Outline Unit Plan for Biology

Biology is one of three natural sciences. Technology has provided a useful connection between the three natural sciences (chemistry and physics are the other)as well as provided advancement in these areas.But before we provide high technology to the classroom we must first address the essentials or the basics in understanding science, the student's ability to address the questions and problems of science presented to them from a cognitive perspective. Literacy instruction must be and should be provided basicly to students by first being able to read a book. Science is about experimentation and a computer cannot provide that first hand training. On the other hand computers are useful in their aplication of data analysis. The student must be able to make use of both high tech and low tech solutions to the science of biology as well as all of the natural sciences; for we as theachers and learners should not completly forego the book or basic literture tools; just like whiching a movie of some novel, the book always provide or give a more discriptive observation of the contents of the story than the movie.

Response to Outline Unit Plan for Mathematics

My experience and exposure in the public school system has shown me that many students have been programed to fail to make the connection between mathematics and its relevancy to the real world. Many students always asked the question why should we learn this type of math, many students cannot make the connection.I have also found that when students in secondary school take complex math classes they tend to have problems with simple calculations, understanding, and using the order of operation process; also problems with basic math skills such adding, subtracting, division, and especially multiplication.Students must be taught to practice and re-enforce previous learned math processes without the use of computers, and calculators until they can master math processes mentally or with the use of pencil and paper.Students must understand what math is all about and why we depend on this language.

response to out line for social studies

I presented this outline for social studies for the entire course from beginning to end. I have found that in order to complete a single unit in a subject area of this nature you must provide an overall view of the complete course. I also found that this particular subject area combines or is a combination of three areas of studies, history, civics, and sociology. Once you begin a project of this nature it kind of draw you into the process of wanting to learn more and more of this subject content, a content area that you ‘re a part of.

o4/02/2010 assignment on music (unit plan)


I created a unit plan on music,I could have developed a power-point presentation of this unit but decided not to do so. I found that the music culture and listening audience of the younger generation and in some cases my generation is far different that any other past musical period. Today's modern style music (rap, hip-hop)is a world without instruments but background music of previous musicians. I would try to reach today's student in understanding music history by fully understanding the beginning of new age music, its roots, and its subculture and its relevance to past musical periods.

Mikehil13 comments for 03/12/10 assignment

I do believe that literacy instruction is a means to help content area teachers reach their students and help them understand the complexities of their particular subject. In order to understand that level of instruction at the secondary school level students must be proficient and capable of understanding reading material at that level. I must also point out that reality dictates that everyone of the students that is afforded the opportunity to learn do not take advantage of their right to an education, that includes also literacy instruction. It is also the right of the student to demand and receive an education that includes also provides the proper literacy instruction in the content area(s).

REED 502
03/05/2010
Mikehil13 Discussion on Chapter One and Chapter Five from the Book “You Gotta Be the Book”

After carefully completing my assigned reading of the Book “You Gotta Be the Book”, Chapter one and chapter five, the author describes the need to patiently take new and innovated approaches to address the deficiencies in reading skills of students. In the introduction the author describes the hardships students were having with reading, their reluctancy to read, his frustration he was having with addressing the issue of literacy instruction, and the struggle to reach these students. In my reading I found out that the author came up with some interesting ideas to address the issue of literacy in the classroom. While addressing the needs of the student’s reading problems the author discovered other factors affecting their ability to read proficiently, the human factor, and the cultural factor.
Because the author consider himself to be a researcher as well as a teacher he evaluated his studies and findings in a much clearer or scientific way, he was able to experiment and apply different techniques. In chapter five of the book titled: “Reading is Seeing”, the author attempt to provide the struggling reading student with a visual approach in defining what they read. The author wanted the student(s) to be able to mentally visualize what they are reading thus increasing their level or ability to comprehend more clearly and also for them to retain or remember more information. When applying these strategies the author found out that not any one approach is applicable to everyone in the classroom but must be modified to the student and his abilities. When the students were evaluated on their reading skills their comprehension and retention increased and improved, his visualization strategy worked.
In conclusion this episode addresses the use of visualization to approach or to address the deficiencies in literacy; the author not only addresses the issues of the teacher with regards to application of visual art in literacy instruction, but also the needs of the students when it comes to comprehension and memory, the learner. He found that that many teachers utilize visualization techniques in their classroom easily but fail to make the connection to literacy instruction. He concluded and showed that students ability to think and relate to reading subject material improved when visualization takes place, with emphases on the understanding of the relationship to characters and to the theme of the story.

mikehil's reaction papers

Mikehil13 Reaction paper for 2/5/09

There are three areas of concern for taking this assigned reading course, first of all this course is a requirement for teacher certification; second, in order to understand and interpret the information of a given field, area, subject etc., one must be able to digest, express, and apply literacy skills of a given subject area and its relationship to the overall understanding of knowledge. Finally the third point for taking this reading course is that as one continue to learn formally or informally information of a particular discipline such a challenge requires competency in understanding the complexities of any and all content areas (higher learning).

Mikehil13 Reaction paper for 2/12/10

Dr. Moje article on literacy instruction and learning was accurate and realistic in addressing the issues of student literacy. I agree with her observation, evaluation, and application of multi-text reading of information of a particular content area when addressing the comprehension needs of the student. Also I must acknowledge her understanding for the need of additional instruction in literacy by way of the literacy coach. Although the classroom teacher in reality is actually the literacy coach for a particular content area additional help may be needed when the need to interact other disciplinaries is required, (i.e. STEM {Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics}).

Mikehil13 Reaction paper for 2/19/10

When I conducted my research on the application of literacy instruction in secondary education I came across four articles on the topic. The articles describes the problems that secondary schools are having in general with the implementation, policies, and application of literacy instruction in the secondary schools, in particular when students attend senior high school and are not proficient in their reading, writing and language skills. All four articles agree that steps must be taken early in the learning process as well as re-enforcement of these literacy skills in the secondary schools, if not forming and implementing new strategies and ideas.

Mikehil13 Reaction paper for2/26/10

When I first glanced at the book I thought that this book (“You Gotta Be the Book”) was something other than an assessment of students’ literacy skills. After briefly reading some of the text and my assigned chapters I found the writer to be more in tune with the everyday situations and the reality of today’s student in the classroom as well as the outside environment that shapes the student and affect the student makeup as young, growing members of our society. The writer (when working as a teacher) produced the perfect living la-bor-a-to-ry of academic comprehension and literacy instruction, resulting in an effective method of obtaining this content area knowledge (content area English; topic: literature; skill: reading effectively).