7th Grade Resources
Math
A FREE, interactive, personalized virtual textbook for supplemental and extended math learning that gifted students can explore independently. With its emphasis on active learning and storytelling, this is a must have in the math teacher's toolbox.
Contains a variety of math lessons, games and activities that you can access and provide to your gifted students easily. From my investigation of it, I highly recommend the following pages.
Topics in Secondary Mathematics from the Activities and Games Section
The site is a collection of recommended learning resources for use with 7th graders gifted organized by grade level and discipline. There are many links to free Math and Logic resources and the blog includes MANY ready-to-use FREE lessons and activities specifically designed for more advanced students.
You will want to start with the Level C Version from these nine math categories.
Science
TPSP provides science-oriented tasks and assessments in unit form for 6th-8th grade. The link above takes you to all the science activities designed for gifted seventh grade students.
Need more lesson ideas, resources, topics or activities for your gifted students in science? Check out this website from the NTSA that offers a plethora of freebies including apps, games, ready-to-go units and lessons, and materials for developing inquiry skills.
With the UrbanEngineers curriculum, students embark on a global journey, creating knowledge to build an adaptive and resilient city for a particular geographic location. Students will learn how to develop ideas and concepts about how lifestyles, infrastructures and technologies need to be adapted for different geographies, available resources and climates.
I have the virtual curriculum to all four city prompts due to COVID-19. So, if you are interested in having a deeper look at the Arid City Vertical Garden City, Mars City or Floating City curriculum please email me at spratt@ikm-manning.k12.ia.us or call me at 319-538-2411.
Reading
Find their quantile level and have them read literature 1 1/2 levels above their current Lexile Level. That will provide perfect balance between the reading being challenged and doable.
A reading program that's free and open to any student under the age of 18. All students who complete this program get a commemorative certificate and T-Shirt! Here are the steps to getting kids started in the program
1. Select your list from the grade levels.
*Can use five non-fiction books in substitute for other books on the list.
2. Print the list out and the student by hand, tracks each book they read by checking it off, and recording the date read, and a rating. However, if their Lexile Level or interests are above the books selected for the sixth grade list, please go to the next highest grade level list.
3. Once you complete the list, the reader and you or another adult signs the bottom of the reading list form.
4. Fill out the Order Form for Mensa T-Shirt and Certificate and the reading list form to the address listed below. It will take six weeks for them to respond with the T-shirt and Certificate.
Mensa Foundation Attn: Excellence in Reading 1200 Copeland Rd. Ste 550 Arlington, Texas 76011
Social Studies
Run by the Smithsonian, this website offers a huge library of resources for all grade levels. Students can view videos, artifacts, and other resources covering a range of historical and social events. The site has very strong filters, allowing users to narrow down their searches by subfield, era, grade level, type of media, and more.
This website is loaded with fun, interactive games devoted to learning about civics-related topics. Those topics include citizenship & participation, separation of power, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the Judicial Branch, the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and budgeting. Each game has a specific learning objective in which it is built around, but students will love the interactive storylines. I highly recommend the "Win the Whitehouse" game which allows you to try to become president through the full campaign process.
Ken Burns and his collaborators have been creating historical documentary films for more than forty years. Known for a signature style that brings primary source documents, images, and archival video footage to life on screen, these films present the opportunity to pose thought-provoking questions for students, and introduce new ideas, perspectives, and primary sources. This collection has over 50 lesson plans, 200+ videos, documents and more.
A comprehensive collection of historical data on United States history. This site has it all and includes online textbook, interactive learning modules, timelines, flash movies, virtual exhibits, etc. This site is dedicated to using technology to enhance learning and is the perfect compliment to extend learning for students. Students could spend hours and hours on this site without repeating activities or topics.
Critical Thinking
Any student who is interested in creating their own game, app or drawings with through coding will love this site! For students who need to get used to the idea of it, there are also Hour of Code Tutorials that teach students computer code to complete various types of games.
Have a student interested in learning another language? This is the site for them. Offers multiple bite-sized levels of language skills from basic vocabulary to more advanced. The app teaches through game-like quizzes where students type in answers, speak phrases and listen to short audio files in the language they're studying.
Students who are interested in anything to do with outer space will fall in love with this website. The Propulsion Lab contains a rich collection of activities including ones for in class, at home, demonstrations, videos, family activities, labs and more all about the wonders of space. A few of the topics included in these activities are inertia, electricity and magnetism, data collection, design process, geometry and everything in-between.
Creativity
Leadership
Created by Common Sense Education, this award-winning game gives students the freedom to explore how decisions made in their digital lives can affect their relationships and futures.
