1. Mrs. Roio aroio@bernardsboe.com
Communication Arts I
Mrs. Roio

2. Extra Help Available during Study Hall #1 most days
Available on Mondays and Thursdays after school
By appointment

3. Class Websites On Course Homework Unit information Absence forms
Research links
Worksheets
Enrichment opportunities
Moodle
Enrollment Code: blue408
Discussion forums
Online activities-- questionnaires

4. Communication Arts: An Overview
Become effective communicators, readers, writers, and public speakers
Understand the world of mass media by using and creating media products
Develop media literacy skills, conflict resolution skills, and an awareness of different cultures
Build confidence within a collaborative learning environment
Communication arts is a supplemental language arts class which focuses on reading and writing, but we also expand the students’ experiences with public speaking. We want to ensure students will feel confident with vocalizing their ideas. Students will also be able to identify different types of mass media, determine media’s effect on their lifestyles, and even create these media products, such as a magazine or radio broadcast.

5. Media Literacy Modalities and types of communication
Evaluating media/ media literacy
Persuasive essay
Public speaking
We begin the school year learning the basics about communication by looking at the modalities and types of communication; this means how we share our ideas with one another, whether it is by speaking, writing,viewing, etc. Once we look at the communication process, we then progress to the types of communication that surround us, that is the world of media. I hope by the end of this course your students will develop a strong sense of media literacy; that is being able to evaluate media for the types of messages they convey. I am asked every year by parents why their students should learn about mass media at this age. I respond that they are surrounded by media 24/7 and should know how to receive the messages they receive through their music, favorite television shows, movies, and even favorite celebrities.
Your students are completing this week a media literacy profile, which demonstrates all the types of media that affect their everyday lifestyle. We finish the unit with public speaking, in which the students will be expected to vocalize their understanding of mass media, as well as discuss an “impromptu” topic.

6. Conflict Resolution Conflict resolution model Literature circle
News writing
The next unit of Personal and World Ethics focuses on how we act and think. During this unit we will introduce conflict resolution, in which we teach the students how to recognize the sources of their own conflicts/ problems, as well as how to resolve their problems. We promote the idea of a win-win solution, showing them that when you have two opposing ideas, sometimes you will have to compromise to find a suitable solution. We reinforce these conflict resolution skills through our literature circle. This literature circle contains many books that were chosen by students’ suggestions, such as Tangerine, Silent to the Bone, Driver’s Ed, Good Night, Mr. Tom, Nobody Else Has to Know, Armageddon Summer, and Among the Hidden. We wrap our unit up by asking students to reflect inward and ask themselves what they believe is their values of right and wrong as we look at situations they face in their everyday lives, to things that are occurring in the world.

7. Advertising Advertising techniques Persuasive language
Creation of a commercial and print ad

8. Creation of a class zine
Magazines
Types of articles
Creation of a class zine
During Visual Communication, the students will produce their own class magazine. We learn about demographics and different types of articles (such as editorials, reports, and interviews) and develop individual articles for our magazine. I find that students really enjoy this project every year because they choose the type of article to write, as well as the topic within the magazine’s demographic. We also will practice speculative writing, which is creating a story from a picture, and we will also create the reverse product, that of creating a piece of artwork from a written story.

9. Radio Different programs, i.e.- Old Time Radio War of the Worlds
Creation of an original radio program
During our Power of Language unit, we will examine how language can persuade us to buy products or to change our way of seeing things. We will learn different techniques of advertising and then the students will be challenged to “sell” random items by creating advertisements.

10. Seventh Grade Interdisciplinary Unit
Holocaust
Diary of a Young Girl
Holocaust Remembrance Day

11. Nothing But the Truth Documentary-style novel
Power of language and media
Mock trail/ debate

12. Seedfolks Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
Understanding cultural differences
Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman

13. Research and Communication
Explore a communication- related topic
Research with on-line tools and print media
Develop a PowerPoint presentation and informative speech