Students will be able to read a grade level text,  the novel "The Outsiders". As they read they will have to cite information, make inferences and connections, summarize, compare different mediums (book and movie) and learn about the author and how her experiences shaped the novel. Students will also get to write persuasively and creatively during this unit.

In this lesson, students explore environmental issues that are relevant to their own lives, self-select topics, and gather information to write persuasive essays. Students participate in peer conferences to aid in the revision process and evaluate their essays through self-assessment. Although this lesson focuses on the environment as a broad topic, many other topics can be easily substituted for reinforcement of persuasive writing.

In this lesson, students have the opportunity to deepen and refine their understanding of prepositions, including some of the more confusing standard usage guidelines, while enjoying the vivid pictures of Ruth Heller. After reading Behind the Mask, students discuss the book, focusing on the use of prepositions in the text. Taking those experiences as a reader, students continue to engage with the prepositions by composing prepositional poems, modeled on the text of Behind the Mask. To conclude the project, students create study guides that demonstrate their more advanced understanding of prepositions.

In this lesson, students create autobiographies and publish them using word processing and computer graphics.

In this lesson, students produce a final document that they can publish on the internet.

Inclusion is an important concept in that it promotes equity and equality in the classroom. Students learn to work together despite their differences, capitalizing on their strengths and minimizing their deficits. Students within the school will be educated about the importance of inclusion, collaborating to complete activities and advocating for a school-wide inclusion program that involves all students, teachers and administrators.

In this lesson, students work with proverbs from home and from around the world, exploring how these maxims are tied to a culture’s values and everyday experience. Students first discuss how proverbs convey cultural knowledge and values, as well as how proverbs from other cultures are similar to and different from American proverbs. Next, students share family proverbs and explain their significance. Finally, they select one or two proverbs and use art materials, PowerPoint, or a word processor to create mini-posters that reflect the culture from which the proverbs originated.

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 7th Grade English Language Arts.

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 7th Grade ELA. 

In this lesson, students will research one aspect of either hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) or lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCMV). Students will use what they learn during their research to produce a public service announcement in the form of a brochure, poster, radio announcement or television commercial. This lesson is for use after students have covered the basics of viruses, viral infection, and immunology. Students should know what a virus is, the basic methods of transmission, and how the human immune system reacts to infection by a virus.

Students will conduct research, organize information, and make a presentation on a satellite.

This lesson encourages students to evaluate how the setting influences the characters interactions and how that motivation propels the plot in Rudyard Kipling's, Rikki-tiki-tavi. Students will also evaluate the effectiveness of Kipling's use of personification. During this lesson, students will annotate the text through coding, create trading cards for the characters, compose an exposition, and produce a brochure based on a focused research assignment.

The Stapleless Book is designed to allow users to create with ease an eight-page book simply by folding and cutting. No tape or staples are required. Students and teachers alike can use the Stapleless Book for taking notes while reading, making picture books, collecting facts, or creating vocabulary booklets. Students can choose from seven different layouts for the pages of their books

In this lesson, students are introduced to the genre of American tall tales. Students are exposed to several traditional tall tales, then prompted to write an original tall tale set in contemporary America. The tall tale must address a current event or issue and must feature a "larger-than-life" main character. The students use exaggeration and hyperbole to portray the way in which the main character resolves the issue or problem. Students then dramatize their tall tales for the class.

Many factors contributed to the eventual success of the American colonies as they revolted against British rule. American leadership, the timely support of international allies, and international respect and recognition played major roles in the struggle for independence. Several documents and engravings held by the National Archives help to illustrate these important factors that led to the founding of the United States.

This lesson focuses on the American Revolution, which encouraged the founding fathers' desire to create a government that would, as stated in the Preamble, insure domestic tranquility and provide for the common defense.

In this lesson, students use word processors during a writing workshop to draft and edit a piece of writing.

Students are asked the question, "What do we need to do to prevent or control an outbreak of yellow fever at our school if it occurred today?" Students will work in small collaborative groups to examine the problem of epidemics in past and modern times. Students will develop their own public health policy that reflects the challenges of a modern day outbreak of yellow fever at school. Students will present their findings in the form of a written letter/report and multimedia presentation to the class and to the Principal. This lesson utilizes documents from the North Carolina State Government Publications Collection.

Students are invited to explore the cultural offerings around them "” from architecture to books, dance, fashion, film, food, music, theater, TV and video games "” and write reviews about what they experience. The New York Times models along with advice from current Times critics to help them through the process.

Students will use PowerPoint to create a presentation on a given genre. As a culminating activity, students will present their presentation to the class and teach their genre.

This lesson focuses on the importance of geographic features and the abundance of natural resources that helped ancient Egypt become the world's first superpower. Students will learn about the geography and resources available to the ancient Egyptians and create a multimedia tour that demonstrates this learning to others.