Tag Archives: information for supply teachers

Year 6 Emergency Lesson Plans for Literacy

Lesson plans for supply teachersThese emergency lesson plans for Year 6 Literacy are only to be used by supply teachers who are faced with no planning or easily accessible resources. Also to be used following the guidance notes here.

Autumn Term

Word Level Work

  • Gather a collection of proper nouns and investigate their origins using dictionaries and encyclopaedias.
  • Look at more complex suffixes, prefixes and roots. Find poly-syllabic words and break them down to better understand meaning and origin.

Sentence Level Work

  • Write a set of instructions, a non-chronological report or similar on the board and ask children to investigate ways in which it could be punctuated. Look at use of colons, semi-colons, brackets and dashes.

Spring Term

Word Level Work

  • Build a bank of connectives.
  • Build a bank of alternatives to ‘said’. Give a sentence to improve i.e. “Get out of my way,” said Kojic

Sentence Level Work

  • Contracting sentences: note making, editing and summary – find out what current humanities topic is, read a passage from a relevant source, ask them to take notes while you read it, then to summarize the passage (could be in bullet point or paragraph form.)

Summer Term

Word Level Work

  • Invent mnemonics for irregular and difficult spellings.

Sentence Level Work

  • Study proverbs and write their meanings.

Text Level Work

Narrative / Plays / Scripts

  • Write a story with two different narrators. More able alone, one paragraph (sub-titled?) for each, able and less able in pairs, think of a story with two characters (parent/teacher and child perhaps? Bully/Victim) and each take a part to write same story, compile as intertwined paragraphs at end.
  • Give the children 1 story title, and ask them to plan five stories using it, using the same characters. Example titles: Lost!; We’re On Our Way!; Shipwrecked!; Track Fever; Mysterious Mummies.
  • Read the opening to a story, and ask children to prepare as a script using stage directions etc.
  • Write the blurb for the back cover of a novel they’d like to write/their auto-biography.
  • Write a flashback story, secret door, key, black hole etc.
  • Write an alternative ending to a well-know story (i.e. myth, fairy tale.)
  • Produce a writer’s commentary on the opening/first chapter of their current reading book

Non Fiction

  • Give each table a different audience but the same non-fiction title, e.g. Life in the Blitz, compare the style the different texts are written in, language, format etc.
  • Discuss current point of debate (i.e. local toxic waste plant (use local/current affairs knowledge) or imaginary school scenario (Head teacher decides to ban/bring in uniforms for teachers) and write a balanced report.
  • Prepare a CV for their hero, research where available, for job as Prime Minister.
  • Write a report in a journalistic style based on a local/current issue such as dogs fouling the park. Present a balanced and ethical report that includes interviews from different perspectives.
  • Give invitation to Hermione to Wizard’s Ball, ask to prepare same for a professor of wizardry, concentrating on differences between formal and informal text used.

Poetry

Return to Emergency Lesson Plans Index

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on Year 6 Emergency Lesson Plans for Numeracy. Check out our resources area here too.

Year 5 Emergency Lesson Plans for Literacy

Lesson plans for supply teachersThese emergency lesson plans for Year 5 Literacy are only to be used by supply teachers who are faced with no planning or easily accessible resources. Also to be used following the guidance notes here.

 

Autumn Term

Word Level Work

  • Investigate plurals, find your own rules (much better than being given rules, as long as they’re correct!)
  • Investigate meanings and spellings of words with prefixes: auto, bi, tele and circum.

Sentence Level Work

  • Give sentences in direct/reported speech, to convert to reported/direct speech (she said, “I am eating!” to she said (that) she was eating)
  • Give a list, and ask to place a colon, make their own lists (top ten authors/pop stars etc.) and place colons as necessary.
  • Look at the conventions for writing dialogue in narrative using current reading books, separate lines and commas etc.

Spring Term

Word Level Work

  • Collect onomatopoeic words and present them to class
  • See how many different ways the sound for example ‘a’ as in May, can be written

Sentence Level Work

  • Write a formal invitation on the board, and ask the children to change it to an informal one… and decorate!
  • Explore ambiguities e.g. Heavy Plant Crossing, they are cooking apples, police shot man with knife, Baby Changing Room, and Danger Swimmers Keep Out

Summer Term

Word Level Work

  • Spell unstressed vowels in polysyllabic words, e.g. company, portable, interest, description, carpet, freedom, extra
  • Investigate and create rule (better than being given one) for modifying words ending in e, when adding ing/ful/ly
  • Compile class dictionary for own slang words and give own definitions, e.g. mate, (it) wrecks, nectar.

