.

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: Memory: put it on the projector and let the class call out the answers together

Break: Shoulder blade squeeze (30 sec, silent). Pull your shoulder blades toward each other, as if you are holding a pencil between them. Hold for three counts, then relax. Do it five times.

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