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7th grade English will be a combination of fiction stories and nonfiction essays, speeches, articles and other informational texts. The focus will be on short response writing and utilizing textual evidence in answers. Each trimester will culminate in a 5-paragraph essay and accompanying project. We will start the first trimester with a novel, Long Walk to Water and then move on online units that focus on taking action for justice in society.
7th grade English will be a combination of fiction stories and nonfiction essays, speeches, articles and other informational texts. The focus will be on short response writing and utilizing textual evidence in answers. Each trimester will culminate in a 5-paragraph essay and accompanying project. We will start the first trimester with a novel, Long Walk to Water and then move on online units that focus on taking action for justice in society.
Trimester Units
Trimester Units
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
The New York Times bestseller A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.
We will be joining the Global Read Aloud which has picked this book to read this year. We will be engaging in conversations with other students around the globe. For more about the Global Read Aloud, go to https://theglobalreadaloud.com/ and take a look at how it facilitates global collaboration.
The Powers that Be
The Powers that Be
What do people mean when they talk about a “just” society? The term implies fairness—but to whom? The people who rule the society? Those who work to keep it alive and flourishing? These questions have been debated by scholars, philosophers, writers, and politicians for hundreds of years—but that doesn’t make them any less relevant to today’s society. Today, students are exposed to any number of fiction or nonfiction narratives of people striving to create what they see as a just society. As students read or watch these stories, they must constantly analyze their themes (or messages) to determine the motivation behind the struggle to develop and uphold a just society.
In this Grade 7 unit, your students will explore the principles of a fair, or just, society from a variety of literary perspectives-- through folktales, short stories, poetry, and excerpts from contemporary novels--as well as through timely nonfiction texts. The unit begins with an excerpt from the informational text Gladiator, which explains why the tradition of the gladiator in ancient Rome began to decline with the rise of Christianity and the spread of social change. This selection is followed by the chilling Shirley Jackson story, “The Lottery,” which contains the important theme of how blindly following tradition can be dangerous, especially when it leads to injustice. Other selections include a true story about the dictatorship in North Korea, an excerpt from a futuristic novel, and an analysis of the United States Constitution and the real meaning behind the three words: “We the People.” Throughout this unit, students will investigate the principles of a just society by exploring different cultures and eras and diverse points of view.
Justice Served
Justice Served
Is it easy to defend your rights? Not always. It takes a lot of strength and determination to challenge rules, beliefs, or ideas that you think are unjust. Throughout history, people have been denied certain rights or have been treated poorly because of such things as their religious beliefs, ethnicity, background, or the color of their skin. While these struggles are not proud points in history, great leaders have emerged who took a stand and became a voice for the people. These men and women risked everything to defend their rights and the rights of others, and they did not back down until change happened.
In this Grade 7 unit, your students will explore the importance of defending human rights through accounts of real people and characters in a variety of texts that include fiction, narrative nonfiction, informational texts, and speeches. The unit begins with an excerpt from Mother Jones: Fierce Fighter for Workers’ Rights, which highlights the demonstrations and crusades against unfair child labor practices of workers’ rights activist Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, whose “march of the mill children” made headlines at the turn of the twentieth century. Other selections share stories of great defenders of human rights, including a biography of the young Harriet Tubman, a poem honoring labor leader and civil rights activist César Chávez, Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, and Nehru’s eulogy for Mahatma Gandhi. Throughout this unit, students will explore human struggle, determination, and the fight for human rights.
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