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

Anatomy of a Typeface — Day 1 of 2

Today's focus: Letterform Vocabulary

✅ Before Students Arrive

Materials needed today:
- Large printed letterforms for labeling (poster-size)
- Rulers
- Type anatomy diagram handout
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:

“Label the letter "g" on your own, no notes.”

📋 Class Plan (step by step)

Step 1 — 18 min

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

📋 Mini-lesson (18 min): introduce letterform anatomy vocabulary using large printed letters.
Step 2 — 12 min

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

📋 Guided practice (12 min): label a diagram from memory, then correct it against the answer key.
Step 3 — 10 min

🗣️ Say: "Here's what we're doing next." Then read the instructions below to the class.

📋 Quick review (10 min): quiz a partner on 3 terms.

🔑 Vocabulary Introduced Today

Baseline: The invisible line letters "sit" on.
X-Height: The height of a lowercase "x" -- a key factor in how large or small a typeface appears to read.

✅ Wrap-Up: Exit Ticket

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

“Pick one typeface anatomy term from today and explain, in a sentence, how it affects readability.”

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: ______________________________