7th Grade ELA Week at a Glance

 This is the final week before Thanksgiving break. Students will demonstrate what they have learned by taking Cold Assessment 2.1 and writing a literary analysis for a test grade. They will spend 3-4 days on this writing. 

We are at the halfway mark for the 1st 9 weeks. Students have learned skills associated with characterization, plot development, inferencing, central idea, and summarizing, Therefore to assess these skills, students will take their first cold assessment, Assessment 1.1, on Tuesday.   Diction, connotation, and plot structure will be the focus of this week's mini-lessons. Using excerpts and The Call of the Wild, students will practice skills associated with these topics.  Starting Thursday, students will select a narrative prompt and begin to draft a narrative. They will continue this on Friday after the skills check on diction and connotation. 

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. 

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.

Students will earn two test grades this week. The first will be Cold Assessment 2.2 on Monday, and the other will be an essay that requires students to be finished by Friday . They will begin the essay on Tuesday and receive guiding instruction that will allow them to write their essays throughout the week. In addition to these assignments, students will work on finishing The Duel  and all of the assignments associated with this text by Friday.

On Monday , students will take Cold Assessment 2.1 followed by an o n-demand writing for a test grade on Tuesday .  The rest of the week will be spent reading and analyzing poetry by Edgar Allan Poe. Using these texts, they will practice identifying tone and understanding its development. In addition to this, students will practice the SIFT method with his poetry so that they can write about a theme in his poem, "Annabel Lee."

Students will take Cold Assessment 1.2 on Monday. The rest of the week will be spent learning about plays and terms like monologue and soliloquy. On Wednesday, students will take their Cycle 3 vocabulary quiz . On Friday, teachers will update the data for each student in their folder.

We are over halfway finished with this 9 weeks. Time is flying by, and students are ready for their first cold assessment. It will be on Monday of this week. Students will have the entire block to finish their test. On Tuesday, students will write an on-demand. Then, the rest of the week will be spent revising and editing the on-demand for a grade. In addition to this, any assignments from The Call of the Wild will be finished. On Friday, a quiz on Chapters 5-7 will be given.

Students will spend this week reviewing literature and informational standards using short stories, poems, and articles. They will practice recognizing and understanding the function of figurative language, dialect, character interactions, and argument. On Friday , students will take Cold Assessment 4.1 .

We will continue practicing skills we have learned all year. This week will focus on informational texts and skills such as main idea, text structures, and finding evidence. Students will complete informational stations on Tuesday. Then, on Wednesday ,  Mini-Assessment 4.1 will be taken. The students will write an on-demand essay on Thursda y and complete stations on Friday to revise their essays. Cycle 12 vocab. quiz will be taken as well.

"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 .

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 .

The final week before Christmas break is here! Students will spend Monday taking Cold Assessment 2.2 . Tuesday is the incentive day for students that grew on NWEA. They will get to go to Ward's. On Wednesday and Thursday students will take the district writing test . Friday is a 60% day.

We are still in the middle of Revolutionary era informational text reading. The Duel will be finished this week, and a lesson about author's point of view will conclude our study of the book. In addition to this book, students will read excerpts from A Young Patriot , The Red Badge of Courage , and "The Gettysburg Address." We will use these texts to practice analyzing interactions among literary elements and structure  On Thursday, we will complete stations on the classic science fiction story, "There Will Come Soft Rains." To close the week, students will take their first cold assessment of the 9 weeks on Friday .

Golden autumn ways Falling leaves and sunny rays Perfect writing days – Sharon Jones Authors can express a variety of topics using poetry: love, hate, friendship, war...the list goes on and on. We will learn about the different forms and structures of poetry in addition to other poetry terms this week. We will be reading "The Raven," "Annabel Lee," and "Oranges." To end the week, we will have an on-demand writing test grade on Thursday and our last cold assessment of the 9 weeks on Friday .