Seventh Grade Language Arts
Throughout the 2013-2014 school year, students in 7th grade will be exploring the question "Who am I?," through a series of interconnected units.
Materials for all units can be viewed at Ms. Garcia's Dropbox Folder: Seventh Grade
Purpose: To examine the impact of individual choices on society.
Seventh grade summer reading this year was the first book in Michael Grant's popular and acclaimed Gone series. Part-Stephen King and part-Lord of the Flies, this story of a group of teenagers struggling to survive and maintain their humanity after all the adults disappear prompts students to deep discussion. At the close of the unit, students create a communal story imagining their own society and film it as a "documentary."
Unit Dates: August-September
Literary Terms: conflict, protagonist, antagonist, dystopia, theme, thesis, persuasive
Formative Assessments: chapter summaries, character profiles, summer reading packet
Summative Assessments: Test, Essay, "Documentary" Film Project
Seventh grade summer reading this year was the first book in Michael Grant's popular and acclaimed Gone series. Part-Stephen King and part-Lord of the Flies, this story of a group of teenagers struggling to survive and maintain their humanity after all the adults disappear prompts students to deep discussion. At the close of the unit, students create a communal story imagining their own society and film it as a "documentary."
Unit Dates: August-September
Literary Terms: conflict, protagonist, antagonist, dystopia, theme, thesis, persuasive
Formative Assessments: chapter summaries, character profiles, summer reading packet
Summative Assessments: Test, Essay, "Documentary" Film Project
Purpose: To discuss how peer pressure and blind adherence to tradition can lead to evil
Shirley Jackson's dark and surprising short story "The Lottery" serves as our first Socratic seminar discussion of the year.
Unit Date: September
Literary terms: dramatic irony, mood, setting, theme
Formative Assessment: Comprehension Questions
Summative Assessment: Essay
Shirley Jackson's dark and surprising short story "The Lottery" serves as our first Socratic seminar discussion of the year.
Unit Date: September
Literary terms: dramatic irony, mood, setting, theme
Formative Assessment: Comprehension Questions
Summative Assessment: Essay
Purpose: To examine how dystopian societies repress peoples' rights and how revolutions are formed.
Continuing our discussion of dystopian societies, students read the second book in the popular Hunger Games series and wrote thesis-driven literary essays.
Unit Date: October-November
Literary Terms: thesis, protagonist, antagonist, foreshadowing, dystopia, climax, internal conflict, external conflict, rising action, falling action, resolution, MEAL paragraph
Formative Assessment: Comprehension questions, journal entries, chapter quizzes
Summative Assessment: Test, Literary Essay
Continuing our discussion of dystopian societies, students read the second book in the popular Hunger Games series and wrote thesis-driven literary essays.
Unit Date: October-November
Literary Terms: thesis, protagonist, antagonist, foreshadowing, dystopia, climax, internal conflict, external conflict, rising action, falling action, resolution, MEAL paragraph
Formative Assessment: Comprehension questions, journal entries, chapter quizzes
Summative Assessment: Test, Literary Essay
Purpose: To recognize and analyze the different elements of identity in modern society.
Moving from science fiction to realistic fiction, students learn about Maleeka, an African-American 7th grader struggling to hold on to her values and discover her identity in a dysfunctional school plagued by vicious racial bullying.
Unit Date: December-January
Literary terms: internal conflict, external conflict, thesis, simile, metaphor, personification, idiom, hyperbole
Formative Assessment: Chapter questions, journals
Summative Assessment: Test, Essay
Moving from science fiction to realistic fiction, students learn about Maleeka, an African-American 7th grader struggling to hold on to her values and discover her identity in a dysfunctional school plagued by vicious racial bullying.
Unit Date: December-January
Literary terms: internal conflict, external conflict, thesis, simile, metaphor, personification, idiom, hyperbole
Formative Assessment: Chapter questions, journals
Summative Assessment: Test, Essay
Purpose: To analyze how an individual can positively impact his or her community.
Paul Fleischman's multiple-character novel about the transformation of a vacant lot into a community garden offers students the opportunity to analyze characterization, dialect and voice in writing, as well as the way small acts of kindness can transform a community. After the novel, students have the opportunity to challenge themselves to acts of kindness and service in their own lives through a journalling and service project.
Literary terms: dialect, voice, dialogue, objective, obstacle
Formative Assessment: Character posters, chapter work in six different roles
Summative Assessment: Test, Dialogue Analysis Project, Individual & Community Project
Paul Fleischman's multiple-character novel about the transformation of a vacant lot into a community garden offers students the opportunity to analyze characterization, dialect and voice in writing, as well as the way small acts of kindness can transform a community. After the novel, students have the opportunity to challenge themselves to acts of kindness and service in their own lives through a journalling and service project.
Literary terms: dialect, voice, dialogue, objective, obstacle
Formative Assessment: Character posters, chapter work in six different roles
Summative Assessment: Test, Dialogue Analysis Project, Individual & Community Project
Grammar & Vocabulary
Unit Date: Throughout Year
Texts: Vocabulary For Success, Grammar For Writing
Formative Assessments: Workbook pages, vocabulary short stories, sentence diagramming & exit slips for grammar
Summative Assessments: Written usage quizzes, Grammar Quizzes, Vocabulary FInal Exam
Unit Date: Throughout Year
Texts: Vocabulary For Success, Grammar For Writing
Formative Assessments: Workbook pages, vocabulary short stories, sentence diagramming & exit slips for grammar
Summative Assessments: Written usage quizzes, Grammar Quizzes, Vocabulary FInal Exam