Substitute Teacher Guide • Grade 10 • Unit 9.5: Extension & Enrichment (Optional)
Intro to Illustrator: Getting Started — Day 1 of 2
Today's focus: Meeting Illustrator
✅ Before Students Arrive
- Materials needed today:
- Computer with Adobe Illustrator
- 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, add your best finished or in-progress piece to your portfolio (the Google Drive folder you started in Grade 9, becoming your Google Sites portfolio in Lesson 10) with a 1-2 sentence caption: what it is, what tool/skill it used, and one thing you learned. Keep it current -- don't save it all for the portfolio-website lesson.
🗣️ Opening: Do Now
Write or project this, and have students start immediately:
“.”
📋 Class Plan (step by step)
-
Step 1 — 15 min
🗣️ Say: "Today we're looking at ___." Then walk through the point(s) below at the front of the room.
📋 Mini-lesson/demo (15 min): raster vs. vector recap, then a tour of Illustrator's workspace and panels.
-
Step 2 — 20 min
🗣️ Say: "Let's do the first one together, then you'll try the rest on your own."
📋 Guided practice (20 min): follow along building basic shapes on an artboard.
-
Step 3 — 5 min
🗣️ Say: "Here's what we're doing next." Then read the instructions below to the class.
📋 Save progress (5 min).
🔑 Vocabulary Introduced Today
- Illustrator
- Adobe's vector-based design application, used for logos, icons, and scalable artwork.
✅ Wrap-Up: Exit Ticket
A few minutes before the bell, say: "Time to finish your exit ticket."
“Name one thing Illustrator can do that Photoshop can't (or does very differently).”
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: ______________________________