Sentence Level Work

  • Use connectives other than and, then, but, to link clauses in sentences. Find in own previous work (collect lots of connectives before they start) and re-write sentence on today’s page.

Text Level Work

Narrative / Plays / Scripts

  • Add a new character/scene to a Roald Dahl/Lucy Daniels/Jeremy Strong book, using the style of the author (i.e. a talking animal in a Roald Dahl book)
  • Write a short story (pref. myth/fable) on the board, and ask them to review and edit it (include misspellings, poor language selection etc. Make sure you clearly show that these are the parts to rework.)
  • Write a well-known story from someone else’s point of view, i.e. The Wolf in Three Little Pigs/Little Red Riding Hood
  • Discuss known proverbs in class, a bird in the hand, too many cooks etc., and choose one to write as a story in fable/myth/legend style, to demonstrate it’s meaning.

Non Fiction

  • Write an incident letter to the police from two different people’s points of view, i.e. victim and eye-witness.
  • Write to the local MP regarding e.g. poor lighting outside school, placing poop scoop bins at edge of park etc.
  • Write instructional texts, i.e. How to Use a Computer: Ideal Text for Teachers!

Poetry

  • Read a poem with a definite theme (i.e. football) and ask them to change the theme by substituting words (i.e. to horse riding)
  • Read a poem with a definite structure, explore structure and ask them to add a verse.
  • Convey feelings/moods in a poem, structure given by teacher. Shaped into a frown/smile?
  • Choral and performance poems, relate Christmas carols, Albert and the Lion, rap, pop music, nursery rhymes. Children to perform in small groups at end of lesson.

Return to Emergency Lesson Plans Index

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on Year 5 Emergency Lesson Plans for Numeracy. Check out our resources area here too.

Year 4 Emergency Lesson Plans for Literacy

Lesson plans for supply teachersThese emergency lesson plans for Year 4 Literacy are only to be used by supply teachers who are faced with no planning or easily accessible resources. Also to be used following the guidance notes here.

Word Level Work

  • Game split 2-syllable words containing double consonants in the middle, kettle, bubble, common, rabbit. Randomly write the two halves somewhere on the board, and the children have to draw a line to match the pairs, write them on their whiteboards, or tell a friend.
  • Write to/too/two or they’re/their/there in sentences correctly.
  • Practice handwriting!
  • Vocabulary extension: give sentences with common vocab. in, e.g. good, got, nice, then, and ask children to improve them.
  • Practice range of presentation skills, design a poster with capitals for header, print for labels and cartoon captions and different fonts for emphasis. Poster to advertise new club in school?

Sentence Level Work

  • Create a class/group list of words to use instead of walk/went e.g. crawled, hobbled etc.
  • Look through current reading books to identify possessive apostrophes, and write without apostrophe i.e. Jake’s hat was red. > Jake owned a hat which was red.
  • Look at use of apostrophe for contraction. Give examples on board and ask children to find others in reading material.
  • Make a list of punctuation used in your reading book/non-fiction book from bookcase. Make a glossary on how and when to use.
  • Present verbally an argument between two friends, using connectives to structure it, i.e. if you… then…, on the other hand, when you… finally, so that means…

Narrative / Plays / Scripts

  • Write a setting on board while children watch. Describe a fantastical or horrific place. Ask children to write their own. Deny them the use of certain common words associated with that place, but investigate more figurative language and adjectives. Explore the five senses in the setting.
  • Look at three different ways of planning a story… storyboard (page cut into 4/6), brainstorming, linear sequence like a film strip or pathway (one setting to next, what happens along the way i.e. earth to planet Zog)
  • Re-write the ending of a well-known story, change the reader’s opinion of the main character, e.g. the bad guy was actually trying to do good, offers apology, ‘good’ guy doesn’t accept and is bitter.
  • Write two character opposite descriptions, emotionally provocative, i.e. Dracula and victim, evil/good twin
  • Write a play script using well-known story, i.e. fairy tale, Aesop’s fable, myth/legend (Hare and The Tortoise could be a good one!)
  • Write a story based in a castle, featuring knights and princesses.
  • Write a character description of an alien, and describe his home planet.

