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Theme-Based Syllabus
Grade Seven
Course Philosophy
The thematic syllabus affords teachers the opportunity to teach the skills necessary for success
through a wide range of literature. Through the exploration of works from different genres,
cultures, and time periods, students learn universal truths and begin to recognize connections
between literature and life.
Course Objectives
Refer to the grade seven Skill Progression Chart for course objectives.
Thematic Focus of Each Six Weeks
Developing
a Syllabus
First Six Weeks
Second Six Weeks
Third Six Weeks
Fourth Six Weeks
Fifth Six Weeks
Sixth Six Weeks
In Search of Self
Facing Challenges
Nothing Stays the Same
Flights of Imagination – Another Place, Another Time
The World Around Us
Common Threads
Ongoing Assignments and Activities
• Literary terminology cards
Students create flash cards from the fall terminology list. Concrete terms are written on white
3x5 index cards with the term on one side and the definition on the other. Abstract terms are
written on colored 3x5 index cards in the same manner. Students are required to have their
literary terminology in class at all times and are encouraged to use them when answering
questions or analyzing literature. Additional terms may be added in the spring.
• Notebook
Students are required to keep a very rigidly organized notebook. The teacher also keeps a
notebook and provides an organizational pattern and page numbers. Notebooks are required
for class daily. Grades may range from a daily notebook check to a major grade at the end
of a six weeks or semester. Two important components of the notebook are the dialectical
journal and the research and links sections. The focus of the dialectical journal will be to
hone summarization and paraphrasing skills while asking questions and making observations
about literature. For the research and links section, students will be given specific research
assignments for each theme and be encouraged to research related topics of interest. MLA
documentation is required.
• Writing Portfolio
Students continue to add to the writing portfolios started in sixth grade. Portfolios should
contain paragraphs and papers written in a variety of modes, for a variety of purposes, and
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Developing a Syllabus
should include timed and process papers. Students should complete one of the following types
of activities each semester:
– Analyze the variety and effectiveness of the syntax within a paragraph and rewrite it adding
varied sentence structures.
– Identify their “top three” grammatical errors.
– Rewrite selected paragraph(s) correcting these errors.
• AP-Style Multiple Choice Questions
Students will practice AP-style multiple choice questions throughout the year.
• Reading Cards
Students will create a reading card on a 5x8 note card for each long work studied during the
course of the year. Teachers should complete the first two or three book cards with students to
ensure their understanding.
• Sentence Composing
Students will work on grammar/syntax strategies and activities from Don Killgallon’s
Sentence Composing for Middle School. Additional lessons will be developed from the works
studied in class.
• Timed Writing
Students will write under time constraints at least once each six weeks.
• Theme Project
Each six weeks, students will complete a theme project. This project incorporates close
reading, grammar, and composition activities as well as all levels of thinking.
• Research and Links
Each six weeks, students will complete mini-research assignments linked to the theme of the
six weeks, setting of a work, culture or history of a region, etc. Emphasis will be placed on
the ethics of research, use of print and Internet sources, summary, identification of main idea,
author’s purpose, and intended audience.
Grading and Evaluation
Not all assignments are graded. Sometimes students practice skills just because it is part of
education.
• Major grades – 60 percent (tests, projects, presentations, process and timed essays, lengthy or
detailed dialectical journal assignments, etc.)
• Daily grades – 40 percent (quizzes, homework, text annotations, essay corrections, reading
cards, short dialectical journal assignments, multiple choice
questions, etc.)
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Developing
a Syllabus
• Vocabulary
Students will study vocabulary through the texts read in class and the formal study of prefixes
and roots.
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Laying the Foundation – The First Six Weeks
Theme: In Search of Self
The philosophy for the first six weeks is to teach students the strategies, formats, and
models that will be used throughout the remainder of the year, while reviewing skills and
establishing expectations.
Skill Focus: Selected from the seventh grade Skill Progression Chart.
