Free printable substitute teacher plans
A fill-in-the-blank emergency lesson plan you print ahead of time and leave in the sub folder — no-prep activities, no logins, and nothing to write at 6am on the morning you wake up sick.
When to use it
This is what emergency plans are for. Filled in ahead of time and left in the folder, they turn a bad morning into one phone call.
Many districts ask for three days of generic plans at the start of the year. This template is that format, one page per day.
Print the filler activities section too. An empty half-hour is where most sub days go wrong.
Emergency Substitute Lesson Plan
EMERGENCY SUBSTITUTE LESSON PLAN Teacher: ______________________ Class/Grade: ______________________ Date: _________________________ Room: _______________________ SCHEDULE Period/Block Subject Activity (attach handout if needed) ____________ ______________ ___________________________________ ____________ ______________ ___________________________________ ____________ ______________ ___________________________________ ____________ ______________ ___________________________________ MATERIALS NEEDED (location noted for each) 1. _______________________________________________ Location: ______ 2. _______________________________________________ Location: ______ 3. _______________________________________________ Location: ______ SEATING / CLASS NOTES Seating chart location: ___________________________________________ Students who help easily (line leader, tech helper, etc.): ____________________________________________________________________ KEY INSTRUCTIONS FOR TODAY ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ IF YOU FINISH EARLY ____________________________________________________________________ EMERGENCY PROCEDURES REMINDER Fire drill route/meeting point: ___________________________________ Nurse location: ___________________________________________________ Front office phone: _______________________________________________ NOTES FOR THE TEACHER (please leave this filled in) How the day went: _________________________________________________ Anything the teacher should know: _________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________
Both templates on one print-ready PDF — free, no email required.
What to put in it
- Your name, room, grade or subject, and the date the plan is used.
- A schedule grid with periods, subjects and the activity for each block.
- Work that needs no prep from the sub and no login — printed or textbook-based.
- What to do with completed work, and what to do with work that isn't finished.
- Two or three filler activities for early finishers or an unexpected gap.
- Attendance, dismissal, and who covers your duty.
- A line for the sub to write back what actually happened.
Mistakes that make a sub day go wrong
Emergency plans should be review, practice or reading — never new content. A sub cannot introduce long division to your class in your voice, and shouldn't have to.
Assume nothing turns on. Anything device-dependent needs a printed backup stapled behind it.
Print three, undated. The day you need them, you will not be at the photocopier.
One blank half-page — what got done, who helped, what went wrong — tells you exactly where to restart tomorrow.
The Sub Plans Bundle — a print-ready PDF with grade-band versions of both free templates, plus the rest of the folder:
- Elementary and secondary (multi-period) welcome letters
- Elementary and secondary emergency lesson plans
- Printable sub folder checklist — what to put in it, in order
- No-prep filler activities list, for when a lesson runs short
Instant download. The two templates on this page stay free forever — the bundle is the grade-band versions and the folder system.
FAQ
What goes in an emergency substitute lesson plan?
A schedule, one no-prep activity per block, instructions for handling completed work, filler activities, and the classroom logistics a sub needs — attendance, dismissal and duty.
How many days of emergency plans should I have ready?
Three is the usual district expectation and a sensible personal minimum. One covers a stomach bug; three covers the flu.
Can I print these plans and reuse them?
Yes. Print the blank plan, fill it in by hand or on screen, and keep undated copies in the folder. The template is free to use in your own classroom.
What if the sub finishes everything early?
That is what the filler list is for — silent reading, a review game, a journal prompt, or a challenge worksheet held in reserve. The paid bundle includes a ready-made no-prep filler page.