Substitute Teacher Guide • Grade 11 • Unit C: Typography Mastery

Type Classification & Pairing Fonts — Day 2 of 2

Today's focus: Pairing Fonts

✅ Before Students Arrive

Materials needed today:
- Printed font classification sheet
- Sample layout template with a headline + body text placeholder
- Google Fonts printouts or device access
Most students keep their class notebook at its usual spot in the room and use it every day (see routine below) -- but it's each student's own notebook, so a few may bring theirs from home instead. Either way, everyone should have one out.
Write today's Do Now on the board before the bell rings (see below).

📓 Daily Notebook Routine (students already know this)

Keep this going every day, in your class notebook: date today's entry, jot your Do Now response, add any new vocabulary word(s) from today's Key Vocabulary section (word + a quick picture + a simple definition in your own words), and take 60 seconds to sketch something connected to today's topic. This notebook is yours to study from, reference on projects, and pull evidence from later for your portfolio.

📁 Portfolio Update Reminder

Once a week (e.g. every Friday, or your class's last meeting of the week), add your best finished or in-progress work to a running portfolio folder with a 1-2 sentence caption: what it is, what skill or standard it shows. This becomes your formal Google Sites portfolio in Unit F -- keep it current all year so you're not scrambling right before your PBAT and portfolio review.

🗣️ Opening: Do Now

Write or project this, and have students start immediately:

“Recall the 5 type classification categories from memory.”

📋 Class Plan (step by step)

Step 1 — 10 min

🗣️ Say: "Today we're looking at ___." Then walk through the point(s) below at the front of the room.

📋 Mini-lesson (10 min): the general rule of pairing a display font for headlines with a simple font for body text.
Step 2 — 25 min

🗣️ Say: "Turn to a partner and do this together."

📋 Pairing lab (25 min): test 3 different font pairings on the same sample layout and write a short justification for your strongest pairing.
Step 3 — 5 min

🗣️ Say: "Let's hear from a few people before we move on."

📋 Share (5 min).

🔑 Vocabulary Introduced Today

Display / Decorative Font: An expressive, attention-grabbing font meant for headlines, not long text.
Font Pairing: Choosing 2 (rarely more) typefaces that contrast enough to create hierarchy, but still feel cohesive.

✅ Wrap-Up: Exit Ticket

A few minutes before the bell, say: "Time to finish your exit ticket."

“Name your strongest font pairing from today and explain, using vocabulary from today, why it works.”

Collect exit tickets (or have students leave them in the usual spot) for the regular teacher to review.

⏳ If You're Short on Time

Protect the Do Now and the Exit Ticket above all else -- those are how the regular teacher tracks daily progress. If a step above is optional/homework, or is a "share out"/discussion step, shorten or skip it first.

⏳ If Students Finish Early

Have them keep working in their notebook: add extra detail to today's vocabulary sketch, review previous vocabulary, or -- if this is a portfolio update week for this class -- work on their portfolio. Early finishers should never be idle or distracting to classmates still working.

📝 For the Regular Teacher (fill in ahead of time)

Regular teacher's name / how to reach them: ______________________________
Where finished work / exit tickets go: ______________________________
Front office extension / emergency contact: ______________________________
Anything else this class needs to know today: ______________________________