Kindergarten & Elementary Education

Kristy Lavoie
February 9th, 2016

Behaviour Management for Substitutes:

Act strict but smile (dont let them know right away that you are nice)

Do what you need to do once they are seated; and settled, then
introduce yourself (who you are, where you are from, and then rules)

Lay out your rules (work quietly, raise your hand if you want to speak,
no getting up unless you ask, RESPECT, (always follow through, and
make sure you keep track of your stuff)

Thank them for raising hand, or when someone interrupts apologize to

class for their interruption. Follow through with your rules

Remind kids of rules when they are getting out of hand. Give some
chances, but not too many (or they will walk all over you). Also know
when to stop (some kids will push you to the edge, dont let them get to
you)

3 Strikes for the whole class (otherwise no game or a note to the

teacher (this scares them)

Dont Yell!!!

Use the principal as your LAST resort

What to do during Homeroom:

Morning Routine (have them fill out agenda for homework, check for
notes, empty school bag)

Attendance (this is where you learn their names. Some will try to use
fake names in the day, but other kids usually tattle on them when doing
attendance)

Silent reading

Ask about routines, students with different needs, etc

Adaptable Lessons for Cycle 1-3

ELA:
ERC:
GHC:
Music:

- Story & Response

- Friendship Cards
- Your Geography
- Lucy Locket

Physical Education:
- Warm Up (Lets Get Moving Together), Races, Memory Ball,
Dodgeball
Science:
- The Environment
Math:
Extras:

- Yahtzee
- Nature Scavenger Hunt, Mandalas, 2 Facts 1 Lie, 7-Up, Sudoku

ELA: Story & Response

For this lesson, the teacher will choose a story that is appropriate for the grade level and
read it to the class, to then have them write a reading response. If the teacher does not have
a story, most elementary classrooms do.
The teacher will begin by reading the story to the students. The teacher will ask questions
the whole way through; these questions will be to guide students towards authors
message, big ideas, words they might not know, connections to the world and self, etc.
When the teacher has finished reading, students will write a reading response in the
following matter (guided by the teacher):
-

What is the authors message/big idea

I can see this in the story when
This reminds me of... (in my life)

The teacher can use the graphic organizer attached if he/she feels it could be necessary or
useful.
Adaptations:
Cycle One: After reading the story, simply discuss the big idea with the students, and have
them write only a sentence about the story. The teacher will then have them draw a picture
that goes with their sentence.
Cycle Two: Write the steps of what they must do on the chalkboard; at this age they like to
have the steps, and work through it at their speed. Give them a limit (10 sentences) and
read over it to make sure that they put what you asked.
Cycle Three: Instead of a book, you can use a newspaper article, a short story (attached
below), etc. Have them write a longer response than you would expect in younger grades.
Special Needs: Ask for a drawing, sentence, recording on iPad, etc... (depending on their
needs).
COMPETENCY 1 T O READ AND LISTEN TO LITERARY, POPULAR AND INFORMATION-BASED TEXTS
Prior knowledge and personal experience of the content of a text (semantic)
COMPETENCY 2 T O WRITE SELF-EXPRESSIVE, NARRATIVE AND INFORMATION-BASED TEXTS
Responses to texts in a variety of ways that include talking, writing, the Arts, media. See also

Examples of stories for different cycles:

Cycle One:

Cycle Two:

Cycle Three:

All Summer in a Day By Ray Bradbury

"Ready ?" "Ready." "Now ?" "Soon." "Do the scientists really know? Will it happen today, will it ?" "Look, look; see
for yourself !" The children pressed to each other like so many roses, so many weeds, intermixed, peering out for a
look at the hidden sun. It rained. It had been raining for seven years; thousands upon thousands of days
compounded and filled from one end to the other with rain, with the drum and gush of water, with the sweet
crystal fall of showers and the concussion of storms so heavy they were tidal waves come over the islands. A
thousand forests had been crushed under the rain and grown up a thousand times to be crushed again. And this
was the way life was forever on the planet Venus, and this was the schoolroom of the children of the rocket men
and women who had come to a raining world to set up civilization and live out their lives. "Its stopping, its
stopping !" "Yes, yes !" Margot stood apart from them, from these children who could ever remember a time when
there wasnt rain and rain and rain. They were all nine years old, and if there had been a day, seven years ago, when
the sun came out for an hour and showed its face to the stunned world, they could not recall. Sometimes, at night,
she heard them stir, in remembrance, and she knew they were dreaming and remembering gold or a yellow crayon
or a coin large enough to buy the world with. She knew they thought they remembered a warmness, like a blushing
in the face, in the body, in the arms and legs and trembling hands. But then they always awoke to the tatting drum,
the endless shaking down of clear bead necklaces upon the roof, the walk, the gardens, the forests, and their
dreams were gone. All day yesterday they had read in class about the sun. About how like a lemon it was, and how
hot. And they had written small stories or essays or poems about it:I think the sun is a flower,That blooms for just
one hour. That was Margots poem, read in a quiet voice in the still classroom while the rain was falling outside.
"Aw, you didnt write that!" protested one of the boys. "I did," said Margot. "I did." "William!" said the teacher. But
that was yesterday. Now the rain was slackening, and the children were crushed in the great thick windows.
Wheres teacher ?" "Shell be back." "Shed better hurry, well miss it !" They turned on themselves, like a feverish
wheel, all tumbling spokes. Margot stood alone. She was a very frail girl who looked as if she had been lost in the
rain for years and the rain had washed out the blue from her eyes and the red from her mouth and the yellow from
her hair. She was an old photograph dusted from an album, whitened away, and if she spoke at all her voice would
be a ghost. Now she stood, separate, staring at the rain and the loud wet world beyond the huge glass. "Whatre you
looking at ?" said William. Margot said nothing. "Speak when youre spoken to." He gave her a shove. But she did not
move; rather she let herself be moved only by him and nothing else. They edged away from her, they would not
look at her. She felt them go away. And this was because she would play no games with them in the echoing tunnels
of the underground city. If they tagged her and ran, she stood blinking after them and did not follow. When the class
sang songs about happiness and life and games her lips barely moved. Only when they sang about the sun and the
summer did her lips move as she watched the drenched windows. And then, of course, the biggest crime of all was
that she had come here only five years ago from Earth, and she remembered the sun and the way the sun was and
the sky was when she was four in Ohio. And they, they had been on Venus all their lives, and they had been only two
years old when last the sun came out and had long since forgotten the color and heat of it and the way it really was.
But Margot remembered. "Its like a penny," she said once, eyes closed. "No its not!" the children cried. "Its like a
fire," she said, "in the stove." "Youre lying, you dont remember !" cried the children. But she remembered and
stood quietly apart from all of them and watched the patterning windows. And once, a month ago, she had refused
to shower in the school shower rooms, had clutched her hands to her ears and over her head, screaming the water
mustnt touch her head. So after that, dimly, dimly, she sensed it, she was different and they knew her difference
and kept away. There was talk that her father and mother were taking her back to Earth next year; it seemed vital
to her that they do so, though it would mean the loss of thousands of dollars to her family. And so, the children
hated her for all these reasons of big and little consequence. They hated her pale snow face, her waiting silence, her
thinness, and her possible future. "Get away !" The boy gave her another push. "Whatre you waiting for?" Then, for
the first time, she turned and looked at him. And what she was waiting for was in her eyes. "Well, dont wait around
here !" cried the boy savagely. "You wont see nothing!" Her lips moved. "Nothing !" he cried. "It was all a joke,
wasnt it?" He turned to the other children. "Nothings happening today. Is it ?" They all blinked at him and then,
understanding, laughed and shook their heads. "Nothing, nothing !" "Oh, but," Margot whispered, her eyes helpless.
"But this is the day, the scientists predict, they say, they know, the sun" "All a joke !" said the boy, and seized her

