Substitute Teacher Guide • Grade 11 • Unit A: Foundations — The Design Process & Purpose
Color Theory Deep-Dive: Psychology, Culture & Accessibility — Day 1 of 2
Today's focus: Building Color Schemes
✅ Before Students Arrive
- Materials needed today:
- Digital or printed color wheel
- Brand logo examples for color-psychology discussion
- Adobe Color (or similar) for contrast checking
- 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:
“.”
📋 Class Plan (step by step)
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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 (15 min): build monochromatic, analogous, and triadic schemes from a shared starting color, discussing real brand examples and the psychology behind their color choices.
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Step 2 — 10 min
🗣️ Say: "Let's do the first one together, then you'll try the rest on your own."
📋 Guided practice (10 min): build one scheme together as a class.
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Step 3 — 15 min
🗣️ Say: "Now it's your turn -- work on your own (or with your table) on the following."
📋 Independent practice (15 min): build your own 3 schemes from a different starting color.
🔑 Vocabulary Introduced Today
- Monochromatic Scheme
- A color scheme built from a single hue at different values/intensities.
- Analogous Scheme
- Colors that sit next to each other on the color wheel, creating a harmonious look.
- Triadic Scheme
- Three colors evenly spaced around the color wheel, creating vibrant contrast.
✅ Wrap-Up: Exit Ticket
A few minutes before the bell, say: "Time to finish your exit ticket."
“Pick one brand's logo colors and explain the psychology behind why you think they chose that color.”
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: ______________________________