Hitch Elementary School - 7th Grade Language Arts Text Overview
Listed below are potential texts used throughout the school year. Students will read some texts whole class, and others in small Literature Circle groups.
Texts change often as we respond to the levels and interests of our students. This is not a definitive list.
Essential Questions
Journeys
What causes change in people?
How do authors structure a fictional text and why?
How should I structure a written argument to best support my
claim?
Nonfiction Study: Autobiographies/Biographies
Do events in an individuals’ life influence and impact them?
How?
What structure do authors use to convey information about an
individuals life?
“The Outsiders” novel study
Is it possible to be part of a group and still maintain your
individuality?
Why do people create gangs or band together?
What is more important- individuality or social acceptance?
How do perceptions lead to stereotyping and pressure to
conform?
Poetry Unit
How and why do writers express their ideas and experiences
through poetry?
How does the music and literature we encounter everyday
serve as examples of poetry?
How can poetry affect our mood and contribute to our
appreciation of life?
“Claudette Covlin: Twice Towards Justice” text study
Potential Texts
WHOLE CLASS
“Amigo Brothers” by Piri Thomas
“Dark they were and Golden Eyed” by Ray Bradbury
“The Scholarship Jacket” by Marta Salinas
“An American Childhood” by Annie Dillard
SMALL GROUP
“Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life” by Wendy Mass
“Before we were Free” by Julia Alvarez
“Elephant Run” by Roland Smith
“Number the Stars” by Lois Lowry
WHOLE CLASS
“Eleanor Roosevelt” by William Jay Jacobs
from “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” by Malcolm X
“The Noble Experiment” by Jackie Robinson
from “Boy: Tales of Childhood” by Roald Dahl
from “Knots in my yo-yo string” by Jerry Spinelli
SMALL GROUP
Students self select a biography/autobiography they’re interested in
WHOLE CLASS
“The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton
SMALL GROUP
“Slam” by Walter Dean Myers
“Mexican Whiteboy” by Matt de la Pena
“The Barcode Tattoo” by Suzanne Weyn
“Tears of a Tiger” by Sharon M. Draper
WHOLE CLASS
“The World is not a Pleasant Place to Be” by Nikki Giovanni
“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
“Feel like a Bird” by May Swenson
“Gold” by Pat Mora
“Mother to Son” by Langston Hughe
WHOLE CLASS
“Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice” by Phillip Hoose
How does belief influence action?
What is social justice?
What needs to be considered in taking action to effect change?
“Greek Mythology”
What defines the hero?
What do we learn from gods, goddesses and heroes?
7th Grade Grammar Focus
Quarter 1: Four Line Grammar Review, Parts of Speech
Quarter 2: Introduction to Functions
Quarter 3: Phrases
Quarter 4: Introduction to Clauses
SMALL GROUP
“The Watsons go to Birmingham” by Christopher Paul Curtis
“Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry” by Mildred Taylor
WHOLE CLASS
“Prometheus” retold by Bernard Evslin
“Theseus and the Minotaur” retold by Olivia Coolidge
“The Lightening Thief” by Rick Riordan
INDEPENDENT WORK
Students self select a character from Greek mythology to research.