Grade 7 Language Arts

Required Reading:

7th Grade Unit 9: Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson. ISBN 9780439903547

Required Materials:

• Paper
• Pencil
• Notecards
• Book: Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson

Syllabus:

Unit 1 - Grammar Review

Objectives:

• Understand and use the parts of speech effectively.
• Identify and use the perfect tenses of verbs.
• Recognize and use the progressive form of verbs.
• Understand the function of participles in sentences.
• Use consistent verb tenses in writing.
• Identify and use appositive phrases correctly.
• Identify and understand the function of adverbial and adjectival phrases.
• Understand the difference between a phrase and a clause.
• Differentiate between main clauses and subordinate clauses.
• Understand the difference between three types of sentence structures—simple, compound, and complex.
• Understand the roles of adverbial and adjectival clauses in sentences.
• Identify subordinating conjunctions and that begin adverbial clauses.
• Identify relative pronouns begin adjectival clauses.
• Understand how prepositional phrases between the subject and the verb in a sentence influence subject-verb agreement.
• Know how to write sentences with parallel structures.
• Formulate transitions between sentences and paragraphs.
• Identify and use conjunctive adverbs.

Lessons:

• Parts of Speech: The Building Blocks of Language
• Verb Tenses and Participles
• Phrases
• Clauses and Sentence Structures
• Adverbial and Adjectival Clauses
• Subject-Verb Agreement and Parallel Structures
• Transitions and Conjunctive Adverbs

Unit 2 - Vocabulary Development

Objectives:

• Identify root words, prefixes, and suffixes of Greek and Latin origins.
• Identify number root words of Greek and Latin origins.
• Identify prefixes of Greek and Latin origins.
• Identify suffixes of Greek and Latin origins.
• Identify Greek and Latin phrases used in written English.
• Use context clues to help learn the meaning of unfamiliar words.
• Use various methods for studying and learning unfamiliar words.
• Complete analogies that describe whole-to-part or part-to-whole relationships.
• Use a dictionary and a thesaurus.
• Employ the use of references to understand the etymology of words.
• Understand the meanings of new words by using the context to help decipher them.
• Use vocabulary in context to comprehend an entire written text.
• Understand and use the conventions of capitalization.
• Recognize and use punctuation marks, such as commas, semicolons, colons, and hyphens.

Lessons:

• The Roots of Words
• Number Roots
• Prefixes to Learn
• Suffixes to Learn
• Greek and Latin Phrases Used in English
• Context Clues
• Analogies
• Dictionary and Thesaurus Skills
• Vocabulary in Context
• Capitalization and Punctuation

Unit 3 - Reading for Fun

Objectives:

• Analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about a literary work based on the text.
• Distinguish between the genres of fiction and nonfiction.
• Describe themes presented in a work of fiction.
• Describe conventions in myths and epic tales.
• Analyze the influence of setting on the theme of a literary work.
• Explain the influence of setting on plot development.
• Analyze the development of the plot through character motivations and conflicts.
• Analyze the effect of point of view on a literary work.
• Determine the figurative meaning of phrases.
• Analyze how an author’s use of language creates imagery, appeals to the senses, and ­suggests mood.
• Understand and explain the structural patterns and features of literary nonfiction.

Lessons:

• Making Inferences: Reading Between the Lines
• Establishing a Purpose for Reading
• Characteristics of Literary Works: How an Author Crafts a Story
• What's the Big Idea?
• Myths, Legends, and Epic Tales
• Literary Nonfiction: True Stories

Unit 4 - Interacting With Text; Writing a Book Review and a Narrative

Objectives:

• Select a nonfiction book and use reading skills to comprehend it.
• Evaluate text features, genre characteristics, and kinds of sources.
• Interact with text by freewriting and making images.
• Analyze a text for perspective, purpose, and intended audience.
• Define the writing process and elements of good writing.
• Analyze and critique a book.
• Analyze a critique for main ideas, tone, perspective, and form.
• Write a thesis, follow an outline, and type a draft.
• Identify and write compound and complex sentences correctly.
• Identify and use conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs, and relative pronouns.
• Revise using transitions, sentence combining, and parallel structure.
• Edit for subject-verb agreement, consistent verb use, and pronoun-antecedent and case agreement.
• Edit for precise words, incorrect usage, misplaced modifiers, and paragraph organization.
• Practice reading fluency, and listening and discussion skills.
• Plan and draft a personal narrative using plot elements.
• Analyze a narrative for literary elements.
• Revise, edit, publish, and discuss a narrative.

