11th Grade — Unit C: Typography Mastery: Type Classification & Pairing Fonts

🗓️ Before Class: Teacher Prep

Gather/set out: Printed font classification sheet, Sample layout template with a headline + body text placeholder, Google Fonts printouts or device access.
Pull up today's slide deck (see 🖥️ Slide Deck below) so it's ready to project.

🖥️ Slide Deck (project or share with students)

Short, on-the-board pacing slides for today's Do Now, agenda, vocabulary, and exit ticket -- the full detail lives in the handout above, not here.

Day 1

Open / download this slide PDF

Day 2

Open / download this slide PDF

🧑‍🏫 Substitute Teacher Guide

A scripted, step-by-step runsheet for today's class -- hand this to anyone covering the room who doesn't know the daily routine.

Day 1: 📋 Open Substitute Guide
Day 2: 📋 Open Substitute Guide

🎯 Essential Question

How do designers choose and pair fonts that work well together?

📈 Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson (2 Days), students will be able to:

Classify typefaces into major categories: serif, sans-serif, script, display/decorative, and monospace.
Explain the general rule of pairing a display font for headlines with a simple font for body text.
Test 3 font pairings on a sample layout and justify the strongest choice.

📐 Standards Alignment

CDOS (Career Development & Occupational Studies)

CDOS 2 — Integrated Learning -- students will demonstrate how academic knowledge and skills are applied in the workplace and other settings.
CDOS 3a — Universal Foundation Skills -- basic literacy, communication, and problem-solving skills required for a career.

ACP (Adobe Certified Professional) Photoshop Exam Objectives

ACP 1.4 — Demonstrate knowledge of key terminology related to digital images.
ACP 1.5 — Demonstrate knowledge of basic design principles and best practices employed in the design industry.

🎓 Study this for the ACP exam: Domain 1: Working in the Design Industry

📚 Key Vocabulary

Serif / Sans-Serif: Serif fonts have small strokes at letter ends; sans-serif fonts do not.
Script: A typeface that mimics handwriting or calligraphy.
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.

🧰 Materials & Tools

Printed font classification sheet
Sample layout template with a headline + body text placeholder
Google Fonts printouts or device access

🧠 Do Now (Warm-Up)

Would you ever put a handwriting-style script font in a legal contract? Why or why not?

📁 Portfolio Update — Once a Week

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.

✍️ Example description for your Google Sites portfolio (fill in YOUR blanks -- don't just copy this):

For this piece, I made ______________ (name what you made) for “Type Classification & Pairing Fonts.” This project asked: “How do designers choose and pair fonts that work well together?” I used Serif / Sans-Serif by ______________ (explain how you used it in THIS piece). The hardest part was ______________, and I solved it by ______________. I'm proud of ______________ because ______________.

📋 Main Workshop / Lesson Sequence

This lesson spans 2 Days. Suggested pacing:

Day	Focus	Plan
Day 1	Type Classification	Do Now (5 min): would you put a script font in a legal contract? Why or why not? Mini-lesson (15 min): classify typefaces into the 5 major categories with real examples. Sorting activity (20 min): sort a mixed set of font samples into the correct categories. Share (5 min).
Day 2	Pairing Fonts	Do Now (5 min): recall the 5 type classification categories from memory. Mini-lesson (10 min): the general rule of pairing a display font for headlines with a simple font for body text. Pairing lab (25 min): test 3 different font pairings on the same sample layout and write a short justification for your strongest pairing. Share (5 min).

✅ Assessment & Exit Ticket

Sorting activity + pairing lab scored with a rubric: correct classification, and a genuine (not just "I liked it") justification for the chosen pairing.

Exit Ticket: Name your strongest font pairing from today and explain, using vocabulary from today, why it works.

📊 Pull up the anonymous Class Check-In for students to fill out before they go.

🧩 Differentiation & Accommodations

English Language Learners: model every step live, then check in one-on-one; provide translated materials and vocabulary support as needed. Students with IEPs: apply the accommodations and modifications listed in each student's plan (examples include extended time, graphic organizers, speech-to-text tools, chunked instructions, and visual schedules). Students with attention-related needs: break tasks into short, checklist-driven steps and provide brief movement or focus breaks. Students ready for a challenge: take on a leadership role critiquing peers' work, extend the project with a second iteration, or research how today's skill is used professionally in the field.