Kevin asked about sub plans:
Hi Ben,
Just wondering what you and/or others on the blog do for both planned and unplanned teacher absence? In the past, I have just had a “cultural video” on the back shelf for substitutes to use, but I’m wondering if there are other ideas out there that can still give the kids a good amount of CI even though I am absent (and the sub may not know any Spanish). I suppose I could have a reading prepared, but as the class becomes more proficient, they tend to become obsolete. Another option is FVR, but I wouldn’t want them to do that for a whole period.
Thanks,
Kevin
My response: my own take on how to best use that time when we are gone is in FVR and writing. So what I usually do is ask the sub to start out with free voluntary reading and to stretch that out as long as possible, up to 25 minutes, then give the kids free write blank sheets with only lines on them asking them to write for ten or fifteen minutes according to the following instructions:
Free Write Rules
Write without stopping for 10 minutes.
When time is up, count the number of words and put in
bar graph section in your composition book, with dates.
No English words in the story except for names.
Keep the sentences and story line simple.
Get your story idea ahead of time.
Use lists if you have them.
Use words that you already know.
If you don’t know a word, don’t use it or reword the idea.
Use as many adjectives as possible.
Spell as accurately as you can and then move on.
Add another character when you get stuck.
Use posters from the room as help.
Illogical stories are o.k.
[ed. note: there is a poster of those rules available on the resources/posters page of this site]
One more thing I might try to fit in there is at the start of class to take a mini-novel and – if the sub can swing it – have the kids read chorally out loud for five minutes just to see if they can get quickly through a chapter. So that would be a class with (times estimated):
a. choral reading from a mini-novel (5 min.)
b. FVR (20 min.)
c. free write (15 min.)