7 Grab-and-Go Phonics and Phonemic Awareness Tasks for Your Substitute Teacher
Crafting the perfect substitute plans can feel like a huge headache, especially when you’re trying to find activities that keep your students learning without you there. We all know how important it is to keep up with foundational skills like phonics and phonemic awareness, even when you’re out. So, what’s a busy teacher to do?
I put together a list of 7 tasks that are not only effective but also super easy for any substitute to run. These activities are designed to be intuitive for your substitute to implement, so you can take a well-deserved day off knowing your classroom is running smoothly.
Phonics or Phonemic Awareness Bingo
Bingo is easy for a substitute to implement once you have it! Create Bingo cards with CVC words, digraphs, or images representing words with specific medial/initial/final sounds. The teacher will call out words or sounds, and students mark their cards. This game-based approach makes identifying sounds and reading words fun. You don’t need to make own from scratch – you can use the My Free Bingo Cards generator for it!
Also, once you have this ready to go for a substitute, you can use it yourself any time with the whole class or a small group who needs to review a specific topic! It’s also great to have a TA or parent volunteer do with a small group.
You could also pick up Phonological Awareness Bingo from my TPT store, which will engage your students in essential PA skills. With seven different bingo boards, your students will have plenty of opportunities to practice rhyming, syllables, phoneme deletion, and more.
Word Chains
This website has free word chain lists for everything from CVC words to silent e! Go ahead and print them out. Then when you prep your day-of substitute plans, tell them which skill/skills the class is working on so they can pull the appropriate list.
Besides the list, the only materials needed are for students: white boards, paper and pencil or their Fundations magnetic letter boards . I keep my copies of these word lists on my teacher clipboard so I can use them any time with my reading intervention students. And I have a list for everyone’s needs!
Word Ladders
Word ladders are another easy way for a substitute to have students practice spelling and phonics skills. Grab these free Word Ladder templates from TPT.
Then have you sub grab the word chain lists you downloaded and printed (see above) and let them know which word chain list/lists to dictate. This template is simple but for some reason kids love it.
And note, the first word should be written at the bottom of the ladder. I tell my students that’s because when you first get on the ladder, the bottom step is the first place you step!
Boom Cards
Use Boom cards from Boom Learning! The first grade teachers at my school love to load these onto their students’ iPads and then kids can practice skills any time. How easy for a substitute? The general website can be found here and it’s pretty easy to search for what you need. And it’s free for you to get started with a teacher account.
Keep reading for more strategies!
Roll and Read Boards
Roll and read boards are fun and easy and don’t require many supplies. I usually just use dice (for the rolling) and bingo dotters or markers with my reading students.
Here’s a free Vowel team and CVC words Roll and Read game from TPT. Try it and look at the other similar options and see if you like the style, then you can download the roll and read boards for the other phonics skills you are going to be working on.
Leave some class sets of a few roll and read boards in your substitute folder and she can just grab what works best from there. Note: My favorite roll and read boards are from Sparkling in Second Grade and can be found here. Note: they are paid resources.
Ready-to-Go Activities from Teachers Pay Teachers!
Wouldn’t it be a relief to have a full set of first grade phonics and phonemic awareness activities that you can simply grab and leave for your substitute teacher? Something that’s easy for them to run and engaging for your students, so you can truly rest and not worry about what’s happening in your classroom?
You’re in luck! My 1st Grade Phonics Task Cards and Phonemic Awareness Lessons and Task Cards bundled resource is packed with months and months worth of hands-on, Science of Reading-aligned activities that are perfect for those days you’re out.
It provides you and your sub with a complete toolkit of centers, small group work and whole class phonemic awareness lesson plans. With this resource, you can confidently write “see basket on the counter” on your sub plans and know that your students’ foundational skills are being reinforced.
Benefits for Teachers:
- Ultimate Sub Plan Solution: Never worry about what to leave for a substitute again. The tasks are intuitive for a sub to run and require minimal explanation.
- Zero Prep Time: The cards and activities are all done-for-you, saving you hours of planning and material creation.
- Differentiated Learning: Easily meet the needs of all your first graders, from CVC word practice to more advanced blends and digraphs.
- Aligns with Best Practices: Confidently use a resource that is grounded in the Science of Reading and proven to build strong foundational skills.
Benefits for Students:
- Hands-on Engagement: Students will love the fun, interactive nature of the task cards, keeping them focused and on-task.
- Strong Skill Building: The activities are designed to build critical phonics and phonemic awareness skills, a key to becoming a confident reader.
- Consistent Learning: Ensures that even when you are away, students are continuing to build on what they’ve learned and not missing a beat.
Let’s look at each resource separately so you can see what is included, and you can grab just one of them if you like.
Phonemic Awareness Lesson Plans and Task Cards
Take a look at my teacher led Phonemic Awareness Activities! (You can get this resource separately, without the first Grade Phonics Task Cards at the links in the images and in the blue font) With these teacher lesson plans and task cards, you can have everything you need at your fingertips. There are 30-36 task cards for each skill (80 pages or so of task cards) plus 20 lesson plans!
Ready to make a difference in your students’ skills? Grab this resource and watch their skills soar!
First Grade Phonics Lessons and Center Activities
This resource is jam-packed with activities. Some are print and go (worksheets or similar) and some need a little prep, but once you ready them, they cans be easily used by your substitute teacher (or you on any day you choose). Here’s a peek at the cover:
And here’s a peek at just some of the different activities included. It includes more than 450 pages of task cards, worksheets, booklets and more!
There are also a few more phonics skills addressed, such as consonant blends if you are later in the first grade year, but here’s a peek at some examples of CVC words and digraphs.
Once these are printed, copied and stored in a folder or task card box (I use photo cases like these), how easy would they be for a substitute to grab and implement?
I hope these suggestions help you for the next time you have to take a sick or leave day!
Other blog posts you may want to check out:
- 5 Minute Magic: Building Phonemic Awareness
- Transform Phonics in Grades K-2 with Fun Word Work Centeres
- Unlock Reading: Fun Ways to Teach CVC Words
- Stress-Free Start: Activities for the First Week of School
- 7 Strategies to Prioritize Phonics and Phonemic Awareness All Year
If you want to save this blog post for later, pin this Pinterest ready image below!
Do you have any other tips for days when you need a substitute? Let us know!
