Course

Description- English Language Arts- Grade 7

We will be following the Common Core and Oregon State Standards as our
curriculum guide. We have four main units with interim assessments at the end of
each unit.

Unit 1: Understanding Texts Interim I: Fall Book Project October
Unit 2: Understanding Writers Interim 2: Apply writing techniques: January
Unit 3: Sources of Information Interim 3: Performance Task: March
Unit 4: Components of Research Interim 4: Multi-media Project: June
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September 9- November 10th

Unit 1: Understanding Text- Closely Reading and Analyzing Texts
Theme: Knowing Who you Are and Moments of Discovery
Guiding Questions: How do culture, time, and place influence the development
of Identity?
What qualities foster courage and resilience in teens?

Analyze relationships between and among characters, setting and
events
Recognize authors use of literary elements and devices to enhance and
structure text
Understand and analyze language, content, structure, meaning and
significance of oral, written and visual texts
Intercultural Awareness- Encourage students to compare and contrast
multiple cultures and their stories
Connect self to the world through text by comprehending, evaluating,
and analyzing text
Respond to text using increasing higher critical thinking skills
Provide an objective summary of the text

Skills: Main Idea and Details of the text (Directly stated), Summarizing and
Paraphrasing, Plot (stages of), Theme, Literary Devices, Literary Elements,
Conflict types, Organizational Patterns (Compare/Contrast, Chronological Order,
etc.), Annotating Text, Summarize using Evidence

Narrative Materials:
1. 7th Grade- Gary Soto- Short Story
2. A Crush- Cynthia Rylant -Short Story
3. Amigo Brothers- Piri Thomas -Short Story
4. The Scholarship Jacket- Marta Salinas - Short Story
5. Courage and Resilence The invincible Lexi Youngberg- Narrative Nonfiction
6. Im Nobody Who are you- Emily Dickinson- Poem

Extension - A Long Walk to Water novel by Linda Sue Park

Formative Assessments:
Provide an objective summary of a text

Interactive Notebooks- Students cut and glue pieces and annotate in their
notebooks.

Captured Moment Writing Task: Write about a read experience using relevant
descriptive details and well-structured event sequences.
Stories give life to humanity. Everyone has a story to tell! Challenge yourself to see
how meaning deepens as a result of context.

Greek Mythology
How does the legacy of earlier groups influence future generations? How do rules
affect our ability to cooperate and function effectively? How do myths enable us to
learn about ourselves?

Myths:
1. Origin of the Seasons- Text- pg. 654
2. Echo and Narcissus- Text- pg. 289
3. Theseus and the Minotaur- Myth on Hand-out
4. Hercules- Myth on Hand-out
5. Pandora- Myth on Hand-out
6. The Flight of Icarus Text pg. 675

Summative Assessment on Greek Mythology Unit- End of October

Spelling: Use Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word
Spelling Patterns

Grammar: Capitalization, Homophones, Analogies, Subject/Verb Agreement,
Punctuation

Interim Assessment- Read a short story and apply pull the literary elements and
devices
November 16th- January 29th

Unit 2: Understanding Writers- Writing Development using Skill Technique
Working with Textual Evidence

Use an appropriate organizational structure in my writing
Recognize various types of evidence and elaboration strategies in
writing
Incorporate dialogue in writing
Collaborate with others to improve writing skills

Utilize steps in process writing tasks

Plan, revise, edit, and rewrite in order to develop clear writing in
which the development, organization and style are appropriate to
task, purpose and audience.
Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the
text says explicitly as well as inference
Understand Authors Purpose
Factors in identifying and assessing a writer style
Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their
development over the course of the text
Incorporate narrative elements as support/elaboration in writing

Materials:
Writing Guidebook
Writing Packet with exemplars
Fall into Writing Prompts
Think Maps- Organizational Patterns- (Compare/Contrast, Main Idea/details,
chronological order)
Thank you, Ma- Study on Dialogue
Comix Book Deluxe Mini-Project

1.Steps in Process Writing Cycle
2.Transitions
3. Conjunctions
4. Word Choice

Grammar Groups- Presentation Skills
Appositive, Clauses, Sentence Patterns, Sentence Types, Comma, Semi-Colon, Colon,
Ellipse

Skills: Smiley-Faced Tricks, Mentor Texts- Strong Leads, Circular Endings,
Parallelism , Cornell Notetaking

The Giver Novel by Lois Lowry
How does an individual challenge and/or comply with injustice?
What are the issues of justice and injustice context of civil disobedience?