Non Fiction

  • Write a review of the latest gadget/game for a magazine.
  • Write to the Head Teacher to persuade them to get 10 of the latest PS2/IPOD/fav. gadget of the class into school.
  • Give bulleted points on board to children regarding their current humanities topic. They then write out in two paragraphs and find information to flesh it out from other sources.
  • Design an advert/jingle for a new product, summer fruits drink? Healthy new sweets? Space travel holidays?
  • Write a newspaper front cover, include headline story and an advertisement. Headline story to be something the children are familiar with or can identify with, include one interview (tiger escapes from zoo and terrorizes school, 3 little pigs survive wolf torture.)

Poetry

  • Write limericks, explore structure, rhyming patterns and humour first.
  • Teacher to write a poem on board, children refine and polish it, use thesaurus, reorganise structure.
  • Write a poem to describe an atmosphere/setting, 3 adverbs per line.

Return to Emergency Lesson Plans Index or visit the supply teacher downloads page.

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on Year 4 Emergency Lesson Plans for Numeracy. Check out our resources area here too.

Remembering Children’s Names

by Sharon Wood

Supply teachers can have a hard time. A lot is expected of you as you walk into a strange room, in a strange location, full of strangers! There are many ways to help your day in the alien environment run more smoothly and effectively, and learning the names of the aliens, enhancing communication with them, is one of the best. Read on for top tips.

I have found over the years that nothing leaves a better impression with support staff (and therefore teaching staff!) than me having learnt all the children’s names by first break. I’ve got it down to a fine art now.

It makes an enormous difference to the effectiveness of my voice when I am able to tag the name of a child onto the end of a sentence. Teaching becomes easier, therefore I am more enthusiastic, therefore the children are more enthusiastic, and more learning takes place.

If you know the names of the children, marking work at the end of the lesson/day becomes much more effective too. Use the child’s name when marking, and remark on how well they contributed in the class discussion etc.

Learning Children's Names

Below is a garbled list of things that I do, some stand by themselves, some needing support from the others.

  • Arrive early enough not only to read the lesson plans for the day, but also early enough to get a grip on the classroom layout and to find and use all evidence of children’s names within it.
  • Collect the register early, and read it, and read it again.
  • Look at the names of the children on coat hooks/locker doors/drawers.
  • Look at the star charts, who has the most/least, and do they have teams/table names? It’s easy to learn the group/table names before the children come in and use them effectively.
  • Often younger children will have photographs on the wall, especially in the autumn term, with their names, giving, for example, a character trait/favourite book.
  • Aim to learn the names of five children as they walk through the door, introduce yourself, ask them their name, and commit it to memory (use alphabet/numerical help, physical attributes etc.)
  • Aim to learn another five, and revise those first five, while the children settle down in their chairs. These next five must be seated apart from each other – i.e. one from each table. If you arm yourself with the name of one child per table, you can then address each table separately – ‘Can the children continuing their conversation above me on Rita’s table, please stop now!’ To get a hold of this second lot of names, look at the drawers/coat hooks etc., that they go to, and ask to look at their book as they settle down at their table.
  • Listen to the children. You will hear another five before you take the register just by listening to the first ten children you have addressed. They will say things like ‘I haven’t got my reading log, I left it at Tom’s house last night,’ whilst pointing in Tom’s direction. 
    [bctt tweet="Top tips for learning children's names? #supplychat"]
  • Do not pressure yourself into learning any more during the register. Simply use that time to confirm the 15 you now hold in your head. Ask the children to put their hand up when you call their name, before they answer you. Look directly at the child and, after they have said ‘Good Morning Miss,’ you say ‘Good Morning Joe.’ Take in the face of that child now sat in their correct place.
  • Repeat the child’s name every time you talk to them, until you know you know it.
  • When you’re going round the class, red pen in hand, look at the front of the child’s book when you get to them, it’s always got their name on… and use it while you’re talking to them about their work.
  • Test yourself, and let the children know that that’s what you’re doing. At break time/lining up for assembly, let them know you’re about to give yourself a test, get them to stand behind their chairs, and they can only line up if you know their name. They love this game! Make an extra effort to communicate with the children you couldn’t name, after assembly.

