Substitute Teacher Guide • Grade 9 • Unit 1: The Client & The Designer

Purpose, Audience & Demographics — Day 1 of 2

Today's focus: Meeting the Vocabulary

✅ Before Students Arrive

Materials needed today:
- Printed magazine/ad images (teacher-provided, at least 6 varied examples)
- Scenario cards (printed)
- Purpose & Audience worksheet (paper)
- Product cards for the "create your own" activity (e.g. sneakers, phone case, cereal)
- Pencils
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.

🗣️ Opening: Do Now

Write or project this, and have students start immediately:

“Look at the image posted on the board. Write down the first three words that come to mind.”

📋 Class Plan (step by step)

Step 1 — 12 min

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

📋 Mini-lesson (12 min): introduce audience, target audience, demographics, audience purpose, audience reaction, and asset with real examples.
Step 2 — 8 min

🗣️ Say: "Let's do the first one together, then you'll try the rest on your own."

📋 Guided practice (8 min): as a class, match the first 2 scenario cards to the correct printed images and explain why.
Step 3 — 15 min

🗣️ Say: "Now it's your turn -- work on your own (or with your table) on the following."

📋 Independent/pair practice (15 min): match 3 more scenario cards on the worksheet, writing a 1-2 sentence justification for each.
Step 4 — 5 min

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

📋 Quick share (5 min): 2-3 pairs share their trickiest match and how they decided.

🔑 Vocabulary Introduced Today

Audience: The general term for the people who will see or use a design.
Target Audience: The specific group of people (by age, interest, location, etc.) a design is created to reach.
Demographics: The measurable traits of a group of people -- age, gender, income, location -- used to describe an audience.

✅ Wrap-Up: Exit Ticket

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

“Pick one image from today and write 2 sentences: who is the target audience, and what reaction is the designer going for?”

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: ______________________________