Levels of Thinking
Remember
Understand
Apply
Close Reading
Reading Strategies
Literary Elements
Figures of Speech
Capitalization
Punctuation
Spelling
Composition
Descriptive
Expository
analytical
research-based
Narrative
Parts of Speech
Phrases
Multiple Mode
Appositive
Infinitive
Prepositional
Expressive
Imaginative
Personal
Dependent/Subordinate
Independent
Sentences
Purpose
declarative
exclamatory
imperative
interrogative
Structure
complex
compound
compound-complex
simple
Syntax Techniques
Repetition
Analysis of a Text
Meaning and Effect related to clauses
and sentences
Metaphor
Personification
Simile
Create
Types (modes)
Clauses
Character
flat/round
motivation
Diction
connotation
denotation
idiom
vocabulary
Imagery
Point of View
person
perspective
Setting
Theme
Tone
vocabulary associated with tone
Evaluate
Grammar
Mechanics
Annotation
Determining Main Idea
Generalization
Inference
Paraphrase
Prediction
Seminar/Discussion
Summary
Developing
a Syllabus
Analyze
Literary Techniques
The Process of Composition
Prewriting
generation of ideas
Drafting
extended time
timed
Revision of Multiple Drafts
content
Editing
mechanics
usage
Structural Elements
Introduction
thesis
Body
incorporation of quotes
topic sentence
use of commentary
use of evidence
Conclusion
Style/Voice
Argumentation
comparison/contrast
Symbolism
Experimentation with Original Forms
and Structures
Experimentation with Sentence Variety
Imitation of Stylistic Models (sentences)
Literary Forms
Fiction
Nonfiction
Verse
Elements of Research
Ethics of Research
Teacher-Provided Sources
Use of Print Sources
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Developing a Syllabus
Texts: Select from these or other similar works.
Poetry:
Nonfiction:
Excerpt from “Baseball in April” from Baseball in April by Gary Soto
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
“One” by James Berry
“I’m Nobody, Who Are You?” by Emily Dickinson
“Face It” by Janet Wong
“Me” by Walter de la Mare
Excerpt from “Baseball in April” from Living Up the Street by
Gary Soto
Week One:
• Introduce course and expectations.
• Write a descriptive paragraph about the first day of school.
• Set up notebooks.
• Read the poems “One,” “Me,” “I’m Nobody! Who Are You?” and “Face It.”
– Discuss unit theme and link to poem and students’ lives.
– Identify and discuss the effect of the imagery and repetition. Link to theme and tone.
– Create a graphic organizer that illustrates the similarities and differences between the poems.
Close Reading Foundation Lesson: “Comparison/Contrast”
• Complete the Composition Foundation Lesson: “A Moment in Time” with student photographs.
These will be used again later in the first six weeks with the Close Reading Foundation
Lesson: “Point of View.”
• Research and Links – The teacher will provide articles on the Dust Bowl and time period
while discussing the ethics of research. Composition Foundation Lesson: “Interdisciplinary
Research Project” details possible student assignments.
• Issue and discuss overview of Out of the Dust.
Week Two:
• Issue literary terminology, briefly review the terms studied in previous grades, and create
terminology cards.
• Discuss articles and historical background.
• Discuss the concept of strength in adversity and link to the theme of self-discovery. Discuss
the concept in relation to the Dust Bowl era as well as today’s world. Use Composition Lesson:
“Journal Lesson – Strength in Adversity” using Out of the Dust. Students complete the journal
while reading. The essay is written as a timed writing during the last week of the six-week period.
• Model for students how to read and analyze a passage by working with the opening entry,
“Beginning: August 1920.” Use the Close Reading Lesson: “Annotation,” focusing annotation
around diction, imagery, figurative language, symbolism, and character.
• Begin character study (motivation, flat/round characters). Introduce character journal format,
providing evidence for students. Composition Foundation Lesson: “Dialectical Journals”
• Discuss the first-person point of view, novel divisions, and use of free verse.
• Complete the Close Reading Foundation Lesson: “The Best Word for the Job.”
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Developing
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Novels:
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• Students will read and annotate the opening section, “Winter 1934,” for imagery, figurative
language, symbolism, diction (focusing on strong verbs and vivid adjectives), and character.
• Review sentence purposes.
• Begin working through Grammar Foundation Lesson: “Sentence Structure Basics.” Work
through this lesson a piece at a time throughout the six-week period. This week – phrases and
clauses.
• Theme Assignment (due at the end of the fifth week of this six weeks): Students will create
a poster illustrating their identity. Posters must include a photograph, a poem, and objects that
symbolize the students’ interests and goals, a family story (narrative), a paragraph describing a
family member or their home (descriptive). Students will present their posters to the class in
an oral presentation.
