Grade 11 • Unit E.5: Extension & Enrichment (Optional) • Lesson 25 of 44 • 2 Days

Design Trend Spotlight: Researching Today's Design World

🗓️ Before Class: Teacher Prep

🖥️ 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.

🧑‍🏫 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.

🎯 Essential Question

📈 Learning Objectives

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

  1. Research 2-3 current design trends in depth, collecting real visual examples.
  2. Connect a current trend to a historical movement studied earlier in Unit B.
  3. Present findings with visual examples to a small group.

📐 Standards Alignment

CDOS (Career Development & Occupational Studies)

ACP (Adobe Certified Professional) Photoshop Exam Objectives

📚 Key Vocabulary

Design Trend
A widely-adopted style or technique currently popular in the field, always evolving.
Trend Forecasting
Predicting where a design trend is likely to go next, based on its origins and trajectory.

🧰 Materials & Tools

🧠 Do Now (Warm-Up)

Name one design trend you've noticed recently (in apps, ads, or social media). What does it look like?

📋 Main Workshop / Lesson Sequence

This lesson spans 2 Days. Suggested pacing:

DayFocusPlan
Day 1Researching TrendsDo Now (5 min, above). Mini-lesson (10 min): quick recap of the "Counterculture to Today" trends lesson from Unit B. Independent research (25 min): research 2-3 current trends in depth, collecting visual examples. Organize (5 min): sort your examples by trend.
Day 2Connecting & PresentingDo Now (5 min): pick your strongest trend example. Prepare (15 min): prepare a short visual presentation connecting a current trend to a historical movement from Unit B. Present (20 min): share to small groups. Discussion (5 min).

✅ Assessment & Exit Ticket

Presentation scored with a rubric: 2-3 real trend examples, a genuine and specific historical connection.

Exit Ticket: Name one current design trend and the historical movement you connected it to.

📊 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.

🔗 Resources & References