Bellwork August 13, 2015
Copy and answer.
From your perspective, what has your 7th grade
experience been like so far?
Standards/Essential Question
• ELAGSE7RL3: Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama
interact.
• ELAGSE7Rl6: Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the point
of view.
• I can identify parts of a story that reveal plot elements.
Today we will…
• Read “Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto and show parts of the story that
reveal plot elements.
• “Seventh Grade” is a short story about the first day of school for some
7th graders.
Hook
Plot Elements Flowcabulary Video
https://www.flocabulary.com/plot-elements/
Mini- Lesson
Who is Gary Soto?
http://garysoto.com/bio.html
• Gary Soto was born April 12, 1952, and was raised in Fresno, California
• He is the author of eleven poetry collections for adults, most notably New and Selected Poems, a 1995
finalist for both the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the National Book Award. His poems have appeared
in many literary magazines, including Ploughshares, Michigan Quarterly, Poetry International, and Poetry,
which has honored him with the Bess Hokin Prize and the Levinson Award and by featuring him in the
interview series Poets in Person. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and
the Guggenheim Foundation. For ITVS, he produced the film “The Pool Party,” which received the 1993
Andrew Carnegie Medal for Film Excellence. In 1997, because of his advocacy for reading, he was featured as
NBC’s Person-of-the-Week.
• In 1999, he received the Literature Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, the Author-Illustrator Civil
Rights Award from the National Education Association, and the PEN Center West Book Award for Petty
Crimes.
• Gary admires people who have done great service for others. High on his list are Jose Padilla of California
Rural Legal Assistance, Arturo Rodriguez of the United Farm Workers, Dr. Marc Lasher of the Fresno Free
Clinic, and Nancy Mellor of the Coalinga Huron Avenal House.
• As for his own service commitment, Gary has taught English to Spanish speakers as a volunteer.
• In his free time he likes to play tennis, tend his garden, attend musical concerts, and travel. Recently he has
discovered that he enjoys baking cookies. He divides his time between Berkeley, California and his
hometown of Fresno.
Work Session
Read “Seventh Grade” and Complete Insert
• As you read the story use the following key to make notes as you
read:
• S-Setting (Place an “S” by anything that reveals where the story takes place).
• C-Characters (Place a “C” by a character when they are introduced).
• A Rising Action (Place an “A” by events that lead to the climax).
• X-Climax (Place an “X” by the they highest emotional point of the story).
• F – Falling Action (Place an “F” by the events that lead to the solution or
conclusion).
• R-Resolution (Place an “R” by the solution or conclusion of the story).
Work Session continued…
Closing
• Share out student examples from their perspective chart.
• (Document camera or pair and share)