Developing
a Syllabus
Week Three:
• Work through the Close Reading Foundation Lesson: “Point of View.” Passages from both
versions of “Baseball in April” are included in the lesson.
• Students select an entry from part one of Out of the Dust and rewrite it in third person. Discuss
author’s purpose in choosing first person.
• Annotation check for Out of the Dust.
• Small group review of questions, inferences about character, strength in adversity.
• Continue use of “Sentence Structure Basics” lesson with review of simple and compound sentences. Begin basic discussion of purpose and effect related to phrases and sentences.
• Read part two, “Spring 1934,” aloud in class (as much as possible) and annotate it together.
Identify clauses and phrases and discuss the effect or purpose.
• Students read part three, “Summer 1934,” outside of class and continue to annotate. Include
requirement to highlight and label at least one of each type of phrase and clause.
Week Four:
• Review/introduce Jane Shaffer’s four-sentence chunk concept and model for class. Use
character journal (Composition Foundation Lesson: “Dialectical Journals”) format to write
four-sentence chunks.
• Use overhead and student paragraphs to correct flaws in content and mechanics. Begin work
with blending/incorporating quotes.
• Read part four, “Autumn 1934,” aloud and annotate. Students read parts five and six, “Winter
1935” and “Spring 1935,” outside of class. Add identification of different sentence structures.
• Begin study of prefixes and roots.
• Identify symbolism within the novel and link to theme. Refer to Composition Foundation
Lesson: “Dialectical Journals” for a chart to use with class for this activity.
Week Five:
• Annotation check for Out of the Dust.
• Discuss the setting of the novel and its importance to the novel.
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• Students begin writing eight-sentence paragraphs. Use Composition Foundation Lessons:
“Creating Effective Thesis Statements” and “Creating Effective Topic Sentences.” Continue to
model and use student samples to target grammar and syntax problems.
• Optional: Map work – using Texas and Oklahoma maps, locate the various places mentioned
in the novel and their relation to students’ town. Information included in “Interdisciplinary
Research Project.”
• Read “Summer 1935” aloud in class. Identify and discuss the concept of forgiveness as it links
to the characters and the land.
• Students complete the novel. Read “Autumn 1935” outside of class. Selected literary analysis
and syntax activities accompany reading.
• Student theme projects due.
Developing
a Syllabus
Week Six:
• Students select their two best eight-sentence paragraphs about the narrator; add an introduction
and conclusion to create a four-paragraph essay. Use Composition Foundation Lesson:
“Introductions and Conclusions.”
• Student presentations – theme project
• Socratic seminar or Inner/Outer circle discussion of the novel
• First timed writing – Use student created journal “Strength in Adversity” for this essay.
• Create reading card over Out of the Dust.
• If necessary, work through identifying and removing comma splice activities based on
Sentence Composing for Middle School, but using student writing and excerpts from works
read in class.
• Work through “A Syntax Lesson Based on Killgallon’s Sentence Composing for Middle
School – Out of the Dust.”
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Second Six Weeks
Theme: Facing Challenges
Skill Focus: Selected from the seventh grade Skill Progression Chart.
