This resource accompanies our Rethink 7th Grade ELA course. It includes ideas for use, ways to support exceptional children, ways to extend learning, digital resources and tools, tips for supporting English Language Learners and students with visual and hearing impairments. There are also ideas for offline learning. 

This parent guide supports parents in helping their child at home with the 7th grade ELA content.

The purpose of this project is two-fold: first, to encourage students to make the reading of poetry a creative act; and, second, to help students appreciate particular literary devices in their functions as semaphores or interpretive signals. Those devices that are about the imagery of a poem (metaphor, simile, personification, description) can be thought of as magnifying glasses: we see most clearly that upon which the poet focuses our gaze. Similarly, those poetic devices that are about the sound of the poem (alliteration, consonance, enjambment, onomatopoeia, and repetition) can be thought of as volume buttons or amplifiers: we hear most clearly what the poet makes us listen to most attentively.

This interactive unit encourages students to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of figurative langauge in Amy Tan's nonfiction narrative essay Fish Cheeks paired with the poem Face It by Janet Wong. This lesson will assist students in understanding the power of language. Students will be compelled to write by the conclusion of this lesson.

This lesson provides hands-on differentiated instruction by guiding students to search for the literal definitions of figurative language using the Internet. It also guides students in understanding figurative meanings through the use of context clues and making inferences.

This lesson begins a five-lesson mini unit on poetry. Students also begin choosing an independent reading book.

In the first half of this lesson, you lead the class in discussing another poem, “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay. In the second part of this lesson, students apply what they have learned about poetic tools to Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

This is the final lesson on poetry, and it includes the End of Unit 1 Assessment, which focuses solely on poetry.

In this lesson, students hear The People Could Fly: The Picture Book by Virginia Hamilton read aloud. Please note: if using audio clip, teacher will need to fast forward through some introductory material before reaching the reading.

This lesson mirrors Unit 1, Lesson 1, where students focused on the powerful content, language, images, and themes of The People Could Fly. In this lesson students analyze Frederick Douglass: The Last Day of Slavery (a picture book) through the same lens.

This is the final lesson that focuses on Excerpt 4. Students briefly discuss the third read questions they completed for homework. Then, they return to their small groups from Lesson 4 to complete the Excerpt 4 Analysis note-catcher.

In this lesson, students focus on types of figurative language. They do this during the Figurative Language Matching Game and again when they create Figurative Language cards for the Powerful Language word wall.

In Lessons 11 and 12, students return to the guiding question that launched this module: What gives stories and poems their enduring power? These lessons serve as a sort of “coda” to the module. This lesson centers on Turning the Page: Frederick Douglass Learns to Read. Familiarize yourself with the story ahead of time so you can read it in a compelling way.

In this lesson, students will have a chance to read and celebrate each other’s powerful stories. Consider how you might make this day feel more celebratory. If you do not have all the stories evaluated and ready to return with written feedback, you may still do the Silent Gallery Walk.

In this lesson, students complete a literary analysis on a Shakespearean Sonnet, understand the language that empowers the piece, and gain inspiration from Shakespeare's words to write their own sonnet.

In this lesson, students will analyze an excerpt from the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, focusing on word analysis and author's purpose.