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.

In this unit, students will be reading and writing myths following the structure of short stories and eventually publishing their own work.

By "becoming" a character in a novel they have read and making lists from that character's perspective, students analyze the character while also enriching their vocabulary. Students gain a deeper understanding of a character by creating charts linking the character's actions with the character's traits. They explore adjectives through a variety of resources. They then use their analysis of the character and their knowledge of adjectives to create descriptive lists of their own three other characters from the novel.

This lesson is about the poem "Nobody's Friend" which was published in a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal.  It is used as the basis to talk about anti-bullying and bullying.  After reading and discussing, students will write their own poem using a synonym for bullying.

Students will create an alternate ending to The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. This assignment will have three separate parts. 

In this lesson, students will select a piece of their own writing that contains dialogue then go through the piece highlighting the speech of each character in a different color. Then they will go through the piece again looking for and correcting "character clashes" that occur when two speakers are highlighted in the same paragraph.

Students will become engaged learners through this unit that prepares students for studying ancient Greece with digital storytelling skills. First students develop a list of questions to research Greek gods, heroes, and creatures. Then with a partner, they choose the topic of their research and divide the questions between themselves. After conducting research, the partners write scripts for their digital story using the online tool PowToon.

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Science created this resource as part of an online workshop series, but you are welcome to use or modify it for your classroom. It includes a video and written directions for creating nature journals and tips for incorporating them into your classroom. For information on taking any the Nature Neighborhood online workshops for CEUs or EE credit, visit: https://naturalsciences.org/learn/educators/online-workshops.

This lesson opens with the students reacting to teacher feedback. Depending on how much work the students accomplish during class time, they may hand in their final children’s books at the end of the class. Alternatively, you can give them additional time at home to finish.

In this lesson, students begin writing the first drafts of their children’s books. Before they begin writing, you teach the first of three mini lessons on the narrative writer’s tools. Today students learn about show-not-tell and sensory details.

Lessons 6–8 are writing workshops, and the students are expected to work quietly and independently. Before students begin writing today, you teach the second of three mini lessons on the narrative writer’s tools. Today they learn about strong verbs, sensory details, and precise details.

This lesson is the second day of the writer’s workshop. It includes a mini lesson on writing dialogue. Be sure to stress the importance of keeping dialogue short and focused only on pivotal moments.

This is the final writer’s workshop for students. Because the pace at which students write varies so greatly, you may consider doing the mini lesson on illustrations before the writing time. This way, students who are ready to move on to planning their illustrations may do so. Alternatively, if most of your class needs more time to complete the second draft, consider adding another work day.

In this lesson, students write book reviews for their independent reading books. Students also work on their children’s book illustrations. Finally, as their End of Unit 3 Assessment, students turn in a packet of work that includes their second draft of their Storyboard, plus related materials: their first draft, the rubric, a self-assessment, and their I Heart Revisions worksheet.

In this poetry session, students learn that shapes don’t have to be silent, and poetry doesn’t have to be linear, as they write shapes in verse, and verse in shapes. This lesson bridges the gap between poetry and math!

In this lesson, students will evaluate a children's book in order to evaluate the narrative technique. Students will participate in a Children's Book Scavenger Hunt. Then, using the author's language as a scaffold, they will then write their own theme for two of the episodes they read.

In this lesson, students will work independently to begin composing their text. A mini lesson strong verbs, sensory details, and precise details is included to help guide students in writing their narratives.

In this lesson students examine how imagery is used to represent ideas, themes, periods of history, and make cultural connections to poem, "Still I Rise." Students will reflect through written expression how resiliency is in their lives, school, and community.

In this video from American Masters | Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise, students will explore the role of poetry in American politics, compare Angelou and Frost, and consider how Angelou’s poem reflects the challenges and concerns of the time. Discussion questions, teaching tips, and a student handout push students to engage with Angelou’s words and to think critically about her famous work.