Levels of Thinking
Remember
Understand
Apply
Close Reading
Reading Strategies
Literary Elements
Character
antagonist/protagonist
motivation
Detail
Diction
connotation
denotation
vocabulary
Imagery
Plot
conflict
flashback
foreshadowing
suspense
Point of View
person
Setting
Theme
Tone
tone determined through diction,
imagery, and detail
vocabulary associated with tone
Evaluate
Grammar
Mechanics
Annotation
Determining Author’s Purpose
Generalization
Inference
Paraphrase
Seminar/Discussion
Summary
Developing
a Syllabus
Analyze
Create
Composition
Types (modes)
Capitalization
Punctuation
Spelling
Usage
Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement
Use of Subjective and Objective Pronouns
Parts of Speech
Phrases
Expository
analytical
Persuasive
challenge
defend
persuasive appeals
emotional
logical
Multiple Mode
Appositive
Infinitive
Prepositional
Imaginative
The Process of Composition
Clauses
Dependent/Subordinate
Independent
Sentences
Structure
complex
compound
compound-complex
simple
Sentence Variety
Sentence Beginnings
Sentence Combining
Syntax Techniques
Repetition
Reversal
Prewriting
determination of purpose
generation of Ideas
organization of ideas
selection of topic
Drafting
extended time
timed
Revision of Multiple Drafts
content
sentence variety
Editing
mechanics
usage
Structural Elements
Analysis of a Text
Meaning and Effect related to parts of
speech, phrases, clauses,
and sentences
Figures of Speech
Metaphor
Oxymoron
Personification
Simile
Introduction
thesis
Body
incorporation of quotes
topic sentence
use of commentary
use of evidence
Conclusion
Style/Voice
Sound Devices
Experimentation with Sentence Variety
Imitation of Stylistic Models (sentences)
Use of Various Sentence Openings
Alliteration
Assonance
Consonance
Onomatopoeia
Rhyme
Rhythm
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Developing a Syllabus
Levels of Thinking continued
Remember
Close Reading
Understand
Apply
Analyze
Grammar
Evaluate
Create
Composition
Literary Techniques
Allusion
literary
Argumentation
cause/effect
classification
comparison/contrast
emotional appeals
logical appeals
Dialogue
Irony
Symbolism
Literary Forms
Fiction
Nonfiction
Verse
Elements of Research
Ethics of Research
Use of Print Sources
Use of the Internet
Novels:
Short Stories:
Poetry:
Nonfiction:
Tunes for Bears to Dance To by Robert Cormier
and/or
The Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Chol
Excerpt from Mossflower by Brian Jacques
“Too Soon a Woman” by Dorothy M. Johnson
“The Old Demon” by Pearl S. Buck
“A Boy and a Man” from Banner in the Sky by James
Ramsey Ullman
“I’ll Walk the Tightrope” by Margaret Danner
“The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes
“Strong Men Weep” by Benedict Cosgrove
Excerpts from Anthony Burns: The Defeat and Triumph
of a Fugitive
Excerpts from “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Slave by Virginia Hamilton
Excerpts from Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Major Assignments and Activities: Select from these or similar assignments. Both novels
in this unit are short. Depending on the length of class time and the ability level of students,
teachers may elect to use one or both novels.
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Developing
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Texts: Select from these or other similar works.
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Developing
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Note: At the beginning of this six-week period, students will create or add to their writing
portfolios.
Close Reading
• Discussion of six week’s theme.
• Complete the Close Reading Lessons: “Peeling Back the Layers – Mossflower” and “Multiple
Choice – Mossflower.”
• Review elements of plot, including identifying and discussing the use of flashback,
foreshadowing, suspense, and conflict within the works studied.
• Identify sound devices and discuss the effect.
• Identify figurative language, explain the comparison, and discuss the effect of the use of
the device.
• Continue vocabulary study focusing on prefixes and roots of words in the novel.
• Issue and discuss novel previews before reading novels.
• Create reading cards for book(s).
• Paraphrase and explain individual lines to illustrate understanding.
• Define dilemma and discuss the dilemma faced by Henry in Tunes for Bears to Dance To and
dilemmas faced by characters in The Year of Impossible Goodbyes. Refer back to Out of the
Dust and identify a dilemma faced by Billie Jo. Link to dilemmas in students’ lives. Discuss
and identify antagonist and protagonist in each work. How do the dilemmas faced by the
characters link to the antagonist?
• Identify and discuss the use of techniques of argumentation (especially logical and emotional
appeals), as well as propaganda and brainwashing techniques in the novel(s). Work through
Close Reading Foundation Lesson: “Interpreting Logical and Emotional Appeals.”
• Select one of the nonfiction selections for students to read and annotate on their own. Focus of
annotation should be diction and argumentation techniques, especially logical and emotional
appeals.
• Read “The Wreck of the Hesperus” aloud in class and discuss the elements within the poem
such as character, setting, irony, and dialogue, as well as poetic structure, sound devices,
figurative language, and syntax.
• Complete the Close Reading Lesson: “Sensory Appeals” using “The Wreck of the Hesperus.”
• Discuss how the skipper’s actions and choices in the face of danger reveal his character and
lead to his destruction. (Hesperus)
• Read “I’ll Walk the Tightrope” aloud in class and discuss what the tightrope might represent.
