Last Thursday was a challenging day for me.  I was subbing for a class where the class usually rotates between a few teachers, however the other two classes were testing for the whole day, and I'm not sure that the teacher I was subbing for was aware that I would have the class for the whole.  So I was given plans which were meant for a third of the day and they needed to last for the entire day.  Additionally, it would have been a stretch to have those plans, which consisted of passing out a 15 min quiz, read the next chapters in the book their working on, and then read library books.  

So aside from the short quiz I was supposed to have them read for the entire day.  I mean come on, really? I was able to round up some busy work from the other two teachers, but having a whole day with silent reading/ worksheets doesn't make for a great classroom environment.  

So I did what any great sub would do, I improvised.  I did a quick internet search and picked three writing prompts.  If your curious these are the prompts that I had them choose from.

1. Pick a country.  You wake up in a strange country without knowing how you've gotten there.  What happens next?
2. You and your friend find a spaceship and go inside.  What happens next?
3. You find a secret passageway in the school.  Where does it go?

So I had my kids choose to work on one of the prompts above.  I let them work in pairs.  And not only did it keep them busy, they were excited.  So yeah, my day was saved.  At the end of the day I also broke out one of my Vocabulary games for them to play,Dictionary Detective.  I got the typical responses while introducing the game,  like "How can you have a game with dictionaries?,"  but after the second round the majority of the class was engaged.  

I've also decided to extend the time that I'm giving away my President Bookmarks.  They will now be free until this Friday.  

It's been a long since my last new product, but I've finally have finished my next one, President Bookmarks.  These bookmarks include all of the United States Presidents from George Washington to Barrack Obama.  Each bookmark includes a (hopefully) inspiring quote from that bookmarks.  All of the bookmarks are in black and white.  So you don't have to use a lot of printer ink and you can have a nice filler activity, while your students color the bookmarks.  The bookmarks are going to free until Friday at which time they will be available in this websites store, as well as Teachers Pay Teachers and Teachers Notebook.

You can get the bookmarks by clicking on the Add to Bag button below.  If you like these you can also get President Student Name Plates from my store just click on the picture below.

Congratulations Diane!  I've mailed out your copy of my Reader's Notebook today.  For those of you who didn't get a chance to win you can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Google Plus to be alerted to new contests.