Lessons:

• Choosing a Nonfiction Book
• Interacting With and Analyzing a Text
• Understanding the Characteristics and Processes of Writing
• Analyzing Nonfiction; Drafting a Book Review
• Identifying Sentence Structures
• Using Transitions and Combining Sentences
• Revising and Editing; Reading with Fluency
• Using Plot Elements in a Personal Narrative
• Analyzing, Publishing, and Discussing a Personal Narrative

Unit 5 - Nonfiction Texts

Objectives:

• Understand the difference between fiction and nonfiction texts, as well as their purposes.
• Analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about expository texts and the author’s purpose in cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts and provide evidence from the text to support understanding.
• Distinguish factual claims from commonplace assertions and opinions.
• Understand how an author’s use of opinions and assertions reflects bias.
• Find the main idea and supporting details in an expository text.
• Use different organizational patterns as guides for summarizing and forming an overview of different kinds of expository texts.
• Synthesize and connect ideas within a text and across two or three texts.
• Evaluate a summary of an original text for accuracy of the main ideas, supporting details, and overall meaning.
• Plan a first draft by selecting a topic, brainstorming ideas, organizing ideas, and developing a thesis statement.
• Write an expository essay to convey information about a topic using a variety of sentence structures, rhetorical devices, and transitions.
• Revise a rough draft to improve the focus and development of ideas, organization, and style.
• Proofread and edit a rough draft of an expository essay to correct errors in mechanics, spelling, grammar, usage, and sentence structure; then publish a final draft.
• Accurately synthesize ideas from several sources.
• Follow multidimensional instructions from text to complete a task, solve a problem, or perform procedures and learn how to gather and use information.
• Explain the function of the graphical components of a procedural text.
• Write a letter that reflects an opinion, registers a complaint, or requests information.

Lessons:

• Overview of Nonfiction Texts
• Expository Texts
• Summarizing Expository Texts
• Writing an Expository Essay: Planning and Organizing
• Writing an Expository Essay: Drafting
• Writing an Expository Essay: Revising, and Proofreading and Editing
• Analyzing Historical Texts
• Reading and Understanding Procedural Texts
• Letter Writing

Unit 6 - Poetry and Drama

Objectives:

• Understand the difference between poetry and prose.
• Determine the theme of a poem.
• Understand, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of poetry.
• Understand the influence of sound devices (rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, onomatopoeia) on poetry.
• Analyze a poet’s use of sensory language to convey images.
• Understand figurative language devices used in poetry.
• Analyze the influence of figurative language on the theme of a poem.
• Differentiate between the styles of narrative and lyric poetry.
• Understand the characteristics of poetic structures, such as limerick, haiku, and free verse.
• Analyze the importance of graphical elements on a poem.
• Write a poem using poetic techniques, figurative language, and graphical elements.
• Understand, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of drama.
• Explain a playwright’s use of dialogue and stage directions.

Lessons:

• What is Poetry?
• Poetic Devices: Sound
• Poetic Devices: Sensory Language
• Poetic Devices: Figurative Language
• Types of Poetry
• Structures of Poetry
• Writing Poetry Activity
• Introduction to Drama
• Analyzing Drama

Unit 7 - Research

Objectives:

• Brainstorm and consult with others to decide upon a research topic.
• Conduct preliminary research to narrow topic.
• Create a written plan for the research project.
• Design a major research question that addresses the topic.
• Develop secondary questions for research.
• Obtain and evaluate information from a wide variety of sources.
• Gather information from a range of relevant print and electronic sources.
• Demonstrate the reliability of sources used, and explain why one source is more useful than another.
• Record bibliographic information about all sources using source cards.
• Take notes from sources using note cards.
• Paraphrase information gathered from research to avoid plagiarism.
• Narrow or broaden the research question, if necessary.
• Write a thesis statement that reflects the main idea of the research paper.
• Categorize information gathered from research thematically.
• Write a research paper that draws conclusions and summarizes and paraphrases information.
• Use evidence to explain the topic and give relevant reasons for conclusions.
• Present the information in a meaningful format.
• Use parenthetical documentation to integrate quotations and citations into the written text.
• Revise, proofread, edit, and publish a research essay.
• Create and present a multimedia presentation using text, graphics, images, and sound to present the research topic.
• Listen attentively to other students’ multimedia presentations.

