7th Grade ELA Overview (2023)
Quarter 1: Civil Rights Movement Unit Description: This unit focuses on major events in the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s | Anchor Text(s):
| Reading Standards* RI 7.2 Compare and contrast a text to an audio, video, or multimedia version of the text, analyzing each medium’s portrayal of the subject (e.g. how the delivery of a speech affects the impact of the words.) RI 7.6 Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text. | Writing Standards* Constructed Response W 7.1 Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence. |
Speaking and Listening SL 7.3 Delineate a speaker’s argument and specific claims, evaluating the soundness of the reasoning and the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence. SL 7.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. | |||
Quarter 2: Perseverance Unit Description: This unit deals with individuals (real or fictional) who were determined enough to persevere despite significant challenges. | Anchor Text(s):
Honors:
Essential Questions:
| Reading Standards* RL 7.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. RL 7.3 Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact. RL 7.6 Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text. | Writing Standards* Literary Analysis W 7.1 Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence. W 7.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. |
Speaking and Listening SL 7.2 Analyze the main ideas and supporting details presented in diverse media and formats (e.g. visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how the ideas clarify a topic, text, or issue under study. SL 7.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. | |||
Quarter 3: Mysterious Happenings Unit Description: In this unit, students read informational texts about mysterious animals, places, and events as they distinguish facts from speculation. | Anchor Text(s): Text sets about:
Honors:
Essential Questions:
| Reading Standards* RI 7.3 Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events). RI 7.8 Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims. RI 7.9 Analyze how two or more authors writing about the same topic shape their presentations of key information by emphasizing different evidence or advancing different interpretations of facts. | Writing Standards* Research Simulation W 7.1 Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence. W 7.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. |
Speaking and Listening SL 7.5 Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points. | |||
Quarter 4: Readings Around the World Unit Description: Students read a variety of short stories, drama, and poetry. | Anchor Text(s):
| Reading Standards* RL 7.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. RL 7.3 Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact. RL 7.5 Analyze how a drama’s or poem’s form or structure (e.g. soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning. | Writing Standards* W 7.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences. |
Speaking and Listening SL 7.2 Analyze the main ideas and supporting details presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how the ideas clarify a topic, text, or issue under study. | |||
The following standards are addressed every quarter.
Reading Literature Standards | RL 7.1 Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. |
RL 7.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of rhymes and other repetitions of sounds (e.g. alliteration) on a specific verse or stanza of a poem or section of a story or drama. | |
RL 7.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. | |
Reading Informational Standards | RI 7.1 Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. |
RI 7.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone. | |
RI 7.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. | |
Writing Standards | W 7.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. |
W 7.5 With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed. | |
W 7.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences. | |
Speaking and Listening Standards | SL 7.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly. |
SL 7.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. | |
Language Standards | L 7.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. |
L 7.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. | |
L 7.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening. | |
L 7.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 7 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies | |
L 7.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. | |
L 7.6 Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression. |
* See page 5 for a list of additional standards that are addressed every quarter.