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on free lesson plans for literacy. Check out our resources area here too.

Year 3 Emergency Lesson Plans for Literacy

Click to download all 289 of my Key Stage 2 supply teacher emergency lesson plans as a PDF.

Lesson plans for supply teachersThese emergency lesson plans for Year 3 Literacy are only to be used by supply teachers who are faced with no planning or easily accessible resources. Also to be used following the guidance notes here.

Word Level Work

  • Split words given into syllables, clap out with a friend and write with slashes/dashes, dash-es, slash/es.
  • Find words with -le on the end, investigate the occurrence of double consonants before the -le.
  • Practice handwriting, ascenders and descenders.
  • Ping-pong spelling: Children collect own mis-spelt and corrected words on scraps of paper in groups of three. One reads a word aloud, shows the other two for ‘n’ seconds, hides it, and then the two children take it in turns to say the next letter.
  • Explore a dictionary, where do certain letters fall (‘s’ towards the end, ‘e’ close to the beginning) and play games (Find The Word…) based on using dictionary.
  • Identify as many short words as you can inside other, longer words, your name, school name, words given, recognise features and syllables to aid spelling.
  • On board, write words to be contracted, could not, and go through use of apostrophe for contraction, then challenge children to contract all words on board, couldn’t.
  • Collect synonyms for shouted/said/walked/ran and improve the power of sentences given.
  • Find in a dictionary some simple words and explore different meanings etc., form, wave, place.

Sentence Level Work

  • Find in own reading books examples of verbs used other than common verbs, chased instead of ran etc.
  • Identify speech marks in dialogue and punctuation conventions associated, i.e. capital letters to start direct speech, commas used etc. Write dialogue of own.
  • Collect words for colours, sizes and moods in groups. Present as a ‘word board’ for use by rest of class.
  • When to use capital letters. Look in current reading books to find all examples.
  • Sequencing, give them a chronologically based set of sentences, i.e. getting up to arriving at school, and order/connect using first, then, after, meanwhile, etc.

Text Level Work

Narrative / Plays / Scripts

  • Take a book the class have read together, or a well-known story, and plan for it to be a 3/4/5-part mini-TV series… what happens in each episode?
  • Give a basic sentence describing an action, ‘Tom moved closer to the door,’ and ask the children in pairs to write three more sentences, the first will help build tension, the second set the scene a little more, and the third create suspense, thicken the atmosphere/add to the mood.
  • Collect from reading books and experience story openings and endings, use in re-telling own simple, four sentence story.
  • Re-write endings of traditional tales, i.e. Three Little Pigs
  • Character description: 2 parts, physical and non-physical description. Present as police profile, reference for a job, wanted poster, postcard to friends about someone you met on holiday, letter to class about new teacher in new school.
  • Brainstorm words other than basic ones (deny the use of mummy and pyramid in Egyptian story for example) for a topic before writing an opening (setting/character introduction), using three of new words found.
  • Write descriptive setting of the quiet area in the school playground, use all five senses.
  • Write a letter to your favourite author explaining why you like their books.

Non Fiction

  • Design an information leaflet for a local visitor attraction/tourist information for your village.
  • Book Reviews: look at what they would like to be included, and design your own format, then complete for your favourite book.
  • Writing instructions: think of alternative instructions such as how to win the lottery, how to

Poetry

  • Write an A-Z about their school for the Year 2 children arriving in September.
  • Shape poems of musical instruments, the sounds they make and effect on the ear/brain/soul.
  • Alliteration poem, animals coming off the Ark, slithering snakes etc.
  • Calligrams, where the handwriting/font aids the poem… LARGE, bold

 

Return to Emergency Lesson Plans Index or visit the supply teacher downloads page.

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on Year 3 Emergency Lesson Plans for Numeracy. Check out our resources area here too.

