How to Lesson Plan Without a Teacher's Manual

In an ideal world, all teachers would start the school year with all of the supplies they need. This is not Utopia though, this is the real world! Thanks to a little debacle with the publishing company, my teachers manual to the completely new and different version of our math book didn't arrive. It's coming next week (theoretically), but I have plans to do for THIS week. That leaves the big question, how do I do that?!

This is definitely not the 1st (or even the 2nd!) time this has happened to me in the last 8 school years! I've learned some great tricks to this little problem!

Option 1:
Plan your lessons based on the student edition. This was my original plan, but then there was a bit of a snafu. There are 2 volumes of the student book and the ONLY difference in a teeny tiny "1" or "2" in the bottom corner of the book. Silly me grabbed the "2" on my way out the door. So this student copy was of no use to me.

Option 2:
Get an online copy of the book! Many books allow teachers full online access to the curriculum manuals and student editions online! Now for some programs this is a "paid only" option that may not have been purchased by your school/district. SSSSHHHH! I HAVE A SECRET....There is a trick around this problem!

Look up the website used to purchase the curriculum and then find the link for a "virtual sample." Most publishing companies let you enter your school email, the school name, and the address/zip code, and then you get instant access to at least some of the curriculum! Lucky for me, my curriculum gave me access to see everything for 120 days! I can't print from it or anything, but I can look at everything I need to write up my lesson plans! Also, I've learned sometimes you find online materials that correspond to your curriculum that you never even knew about.

My math book starts with decomposing numbers, so I think I may go make a fun little activity to go with this! The curriculum has a boring one, so I figure I can make a cute version and use the same vocabulary when I teach it. I already have a great idea for how to do this! Now to determine if I'm motivated enough to draw the clip art to go with it, or just be lazy and use some of the adorable stuff out there!