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.

Informational paried passage mini-assessment that includes two articles and one accompanying recording, thirteen text-dependent questions (including one optional constructed-response prompt for students), and explanatory information for teachers regarding alignment to the CCSS. Articles included are “High Schools Starting Later to Help Sleepy Teens,” by Michelle Trudeau and “High schools will keep starting too early. Here’s why.” by Dan Weissmann

In this problem-based learning module, students will be asked to brainstorm ideas and think innovatively both independently and collaboratively in addressing a real-world problem that is relevant to their daily lives and health. Are students aware of their calorie intake and how it affects their overall health? Students will investigate the calories consumed in a typical day and how much physical activity is needed to stay healthy and fit. Students/teams will be encouraged to use the internet for research purposes in their design phase. Students will utilize various online platforms to design an infographic that can be shared with relevant individuals in the community and others in the school building

In this lesson, students will learn about the use of argumentative strategies by discovering and identifying them in stories and essays.

In this excerpt from Galarza’s memoir he recants his experiences in a new school in a new country, the United States. He describes learning a new language and being introduced to new cultures and people in his new country. In this CCSS lesson, students will explore this memoir through text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments. Printable text files included.

This problem-based learning module is designed to master the Ohio Learning standard of Science in Earth and Space Science number 2, Cycles and Patterns of Earth and the Moon. Thermal-energy transfers in the ocean and the atmosphere contribute to the formation of currents, which influence global climate patterns. Students will be exploring the various factors affecting the climate patterns we experience due to thermal energy. Students will work independently as well as with a partner. The final product is expected to be presented to their peers and teachers. This blended module includes teacher-led instruction, student-led stations, real world data analysis and technology integrated investigations.

In this problem-based learning module, students will use their knowledge of the ancient Roman Empire and will work to analyze critical theories historians agree contributed to the fall of Rome. Students will then work to compare the problems faced by the Romans with problems citizens of the United States still largely face today. Through this investigation, students should recognize how modern technology, government agencies, laws and resources help to solve societal problems that could have once destroyed an empire. With this new understanding, students should work to present a solution to a major problem that plagued the Roman Empire during the years leading up to its collapse.

This lesson aligns with the 7th grade Social Studies curriculum and works best when integrated into an interdisciplinary unit, such as Reliving the Middle Ages Across Lliterary Genres. Interdisciplinary Units are effective when teachers from two different content areas collaborate to plan lessons, assessments, activities and projects that support their content skills and standards. The content being taught in one course supports the content in another and students approach difficult, content-specific texts with more familiarity and gain better comprehension.  Students read two nonfiction articles about the Middle Ages, which lasted from about A.D. 500 to A.D. 1500. Both texts examine one of the most significant events of this time period-- the spread of the bubonic plague, or the Black Death. Each text is organized into cause-and-effect pattern of organization. One outlines HOW the disease spread (causes) and the other explains how it affected Europe (effects). Students analyze two texts by different authors writing about the same topic, the Black Plague, and compare/contrast how each author shapes their presentations of key information by emphasizing different evidence. 

While studying the Articles of Confederation government and the Constitutional Convention in this problem-based learning module, the students will determine the benefits of peacefully changing an inept government. They will deduce the crucial steps needed for peaceful change to happen within a society. An area of research will be chosen to help solve a problem critical to the students' middle school lives. Feedback will be gathered through a video interview or a Google Form survey of crucial stakeholders. Students will research the alternatives to improve upon their selected problem. Students will present their findings to a decision maker and wait to receive feedback.

This task ties into our school PBL Unit on body apps system design. The task asks students to design screens for an app using the Marvel App.

Are we teaching what we think we are teaching?"Are students learning what they are supposed to be learning?"Is there a way to teach the subject better, therefore promoting better learning?"In problem based learning, assessment needs to not only reflect the learning process but the content being learned as well.This online learning module will explore the following learning targets: *;Identify how formative and summative classroom assessments are integral to instruction.*;Recognize and develop high-quality performance assessments for evaluating student work.*;Recognize and develop high-quality rubrics for evaluating student work.

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.

Read the explanation the ancient Greeks had for earthquakes.  Then read the explantion we use today.  Then compare the two.  

The purpose of this lesson is to give students a sense of how differing arguments can support the same claim. In categorizing the types of evidence the researchers use, the students will begin to see how authors choose both the quantity and the quality of their evidence carefully, with attention to the differing effects that certain types of evidence have upon the audience.

This English Language Arts /Literacy Unit empower students with a critical reading and writing skill at the heart of the Common Core: Reading complex texts closely to analyze textual details and deepen understanding.

These English Language Arts/Literacy Units empower students with critical reading and writing skills at the heart of the Common Core: analyzing and writing evidence-based arguments.

This unit develops students’ abilities to analyze arguments from a range of perspectives on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports. Students also learn to develop, write and revise their own evidence-based arguments.

The Researching to Deepen Understanding units lay out an inquiry process through which students learn how to deepen their understanding of topics. Students pose and refine inquiry questions, exploring areas they wish to investigate. They find and assess sources and organize researched material in ways that will support their analysis and integration of information.

Combined with the three other modules bearing the same name, students will learn what is trustworthy on the internet. This module focuses on the credibility of websites based on who created it, when it was created/updated, and why it was created. After students go through a station rotation on the subject, they will create a checklist, in small groups, that will help peers understand which sources to trust on the internet.

In this problem-based learning unit, the Class will discuss what it means to be empathetic. Then, situations in which empathy is necessary will be role played. Students will then roll 2 dice, one die will determine their audience and the other die will determine the task they are to create a solution to. Sample audience and tasks include creating a tool to access an out of reach object for a child, vision impaired, or person in a wheelchair. Students will hand draw prototypes and then utilize a free online 3D modeling application to design their solutions for sharing.