Quick, Easy and Effective Behaviour Management Ideas for the Classroom – Nicola S. Morgan

Article submitted by Nicola S. Morgan, Author

‘Throughout my 13 years experience as a teacher I have specialised in behaviour management in primary schools. The book is based on my years of experience teaching and managing a range of challenging behaviours in the classroom, the book provides practical and do-able strategies that work and includes worksheets, rewards and other fully photocopiable resources. The ideas are all based around an original framework developed by myself called The 10 Rs for Behaviour Management. The 10 Rs is a term for a group of strategies that are efficient ‘tried and tested’ techniques for managing children in the classroom, no matter what the behavioural difficulties are. They aim to prevent the occurrence of behaviour difficulties, or if problems do occur, they show how to quickly re-establish appropriate behaviour.
The behaviour management ideas and resources in this book will provide invaluable practical support for teachers, learning support assistants, teaching assistants, trainee and NQT teachers.

Behaviour Management Ideas for the Classroom - Nicola S Morgan

Purchase a copy of Nicola’s book here.

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on Reception class lesson plans. Check out our resources area here too.

Be a Better Supply Teacher – Liz Rhodes

Article submitted by Liz Rhodes, Author

I looked at many primary supply teacher books, but none of them provided quite what I wanted. You don’t need loads of lesson plans (you can always get those from the Supply Bag, as mentioned in the book!). You do need information on how to go about getting work and legal and financial bits; if you’re an NQT looking for a permanent post you need to know about the school day and the various pitfalls your college haven’t told you about (because they don’t know). If you are an older teacher, you need details of the ways in which the four rules of number are taught today (radically different from the old ways, and much better).
So all these things are included in my book, along with suggestions for behaviour management, working with other adults in the classroom and how to maintain your life/work balance. I don’t actually pack your bag for you (sorry!), but I do give you a list of things you might need. It’s in a handy pocket-sized format (12 x 17 cm) and is part of a series by different authors on a variety of educational subjects.
There’s just one problem – if the book is successful, I could be doing myself out of a teaching job. Ah well, I can always take up my new career as an author!

Be A Better Supply Teacher - Liz Rhodes

Liz’s book is available on Amazon.

Teaching your own child – Sarah Cruickshank

Challenge, nightmare or enjoyable experience?
How are you to cope when you arrive at school to be told that you will be teaching your own child’s class? It is quite a challenging situation, you may feel apprehensive, will you treat your child differently to the other? Your initial worry may be that you’ll be too soft on your own, but you are more likely to be much harder on him/her.
Remember too that your child might feel strange about you being in front of the class.
The class are likely to know you as X’s parent and indeed, many of them might have visited your home and be used to calling you by your first name.
When you enter the classroom, you must make it clear from the start that whilst some of the children may have spent time with you in your house, you are now their teacher and they must treat you as such. Ensure that they understand that you will not be visiting undue favouritism on your own child, nor will you accept standards of work that they would not submit to their regular teacher.

Teaching your own child

Challenge, nightmare or enjoyable experience?

Make sure that your own child knows that whilst you are working, they cannot be the centre of your attention. Explain that you will expect him/her to act as they would if any other teacher was working with them. You will not be giving them any special privileges just because they are “your baby”.
As you are going to know exactly what your child has done for the period you are teaching, it is going to be difficult to ask the usual “what did you do at school today?” questions. Be sure to discuss the day and praise the positives.
Your child may be surprised that you are more strict or do other things slightly differently from their regular teacher. Reassure your son or daughter that in front of the class you are the teacher, but that outside school you are still their loving parent.
Treat the experience of teaching your own child as an opportunity to get a privileged insight into their education, an experience that most other parents are unable to enjoy. Use this experience to help/support your child and his/her regular class teacher to develop their knowledge and skills.
Teaching your own child can be a challenging and stressful experience, but one that can be enjoyable from time to time.

Article submitted by Sarah Cruickshank, Education Writer and Supply Teacher.

Where next? There's a great quick read here on CPD ideas for supply teachers.
Check out our resources area here too.

Following Lesson Plans

by Sharon Wood

Yes, planning will be left for you! Ok, maybe not. However, a supply teacher walking into a classroom to find no planning left is a rarity. We cover all sorts of issues facing supply teachers on this website, and the problem of illegible scrawls (or rather non-existent illegible scrawls!) is one of them. Following lesson plans accurately is critical, if they are left for you.