roughly. "Hey, everyone, lets put her in a closet before the teacher comes !" "No," said Margot, falling back. They
surged about her, caught her up and bore her, protesting, and then pleading, and then crying, back into a tunnel, a
room, a closet, where they slammed and locked the door. They stood looking at the door and saw it tremble from
her beating and throwing herself against it. They heard her muffled cries. Then, smiling, the turned and went out
and back down the tunnel, just as the teacher arrived. "Ready, children ?" She glanced at her watch. "Yes !" said
everyone. "Are we all here ?" "Yes !" The rain slacked still more. They crowded to the huge door. The rain stopped.
It was as if, in the midst of a film concerning an avalanche, a tornado, a hurricane, a volcanic eruption, something
had, first, gone wrong with the sound apparatus, thus muffling and finally cutting off all noise, all of the blasts and
repercussions and thunders, and then, second, ripped the film from the projector and inserted in its place a
beautiful tropical slide which did not move or tremor. The world ground to a standstill. The silence was so immense
and unbelievable that you felt your ears had been stuffed or you had lost your hearing altogether. The children put
their hands to their ears. They stood apart. The door slid back and the smell of the silent, waiting world came in to
them. The sun came out. It was the color of flaming bronze and it was very large. And the sky around it was a
blazing blue tile color. And the jungle burned with sunlight as the children, released from their spell, rushed out,
yelling into the springtime. "Now, dont go too far," called the teacher after them. "Youve only two hours, you know.
You wouldnt want to get caught out !" But they were running and turning their faces up to the sky and feeling the
sun on their cheeks like a warm iron; they were taking off their jackets and letting the sun burn their arms. "Oh, its
better than the sun lamps, isnt it ?" "Much, much better !" They stopped running and stood in the great jungle that
covered Venus, that grew and never stopped growing, tumultuously, even as you watched it. It was a nest of octopi,
clustering up great arms of fleshlike weed, wavering, flowering in this brief spring. It was the color of rubber and
ash, this jungle, from the many years without sun. It was the color of stones and white cheeses and ink, and it was
the color of the moon. The children lay out, laughing, on the jungle mattress, and heard it sigh and squeak under
them resilient and alive. They ran among the trees, they slipped and fell, they pushed each other, they played
hideand-seek and tag, but most of all they squinted at the sun until the tears ran down their faces; they put their
hands up to that yellowness and that amazing blueness and they breathed of the fresh, fresh air and listened and
listened to the silence which suspended them in a blessed sea of no sound and no motion. They looked at
everything and savored everything. Then, wildly, like animals escaped from their caves, they ran and ran in
shouting circles. They ran for an hour and did not stop running. And then - In the midst of their running one of the
girls wailed. Everyone stopped. The girl, standing in the open, held out her hand. "Oh, look, look," she said,
trembling. They came slowly to look at her opened palm. In the center of it, cupped and huge, was a single raindrop.
She began to cry, looking at it. They glanced quietly at the sun. "Oh. Oh." A few cold drops fell on their noses and
their cheeks and their mouths. The sun faded behind a stir of mist. A wind blew cold around them. They turned and
started to walk back toward the underground house, their hands at their sides, their smiles vanishing away. A boom
of thunder startled them and like leaves before a new hurricane, they tumbled upon each other and ran. Lightning
struck ten miles away, five miles away, a mile, a half mile. The sky darkened into midnight in a flash. They stood in
the doorway of the underground for a moment until it was raining hard. Then they closed the door and heard the
gigantic sound of the rain falling in tons and avalanches, everywhere and forever. "Will it be seven more years ?"
"Yes. Seven." Then one of them gave a little cry. "Margot !" "What ?" "Shes still in the closet where we locked her."
"Margot." They stood as if someone had driven them, like so many stakes, into the floor. They looked at each other
and then looked away. They glanced out at the world that was raining now and raining and raining steadily. They
could not meet each others glances. Their faces were solemn and pale. They looked at their hands and feet, their
faces down. "Margot." One of the girls said, "Well ?" No one moved. "Go on," whispered the girl. They walked
slowly down the hall in the sound of cold rain. They turned through the doorway to the room in the sound of the
storm and thunder, lightning on their faces, blue and terrible. They walked over to the closet door slowly and stood
by it. Behind the closet door was only silence. They unlocked the door, even more slowly, and let Margot out.

