Trying to plan for a sub when you are out is already notorious for the amount of work you have to put in. Now think about how much work goes into planning for a long-term sub! It’s a lot.
Whether you have a scheduled surgery or a family member that needs care or (like me) are headed out on maternity leave, planning for a long term sub in elementary music is a bit of a process. But I’m here to show you some of the steps that I did, to help make it as simple as possible and help you get prepared.
Speaking of prepared, if you happen to be trying to navigate pregnancy at school, check out this series of blog posts about teaching each trimester that I created when going through my own pregnancy.
Now let’s talk lesson plans!
Lesson Plans for Subs: Do It Yourself or Buy Pre-Made
So folks, I am not going to sugar coat it. Writing lessons that a stranger can follow for your entire long term leave is a big task. Honestly, if I did it again, I just might purchase something already made.
But as a young teacher, I was a bit of a do-it-yourselfer. So I relate with those of you who are determined to write all your own plans. Whichever camp you fall into, I’ve got you covered in this post.
Buying Pre-Made Sub Plans for Elementary Music
If you’d rather take this onerous task off your to do list, here are a couple lesson plans I would recommend:
Music of John Williams Unit – movement, coloring and listening activities plus biographical information about composer John Williams. What’s not to love?
Music of Aaron Copland – same idea as the John Williams unit, but with Copland’s iconic music.
Music of Camille Saint-Saens (Carnival of the Animals and Danse Macabre) – these are two separate lessons in one bundle. The Carnival of the Animals lessons could last you 4 weeks or more if you do all the content included for each movement. The Danse Macabre is more of a mini-lesson, but is a great bonus!
Teaching Types of Voices – this is a doctored up version of the actual lessons I left with my sub on my maternity leave (for my younger students). This one has a lot of fall seasonal songs so best if you plan to take your long term leave during that time of year.
Composer Research Project – why not have your older grades to a project while you are gone? They could learn about famous composers and present a project on them. This would actually pair nicely with my Composer Biography Bundle if you can’t get into the computer lab. Students could pick a composer to learn about and study up on them from the biography.
Instruments of the Orchestra – this is a nine week unit with lessons, movement and worksheets for every instrument family. If memory serves, this is similar to the plans I left on my maternity leave for my upper grades.
Creating Your Own Long Term Sub Plans
Set on creating your own plans? No problem! Read on for all the steps I took to create my binder.
Creating a Long Term Sub Binder
My maternity leave sub folder is where I compiled all the info my sub would need to know, and then organized it with little tabs. Here are the sections that I included:
- Intro/thank you letter
- Important Contacts
- School Info
- Emergency Procedures
- Classroom Procedures
- rules
- how behavior issues are handled
- rewards the class can earn
- procedures for entrance and exit
- procedures for using instruments
- Grading Info
- IEP, 504 and ESOL Accommodations
- Chorus Information
- performance dates
- rehearsal schedule
- roster
- seating chart
- CD and Teacher’s Guide for the show
- Seating Charts
- Class Lists
- Curriculum Info – I picked 1-2 concepts that I wanted the students to focus on while I was on maternity leave and wrote them down. That way, if she wants to create some plans of her own, she can – as long as those goals are met
- Lesson Plans (this part is the bulk of the work)
- If you are going out for maternity leave like me, I recommend writing plans that go one week earlier and one week later than your planned leave, so you have some wiggle room since you don’t know when baby is coming.
- Also, this makes it so when you come back, you don’t have to have lesson plans prepped right away. You can just finish off the sub’s plans!
Creating Lesson Plans For a Long Term Sub in Elementary Music
So here are a couple things I did to help simplify the lesson planning for a long-term sub:
Consolidate
Could your kindergarteners and first graders maybe do the same lesson plan? Perfect! Thats half as many lesson plans as before. Or if you can’t quite have them do identical lessons, maybe you use the same song with multiple grade levels, so at least some of the activities are the same. This will save you on prep and your sub on the amount of stuff they have to learn and teach. My 3rd, 4th and 5th graders will all be learning about the same group of composers while I’m out, and 4th and 5th grade will do literally the exact same lesson.
Find Audio Example When Possible
I am lucky in that my district has a digital music curriculum with lots of great songs that can be looked up and played from the computer. This is another way to help your sub not have to learn 100 songs to sing or teach to every class. But if you don’t have a digital curriculum, YouTube or even recording yourself singing some of the songs could be very helpful.
Keep It Simple
Make your lesson plans as simple as possible. Now is not the time to get fancy or do something new and complicated. Pull out the tried and true stuff that you know works with your kids and that you already have resources available for.
Start Early
Give yourself plenty of time to type up those plans. It’s a bit of a job, even with consolidating grade levels. Or consider using pre-made lesson plans like this 9 week orchestra unit or this set of Carnival of the Animals lessons.
Do a Read Through and Collect Needed Resources
Once you have the plans typed up, read through them. Make a list of any resources the sub will need to use (worksheets, scarves, digital files to be projected on the board, etc). Also write notes as to where to FIND said resources.
- Supplies: I just wrote what cabinet to find the stuff in (scarves, beanbags, etc).
- Files: I make a special bin of sub resources and filed the resources in there (rhythm flashcards, recorder fingering posters, etc).
- Worksheets: I made a folder and put a master copy of any worksheets in there, along with a sticky note answer key and a sticky note grading scale, so they can simply grade it and input the grades in the grade book.
- Digital files, I put everything on a USB that is in the binder (recordings of songs, SMARTboard/PowerPoint files, etc).
And that’s how I tackled it. I’m not going to say planning for a long-term music sub was easy – it wasn’t. But by having a checklist and methodically working away at it, and by using some of the tips I’ve given here, you should be able to make really good comprehensive sub plans that will leave you stress free knowing your sub has all the resources they need.
After the Long Term Sub – Coming Back From Maternity Leave
If you are going on maternity leave, you may also want to check out this post on pumping at work, for when you come back from leave. So much to prepare for! But all very doable.
More About Sub Plans
Check out these other posts for more awesome sub plan ideas:
When You’re Away the Kids Will Play – Games for Sub Plans
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