Link to the characters in the novels read thus far. What kind of “tightropes” do the characters
walk?
Tunes for Bears to Dance To (very short)
• Identify persuasive techniques Mr. Hairston uses in chapters 15-16.
• Work through Close Reading Lesson: “Character Analysis – Tunes for Bears to Dance To.”
• Complete the Close Reading Lesson: “Making the Concrete Abstract.”
• Discuss the symbolism of the storm at the beginning of chapter 19.
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Developing a Syllabus
Grammar
• Using the Killgallon model from Sentence Composing for Middle School, practice matching
sentence structures and imitating sentences from the works studied this six weeks.
• Pronoun lessons – subjective/objective and pronoun/antecedent agreement – based on passages
from the works studied
• Use sentences from the book to illustrate variety in adjective and adverb selection. Practice
writing sentences with variety in descriptive words. Use Composition Foundation Lesson:
“Filling in the Blanks: Using Modifiers to Provide Detail.”
• Write descriptive paragraphs.
• Use lines from the poems in a short quiz over prepositional and infinitive phrases.
• Continue to identify clauses, phrases, and sentences for different structures and to incorporate
these into writing.
Composition
• Write theme statements for selections and discuss how all the works in the unit are related.
Identify a universal truth.
• Work through Composition Lesson: “Using Logical and Emotional Appeals.”
• Write several persuasive paragraphs in class using emotional and logical appeals.
• In-class timed paragraph over this prompt: Mr. Hairston says, “You only appreciate something
when you think you have lost it.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Write a
paragraph supporting your opinion. Use evidence from your reading, observation, or experience
to support your position. This prompt is within the Composition Foundation Lesson: “Defend,
Request, Challenge.” After writing, students should partner up, exchange papers, and highlight
the use of persuasive appeals (logical – yellow, emotional – pink). Essays are returned and
students spend 20 minutes revising and editing this “rough draft” before submitting it. Editing
should focus on usage (pronoun/antecedent, subjective/objective pronouns), mechanics, and
use of logical and emotional appeals.
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Developing
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The Year of Impossible Goodbyes
• Identify and discuss the use of contrast throughout chapter one. Create a graphic organizer
illustrating the contrast. (morning/soldiers; personality/clothes; girls/personalities; warmth of
day/dark and heavy day; snow/dark ground; grandfather’s looks; beauty/ugliness in yard;
chatter of the girls/silence of the yard; girls before work/after work; dainty flowers/ugly boots;
mother/Aunt Tiger; strength of mother/strength of aunt; mother’s looks; etc.)
• Discuss the universal truth in this statement: “They keep us hungry, and when the babies cry
for food and the grandparents are weak and sick from hunger, mothers will sacrifice even their
most cherished items for a small cupful of rice” (82).
• Study diction and how it reveals attitude; T-chart listing words used to describe the Koreans
and the Japanese. Refer back to “The Best Word for the Job” lesson demonstrating words that
describe different ways of walking, and discuss what the word choice reveals about attitude
and/or character.
• Complete the Close Reading Lesson: “Analysis of Figurative Language – The Year of
Impossible Goodbyes.”
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Developing
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• Complete the Composition Lesson: “Timed Writing – Mossflower.” Use the student rangefinders
and rubrics to discuss scoring with rubrics. Have students score their essays against the rubric
and write a rubric response (one paragraph) defending or challenging their score. Students
must make specific references to their essay and the rubric. Continue this activity at least once
each six week period.
• Essay based on nonfiction selection: Students should first write a thesis statement and outline
the body paragraphs of an essay, then have a brief conference with the teacher about their
thesis and outline. Essays should explain how the person depicted in the selection “walked a
tightrope” and/or how he or she faced dilemmas. Edit for errors in mechanics, usage (pronoun
use only), and sentence structure. Revise for content and sentence variety.
Putting It All Together
• Theme project: Link character’s actions to theme. Students identify the predicaments each
protagonist faces and defend or challenge the characters responses to their predicaments. This
could take the form of a debate, a newspaper article, a defense statement written in first person
in the voice of the character, charts, video tape of “character” explaining his or her actions,
video taped news report, original poem, etc. Selected elements of the project should be turned
in (rough draft form) for teacher comments and directions for editing and revision prior to the
completion of the project. Students should be given a rubric for this assignment.