ERC: Friendship Cards

For this lesson, students will be looking at cards with questions pertaining to friendship.
They consist of questions such as: How well do you listen to
your friends, have you ever tried to help a friend who was
upset, etc...
The teacher will use the cards to either:
-

Start a classroom discussion

Have students write a journal response
Create scenarios for students to respond or act
out to
Play jeopardy

Adaptations:
Cycle One: Students might have difficulty reading them in grade one; the teacher might
have to read them to the class or to each child/group individually. Students can draw a
picture to go with their card.
Cycle Two: Use the activities listed above or ask the students what they would like to do
with the cards.
Cycle Three: Older students can take scenarios and act them out or even create videos
using Ipads or other electronic devices.
Special Needs: Ask for a drawing, sentence, recording on iPad, etc... (depending on their
needs).
** This lesson can be used in Drama class by acting out how to respond to different
situations (COMPETENCY 1: Creates dramatic works)
______________________________________________________________________________
COMPETENCY 1 REFLECTS ON ETHICAL QUESTIONS
Describes a situation and puts it into context

GHC: My Geography
This is a lesson where the teacher can use questions about Canada and create an entire
class on what the students know about their country. They can also be used as a research
project where students must use books in the library or the internet to find the answers.
The first questions are about where the students have been in Canada, which can create a
class discussion, and the rest are about Canada Facts.
Adaptations:
Cycle One: For this age, the discussion should focus on where the students have been rather
then the facts. The teacher can read the questions out loud to younger students, or choose
to have students only write a few sentences and draw a picture to accompany. If the
teacher wants, he/ she can introduce the facts, but teach them rather then ask questions.
Cycle Two: This activity can be done in groups, or even as a competition for how well
students know their facts about Canada.
Cycle Three: The teacher can turn this into a fun activity by having two sides compete
against each other trying to guess the answers that the teacher would have for the
questions, and about the facts.
Special Needs: The students can answer the questions with a friend, with the teacher, with
the use of drawings or technology etc... (depending on their needs).
______________________________________________________________________________
COMPETENCY 1 T O UNDERSTAND THE ORGANIZATION OF A SOCIETY IN ITS TERRITORY
-To make connections between characteristics of
the society and the organization of its territory

Your Geography
1. What is the furthest west you have been in Canada?
2. What is the furthest east you have been in Canada?
3. What is the furthest north you have been in Canada?
4. What is the capital city of Canada?
5. What is the capital city of our province?
6. What is Canada's national arboreal emblem (tree leaf)?
7. What is Canada's national winter sport?
8. What is Canada's national summer sport?
9. What is Canada's national animal?
10. What are Canada's 2 official colours?

Music: Lucy Locket

Song:
Lucy Locket lost her pocket,
Kitty Fisher found it,
Not a penny was there in it,
Only ribbon round it.
Game:
Step 1: Pick one student to go in the hallway and close the door so they cant see. They are
considered the seeker/finder.
Step 2: Pick another student to hide the red pocket somewhere in the room. Make sure the
ribbon is visible to anyone standing in the middle of the room. Give them no more than 2030 seconds.
Step 3: The student that hid the pocket then lets the other student in. The class sings the
song softly if the finder is far away from the pocket, and gets gradually louder as the finder
gets closer.
ABSOLUTELY DO NOT LET STUDENTS YELL THE SONG.
They will try almost every time =). Insist that they always use their best kids singing voices
and that there is a difference between singing loudly and yelling.
Step 4: Repeat!
This game can be played for 5-20 minutes, depending on how well the classes are
controlling themselves. Any students being obnoxious should sit out for several turns. If
students misbehave, have them sit out while the rest of the class plays.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
COMPETENCY 2 TO INTERPRET MUSICAL PIECES
-Participation in artistic experiences
-Active participation in artistic experiences

Physical Education: Warm Up, Races, Memory Ball,

Dodge ball
Substituting in Gym class is one of the most fun classes to work in. For it to go smoothly and
to make sure that you have no down times, the entire period needs to be planned to the
minute. All of the described lessons for physical education can be done with students from
gone to six, and with almost all special needs children.
A good way to start the class is by having the students line up in groups of five or six; the
teacher then does a warm up starting from head to toe. Start by turning your head in circles
(both ways), then shoulders (both ways), then arms forwards and backwards. Move to the
hips and make big circles (both ways), turn the knees (both ways), and lastly the feet. Then
have the kids do exercises such as jumping jacks, squats, planks, wall sits, and burpees
(quantity depends on the age).
Next, have your students line up on one side of the gym to have them run. I usually am very
strict and dont allow them to pass the line unless I say go, and they are not allowed to
touch the walls or the benches (it can be dangerous, so if they do I ask them to sit out until
the next round). These are the races: Forward, Knees up, Side to Side, and Front and Back
(not backwards).
As a warm up game, the kids love to play Memory Ball. Here are the Rules:
-

Kids run around the gym (no screaming) and throw the ball at each other.
When they get touched they sit where they are (but must remember who
touched them.)
When the person that touched them sits down, they can stand back up.
No walking with the ball. If it touches you ANYWHERE, you are out. If it hits
the ground it becomes neutral.
This game can be played for 5 minutes, or an hour.

