Overview
Seventh grade English is a course of self-discovery for you. You will discover ways to become a more successful student as you improve your reading, writing, listening, speaking, and thinking skills. You will develop your thoughts, feelings and ideas as you read and discuss stories, poems, novels, myths, and/or plays. Through literature and writing, you will see how your perceptions compare with others.
Course Goals
Reading Comprehension
You will demonstrate understanding of what you read by recalling details, drawing conclusions and identifying main ideas, stating the point of view from which the story was written, following written directions, and recognizing the role that signal words play in showing the relationship of one idea to another.
Composition
You will learn to write well-organized narrative and descriptive paragraphs and combine paragraphs to write friendly letters, biographical or autobiographical essays, poetry, stories, and/or informational reports.
Research Skills
You will learn correct bibliographic forms and apply them to annotated bibliographies or self-selected reading and to format research reports. You will follow the steps of a guided research process and share your findings in a report, computer project display and/or oral presentation.
Writing for Tests
You will use key words from questions to form full-sentence answers in such a way that the topic of the question is clearly stated.
Literature
You will read and respond to a variety of literary genre, such as novels, short stories and/or myths, poems, dramas, non-fiction and other selections as assigned. You will understand the role of certain literary devices such as conflict, characterization, plot lines and theme in developing stories. You will identify literary elements such as rhyme, free verse, blank verse, simile, metaphor, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and personification. You will read self-selected books and keep an annotated bibliography of them as part of the school’s pleasure reading program.
Vocabulary
You will learn the meaning of specified vocabulary and learn other words as they appear in the context of reading.
Grammar
You will learn parts of speech through direct instruction and in the context of the writing process, and use this knowledge to improve your speaking and writing.
Study Skills
You will learn skills for effective listening, following directions, note taking, materials organization and memorization. You will write as a tool for learning.