Unless you’re brand new to the classroom, you know what it’s like to try to teach on a rough day. A day when you are just not ready for class. Maybe you’re not feeling well, were up all night with a sick child, had a fender bender on your way to school, or your lab supplies didn’t come in as expected. Whatever the reason, these no-prep emergency lessons for rough days will come to the rescue.
I have used all of these activities in my classroom, but they also work well as emergency sub plans. The only materials required are student paper, pen or pencil, and maybe notes or a textbook from your class. If you want to spice things up a bit, you can add in printer or colored paper and colored pencils or markers. I hope at least one of these emergency lessons make your rough days a little better.
3 No-Prep Emergency Lessons
Lesson 1: Write a Quiz
Students will play teacher by creating questions in a quiz or worksheet format that another student will complete. Don’t forget the answer key!
Instructions for students:
Create a 20-question quiz for our current chapter.
Use a mix of question types such as fill in the blank, multiple choice, and matching.
Write neatly and leave space for answers.
Make a separate answer key so you can grade the quiz once it’s completed by another student.
Trade quizzes with another student and take each other’s quiz.
Trade again and grade the quiz.
If time permits, correct any questions you missed.
Tips for this lesson:
I have used this method several times, and it typically take students MUCH longer than you expect to write the questions. Keep that in mind when selecting the number of required questions.
I do not like true/false questions for this lesson. They are faster to write, but difficult to design in an effective manner.
Encourage students to ask questions of their quiz writer. Sometimes questions need to be re-worded for clarification.
Lesson 2: Pass Around
Students will build on each other’s thoughts as they explore a key term or concept. Use rows or student lab groups to determine groups.
Instructions for Students:
Choose one key term or concept from the current chapter and write it at the top of your paper. Talk to others in your group to make sure there are no repeats.
Pass your paper to the person behind you (if in rows) or to your left (if in groups).
When you get a new paper, look at the term or concept and anything else that has been written previously. Then, add a new detail, example or drawing that relates to the original concept. If you’re not sure what to add, write a question.
Pass the paper to the next person and keep going until you get your paper back.
If your group is small, repeat the “Pass Around” again to get more information.
If time permits, work in groups to review the information for accuracy and answer any questions that were added.
Tips for this lesson:
You can select the key terms or concepts you want students to use.
I like this activity for larger groups of 5 or 6 students.
Consider using a timer to keep things moving.
The next day, students who had the same term or concept can collaborate to create a poster or anchor chart using their lists of details, examples, and drawings.
Lesson 3: Write a Poem
I first used this lesson when I was on a 9th grade team collaborating with an English teacher and a Social Studies teacher. My kids loved it! And, I loved it because students work alone and it’s pretty quiet. Quiet can be nice on a rough day.
Instructions for Students:
Write a poem about one key term or concept from our current chapter.
There are 3 types of poem you can choose from:
Acrostic: The first letter in each line of an acrostic poem spell out a word or phrase.
Haiku: Only three lines are used in a haiku. The first and last lines must each have exactly 5 syllables and the second line must have 7 syllables.
Diamante: This poem consists of seven lines of text that form a diamond shape when written out. Line 1 and line 7 can be either synonyms OR antonyms. Here’s the format:
line 1: noun (one word – this is your key term)
line 2: two adjectives that describe the noun in line 1
line 3: three “-ing” verbs that relate to the noun in line 1
line 4: four nouns, the first two relate to the noun in line 1 and the second two relate to the noun in line 7
line 5: three “-ing” verbs that relate to the noun in line 7
line 6: two adjectives that describe the noun in line 7
line 7: noun (one word that is EITHER a synonym or antonym of the noun in line 1)
Illustrate your poem.
Tips for this lesson:
Give students the option to choose which type of poem they want to write OR select the poem style you want all students to use.
Offer a time for peer review after the poem is drafted, but before it is illustrated.
On the diamante, the nouns in lines 1 and 7 don’t have to be exact synonyms or antonyms, so encourage students to be flexible here. For example, in Biology think desert vs. rainforest, prokaryote vs. eukaryote, or mitosis vs. meiosis. I hope that helps!
I call this “Find a Fact/Check a Fact”. This lesson will work in 1:1 classrooms where students are familiar with responsibly conducting internet research.
Instructions for Students:
Conduct internet research to find a cool fact or interesting example related to a key term or concept from our current chapter.
Confirm your information on at least 3 reputable sites and be sure to record the URL of each site.
Write a summary of your research and include a visual such as a drawing, chart, graph, etc.
Tips for this lesson:
The summary may be shared with the class through oral presentations or a gallery walk.
No Guilt
So, there you go . . . three no-prep emergency lessons, plus a bonus lesson, for rough days. You’re human, stuff happens, it’s okay. No guilt! I truly hope these ideas help you get through a rough day or just give you something new to try. And, I really think your students will enjoy the change.
My next post will include 3 LOW-PREP emergency lessons. Let me know in the comments how you handle rough days.
