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Kindergarten sub plans: sky and weather day

A whole kindergarten day a substitute can run with nothing left on the desk, all about rain, the sun and the sky. The reading block reads “Day and Night” (48 words, 5 questions), and the science block reads “Rain” with a K-W-L sheet, both with answer keys. Writing, math, a read-aloud and brain breaks fill the rest, from 8:10 to 2:55, and the last page is the note to the teacher.

Checked October 31, 2026. Made from Peabody Teach's own passages, worksheets and brain break cards. Print it, or save it as a PDF from the generator.

Make your own kindergarten day ▸

First, before the bell
  1. Write your name and the date on the board.
  2. Find the attendance and send it the way the office asked. Not sure how? Ask the office before the bell.
  3. Find the emergency folder or the drill map by the door, and say hello to the teacher next door.
  4. Ask the class which signal their teacher uses for quiet, and use theirs. If nobody knows, use the one below.
  5. Read this whole plan once before the students come in.

Signal for quiet: Raise one hand and count down from five on your fingers, saying “Give me five.” Wait until every hand is up and the room is quiet.

Kindergarten: the day

8:10Morning work
8:35Reading: Day and Night 📄
9:40Recess
9:55Writing
10:40Math: make 10 📄
11:40Lunch
12:20Specials
1:05Read-aloud
1:30Science: Rain 📄
2:20Extra time 📄
2:40Clean-up and the note
2:55Dismissal

Block by block

Morning 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: “Write about a trip to the park. Who came with you?”
  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: Thigh drumroll (30 sec). Pat your thighs faster and faster like a drumroll, then slow all the way down and finish with one big clap.

Reading: Day and Night

  1. Hand out “Day and Night”, a nonfiction passage of 48 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.

📄 Day and Night (passage and key)

Writing

  1. Write this on the board: “Tell how to brush your teeth.”
  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: 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.

Math: make 10

  1. Warm-up: count together by ones to 20, then by tens to 100.
  2. Hand out the make 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.

📄 Make 10 (sheet and key)

Read-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: Rag doll (45 sec, silent). Let your head, arms and shoulders go floppy like a rag doll. Hang loose and sway a little, then slowly roll back up. Skip this one if you feel dizzy.

Science: 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: Ear to shoulder (45 sec, silent). Lower your right ear toward your right shoulder while both shoulders stay low. Hold for three slow breaths, then switch sides.

Extra 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: Deep Dig: put it on the projector and let the class call out the answers together

Break: Shoulder circles (30 sec, silent). Lift your shoulders up toward your ears, roll them back and let them drop. Then roll them the other way.

Clean-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

At the end of the day

Leave the note for the teacher: what you did, who helped, anything that happened, and any messages. It is the last printed page.

The two passages

  • Rain: 39 words, 5 questions, with the answer key
  • Day and Night: 48 words, 5 questions, with the answer key

Subbing kindergarten

Kindergarten runs on routines more than lessons: the bathroom, snack, lining up, the carpet. Blocks are short, and the class knows how its day goes better than you do. Read to them rather than expecting them to read alone, and let them show you the routines.

More kindergarten days

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