Lessons:

• What Is Research?
• Developing Research Questions
• Selecting Reliable Sources
• Taking Notes From Sources
• Organizing Information
• Writing a Research Essay
• Revising the Research Essay
• Proofreading, Editing, and Publishing the Research Essay
• Creating a Multimedia Presentation

Unit 8 - The Art of Persuasion

Objectives:

• Analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about persuasive text and provide evidence from the text to support analysis.
• Understand the purpose and audience of a persuasive text.
• Analyze the structure of the central argument in a persuasive text.
• Identify the types of evidence used to support the central argument in a persuasive text.
• Identify an author’s use of persuasive techniques, such as appeal to authority, emotion, logic, and ethics.
• Identify rhetorical fallacies, such as ad hominem, exaggeration, stereotyping, and categorical claims in persuasive texts.
• Examine a text for evidence of an author’s bias.
• Establish a clear thesis or position statement.
• Consider and respond to the views of others and anticipate and answer reader concerns and counterarguments.
• Include evidence that is logically organized to support the viewpoint.
• Differentiate between fact and opinion in persuasive writing.
• Develop and present a persuasive speech to a group of students.
• Speak clearly and to the point, and use the conventions of language while delivering a persuasive speech.
• Listen to and interpret a speaker’s purpose by explaining the content, evaluating the delivery of the presentation, and asking questions or making comments about the evidence that supports a speaker’s claims.

Lessons:

• What is Persuasion?
• The Structure of Persuasive Writing
• Persuasive Arguments
• Rhetorical Fallacies
• Evaluating Persuasive Texts
• Planning and Developing a Persuasive Essay
• Writing a Persuasive Essay
• Preparing a Persuasive Speech
• Speaking and Listening

Unit 9 - Chasing Lincoln's Killer

Objectives:

• Read grade-level text with fluency and comprehension.
• Use background information to aid comprehension.
• Use context to determine or clarify the meaning of unfamiliar or ambiguous words.
• Analyze the effect of different forms of point of view.
• Understand, make inferences, and draw conclusions about how an author’s use of sensory language creates imagery in literary text and determine the figurative meaning of phrases.
• Understand, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the varied structural patterns and features of literary nonfiction.
• Analyze the development of the plot through the internal and external conflicts and motivation of the characters.
• Analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about theme and genre in historical contexts, and describe multiple themes in a work of fiction.
• Analyze how time and place influence the theme or message of a literary work.
• Understand, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of fiction and poetry.
• Explain the influence of the setting on plot development.
• Analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the author’s purpose in historical informational texts.
• Write responses to literary texts that demonstrate the writing skills for multi-paragraph essays and provide sustained evidence from the text using quotations when appropriate.

Lessons:

• Introduction and Prologue
• Chapter I
• Chapters II-III
• Chapter IV
• Chapter V
• Chapters VI-VII
• Chapters VIII-X
• Chapter XI
• Chapters XII-XIV; Epilogue

Unit 10 - Viewing, Listening, Speaking, and Collaborating

Objectives:

• Analyze how words, images, graphics, and sounds work together in various forms to impact meaning.
• Interpret both explicit and implicit messages in various forms of media.
• Evaluate various ways media influences and informs audiences.
• Interpret how visual and sound techniques influence the message.
• Assess the correct level of formality and tone for successful participation in various digital media.
• Listen attentively to others in formal and informal settings.
• Listen to and interpret a speaker’s purpose by explaining the content, evaluating the delivery of the presentation, and asking questions or making comments about the evidence that supports a speaker’s claims.
• Draw conclusions about the speaker’s message by considering verbal communication and nonverbal cues.
• Follow and give complex oral instructions to perform specific tasks, answer questions, or solve problems.
• Speak clearly and to the point, using the conventions of language.
• Present a critique of a literary work, film, or dramatic production, employing eye contact, speaking rate, volume, enunciation, a variety of natural gestures, and conventions of language to communicate ideas effectively.
• Work productively with others in teams.
• Participate productively in discussions, plan agendas with clear goals and deadlines, set time limits for speakers, take notes, and vote on key issues.

Lessons:

• Introduction to Media
• Interpreting and Evaluating Media Messages
• Elements of Media
• The Influence of Media Messages
• Digital Media
• Speaking and Listening
• Giving and Following Instructions
• Presenting a Critique
• Teamwork and Collaboration