You will no doubt encounter a plethora of types of lesson plans as a supply teacher. The variety will range from nothing, to post-it notes on worksheets, to a timetable on the classroom wall, through to 3 A4 pages handwritten for each lesson.

If plans have not been left for you, find either a parallel teacher, or an SMT member and ask what is expected. You may find the children know their timetable, and will be able to tell you as much as you need to know to scrape by, but you should arrive at the school long before the children do, and therefore have plenty of time to prepare.

I have rarely gone into a school to find no prepared work. However, I do not use an agency, and 90% of my supply teaching work is pre-booked.

Following Lesson Plans - Advice for supply teachers

Lesson plans come in all shapes and sizes. If they are available – follow them!

I do find it amazing though that not all weekly lesson plans for a particular class are saved onto the school server somewhere. I was saving my weekly plans onto a shared file in the early 90’s, so SMT could check it, so the English and Maths coordinators could check their subjects were being covered/taught properly, so that the school had a definite record of subject coverage etc. for OFSTED, and so that if I wasn’t able to turn up to school through illness and they got a supply teacher in for the day, all the plans were available to them! (Rant over!)

You must follow plans that have been left for you. No matter what you think of them! If you make alterations to the plans, leave a full and detailed account of why and how you did this, relating it to the children’s learning as much as possible.

Glossary of Terms you may find on a lesson plan:

V/A/K – Visual/Aural/Kinesthetic learning involved in this lesson
IWB – Interactive Whiteboard used in this lesson
LO – Learning Objective
DLO – Desired Learning Objective
OBJ – Learning Objective
SC – Success Criteria
CN – Children
MA/A/LA – More able/Able/Less able
(Random Initials) Support – Support available from TA/HLTA/CS with those initials

[bctt tweet="Help! No planning left for me! #supplychat"]

Haven’t been left a lesson plan? Check out my homemade emergency lesson plans here.

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on Gemstone recruitment
Check out our resources area here too.

What’s In Your Supply Bag?

So, the phone rings, or your diary tells you that you should be in Nice Primary School, you pick up your bag and head for the door, but what does that bag contain?

There are generally 2 schools of thought on this question, either a huge bag/a box in the boot of your car, or 2 pens in your pocket. We’ll consider both here and leave you to decide on the best way for you.

What's in Your Supply Bag

New to supply? You might want to reconsider taking the kitchen sink with you.

The first school of thought says, ‘you should be prepared for every eventuality and carry everything you need’. In this scenario, you carry files for all the subjects or key stages you teach, containing stand-alone lessons and time-fillers you have collected over the years from past classes, books and websites.

You also carry pens, pencils, rubbers, rulers, paper (lined and plain); P.E. kit; whistle; red, blue, black and green biros; reward stickers; glue; blue tak; board pens; whiteboards; a data stick containing interactive whiteboard presentations; a street atlas; water …

The second school of thought is a couple of pens, your phone, a diary and your lunch.

I freely admit I once belonged to the first school. I would lug a huge bag around on public transport and hardly ever opened it. It contained all of the above and more and – at most – I would use my whistle and pens.

After 4 terms of lugging the thing around, I decided to try School of Thought number 2. I now have an A5 wallet in which I carry a Morning Sheet to collect all those vital bits of information when I get to a new school, a Handover Sheet for the end of the day; blue, black, red and green biros; a whistle; reward stickers and certificates, and my “Mrs C says Well Done!” stamp for marking.

I carry some time-filler ideas round in my head, my favourite being to take the name of the school or a famous name and challenge the children to make as many words as they can using the letters. Handwriting and silent reading also serve.

[bctt tweet=”What should I put in my supply bag? #supplychat”]

Obviously, if a school tells me no planning will be left, I have stand alone lessons I can take, and if they don’t until I get there, I set a time filler and scour the classroom for lessons I can do.

The first time I left the giant bag behind I admit I was nervous, but I haven’t missed it yet. I’m not saying the minimalist approach is for everyone, but give it a try one day and see if it works for you!

Article submitted by Sarah Cruickshank, Education Writer and Supply Teacher.

Where next? There’s a great quick read here on Work Life Balance. Check out our resources area here too.