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Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

High school sub plans: a world language

One world language plan for every period of a high school day, written for a sub with no world language background: five minutes to settle, then “This unit's words, three ways” with the textbook or the class's notes, and paper, a backup if it runs short, and the last five minutes. Three things a sub never does in this room are on the plan, and the timetable runs 7 periods of 50 minutes.

Checked October 31, 2026. Written for a sub with no specialist skill: everything works on paper, with no equipment. Print it, or save it as a PDF from the generator.

Make the whole day at high school ▸

The lesson, every period

A world language: this unit's words, three ways

  1. First 5 minutes, settle. Say who you are and that you're covering the world language class today. Greet the class, take attendance from the seating chart, and say that today the class's book and notes lead. If you don't speak the language, say so; the class will help.
  2. The main part, about 35 minutes. This unit's words, three ways: Students make a three-column page for the current unit's word list: the word, what it means, and a sentence of their own that uses it. Then partners quiz each other with the meaning column covered. Finish with each student writing ten of the words from memory. You need: the textbook or the class's notes, and paper.
  3. If it runs short, the room changes or the class needs something calmer: Label the room: Students list everything in the room they can name in the language, with a small drawing beside each word. Partners swap lists and add one word each. You need: scrap paper.
  4. Last 5 minutes: Books back where they came from, and the work collected with the period written on top.
Never, as a sub in this room
  • Don't put students on translation websites or apps to do the work. It comes from their book and their notes.
  • Don't correct pronunciation or grammar you're not sure of. Write the question down for the teacher.
  • No test or quiz the teacher didn't leave.

Subbing high school

High school runs like middle school, a period at a time, with older students who will test whether the plan is real. Say the plan, the task and when it is due in the first two minutes, and hold to it calmly. Many will work alone if the task is clear.

  • Write the task and what is due by the end of the period on the board before the bell.
  • Phones follow the school's own rule; ask the office what it is before first period.
  • If a class says the teacher lets them, follow the plan and leave it for the teacher to decide.

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