Here are the TEN most recent Communication Arts Lessons that have been submitted.
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First Grade Short Vowels

Within this unit first grade students will identify short vowel sounds in isolation as well as in the context of spoken and written words. Students will explore how saying these vowels makes their mouths feel as well as the sound they hear. Students will identify "anchor" words that help them remember each vowel sound. Students will apply this knowledge of short vowel sounds while writing and reading new instructional level words.

Second Grade Poetry Unit of Study

This Second grade poetry unit focuses on the development of descriptive language and expression in writing. Through the use of sensory experiences in the classroom, the students develop their writing. Experiences such as candle burning, chewing bubble gum, eating pop rocks, popping popcorn encourage creative writing.The students discover published poets as writers, discover themselves as poets, experience poetry as a genre of writing. We look at different styles of writing as we learn about the various poets. The students learn about Microsoft word publishing techniques enhancing their computer skills.

Protein Synthesis in Cells

After completing this lesson, students will understand how proteins are synthesized and how mutations can affect how an organism functions. They will also know that the basic structure and function of DNA are fundamental to all biological processes. Students will link genetic diseases to mutations in DNA.

Saving the Amazon Rainforest

This unit will be presented to students by showing the video, "Forest Family Forever." to facilitate student comprehension on the importance of the rainforest. The teacher will lead a discussion about the different animals, plants and indegenous people that make the rainforest their home. The teacher will present students with a list of vocabulary words for the unit. Students will write a reflection sentence on their feelings of the importance of the rainforest in their journal. More sentences will be added at the end of the unit. Students will demonstrate their understanding of story elements and the plot that describes conflict/problem. The teacher will discuss the objectives prior to reading and use the reading of 'The Great Kapok Tree', as an analogy to "Forest Family Forever", saving the rainforest. Students will discover the conflict with character vs. character and character vs. nature when a twoodsman was going to chop down a Kapok tree.This unit will provide opportunities to meet the needs of students who are auditory, visual and kinesthetic.

Overcoming Adversity

This unit was created to help Special Education students discover that just because they have a disability (adversity) doesn't mean they can't be successful and do almost anything they set their minds to when they persevere and don't give up or make excuses. Students will also be able to learn about some famous people who have had adversities in their lives and have succeed and overcome them. Students will also learn about resumes and their importance and create their own working resume to use when they graduate. Students will write their own autobiography to help them remember some things from their childhoods and to remind them about high school.

Putting the Pieces Together - Synthesizing

These components are used as part of a six-week study on the reading strategy, synthesizing. In the beginning, the teacher provides extensive modeling of her thinking while she synthesizes, before, during, and after reading a book. The process then moves into the guided reading format, where students practice their synthesizing skills in a small group setting using books at their instructional level. At the assessment level, students read books at their independent reading levels, and write to show how their synthesis of the book. This ensures that that one is not assessing the student's reading ability, but their synthesis of the material.

Books have VIPs Too - Very Important Points, That Is!

The comprehension strategy Determining Important Ideas should be taught over an average of six weeks. The components in this unit focus on the concept of main idea and details. Instruction should begin with extensive teacher modeling in a whole group setting. As students become more proficient, the concepts should be moved to small group guided reading instruction, and finally to independent work.

Nonfiction Bestsellers: A Multimedia Production

Students will select a nonfiction bestseller from a list that I'm providing them. (I have read all of the books on the list and know that they are good selections, so I am gladly recommending them all to you.) I want students to read these books in groups of 3-5, because I want them to form book clubs. This will be the group that they do the presentation with, too. Students will be asked to evaluate the books according to standards that we've evaluated other nonfiction works in the past to see how these books measure up. The groups will prepare and present a multimedia presentation that presents an argument on the merit of the book and whether it deserves to be a bestseller based on the standards that we hold in high regard for nonfiction -- author's credibility and research being at the top of the list. We will also talk a lot about tone, organization, diction, syntax, and other stylistic devices, too. Everything is on my website on this page: http://msnoel.com/Nonfiction%20Bestsellers/Nonfiction%20Bestsellers.htm

The Human Comedy: Connections in Literature and Life

This unit is presented early in AP Literature study. Basically, it builds on early efforts to develop the mindset of: How does author method support message? Later in AP Lit study, we highlight various literary concepts one by one and speculate on how their choice drives story impact. Now, before that close study, we take larger, more well understood literary components in a highly approachable novel, The Human Comedy, by William Saroyan, and explore how character and plot are deliberately built to build larger author intention. Understanding plot and character in The Human Comedy is pretty straightforward. Helping students gain confidence in making those connections runs hand in hand with helping students gain new confidence in understanding the structure of one of the two types of essay questions they will encounter on the AP Literature credit qualifying test, the Open Question. In the Open Question, students are asking to consider a given concept, illustrate where that concept occurs in quality literature of choice, and connection those specific concept illustrations to larger author intention. This unit, then, takes students through exploration of concepts of comedy and tragedy to later justify connection or contrast to story title to discussion of the work and early development of close reading skills. Students will work in groups to explore the structure and expectations of the Open Question and will be guided through writing one with The Human Comedy as its subject. Students will begin their yearly study of how the Open Question is graded. Final assessment in the in-class writing of a choice of Open Question prompts with The Human Comedy as its subject. In the real spring exam, students must quickly choose about what novel to write: for this assessment, students have choice over question prompt. In addition, this unit helps students learn how groups function in the new teacher's classroom. Please see lesson for resources.

Setting In the Spotlight: Setting IS the Spotlight

This unit is presented later in the sophomore year, the year before students take AP Lit in our school OR early in AP Literature study. Basically, it begins to offer the mindset of: How does author method support message? Later in AP Lit study, we highlight various literary concepts one by one and speculate on how their choice drives story impact. Now, before that close study, we take a larger, yet manageable in its familiarity, literary concept, setting, and, after making sure the class is "on the same page" in understanding that concept, and explore how selection of setting functions beyond being just random scenery. This unit, then, takes students through development of a definition of setting, to the identification of all the components of setting in familiar and new short stories. A scene from the film, The Quiet Man http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045061/ and from Wuthering Heights http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032145/ are shown with set up to invite early discussion of components of setting and speculation as to its function. (In both, tempestuous weather mirrors tempestuous romance.) After that, students are directed to appreciate that setting functions beyond being a framework for a story and they are encouraged to speculate on functions in stories of choice. We read; we discuss; we read; we discuss. (Two forms of reading quizzes for two stories are included in the uploaded files.) To demonstrate their new awareness of the possible functions of setting in literature, students write a literary essay. If this unit falls later in the sophomore year, the essay serves as a final check on the students skill in choosing relevant, quality concrete details to support well reasoned inferences. If this unit falls early in the junior AP Lit year, this unit reawakens student writing skills AND helps students learn their new teacher's essay grading methods. In addition, this unit helps students learn how groups function in the new teacher's classroom.