Through the suite of choose-your-own-path games, students play through the perspective of one of eight main characters, each of whom is facing a different digital citizenship dilemma. The varied story paths and multiple decision points encourage students to play repeatedly in order to explore alternative courses of action. Games are also available in Spanish.
Visual Arts
Cassie Stephens created this blog that contains a collection of home-based learning art projects. These projects include making your sketchbook, monochromatic portraits, colorful village drawings and more. She also has MANY art lessons on her YouTube channel.
Contains a large catalogue of video art tutorials for free! These tutorials include follow-along lessons in the following topics.
Watercoloring
Clay Bowls and Beads
Acrylics
Sock Puppets
An incredibly and extensively large collection of art tutorials and lessons for kids for free. With over 4,000 videos creating over 12,000 hours of educational content, its lessons are organized by skill level, artists, and mediums. Some of the included mediums are
Sketching
Pen and Ink
Pencil
Pastels
Watercolor
Marker
A digital drawing and painting tool that has all of the tools needed to create your own artwork. With a variety of tools including multiple brushes, Clipart, and text along with multiple functions such as fill, zoom, layers and paint into layer, this website gives any artist the free reign to create whatever is in their imagination.
This free application allows students to create vector artwork with image and drawing layers that you can put into Adobe Illustrator or to Photoshop. Along with giving you the ability to publish your artwork for feedback from the Behance Creative Community, Facebook and Twitter, Adobe Illustrator Draw includes the following features.
• Zoom up to 64x to apply finer details.
• Sketch with five different pen tips with adjustable opacity, size and color.
• Work with multiple image and drawing layers.
• Rename, duplicate, merge and adjust each individual layer.
• Insert basic shape stencils or new vector shapes from Capture.
Dance
Want to learn about professional dancers' stories and how they got to be in the New York City Ballet? Look no further than here. Students can read the biographic and training information about everyone from the apprentices to the principal dancers of this prestigious dance company.
Have a student who shows obvious talent for dancing? This YouTube channel is for any aspirational dance student. When you subscribe, students will gain access to
Dance Skill Instructional, Demonstration, and Drill Videos
Dance Tips & Choreography
Videos of Our Latest Products to improve your abilities
A YouTube channel that inspires young people to fall in love with physical activity by making it fun. The music and movement has been scientifically-crafted by Les Mills to feed young people’s natural appetite for action and play.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture's collection of more than 10,000 photographs chronicling the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater from 1961 to 1994. The photographs display a wide range of choreographers and iconic solo performers. Alvin Ailey, the dancer, gave recognition to the contributions and experiences of the African American heritage. African American heritage inspired racially diverse performances that forever changed American dance and culture.
Music
Create your own a cappella group song from a list of chosen voice generated sound effects. There are seven group types that you can choose from. This can also be accessed on an IPad App. If you create a particularly good sound or mixture of sounds for your song, you will unlock bonus song sections.
Noteflight is an online music writing application that lets you create, view, print and hear professional quality music notation right in your web browser. Create your own music with a variety of instruments, and a variety of compositional tools to choose from.
To make a song, add notes by clicking the grid. Then, share your song with a link. You can also use a MIDI keyboard or sing a note into your mic. You can also use your computer keys. Press the arrow keys to move, enter and backspace to add and remove notes, and spacebar to play.
Have a student who wants to be music producer in a studio? This is the site for them! Pro Audio Essentials is a game-based course for music producers to practice and improve their audio skills. This unique learning experience uses audio games, ear training, and videos to build the production skills that music makers use every day when recording, mixing, and mastering.
Explore the in and outs of the London Symphony Orchestra. View streamed performances from multiple camera angles at once or select your favorite one to watch from. Additional features include learning about the orchestra, the musicians, masterclasses about playing the different instruments and more.
Drama
If your student loves to perform for others, hook them up with this visual communication platform. Through this site, they can create a wide variety of different videos that look professional and are customized by them.
Encourage students' confidence of performing and creativity through this presentation resource. Prezi allows students to present text and visuals by zooming in and out of it and eye-capturing motion. After making your poster page, share with others on a computer through your account, or you can send the link to them.
This is the go-to resource for the young aspiring stage actor or actress. All of these resources included in the website are PDFs ready to be print out to be used with your students gifted in performing. Some of the materials include
Acting exercises and activities
Monologues
Group Scenes
Performance Tips
Video Advice from Professionals
Directing Activities
Crash Course's YouTube channel provides an in-depth course about everything theater! Over 50 videos split into 12 units, Mike Rugnetta bases the lessons on an introductory college level course in Theater. To explores the history, theory, and technology that contributes to the art form most like life, click here!
This YouTube channel is a must-go-to for the aspiring student actor. The channel provides tutorials on everything from how to speak in various accents, audition tips, how to cry on cue and many more! Also access advise of famous actors with invaluable experience.