Lastly, every single child loves dodge ball. It is the go-to substitute physical education
game. Different kinds: With Cows, Royalty, Classic, With Nets, Cones, etc.
*Dont forget to count in changing time (at least five minutes) and the beginning and also at
the end.
*Students need to drink 1 cup of water/20 minutes while being active.
*For nose-bleeds, no stress. Apply Kleenex and squeeze the mushy part on the top of the
nose bridge.

Science: The Environment

An easy subject to talk about in the elementary school classroom is anything that has to do
with the environment. An easy to plan lesson in science would be to watch environment
videos (landfills, eco-systems, recycling, ocean warming, how its made). You can do this
with all of your students, but try to limit the harder topics to the older grades.
After having shown approximately two or three on the same subject, have a class
discussion about the topic. Ask questions such as: why is this an important subject, why
should we recycle, how can global warming affect you now and in the future, why is taking
care of the environment such an issue, etc...
Most students know a lot more than we think about all of these topics, even in grade one
(ask your questions differently). Then after having had a discussion, have students get into
groups, and find solutions to the problems that you posed. Give out poster boards or big
sheets of paper (the secretary will give you some recycled paper if you ask), and have them
brainstorm, draw, or create an imaginary solution.
Lastly, have students write a journal about how the subject that you chose affects them
directly, and how they have noticed it in their lives or in the media.
If students finish early, put on another video on youtube.

Adaptations:
Special Needs: Have the student research what the class is talking about using technology
or books. Have the student work closely with you or with another student in the classroom.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
COMPETENCY 1 TO EXPLORE THE WORLD OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Use of language appropriate to the description of phenomena or objects in his/her immediate environment
COMPETENCY 1 T O PROPOSE EXPLANATIONS FOR OR SOLUTIONS TO SCIENTIFIC OR TECHNOLOGICAL
PROBLEMS
Appropriate description of the problem or set of problems from a scientific or technological point of view

Examples of YouTube
Videos to show (National
Geographic makes good
ones that you can always
show in a classroom):

Math: Yahtzee!
This is a fun math game that is just like Yahtzee, but instead uses place value. Included in
this lesson are the score sheets for four different versions (3-digit numbers, 4-digit
numbers, 6-digit numbers, and decimals) so that you can choose the level that works best
for your students (easy differentiation)!
Materials needed:

Place Value Yahtzee score sheets (see below)

Dice (the number of dice needed depends on the game level being used)
o

3-digit numbers = 3 dice

4-digit numbers = 4 dice

6-digit numbers = 6 dice

Decimal numbers = 5 dice

Cup for holding the dice

Pencils

Adaptations:
This activity is already differentiated, but not for grade one. Below I have included an
adding version for younger students, or students who have more difficulty and have not yet
reached place value.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
COMPETENCY 2 T O REASON USING MATHEMATICAL CONCEPTS AND PROCESSES
Choice of mathematical concepts and processes appropriate to the given situation involving applications
Appropriate application of the chosen processes Correct justification of actions or statements by
referring to mathematical concepts and processes
COMPETENCY 3 TO COMMUNICATE BY USING MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE

Extras:

- Nature Scavenger Hunt

- Mandalas
- 7-Up
- Two Facts, One Lie
- Sudoku

Nature

Mandalas:

7 UP:

Seven students are in front of the class. The class lays their heads on their desks. The seven
go and each will touch a persons thumb that is sticking up. That person would stick his or
her thumb down. Then the seven would say "heads up seven up" and each student got one
chance to guess which of the seven touched him. If they guessed right than they changed
places. If they did not the same person gets to stay up.

2 Truths, 1 Lie:
Gather everyone in a seated circle and then instruct everyone to come up with two facts
and one lie. Let everybody in the circle take turns saying these three pieces of information
aloud to the group. It is the groups job to determine what appears to be a fact and what
appears to be a fable. This should be a group decision, so make sure that everyone agrees
on the choices. Once decisions have been collectively made, share them. This is a great way
to learn new and interesting things about your companions.

Sudoku