7th grade

Welcome to 7th Language Arts! Our course brings together experiences in 1) reading literature and reading for information, 2) writing that involves the specific areas of instruction: ideas, style, organization, 3) grammar and mechanics, 4) vocabulary; and 5) speaking, listening, and media literacy.

One of the most important goals we will persist at this year is becoming strong writers given pretty much any writing task. We will journey through the writing processes in three significant writing projects as well as many short pieces of various topics and form this year such as narrative, informative, and argumentative. In fact, we will begin the year with writing realistic fiction and finish the year with studying the art of argument.

Another significant goal in Language Arts 7 is for all to become reflective readers. First quarter will find us reading mythology and analyzing several nonfiction articles. Throughout the year, we will enjoy short stories, poetry, the novels that include The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor and also the script of “The Diary of Anne Frank.” Our discussions will begin where students’ interests lie and students will routinely practice close analysis of the text and compare and contrast the decisions, values, and motivating forces of characters. Our insights culminate into emerging themes and how they pertain to us as readers, writers, and social, thoughtful individuals.

Core Connections, Course 2 (CC2) is the second of a three-year sequence of courses designed to prepare students for a rigorous college preparatory high school mathematics course.

On a daily basis, students in CC2 use problem-solving strategies, questioning, investigating, analyzing critically, gathering and constructing evidence, and communicating rigorous arguments justifying their thinking. Under teacher guidance, students learn in collaboration with others while sharing information, expertise, and ideas. The course helps students to develop multiple strategies to solve problems and to recognize the connections between concepts.

In 7th grade life science we explore the interactions between living things and the world around them. Units will include: chemistry, microorganisms, cells, body systems, genetics, evolution, and ecology, as well as a basic understanding of how science works. There will be an emphasis on students asking questions and supporting conclusions with evidence and reasoning.

7th grade Social Studies has four main components we work on throughout the year:

1. Historical knowledge - this is learning basic facts about topics and being able to answer questions about them. This will be assessed through multiple choice/matching tests.

2. Historical analysis - this includes being able to compare and contrast ideas and events, identify cause and effect relationships, and form positions and back them up with evidence.This will be assessed through written assignments and graphic organizers.

3. Historical research - this includes being able to locate sources, evaluate their credibility, extract information from sources, and form a thesis and organize information to support it. This will be assessed through quizzes over research skills, a short research activity, and a research project.

4. Historical writing - this involves being able to express historical understandings in writing, including: using a formal style, organizing writing with an intro and conclusion, and writing in a way that is clear and easy to understand. This will be assessed through a variety of 1-3 paragraph essays.

The units we study are: Westward Expansion, Civil War & Reconstruction, Industrial Revolution, Great Depression, Imperialism and World Wars, Cold War, Civil Right, Modern America. Each of these units will have a historical knowledge test, and an assessment in at least one of the other components. Students also complete a research project.