StyleGuide/Lesson Plan Style
DroidBuilders Style Guide > Lesson plan style
This guide defines the document layout and writing conventions for DroidBuilders STEAM Academy lessons. It applies to classroom lessons and table activities.
Template and assets
- Google Docs working template and filled example (team access)
- Download the document header PNG | File details
- DroidBuilders, Inc. / 04 - Brand & Marketing / Logo & Brand Assets
- STEM / STEAM Academy - Brand Assets
Use the reusable template tab as the starting point. Replace its bracketed fields with the lesson's own content and remove unused prompts. The filled example illustrates the layout; its materials, grades, instructions and standards are not defaults for other lessons.
Document structure and length
Create one combined lesson plan with the educator portion first. Start the student activity sheet on a new page using a hard page break, so it can be printed separately.
There is no overall page limit. Expand the educator portion as needed to explain the lesson clearly. Keep the student portion to one or two pages at most. Required diagrams, preprinted panels and reference sheets are separate supplementary materials; link them from the lesson and prepare them for printing or, where useful at events, laminating.
The educator opening page uses a native two-column table: 75% for the main content and 25% for the right sidebar. Put the story, mission, learning objectives, science and safety in the main content. Use the sidebar for grade bands, timing, national STEM standards and materials. Omit a Group size block.
Header, typography and footer
Use the complete document header on the first educator page and the first student activity page. Continuation pages use the footer only. Keep the lesson title below the banner.
| Setting | Specification |
|---|---|
| Header image | PNG, 2200 x 300 pixels; 22:3 aspect ratio |
| Header placement | 7 1/3 inches wide by 1 inch high (528 x 72 pt), giving 300 pixels per inch |
| Page | US Letter, 8.5 x 11 inches; 42 pt left and right margins; 54 pt bottom margin |
| Opening table | 396 pt main column and 132 pt sidebar |
| Type | Exo 2 headings; Source Sans 3 body text |
| Sizes | 22 pt lesson title, 14 pt section headings, 12 pt body, 9 pt footer |
| Spacing | 1.15 line spacing; 3 pt after paragraphs; 6 pt before headings |
| Colors | Deep Navy #003468 headings; Gold #FFC20E accents; black body text on white reading areas |
The header combines Huyang and the workshop scene at left, bold Academy lettering with a gold divider at center, and the authentic standalone DroidBuilders logo at right. Its warm ivory background is part of this header treatment. Use the supplied file; do not reconstruct it from a screenshot, replace the logo, crop it or stretch it. For a different page width, scale proportionally.
Use native headings, lists and tables. Format materials as bullets without quantities. Set the bullet at 0 pt and the text indent at 9 pt, with wrapped lines aligned to the text. Prefix the Safety and access heading with a warning triangle, while retaining the words.
The footer places DroidBuilders STEAM Academy at left, the short lesson title in the center and automatic Page X of Y numbering at right. Use 9 pt Source Sans 3 in navy with a thin gold rule above; set the footer margin to 20 pt. Check page numbering in the separately printed or exported lesson.
Story and teaching voice
Open each lesson with an original scene evocative of the Star Wars universe. Establish a place, concrete sensory details, an object or problem worth investigating, and a role for the learners. Use accurate Star Wars terms where they belong. Let the scientific or engineering challenge emerge from the situation.
Give the scene enough room to set the tone. Follow it with a clear mission, return to the situation during the activity, and close with what learners can explain from evidence. Keep scientific explanations, safety directions and practical steps direct. Do not present invented scenes as established canon or invented dialogue as a source quotation.
Educator guidance and student activity
Use the 5E sequence in both portions: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate. The educator portion gives facilitation detail; the student portion gives concise actions and questions. The student sheet may combine Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate, followed by Share.
Write for a teacher or a DroidBuilder who may have no teaching experience. Include setup and reset instructions, brief facilitator cues, what learners should notice, a reasonable student explanation, and one common misconception with a useful response or follow-up question. Make adult checkpoints and relevant access options clear.
Match response space to the actual activity. A lesson that uses a preprinted panel for coloring should tell students to use that panel; it should not add an unrelated drawing task. Provide space to write, sketch or record observations only where the learning task calls for it.
Standards, sources and handout content
For each finished lesson, run STEM Standards Explorer against the actual activity and intended grade band. The writer reviews the returned standards and approves those supported by the lesson. Display the selected standard IDs as links in the sidebar. Do not carry standards from the example into another lesson or claim alignment from a topic match alone.
Retain original creator credits, source links and adaptation acknowledgments in Sources and credits. Preserve original source materials. Do not invent hardware specifications, code, attribution, standards alignment or successful tests.
Finished lesson plans contain teaching content and credits. Keep development notes, unresolved authoring questions, lookup evidence, revision history, trial records and approval tracking in a separate YAML or Markdown status file. Google Drive holds production documents; the NAS holds working files and reference copies. Preserve each activity's Source Materials, Astra and Blog folders.
Before sharing a lesson
Read the complete text, test the links and inspect the rendered pages. Check the header, sidebar, bullets, footer and student page break. Confirm that supplementary materials are linked and usable, and that template prompts and development notes have been removed. Keep readable type rather than shrinking text to fit a fixed educator page count.
References
Updated October 26, 2026.