How to Survive When You Need a Substitute

What do you do when you need a substitute? Just the thought is overwhelming. This is my typical thought process:

Uh oh. I feel my throat getting scratchy. I have no energy. Maybe it’s just allergies. Maybe I can make it another day.

Next day

I know I won’t make it another day, but it will take two extra hours to write lesson plans for someone else to follow and another two hours to sort through and correct the papers when I return.

How to Survive When you Need a Substitute

That is, IF a miracle happens, all the stars align, and I get a sub who speaks Spanish or French. If I get TWO miracles, he/she will actually follow the lesson plan and not tell stories about his/her childhood ENTIRELY IN ENGLISH!

Even though I specifically stated in the instructions not to speak English!

No, I will just come to school and write out my instructions instead of speaking. Since I have lost my voice. (Yes, I have done this many times.)

I don’t need a substitute.

Day after that

OK, I really need to stay in bed. I need a substitute. I have no energy to write another lesson plan so I will have the sub show a movie.

Even though we are on the block schedule and have 30 fewer instructional days than regular-schedule schools and I am already WAY behind. I’ll never have time to fit in the lessons on culture! They are all going to FLUNK the common final!

STRESS!! HEART RACING!

And, there is no way I will be able to give them comprehensible input if I’m not there!!!

WAIT! What if I had already-created lesson plans I could grab when sick or out at trainings—curriculum that didn’t require the sub to speak Spanish and still provided comprehensible input? Is that possible?

YES! I finally got my act together, became proactive and wrote those lesson plans! In Spanish AND French! Students can work independently for two days because the stories contain many cognates, visuals to aid in comprehension, and a vocabulary list on each page. (Scroll down to get the FREE Spanish Sub Plans.)

Here’s a sample of the Spanish One Story and Questions.

Below is an example of the French One Story.

Students not only get comprehensible input with language in context, but they also get lessons on culture! (See day two of the lessons.) And the differentiated lessons and can be used for Spanish One, Two, or Three or French One, Two, and Three.

The sub will have no trouble following the step-by-step instructions.

SPANISH AND FRENCH CULTURE FROM DAY TWO LESSON PLANS

I still remember sitting slack-jawed as my high school French teacher flipped through slides of the Louvre. That one lesson ignited my passion for France, eventually leading me to study and travel there.

Students can never have too much exposure to Spanish and French culture, but between delivering comprehensible input, teaching grammar, and squeezing in practice, it’s hard to find the time. It’s such a relief to know that when I’m absent, my sub will still be fulfilling the World Language culture standard—helping students understand cultural perspectives and practices. I don’t have to stress about fitting it all in.

Plus, for students who go on to take AP Spanish Language and Culture, this foundation will serve them well—especially for the oral presentation, where they compare cultural practices in Spanish or French-speaking countries, to their own.

WHAT CULTURAL LESSONS ARE INCLUDED IN THE SUB PLANS?

FOR SPANISH:

How to form Spanish last names: Students identify names, create names, and answer questions about how Spanish last names are formed.
La Plaza Mayor and the importance of town squares in Spain, the typical layout, the history of the town squares and what people do in las plazas today.

IN FRENCH:

La Place de la Concorde and other town squares. What took place in La Place de la Concorde in the 18th century, and other historical details.
The history and significance of the Palace of Versailles / Le château de Versailles
French art and practice of the oral presentation: Students compare the paintings of Ingres and Renoir, two French artists.

These substitute lesson plans have comprehensible input and cultural lessons that students can work on independently.

So, don’t teach with laryngitis or stress over needing a sub. Put these lessons in your teacher bag and be prepared! Click on the links to access the lesson plans: Spanish Sub Plans for Levels One, Two, and Three or French Sub Plans for French 1, 2, and 3

Here’s a FREE story to get you started:

Spanish One Sub Plans

If you’re not going to be absent but you’d like some TPR Stories to use in Spanish One, click on the following link: Spanish One TPR Stories and Comprehensible Input

Would you like to be the first to be notified of free, updated, and new resources? Click on the following link to follow my store: ANGIE TORRE

If you’d like to get more tips and f-r-e-e resources in your email, subscribe to my newsletter. Just click this link and scroll to the bottom to subscribe: Best PowerPoints for Spanish and French by Angie Torre. You’ll also get a F-R-E-E 122-slide PowerPoint on Spanish verbs and infinitives.