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.

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. 

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.

While the French had kept their end of the bargain by completing the statue itself, the Americans had still not fulfilled their commitment to erect a pedestal. In this lesson, students learn about the effort to convince a skeptical American public to contribute to the effort to erect a pedestal and to bring the Statue of Liberty to New York.

Students will explore how an artist emphasized the narrative in a work of art that depicts a single moment from the story. They then write a newspaper article, using visual clues in the painting to imagine how the narrative depicted many have unfolded.

Students will write a three paragraph letter to a judge either in defense of or prosecution of Roger from the short story "Thank You Ma'am." Students will engage with the text as they cite evidence in support of their arguments. Students will get to present their letters to a mock jury and try to win their case for or against Roger.

This lesson focuses on the concept of the afterlife and the importance of pleasing the gods and goddesses, the significance of tombs and tomb building, and the burial customs and traditions of the ancient Egyptians. After learning about all of these concepts, students will design a tomb, create a model of it, and complete a short written assignment explaining the design and contents of the tomb.

This lesson helps students "hear" some of the diverse colonial voices that, in the course of time and under the pressure of novel ideas and events, contributed to the American Revolution. Students analyze a variety of primary documents illustrating the diversity of religious, political, social, and economic motives behind competing perspectives on questions of independence and rebellion.

Students make lists of their favorite and least favorite movies and brainstorm qualities that make a film good or bad. Next, students write a movie review for a film they have seen.