---
title: "Your first real HTML page"
course: "BE101 · What runs behind a website"
unit: "Building with HTML and CSS"
lesson: 11 of 39
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/what-runs-behind-a-website/your-first-real-html-page
publisher: Maestro College
---

# Your first real HTML page

Lesson 11 of 39 in **What runs behind a website** (BE101), unit "Building with HTML and CSS". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Create a valid HTML document with the essential structure (doctype, html, head, body).
- Introduce headings, paragraphs and link elements and learn how to add them to the HTML page.

## Teaching notes
Images come in the next lesson.

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 11 complete: Your first real HTML page."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "Images and lists" (lesson 12 of 39), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/what-runs-behind-a-website/images-and-lists.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: How HTML works
Next lesson: Images and lists