7th Grade ELA Week at a Glance

NWEA is here again. Students will take the Spring ELA NWEA on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday , students will write an argument on the topic of King Henry VIII as a ruler for an assessment grade. The rest of the week will be spent reviewing concepts and skills associated with this 9 weeks.  The Prince and the Pauper movie will be shown on Friday so students can compare the book to the movie.

We will finish reading excerpts from The Prince and the Pauper this week. The following skills will be taught using this book: flat/round/static/dynamic characters, point of view/perspective, and compare/contrast history to fiction. In addition to these skills, students will practice analyzing speeches with their RWITD. Also, the King Henry VIII argument will be planned this week. Teachers will review the argument structure and counterclaim. Finally, on Tuesday, Cycle 9 vocab. qui z will be given and on Friday Cold Assessment 3.2 will be taken. 

Students will begin reading excerpts from The Prince and the Pauper.   Using this book, students will review concepts such as dialect, perspective, irony, characterization, suspense and vocabulary strategies.  In addition to this, students will review poetry skills and gather information to write an argument on whether King Henery VIII  was a good or bad king.

During this short week, students will take Cold Mini Assessment 3.2 , read The Prince and the Pauper play, and may work on other assignments each teacher feels is necessary.

Analyzing arguments and Mark Twain are the main focuses this week. Students will practice analyzing arguments with Pro/Con articles throughout the week. On Thursday, they will debate which side had the stronger argument. Then, on Friday, they will write their own argument. In addition to this, students will learn about the life of Mark Twain, his writing style, and terms associated with his stories such as dialect, monologue, and satire. They will read a few of his stories and use these to practice understanding characterization, theme and plot. Cycle 8 will be taken on Thursday .

February is here already. Can you believe it? This week students will demonstrate their knowledge of skills that we have been practicing the past few weeks. Cold Assessment 3.1 will be taken on Monday .  On Tuesday and Wednesday , students will take the Argument Analysis On-Demand Parts A and B . Part A will focus on analyzing an argument, and Part B will require students to use that analysis to write about it. The last two days will be lighter. They will read and watch a version of The Hitchhiker.   After reading and watching, the students will analyze each one and compare/contrast the two in stations.

After analyzing arguments in the past couple of weeks, students will practice writing about their analysis this week. We will walk through the components of argument analysis as a class. By Friday students will have written an entire essay. In addition to argument analysis writing, students will continue reading and finish Hidden Figures . They will practice reading skills such as multiple-choice practice, short answer response, narrative writing and analytical response using this book. 

We hope you enjoyed your MLK Jr. holiday! Last week was spent practicing skills that they must use to complete this week's assignments. Students will evalute an argument and write about it this week.  In addition to argument, they will take Mini Cold Assessment 3.1 on Wednesday and Cycle 7 vocab. quiz on Thursday . Chapters 13-16 of Hidden Figures will be read as well. Using these chapters, students will practice summary and multiple choice.

Analyzing argument is a majorfocus this week. Students are practicing identifying the types of evidence and reasoning in various argument articles this week. After they identify these, they are analyzing the soundness of the reasoning and relevance/ sufficiency of  the evidence. We  are continuing to read  Hidden Figures as well . Students are using this text to practice skills such as test taking strategies and analysis writing. By the end of the week, they will have finished reading 1-12.

Welcome to 2020!! Analyzing argument and informational texts will be our focus for the next few weeks. Students will learn about the types of evidence and reasoning in various argument articles this week. We will begin reading Hidden Figures and use this text to practice skills such as narrative writing, test taking strategies and analysis writing.

We made it to the final week before Spring Break! This week will be project based with a few lessons on narrative. On Monday and Tuesday we will focus on dialogue and rewriting endings of narratives. Then, students will work on their Jack London Short Story Project . On Wednesday , they will take Cold Quiz 3.6 and work on their projects. On Thursday , students will  begin the day by taking the Cycle 11 Vocab. Quiz . Afterwards, they will present their projects. Friday will be a makeup day/ a time to compare visual versions to the written stories we've read.

"The Most Dangerous Game" is a classic suspense story about a hunter becoming the prey. Students will read this story on Monday. Using this story, students will practice inferring, recognizing suspense, figurative language and symbolism. They will determine the purpose of these devices as well. On Thursday and Friday ,  students will take Cold Assessment 3.2 .

Students will take a quiz on Chapters 5-7 of The Call of the Wild on Monday. The rest of the week will be a review of standards RI and RL 7.1-4 and RI 7.8. They will read excerpts and short stories to practice skills and review topics such as recognizing theme, character interactions, vocabulary, argument and summarizing.  On Wednesday, they will take a cold quiz . To end the week, students will take Cycle 10 Vocab Quiz and write an on-demand essay .

The Call of the Wild will be completed this week. Students will begin the week with a quiz on Chapters 1-4. Then, they will read Chapters 5-7 and review skills such as conflict, summary, and gathering evidence with these chapters.  On Friday students will write an on-demand essay  for the book. In addition  to this book, students will begin reading O'Henry stories and learn about peripeteia. They will use these stories to practice other reading skills as well. On Thursday, students will take a cold quiz .

“He had been suddenly jerked from the heart of civilization and flung into the heart of things primordial.”  ―  Jack London,  The Call of the Wild We will read The Call of the Wild this week. Students will read the chapters and learn/practice skills associated with each chapter. They will learn about anthropomorphism and practice recognizing the impact of conflict and point of view. In addition to this book, they will learn about sonnets. There will be a cold quiz  on Wednesday , and they will take Cycle 9 Vocab Quiz on Friday .

Should Earth try to colonize Mars? Is social media a healthy form of human interaction? Students will explore and research topics like this to write their own arguments this week. In addition to this assignment (due on Friday), they will review literary skills using short excerpts from Steinbeck and the short story, "The Interlopers" by Saki. Finally, students will take a cold quiz on Wednesday and their Cold Assessment 3.1  on Friday .

Students will write two essays this week: a literary analysis on point of view and an argument analysis. Also, they will learn about motif in The Pear l and complete a tracker. Cycle 8 vocab quiz is on Friday .

Evaluating reasoning in arguments and identifying / analysing literary elements in The Pearl will be the focus this week. Students will learn about different types of reasoning and practice identifying it independently in an argument.  In addition to this, students will grapple with literary concepts such as characterization, symbolism, conflict, and plot using The Pearl .

Welcome back! We hope you had a relaxing break. Students will read The Pearl by John Steinbeck this week. After every chapter students will complete a quiz. In addition to this book, students will grapple with assessing evidence found in arguments. They will locate textual evidence, identify the type and determine whether it is relevant and sufficient. At the end of the week, students will practice independently finding, identifying, and evaluating evidence within an argument.