9th Grade — Unit 3.5: Extension & Enrichment (Optional): Typography Deep-Dive: Hand-Lettering & Poster Design

🗓️ Before Class: Teacher Prep

Gather/set out: Large paper, Markers, pencils, rulers, Reference alphabet/lettering-style sheets.
If today includes physical/hands-on work: make sure the classroom cameras are charged, working, and have a cleared SD card ready for photo uploads.
Print today's student handouts (see 🖨️ Student Handouts below) in the language versions your class needs.
Pull up today's slide deck (see 🖥️ Slide Deck below) so it's ready to project.

🖨️ Student Handouts (print, one per class day)

Word + picture + definition + a short writing task for that day's vocabulary, in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Simplified Chinese.

Day 1: EN · ES · FR · AR · ZH
Day 2: EN · ES · FR · AR · ZH

🖥️ 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 we use hand-lettering and typography together to design a complete poster?

📈 Learning Objectives

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

Apply typography vocabulary (typeface, kerning, leading, serif/sans-serif) to a real hand-lettered composition.
Design a small poster combining hand-lettering with at least 2 elements/principles from Unit 3.
Explain the design choices behind their lettering style.

📐 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 1.5 — 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

Display Lettering: Large, expressive lettering meant to grab attention, often used for headlines or posters.
Poster: A large-format printed design meant to communicate one message quickly from a distance.

🧰 Materials & Tools

Large paper
Markers, pencils, rulers
Reference alphabet/lettering-style sheets

🧠 Do Now (Warm-Up)

Write your first name in bubble letters. Now write it again trying to make it look "loud" or "exciting." What did you change?

📤 How You Submit This — For Credit

Your physical projects don't stay in the classroom past the day you finish them -- you're responsible for your own completed work, the same way you'd be responsible for it in any job. The one exception is your class notebook: it has its own designated spot in the room (ask your teacher exactly where), and most students leave it there day to day -- but it's yours, so if you'd rather keep it with you or bring it home to study from, that's your call. Either way, always know where your own notebook actually is. Before a finished physical piece leaves your hands for good: ask your teacher for one of the classroom cameras, photograph your finished (or in-progress) work, then plug that camera's SD card into a classroom computer and upload the photo into your portfolio folder. That uploaded photo, with a short caption, IS your submission for credit -- the photo is what gets kept and graded, not the physical piece.

📁 Portfolio Update — Once a Week

Once a week (e.g. every Friday, or your class's last meeting of the week), photograph or save your best finished or in-progress piece from that week into your portfolio folder (a physical folder for now, or a Google Drive folder once one is set up) with a 1-2 sentence caption: what it is, and one skill it shows. In Grade 10 this becomes your Google Sites portfolio -- keep adding to it weekly from here on so you're not trying to reconstruct a whole semester of work at the end.

✍️ 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 “Typography Deep-Dive: Hand-Lettering & Poster Design.” This project asked: “How do we use hand-lettering and typography together to design a complete poster?” I used Display Lettering 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	Lettering Styles	Do Now (5 min, above). Mini-lesson (12 min): review typography vocabulary and introduce display-lettering styles (bubble, block, script-inspired). Guided practice (10 min): trace/practice 2 lettering styles together as a class. Independent practice (15 min): practice your own name in 3 different lettering styles. Share (3 min).
Day 2	Building the Poster	Do Now (5 min): sketch a 1-sentence message you want your poster to communicate. Mini-lesson (5 min): review how contrast, hierarchy, and alignment apply to posters. Independent build (30 min): design a small poster combining hand-lettering with at least 2 elements/principles from Unit 3. Gallery share (5 min).

✅ Assessment & Exit Ticket

Poster scored with a rubric: legible display lettering, at least 2 elements/principles applied, clear message.

Exit Ticket: Name one design choice in your poster and explain why you made it.

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

🧩 Differentiation & Accommodations

English Language Learners: provide translated or bilingual glossaries, visuals, and sentence frames; pair with a peer for meaningful participation. Students with IEPs: provide extended time, step-by-step checklists, and one-on-one or small-group support as specified in each student's plan. Attention-related needs: break the task into smaller steps, use visual timers, and minimize distractions. Students who finish early: extend the task by adding a second design variation, mentoring a classmate, or writing a short reflection connecting today's skill to a career pathway.

🔗 Resources & References

Google Fonts