Ms. Grant

Current Texts:

All Year Long: HMH Intro Literature Grade 7 - State Approved Textbook

Lessons, texts, and assignments are subject to change based on student  need. Please check your child’s Google Classroom for the most up to date information.  🥰

August:

"Sorry Wrong Number" from HMH Text

September 

"The Landlady" by Roald Dahl

"The Fairy's Two Gifts" by The Brothers Grimm - Masteryconnect

"Kaizen Debate Texts/Topics" These debates are paired with an activity called "Before and After Reading a Debate."  Students are actively involved in taking a stand, writing their opinions, taking a literal stand, and supporting their stand by speaking to others.  Students then read both sides of the debate from experts then practice using the Say, Mean, Matter format to write about evidence that confirms their views as well as valid counterclaims to their views.

Smash Boom Best.org - Debate Podcasts for Middle School

"Should Instagram Get Rid of Likes?" - Scholastic Inc.

Across the Curriculum - The next unit of science study for 7th grade is Synthetic and Natural Materials.  We are going to "Level-Up the Learning" by extending that focus in ELA.

Student Research Projects Unit - 

• The Impacts of Synthetic Materials  Project- Students will be doing their own research in order to write an informational claim piece.   Video Text: "The CRAAP Test" for informational resources   Informational Writing Structure Anchor Chart:  Informational Text Structures "Cheat Sheet"

• Research with the Experts - Sites from the American Chemical Society (these sites selected especially for middle school students who are studying the impacts of synthetics.)

• What Can We Do? - Then students will be crafting  Public Service Announcements (PSAs) by completing a 

PSA Plan graphic organizer then  using those ideas to craft a  storyboard and PSA video or a PSA Infographic poster.

Quarter Two - The Focus for this quarter is for students to cite and support their reasoning with evidence.  This is the overarching standard for this nine week period.  Students will also be learning to write supporting Claims with evidence using the Say, Mean, Matter Strategy (from ELA research gurus Beers and Probst).   In addition, students will also learn to incorporate a So What?/Conclusion stating the significance/impact of the claim and evidence  in the real world  - this part is from Ms. Grant.   Smart, capable people almost always consider the "So What?" - past the present and into the most probable outcomes based on the evidence and experts.

Courtroom The Trial of Spongebob (on Classroom)- Students will be acting as either prosecution or defense for Spongebob Squarepants.  The focus is for students to analyze, cite, and support in writing and aloud to a crowd their evidence and reasoning. (minor grade)

No Red Ink - We are using this platform to study, learn, and practice Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers as our first NRI  grammar expectation this nine weeks. (minor grade)

Introduction to Poetry Unit - This is an initial deep look at poets and poetry writing, and poetry analysis this nine weeks.  You can see by the titles of the poems below, we are starting with poets mindsets and views on poems, how to approach them, and how to think about reading  them.

What Makes a Poem... a Poem?  Ted

Introduction to Poetry from HMH (poems about poetry) and “Kidnap Poem”

"The Rose that Grew from Concrete" - Powerade commercial

"The Rose that Grew from Concrete" EdPuzzle produced lesson - imagery/symbolism and personification

Introduction to our Space Themed Unit coming up next: “Earth” by Wheelock and “Earth” by Herford  

"I Am" Poems - As the summative (major) assessment for this unit, students will be writing two different "I Am" poems and will edit and publish each. (major grade)

First "I Am" Poem - Each student is the subject for this first poetry writing experience.  The first one is more comfortable since it is personal to each student.

Second "I Am" Poem - This one is about a subject, thing, or abstract idea.  This writing and thinking experience is where the growth happens because learners will have a lot of autonomy.  Each student is in charge of the topic and of the how as long as they follow the guidelines; I expect that each student will have some struggle with this writing.