Relief Daze 1

A complete 
ONE DAY program 

for a Relief Teacher. 

This program has been used in upper primary classrooms from year 5 - 7. I have used this program myself a number of times and have continually refined the implementation.


See 10 Top Tips that Make a Great Teacher

Morning Session (90 minutes)

1. Number Races #1 (30 minutes)

• Teaching Tip: This is a high paced lesson. Without any fuss, I get the kids to draw up the table (see below) as soon as they come into the classroom.  See The First 10 Minutes for hints. The table is a slide on the PowerPoint so load it to your screen and hurry the kids to copy the worksheet from the slide. At this pace, kids seldom get the chance to muck up and I usually start before most have finished so the kids really don’t have a chance to do anything else but hurry.

• Once started, work through each exercise. The PowerPoint is pre timed so it is really only a matter of clicking at the right place. (The instruction sheet is the first slide). The kids have to change pens to correct their answers. Don’t really worry about any cheating that may occur.
• Teaching Tip: While the kids are marking I casually speak to a few kids to get to know their names. I am gradually building up a relationship with the students and I make a point of using the names of the students I know while trying to learn names of the others. Do this throughout the day. 

2.  Percentage  - (30 minutes)http://adf.ly/5J0um

•     This is a teaching unit. You will basically teach the kids that percent literally means parts of 100. It is a teacher directed lesson and the PowerPoint is self explanatory. There are ten exercises for students to complete. Ensure the students correct them. The answers are in the PowerPoint.
•     Teaching Tip: Use peer tutoring for students who are having difficulty. Students who have mastered the concept could tutor students who don’t. Students can often explain concepts to other students with relevance.

3. Shopping Catalogue Maths  - 30 minutes.

       You should have collected a few grocery catalogues. The lesson takes minimum preparation.

•        Teaching Tip: This can be quite a noisy (but extremely productive) activity and the students are best seated in groups so they can share catalogues. You need to stress at the start that cutting out MUST be neat and outline how they are to glue the pictures to the sheet. I recommend on a separate piece of A4 paper for this activity. That way you can control the quality of the work. If the work is NOT up to you standard - have the student repeat it. CHECK 

Middle Session (90 minutes)

4.  Banjo Patterson – 45 minutes

• This is a note taking exercise. I work through the PowerPoint about Banjo Patterson’s life. During this process the students must copy down 6 or so key words or phrases from each slide. I discuss Banjo’s life in depth and show YouTube videos of Cobb and Co as well as a Polo match. (The links are in the PowerPoint). The sets the scene for both the upcoming poem and the afternoon session where they must rewrite a biography about Banjo Patterson.

• Teaching Tip - Learn about the life of Banjo Patterson so you get a feel for what you teach. Passion is often the key to a successful lesson. Passion is contagious.

5. Geebung Polo Club – (45 minutes)

• This poem epitomises Paterson’s life and this should be continually discussed; the influence of his country upbringing on The Geebungs and his city life on Cuff and Collar team.

• Teaching Tip – Kids love to recite poetry from memory – it is quite a challenge and even the low achieving students. Hand out a copy to each student. Recite the first two lines a couple of times and turn the sheet over. Kids love it when the teacher does the same activity, so you try to learn the poem with the students. Continue until all students can recite the first stanza. Teach this poem with passion.

Afternoon Session (90 minutes)




6. Punctuation Marks – Quotations - 30 minutes

• This is a good settling activity after the lunch break. Start it as soon as the students get in. It encourages the dawdlers to hurry up and will usually settle those talking after the break to get started. Because the PowerPoint contains movements it is good focus point for students.

7. Rewrite life of AB Paterson - 30 minutes 

• Using the notes from lesson 4, students should rewrite a biography about Banjo Paterson. 
• Teaching Tip - This is an important time to walk around and monitor the standard of the work. Don't slacken off now, you are almost there. Keep the kids focussed on their work, help out where necessary and keep yourself on task. It will pay off in the long run, especially if you have this class again. They now know - YOU MEAN BUSINESS.

8.   Geebung Polo Club - 30 minutes.

• Revisit the Geebung Polo Club. Have the children draw a 6 box grid on a piece of paper and sketch one scene from each stanza on the grid. Each scene should represent an image from that particular stanza.
• Teaching Tip - This is a great time to end the day on a positive. Ask for volunteer who can recite, without the sheet, a stanza, or a couple of lines from the poem.