ELA – Grade 7 (Unless otherwise noted, all lit and info texts are in HMH grade level textbook)
Required Core Connections Text and Lessons in green and Core Connections performance text and tasks in purple
Quarter
Extended Text
1 – Bold Action
(Bravery and
Courage)
Short Story:
“The Rogue
Wave”
(Theodore
Taylor)
Writing to Argue
Informational
Reading Focus
RI.6
RI.7
RI.9
W.1
W.6
W.8
Novel Series:
“Kingdom
Keepers” (Ridley
Pearson)
*Short Story:
“Rikki-TikkiTavi” (Rudyard
Kipling)
Literary Text
Informational
Text
Short Story: “Big Article: “Parents
Things Come in
of Rescued
Small Packages”
Teenage Sailor
(Eleanora E. Tate) Abby Sunderland
(Close Reader)
Accused of Risking
Her Life” (Paul
Harris)
*Urban Legend:
“The Dinner
Party” (retold by
Mona Gardner)
*Short Story:
“The Smallest
Dragon Boy”
(Anne
MCCaffrey)
Article: “Ship of
Fools” (Joanna
Weiss)
Media Clip/
Interview: “Was
Abby Too Young
to Sail?” (CBS
News)
Essay: “Finding
Your Everest”
(Robert Medina)
(Close Reader)
Media: “Mountain
Building” (History
Channel)
Writing Tasks
Research Projects
Other
Daily routine writing
tasks to develop and
convey
understanding of
texts
1 research project
to integrate
knowledge from
sources/culminating
writing analysis
essay (using
multiple texts from
unit)
Sources from
Collection 1
4-6 short response
analyses that focus
on arguments
Mountain
Building: see
student
ebook/HMH
Teacher’s Guide,
p. 30e)
Excerpt: “Bessie
Coleman” (TBA)
to pair with
“Women in
Aviation”
Greek Myth:
“Arachne”
(retold by Olivia
E. Coolidge)
(Close Reader)
Info Text:
“Women in
Aviation” (Patricia
and Fredrick
McKissack)
Poem: “The Law
of the Jungle”
(Rudyard Kipling)
2 – Perception
and Reality
Writing to
Inform and
Explain
Literary Reading
Focus
RL.3
RL.5
W.2
W.6
W.7
Short Story:
“Another Place,
Another Time”
(Cory Doctorow)
(Close Reader)
Poem: “Sonnet
43” (William
Shakespeare)(p.
74)
Poem: “Song of
Wandering
Aengus” (W. B.
Yeats) (p. 72)
Poem:”I had
been hungry all
the years” ( Emily
Dickinson)
Poem: “The
Lighted Window”
(Sara Teasdale)
Article: “Magic
and the Brain”
(Susana Martinez
Conde & Stephen
L. Mackinik)
Daily routine writing
tasks to develop and
convey
understanding of
texts
Article: “Saving
the Lost”
(Reynaldo
Vasquez) (Close
Reader)
4-6 short response
analyses to inform
and explain
1 research project
to integrate
knowledge from
sources/culminating
writing analysis
essay (using
multiple texts from
unit)
Sources from
Collection 2
“The Open
Window” in
Elements of Lit
textbook (Second
Course)
Project
Gutenberg
(Poems Teachers
Ask For)
Optical Illusions
(photos)
(www.brainbashe
rs.com)
Folk Tale: “The
People Could Fly”
(Virginia
Hamilton)
Short Story:
“Heartbeat”
(David Yoo)
(Close Reader)
Novel/Drama/
Graphic Story: “A
Christmas Carol”
(Charles Dickens/
Israel Horovitz/
Marvel Comics)
(Close Reader)
Poem: “Annabel
Lee” (Edgar Allan
Poe) (Gale)
3- The Stuff of
Consumer
Culture
Writing to
Inform and
Explain
Writing to Argue
Informational
Reading Focus
Excerpt: “Life at
Home in the
Twenty-First
Century”
(Jeanne E.
Arnold)
Poem: “Dump”
(X.J. Kennedy)
Poem: “How
Things Work”
(Gary Soto)
Article: “The HalfLife of Facts”
(Samuel
Arbesman)
(Assessment
Booklet)
Article: “The Food
Pyramid and Why
It Changed”
(William Neuman)
(Assessment
Booklet)
Essay: “The
Explosion in What
We Know About
Life Forms” (Alan
Cochev)
(Assessment
Booklet)
Essay: “Labels and
Illusions” (Lourdes
Barranco) (Close
Reader)
Excerpt from:
“Kids' ads under
fire: industry gets
proactive as
activists,
regulators
scrutinize
marketing,
Daily routine writing
tasks to develop and
convey
understanding of
texts
2-3 short response
analyses to inform
and explain
2-3 short response
analyses to argue
1 research project
to integrate
knowledge from
sources/culminating
writing analysis
essay (using
multiple texts from
unit)
Sources from
Collection 5
Consumer
Reports
Research and
Validity
Use Kelly
Gallagher’s Write
Like This as a
teacher resource
RI.3
RI.5
RI.8
W.1
W.2
W.7
menus”
Biography: “Elon
Musk: Private
Spaceflight
Pioneer” (Paulo
Rizzi) (Assessment
Booklet)
SL.3
Article: “Can You
Own Land in
Outer Space?”
(Teresa Anjou)
(Assessment
Booklet)
Article:
“Teenagers and
New Technology”
(Andres PadillaLopez) (Close
Reader)
Excerpt: “Always
Wanting More
from I Want
That!” (Thomas
Hime)
Short Story:
“Earth (A Gift
Shop)” (Charles
Yu)
Short Story: “Hey, Come One Out!” (Shinichi
Hoshi) (Close
Reader)
4- Guided By a
Cause (Doing
the Right Thing)
Writing to Argue
Narrative
Writing
Literary Reading
Focus
RL.6
RL.7
RL.9
W.1
W.3
W.6
W.8
Historical Novel
Excerpt:
“Uprising”
(Margaret
Peterson
Haddix)
Poem: “The Song
of the Shirt”
(Thomas Hood)
Excerpt: “Flesh &
Blood So Cheap:
The Triangle Fire
and Its Legacy”
(Albert Martin)
Daily routine writing
tasks to develop and
convey
understanding of
texts
Excerpt: “The
Story of the
Triangle Factory
Fire” (Zachary
Kent)
4-6 short response
analyses that focus
on arguments and
opinions
Texts and Photos:
“Children at
Work” (Lewis
Hine)
1-2 extended
narratives to convey
experiences, events,
and/or procedures
1 research project
to integrate
knowledge from
sources/culminating
writing analysis
essay (using
multiple texts from
unit)
Sources from
Collection 6
Hood & Hamilton
Poems: Gale
Ogden Poem:
www.readingand
remembrance.ca
Kids at Work:
National Archives
http://www.archi
ves.gov/educatio
n/lessons/hinephotos/
Novel/Excerpts:
“Roll of
Thunder, Hear
My Cry”
(Mildred D.
Taylor)
Short Story:
“Doris Is Coming”
(ZZ Packer) (Close
Reader)
Short Story:
“Train Time”
(D’Arcy
McNickle)
Poem: “The
Hangman”
(Maurice Ogden)
Excerpt: “The
Most Daring of
Our Leaders”
(Lynn Olson)
(Close Reader)
Speech from the
Democratic
National
Convention (John
Lewis) (Close
Reader)
Poem:
“Freedom”
(Virginia
Hamilton)
Essay: “Craig
Kielburger
Reflects on
Working Toward
Peace” (Craig
Kielburger)
Media/
Documentary: “It
Takes a Child”
(Judy Jackson)