Kindergarten 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: “Would you rather have a cat or a dog? Tell why.”
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: Desk push (30 sec, silent). Press your palms flat against the edge of your desk and push for five seconds. Rest, and repeat three times.

8:35–9:40Reading: My Cat Mim

1. Hand out “My Cat Mim”, a fiction passage of 38 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.

📄 My Cat Mim (passage and key)

9:55–10:40Writing

1. Write this on the board: “Tell what you know about the weather today.”
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: Walk through a calm place (1 min, silent). Picture a place where you feel calm, such as a park, a beach or a library. Walk through it in your mind. What do you see, hear and smell?

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

1. Warm-up: count together by ones to 20, then by tens to 100.
2. Hand out the subtraction within 10 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 10 (sheet and key)

1:05–1:30Read-aloud

1. Open the read-aloud shelf (/read-aloud) on the projector and pick a book for kindergarten. 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: Window wipers (30 sec, silent). Stretch your arms out in front of you and sweep them left and right, like windshield wipers on a rainy day.

1:30–2:20Science: Rain

1. Before reading, students fill in the first two columns of the K-W-L sheet: what they know about weather, and what they want to know. After reading, the last column: what they learned.
2. Hand out “Rain”, a nonfiction passage of 39 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.

📄 Rain (passage and key) · a K-W-L sheet

Break: Toe circles (45 sec, silent). Lift one foot a little and draw a circle in the air with your toes. Switch feet. Wiggle your toes inside your shoes.

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

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.

2:40–2:55Clean-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