In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this book through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, students will dissect a Times column about the leadership styles of former Vice President (and Nobel Laureate) Al Gore and President George W. Bush and then write their own opinion editorial on presidential leadership.

Compare the Greek and Roman gods' attributes with the characteristics of our planets.  

Batter up! Studies show that using topics from popular culture in the classroom motivates students to read and write. This lesson, which can also be adapted for other topics, encourages students to look critically at trivia questions before writing their own. Students begin by listening to a read-aloud of Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man by David A. Adler and visiting websites containing baseball facts. Using the information they discover, students write questions to include in a Jeopardy game PowerPoint template. Playing the game with classmates enables students to share the facts they have discovered and creates a cooperative atmosphere in the classroom.

The students will read and reread the passage closely, and focusing their reading through either a series of questions and discussion about the text or the structured journal approach outlined here, students will come away with a working knowledge of the digestive system, its parts, and how they function together.

This lesson can be used after the reading of Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. The lesson encourages students to use higher level thinking skills and asks them to examine different character perspectives. Students demonstrate comprehension of the story by actively involving themselves in group and whole-class discussions. Information about the author contributes to their understanding of historical fiction. By further analyzing the characters in preparation for a class "press conference," students can better understand the characters' impact in the story. The development and responses to critical-thinking questions lead to deeper understanding of the story.

In this lesson, students learn about proverbs: how they work, how they differ from cliches, how to interpret them, and how they can be culturally and personally significant. Students begin by talking about proverbs, interview family and friends to find proverbs that were not discussed in class, and figuring out the meaning of proverbs by creating a new definition of proverbs based on what they've learned.

“The Real Story of a Cowboy’s Life” describes a cattle drive from the perspective of real cowboys who rode on one. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this history through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, students will use text from Mandela's autobiography "Long Walk to Freedom" to connect with Mandela's life and words.

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. 

Students will use music lyrics to identify vocabulary, imagery, analysis, and interpret poetry. Students will work collaboratively to develop the meaning of poetry. Specifcally, this lesson highlights Langston Hughes' poetry and the Harlem Renaissance.

Students practice identifying and interpreting similes and metaphors in pop culture music. The lyrcis from pop culture songs like, "Stereo Hearts" by Gym Class Heroes, "Firework" by Katy Perry, and "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus make identifying similes and metaphors exciting for students. Students will take the similes and metaphors and work in small groups to determine meaning and analyze their overall impact on the songs.

In this lesson, students solve unknown words using context clues, select and generate words for semantic gradients, and develop new semantic gradients and contexts.

In this lesson, students will learn strategies and activities for learning about economics, civics and government, and U.S. history text through reading, taking notes, and composing a response about capitalism through a claims and evidence based approach.

In this lesson, students will become familiar with analyzing events and ideas using primary and secondary sources. Tasks involve evaluating text for author’s point of view; determining central ideas, reviewing information for cause and effect relationships, as well as distinguishing fact from opinion using political cartoons.

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In this lesson, students read an article that describes the orbital path, or trajectory, of Dione, one of Saturn's many moons. Students will use a graphic organizer that includes a definition, examples, synonyms, and pictures of the word "trajectory."

In this lesson, students read an article that describes the process scientists use to observe and collect evidence about the life cycle of a star. As they read, they will focus on vocabulary skills. Students will benefit from opportunities to hear and use precise scientific words while engaging with text.

In this activity, students complete a primary source worksheet focused on close reading skills. Students are asked to read and analyze Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789.