Do I really need a stocked sub tub?
Yes, you really do. An inevitable part of teaching is that you will need to miss days of school from time to time. When you or a loved one is sick, or there is a family emergency, the last thing you want to think about is sub plans, right? Unless you are one of the rare fortunate music teachers who is able to get a musician, everything in your sub tub needs to be approachable to non-music educators. For more information on prepping for a sub, check out this post.
1. Sub Tub Stuffers
Pitch Publications’ Shelley Tomich is well known for her Rainbow Ukulele Method (which I also recommend), but she also has a line of Sub Tub Stuffers. My older students love her Guido d’Arezzo plan, and my younger kids enjoy her plan for Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin. I also keep one of her Emoji games ready to go in case I need to miss a choir rehearsal. The students get to do a fun, music-related activity when I can’t be there to rehearse with them. And what kid doesn’t like emojis, right?
2. Music or Not?
Melissa Stouffer of Mrs. Stouffer’s Music Room has an excellent line of resources called Music or Not. Probably her most well-known game from this line is Opera or Cheese?, in which students are given a word or phrase, and they have to guess whether it is the title of an opera, or a kind of cheese. These games can be played on an interactive whiteboard, or you can print them out for a no-tech situation. I have the Music or River? version, and printed the game cards on card stock for my sub tub. When I needed to take an unexpected absence, my kids loved playing this game.
3. My Emergency Sub Plan Bundle
Over the years, I’ve created several emergency sub plans for non-music guest teachers. You can actually find a bundle of many of them here. These can be done with no-tech or low-tech, and come with pronunciation guides and term definitions that a non-music sub might need. I print out the plans and visuals, and put them in my binder. Then, I photocopy any activity sheets for the plans, and make sure there are enough for each class. These all go in my sub tub, so that if I ever wake up sick, I don’t need to come in before school, or send in a teammate to make my copies.
In every school I’ve worked at, the administration has requested that we steer clear of leaving videos or busy work in our sub tubs. Yes, I show short videos in class, and I think videos are great in a pinch, but I understand their point. Learning shouldn’t stop altogether because of the teacher’s absence. I’ve designed my sub plans so that they still teach musical concepts, but in a way that any substitute could teach the lesson. The kids are still learning about music, but in a different way.
4. Add some movement!
My lower elementary and early childhood sub plans also include a little time for creative movement. I keep a few sets of my Music and Movement cards in my sub tub, along with playlists, so that a sub can turn on the music, hold up a card, and get the kids moving. During distance learning, though, I found an even simpler way to leave these for a sub if they will have access to technology. I create a quick video of the cards with music added in, so that the sub could just press play. If you want the details, read about it here. If you’d like a tutorial, I saved one in my Instagram highlights under “Movement.”
5. Don’t forget about early finishers!
My concern when I’m absent is that I haven’t left enough for the kids to do. I would feel terrible if the substitute teacher followed my lesson plan, and had fifteen minutes left at the end. Subbing is hard enough, without having to come up with activities on the spot. Because of my neurotic worrying, I leave plenty of early finisher activities in my sub tub. Coloring pages, color-by-note sheets, and word searches are my favorite options. Here’s a bundle that shows all of the coloring page options I choose from. I’ve also made a few word searches for early finishers, and they’re a bonus file in my Sub Bundle. I can rest much better knowing that there are plenty of options for the sub.
These five things in my sub tub are so helpful, especially for emergency sick days. I have a feeling that this year, many of us will need to use more of our sick time than usual because of what is going on in the world. In preparation, I’ll be adding more plans to my sub tub soon, just in case. It’s always good to have more sub lessons and activities than you might need. I hope this list helps you in preparing or updating your own music sub tub! Is there anything you would add to this list? Leave it in the comments.
Happy teaching!
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