Miss Phillips' 7th Grade ELA Course Outline
Here is a tentative schedule of the material that we will be covering this year in ELA.
September
Essential Question: Why is it important to acquire new vocabulary?
-Familiaize students with ELA exam criteria and examine past exams
-Vocabulary practice- complete unit # 1 in Wordly Wise 3000
-ELA writer response examples and practice
-Choose first book for independent reading assignment
October
Essential Question: How do we become more efficient readers?
-Independent & dependent clauses
-ELA reading comprehension practice
-Transitional words & phrases
November
Essential Questions: How do we become more efficient readers?
How and why do readers use prior knowledge to better understand new material?
-Simple/Compound/Complext sentences
-Comma uses & practice
-ELA reading comprehension practice
-Essay writing
-Choose new book for independent reading
December
Essential Questions: What do good readers do every time they read?
Why is it important to learn to take notes?
-Note-taking strategies
-Vocabulary practice- complete unit # 2 in Wordly Wise 3000
-Reading strategies checklist
-Research methods
-Independent reading project
January
Essential Questions: Why is it important to judge a person as an individual rather than as a member of a group?
How can a novel reveal truths about human nature?
-Elements of a novel
-Literary techniques
-Introduction to S.E. Hinton's, The Outsiders
Chapters 1-5 in The Outsiders
February
Essential Questions: WHat are the differences between internal and external conflicts?
How does Hinton use dialogue, behavior, and interaction with others to develop characters?
Why is udnerstanding the setting of a novel crucial to one's understanding of the novel as a whole?
-Finish The Outsiders, chapters 6-12
-Thematic Essay
-Stereotyping activities
-Character development
-Character Notebooks
March
Essential Question: How do we become more efficient readers and listeners?
-View film version of The Outsiders
-ELA reading comprehension practice
-ELA listening practice/note taking
-Choose final independent reading book
April
Essential Questions: Why is it important to acquire new vocabulary?
What characteristics make for a good short story?
-Vocabulary practice- complete unit # 3 in Wordly Wise 3000
-Begin short story unit
-Creative writing
May
Essential Question: What characteristics make for a good short story?
-Finish short story unit
-Watch film version of Edgar Allan Poe's, "Fall of the House of Usher"
-2007 ELA exam practice
June
-ELA exam final review
-Reading comprehension
-Written responses
-Listening/note taking
-Give 2009 ELA exam
-Final project