TellieFree script template
A lesson script template, with a photosynthesis example
Every mark in one script: three must-cover sections, two anchors, a plain aside, and a time budget.
minutes: 15 # Photosynthesis ## Warm-up: where does a tree come from Ask them where a tree's mass comes from before you tell them anything. Most of the room will say the soil, and a few will say water. Let the wrong answers sit there for a moment. Then say it: almost all of it came out of the **air**. [pause] That sentence is the whole lesson, and everything after it is evidence. ## ! The two stages > key: Calvin cycle, light reactions Light reactions capture energy and split water. The Calvin cycle uses that energy to build sugar out of carbon dioxide. Say *both* names out loud, because they will see them again on every exam they ever sit, and the names are the part they forget first. ## Draw it [turn to the board] Board time. Sun, leaf, arrow in, arrow out. Keep it ugly and fast. Ask someone to label the arrow that carries the carbon. ## ! Why anyone should care Nearly every atom of oxygen you have ever breathed came out of this reaction, and nearly every calorie you have ever eaten was assembled by it. Marked must-cover with no anchor phrase, because this is the part worth saying in full, in whatever words the day gives you. ## Where it breaks The honest edges, if there is time. Night. Drought. Why leaves change color. Not on the exam, and the reason half of them stay after class. ## ! Exit ticket > key: one sentence, before you go One sentence on where a tree's mass comes from. Collect them at the door.
Nothing happened? Then Tellie is not on this Mac yet. It is a free download, and this script will open straight into it once it is.
About this template
A good lesson has a few things you have to say and a lot you can improvise. This template marks the must-say parts, the key terms, why it matters and the exit ticket, and leaves the warm-up and the tangents free.
How to make it yours
- Open it in Tellie or save it as a .md file, then rewrite the words in your own voice.
- Keep the marks. A heading that starts with
## !is must-cover, and it turns green as you cover it. - After
> key:, list the phrases you would naturally say, separated by commas. Say any one of them and the point checks off, even in your own words. minutes:sets your time budget, so Tellie can give you a heads-up while there is still time to cover everything.
Questions
How do you write a script for a lesson?
Write out the few things you must say, like the key terms and the exit question, and leave the rest as short prompts. This template marks those parts so Tellie tracks them, and times the whole lesson at fifteen minutes.
Can teachers use a teleprompter for recorded lessons?
Yes. Tellie sits under your webcam in the Mac notch, follows the words you say, and stays invisible to screen recordings and video calls.