GLEN RIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Curriculum Guide

Course Title: English 7

Subject: English

Grade Level: Grade 7

Department/School: English/Glen Ridge High School

Duration: One year

Number of Credits: N/A

Prerequisite: N/A

Elective or Required: Required

Author: Anne Avigdor

Date Submitted: Summer 2006

Course Description

English 7 is a course of literary study that includes examining universal themes and literary forms (genre) from traditional and contemporary literary selections with study aids and activities that will guide the students through and beyond the literature. Students will read six to eight literary selections per year, additional core works, and supplemental reading, if applicable. There will be significant writing assignments and weekly varietal forms of writing. Literature based research, using MLA format, will be incorporated as well.

GLEN RIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

LANGUAGE ARTS MISSION STATEMENT

In order to pursue interdisciplinary lifelong learning, students need the skills to communicate effectively. Through a challenging, sequential academic curriculum, the Glen Ridge Language Arts Literacy Program provides all students with varied and integrated experiences. The skills of reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing, presenting, and research will enable them to effectively participate in school and in society, respectful of various points of views while displaying creative and critical thinking skills.

Goals

Provided with an environment that encourages creativity as well as expression of unique feelings and thoughts, students will:

· become competent critical readers who learn to analyze, evaluate, reflect upon and respond to the ideas of others;

· approach reading with an appreciation for a variety of literary styles, genres and contexts;

· implement the writing process including: pre-writing, drafting, revising, proofreading and publishing;

· write in clear, concise, organized language that varies in content and form for different audiences and purposes and audiences;

· listen interactively in diverse situations to information from a variety of sources;

· view, understand and construct meaning from non-textual sources;

· gather, evaluate, synthesize and cite data from a variety of technological sources and print materials;

· share, display and/or publish individual and collaborative products.

New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards

All skills of the New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards for Language Arts Literary are met and referenced throughout the content of this curriculum:

STANDARD 3.1: (READING) ALL STUDENTS WILL UNDERSTAND AND

APPLY THE KNOWLEDGE OF SOUNDS, LETTERS, AND WORDS IN WRITTEN

ENGLISH TO BECOME INDEPENDENT AND FLUENT READERS, AND WILL

READ A VARIETY OF MATERIALS AND TEXTS WITH FLUENCY AND

COMPREHENSION.

A. Concepts About Print

B. Phonological Awareness

C. Decoding and Word Recognition

D. Fluency

E. Reading Strategies (before, during, and after reading)

F. Vocabulary and Concept Development

G. Comprehension Skills and Response to Text

H. Inquiry and Research

STANDARD 3.2: (WRITING) ALL STUDENTS WILL WRITE IN CLEAR,

CONCISE, ORGANIZED LANGUAGE THAT VARIES IN CONTENT AND FORM

FOR DIFFERENT AUDIENCES AND PURPOSES.

A. Writing as a Process

B. Writing as a Product

C. Mechanics, Spelling, and Handwriting

D. Writing Forms, Audiences, and Purposes

STANDARD 3.3: (SPEAKING) ALL STUDENTS WILL SPEAK IN CLEAR,

CONCISE, ORGANIZED LANGUAGE THAT VARIES IN CONTENT AND FORM

FOR DIFFERENT AUDIENCES AND PURPOSES.

A. Discussion

B. Questioning (Inquiry) and Contributing

C. Word Choice

D. Oral Presentation

STANDARD 3.4: (LISTENING) ALL STUDENTS WILL LISTEN ACTIVELY TO

INFORMATION FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES IN A VARIETY OF

SITUATIONS.

A. Active Listening

B. Listening Comprehension

STANDARD 3.5: (VIEWING AND MEDIA LITERACY) ALL STUDENTS WILL

ACCESS, VIEW, EVALUATE, AND RESPOND TO PRINT, NONPRINT, AND

ELECTRONIC TEXTS AND RESOURCES.