Use technology (Prezi, Video or imovie) as a response to the novel

Reading- Read paired texts and explore the various text elements
Extension- Read Gathering Blue or another Lois Lowry Text
2BRO@B- by Kurt Vonnegut
Non-fiction articles from Scholastic Scope- Common Core Reader

Interim Assessment- Select a prompt and apply the writing techniques taught in a
formal essay
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February 2- April 13th

Unit 3: Sources of Information and Understanding Perspectives
How do debate skills enable rich discussion on moral, social, ethical and other
issues within the community?
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
Determine an authors point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the
author distinguishes their position from that of others.
Establish Claims
Make your argument more sophisticated by acknowledging alternate or
opposing claims, not just your own.
Address and support counterclaims in an argumentative response
Organize ideas and arguments in a sustained, coherent and logical manner
Persuasive Techniques
Determine which digital source or article make the most convincing
argument
Impact of author bias and perspective on a text
Student Debates- Organize ideas and arguments in a sustained, coherent and
logical manner
Use persuasive language to describe, explain, argue, persuade, inform,
entertain, and express ideas


Materials:
Wordly Wise- Grade 7
Analyze Grade 7 appropriate vocabulary in context to determine meaning
Focus on Academic Vocabulary

Articles:
1. The Pros and Cons of Playing Video Games- Peter Gray
2. Opposing Viewpoints: A logger and an Environmentalist
3. Should Students drive at Age 16?
4. Guest Opinion: Step Away from the Screen Margaret Desler
5. Debate on Bullying
6. Virtual Sticks and Stones
7. Two Voice Poems

Skills:

Fact VS Opinion
Active VS Passive Voice
Determining Point of View
Novel- The Outsiders by SE Hinton
Recognize symbolism and deep characterization in this beloved book.
Write a thematic essay from numerous themes from the novel. Two quotes from the
novels need to be included and properly cited.


Figurative Language- Clich, Euphemism, , Assonance, Rhymet Scheme
Poems: Who Put the Garbage Out- Shel Silverstein, Millie, Maggie, Molly and
May- ee cummings , Runaway Horse- Jack Frost

Extension- The Biography of William Shakespeare and Sonnet/Soliloquies
The Digital Revolution and Adolescent Brain Evolution, Jay N. Giedd

Interim Assessment: TTSD District Performance Task: the influence of Social Media
on Teens


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April 18th-June 14th

Unit 4- Research and Debate Skills

Analyze text features and their contributions to meaning
Understand how medium (written, audio, video, multimedia) impacts
the presentation of ideas
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources,
using search terms effectively; access the credibility and accuracy of
each source
Develop a speech explaining an aspect of WWII
Understand how researchers develop questions, locate and use credible
sources, and take notes
Identify Connotation and Denotation
Understand how to cite in direct and indirect quotes
Know components of the Big 6 Research Process
Use note-taking strategies to summarize, paraphrase, quote and
document information
Focus on Domain-Specific Vocabulary
Create a works cited page
Use MLA format

Write a formal, published research paper

Present a speech or an oral review of your research to a specific
audience
Use technology to produce a google docs presentation to create visuals
for your speech

Reading- Literature Circles
WWII Historical Fiction Novels: The Diary of Anne Frank, Code Talker, Devils
Arithmetic, Boy in the Stripped Pajamas, Under the Blood Red Sun, Night,
The Bomb and The Book thief


Technical Readings:
BART- Text pg. 900-904 Following Technical Directions pg. 905-908
Nutrition Labels

Extension:
Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata
Unbroken by Michelle Hillerbrand

Interim Assessment: Student Speech given the first week of June.