A. Constructing Meaning

B. Visual and Verbal Messages

C. Living with Media

Curriculum Description

UNIT 1 – FICTION AND NONFICTION

Objectives:

At the end of the unit, students will be able to:

1. Use structural/context analysis to decode words. (3.1.C.3)

2. Clarify pronunciations, meanings, and word choice, parts of speech, etymology. (3.1.F.3)

3. Use knowledge of specific genres when writing. (3.2.B.1)

4. Use narrative/descriptive writing techniques that show compositional risks. (3.2.D.5)

5. Explore concepts by explaining how and why things happen. (3.3.B.3)

6. Use suitable vocabulary for range of audiences. (3.1.C.3)

7. Use visuals when presenting. (3.3.D.4)

8. Determine speaker’s purpose, attitude, and perspective. (3.4.A.5)

This unit may include but not be limited to the following selections:

· “The Three-Century Woman” (Peck)

· “The Fall of the Hindenburg” (Morrison)

· “MK” (Fritz)

· “The Luckiest Time of All” (Clifton)

· “A Day’s Wait” (Hemingway)

· “Suzy and Leah” (Yolen)

· “My Furthest Back Person” (Haley)

· “Melting Pot” (Quindlen)

· “Was Tarzan a Three-Bandage Man?” (Cosby)

Approximate Duration to Teach: Three weeks

Activities:

This unit may include, but not be limited to:

- Brief compare and contrast essay

- Gather information about most elderly person in family and prepare an oral presentation.

- Identify common and proper nouns.

- Discover word origins.

- Distinguish between fiction and nonfiction.

UNIT 2 – SHORT STORIES

Objectives:

At the end of the unit, students will be able to:

1. Identify and use textual and graphic features (3.1.A.1)

2. Read increasingly difficult texts. (3.1.D.2)

3. Read for understanding through purpose, predictions, and questions; relate learning to experiences. (3.1.G.5)

4. Analyze recurring themes in literature. (3.1.G.12)

5. Edit writing. (3.2.C.6)

6. Compose pieces in various genres. (3.2.D.2)

7. State position clearly in persuasive essay. (3.2.D.10)

This unit may include but not be limited to the following selections:

· “Rikki-tikki-tavi” (Kipling)

· “Two Kinds” (Tan)

· “Seventh Grade” (Soto)

· “Amigo Brothers” (Thomas)

· “Zoo” (Hoch)

· “After Twenty Years” (O. Henry)

Approximate Duration to Teach: Two weeks

Activities:

- Create a comparison-and-contrast chart.

- Write a newspaper article.

- Predict an ending.

- Identify regular and irregular verbs.

- Participate in an informal debate.

- Diagram sentences.

- View a video interpretation of a selection.

UNIT 3 – TYPES OF NONFICTION: ESSAYS AND ARTICLES, AND OTHER NONFICTION

Objectives:

At the end of the unit, students will be able to:

1. Distinguish essential/nonessential information. (3.1.G.2)

2. Compare and contrast perspectives in interdisciplinary works. (3.1.G.4)

3. Write various types of essays. (3.2.B.4)

4. Use reference materials to edit work. (3.2.C.7)

5. Explore/analyze theme of informational reading. (3.2.D.8)

6. Use personal style/voice to support purpose and engage audience. (3.2.D.13)

7. Discuss knowledge, offer opinions, and restate to clarify meaning. (3.3.B.4)

8. Analyze aspects of texts that support author’s point of view. (3.5.A.1)

Approximate Duration to Teach: Three weeks

This unit may include but not be limited to the following selections:

· “Conversational Ballgames” (Sakamoto)

· from In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens (Walker)

· “Bernie Williams: Yankee Doodle Dandy”

· “No Gumption” (Baker)

· “Rattlesnake Hunt” (Rawlings)

· “The Night the Bed Fell” (Thurber)

Activities:

- Write a short nonfiction work about a particular subject.

- Prepare an oral summary of an expository essay.

- Research and prepare a response to an author’s essay.

- Create a snapshot illustration with a caption for the Thurber story.

- Outline the events of a selection.

UNIT 4 – POETRY

Objectives:

At the end of the unit, students will be able to:

1. Use text guides to understand text structure, organizational patterns. (3.1.E.2)

2. Critically read fiction. (3.1.G.9)

3. Use Standard English conventions in all writing. (3.2.C.1)

4. Answer questions clearly and with supportive evidence. (3.2.D.9)

5. Support arguments with evidence in persuasive essays. (3.2.D.11)

6. Respond orally to literature. (3.3.A.4)

7. Listen actively to determine relevancy. (3.4.A.2)

8. Critique information heard or viewed. (3.4.B.3)

This unit may include but not be limited to the following selections:

· “Maestro,” “Bailando,” and “The Desert is My Mother/El desierto es mi madre” (Mora)

· “The Courage that My Mother Had” (St. Vincent Millay)

· “The Village Blacksmith” (Longfellow)

· “Fog” (Sandburg)

· “The Highwayman” (Noyes)

· “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout” (Silverstein)

· “Annabel Lee” (Poe)

· “Martin Luther King” (Patterson)

· “I’m Nobody” (Dickinson)

· “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” (Frost)

· Magazine Article: “The Rhythms of Rap”

Approximate Duration to Teach: Three weeks

Activities:

- Paraphrase two poems.

- Memorize two poems.

- Identify infinitive and infinitive phrases.

- Identify appositives and appositive phrases.

- Use independent and subordinate clauses.

- Publish original poetry.

UNIT 5 – DRAMA

Objectives:

At the end of the unit, students will be able to:

1. Understand organizational structure of text. (3.1.A.2)

2. Develop extended vocabulary. (3.1.F.1)

3. Understand how characters influence a plot. (3.1.G.7)

4. Compare two works; produce evidence of reading. (3.1.H5)

5. Write narrative prose. (3.2.B.2)

6. Develop and deliver formal presentation based on central theme. (3.3.D.1)

7. Analyze use of elements to understand media presentations. (3.5.A.2)

This unit may include but not be limited to the following selections:

· From A Christmas Carol: Scrooge and Marley (Horovitz)

· The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street (Serling)

· From Our Town (Wilder) and “My Head Is Full of Sunshine” (Kehret)

Approximate Duration to Teach: Three weeks

Activities:

- Read aloud one selection.

- Summarize silently read selection.

- Compare dramatic speeches from two works.

- Stage a scene to present.

- Write a dramatic monologue; performance optional.

- View a dramatic video.

UNIT 6 – THEMES IN THE ORAL TRADITION

Objectives:

At the end of the unit, students will be able to:

1. Self-correct to decode and gain meaning from print. (3.1.D.3)

2. Analyze oral tradition as a literary genre. (3.1.G.29)

3. Expand vocabulary by using idioms. (3.1.F.4)

4. Critically read nonfiction. (3.1.G.8)

5. Write nonfiction research pieces across curriculum. (3.2.B.3)

6. Respond personally and insightfully to literature. (3.2.D.3)

7. Write reports with citations, works consulted page. (3.2.D.7)

8. Stay focused on topic; ask relevant questions. (3.3.A.2)

9. Listen actively in various situations. (3.4.A.1)

This unit may include but not be limited to the following selections:

· “Grasshopper Logic” and “The Other Frog Prince” (Scieszka)

· Science Textbook: The Seasons on Earth

· “The Fox and the Crow” (Aesop)

· “The Fox Outwits the Crow” (Cleary)

· “Volar: To Fly” (Cofer)

· “The People Could Fly” (Hamilton)

· Editorial: “Zoos: Joys or Jails?”

· “How the Snake Got Poison” (Hurston)

· “Popacatepetl and Ixtlaccihuatl” Wood

· “Icarus and Daedalus” (Peabody)

· “Demeter and Persephone” (White)

· “Perseus” (Low)

· “Percy-us Brings the Gawgon’s Head” (Alexander)

Approximate Duration to Teach: Four weeks.

Activities:

- Rewrite and dramatize a myth.

- Create a labyrinth.

- Memorize the Roman/Greek/functions/duties of the Olympians.

- Write a classroom myth with a constellation.

- View a related video.

Text and Additional Suggested Supplemental Materials and Activities:

· Prentice Hall Literature Grade Seven 2007 and related publisher materials

· Vocabulary Workshop – Level B Enhanced Edition Eight months simultaneously.

· Writer’s Choice (grammar and writing program) Throughout.

· Bearstone (Hobbs) Three weeks.

· Funny in Farsi Dumas (summer required reading) One week.

· Thanks To My Mother (Rabinovici) Three weeks.

· The Outsiders and That Was Then, This Is Now (Hinton) Six weeks.

· Mini Page project (extensive writing and research) Six weeks

· Additional Greek Mythology selections for enhancement. Two weeks.