• Using advertisements, identify the use of literary elements and techniques, figures of speech,
sound devices, and syntax techniques. Students create a collage of advertisements that use
these devices. Devices must be identified as to type with a brief explanation of the purpose or
effect of the use of the device. This could be a group activity with each group concentrating on
the use of one device. Alternate activity: use television commercials or Internet ads.
• The Year of Impossible Goodbyes – Research and Links assignments over World War II and the
Japanese occupation of Korea. Possible topics and page numbers from novel:
History, food, art, music, housing, clothing, etc., of Korea: Pine trees (1), Buddha(3),
Buddhism (30), rice paper (4), Hangul (4), dragons (4), Chinese poetry (5), Shinto
temple (5), Catholicism (5), Magpies (9), Korean Independence Movement (13), tigers
(16), calligraphy (25), Paekche Kingdom (30), Silla Kingdom (30), cranes (36), topknot
(37), Japanese and Korean flags (86), Brahms lullabies (90), Mozart sonatas (90),
hanbok (91), burlap funeral gown (96), Russian occupation (96), the 38th parallel (98),
Americans in Korea (99), communism (108), proletariat (106), Stalin and Lenin (107),
capitalism, imperialism, and Marxism (110), Town Reds, Pinks (110), Red Cross (165),
tunnels from north to south (168);
Places to identify on maps and/or research: North/South Korea, the 38th parallel,
Kirimni, Pyongyang (1), Manchuria (13), Pygonyang City (20), Siberia (96), Russia
(96), Volga River (108), Daedong River (131), Seoul (166)
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Developing a Syllabus
Developing
a Syllabus
• Students select one short story to read and are placed in small groups based on the story they
choose. Within the group, students claim responsibility for
– creating a plot chart (Freytag’s Pyramid) complete with quotes, page numbers and illustrations,
– identifying and analyzing at least 10 examples of figurative language, diction, and details
that illustrate tone and creating a graphic organizer to illustrate the tone,
– rewriting a paragraph from a different perspective and discussing the purpose or effect
of the choice of point of view,
– creating a character “head” using quotes to illustrate the character and the challenges and
dilemmas faced,
– identifying and explaining the symbolism and allusions within the story, including the
research of the allusion(s),
– identifying sentences within the selection that follow the patterns assigned by the teacher,
discussing the effect or purpose of specific structures, and writing original sentences using
the same pattern.
– Each group presents their information to the class. Each student is expected to take notes
during the presentations. The teacher must provide guidelines for presentation and notes.
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Third Six Weeks
Theme: Nothing Stays the Same
Skill Focus: Selected from the seventh grade Skill Progression Chart.
Levels of Thinking
Remember
Understand
Apply
Close Reading
Reading Strategies
Literary Elements
Character
flat/round
motivation
Detail
Diction
connotation
denotation
dialect
idiom
vocabulary
Imagery
Mood
Theme
Tone
Capitalization
Spelling
Punctuation
Usage
Direct/Indirect Objects
Predicate Nominatives/Adjectives
Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement
Use of Subjective and Objective Pronouns
The Process of Composition
Dependent/Subordinate
Independent
Sentences
Structure
complex
compound
compound-complex
loose/cumulative
periodic
simple
Syntax Techniques
Argumentation
cause/effect
comparison/contrast
Irony
verbal
sarcasm
Expository
analytical
cause/effect
comparison/contrast
definition
process
research-based
Narrative
Expressive
Personal
Clauses
Literary Techniques
Composition
Multiple Mode
Appositive
Infinitive
Prepositional
Metaphor
Oxymoron
Personification
Simile
Create
Types (modes)
Parts of speech
Phrases
Figures of Speech
Evaluate
Grammar
Mechanics
Annotation
Determining Audience
Determining Author’s Purpose
Generalization
Inference
Summary
Developing
a Syllabus
Analyze
Repetition
Reversal
inverted order (inversion)
Analysis of a Text
Meaning and Effect related to parts of
speech, phrases, clauses, and sentences
Literary Forms
Drama
Fiction
Nonfiction
Verse
Prewriting
consideration of audience
determination of purpose
generation of ideas
organization of ideas
selection of topic
Drafting
extended time
timed
Revision of Multiple Drafts
content
organization
precise diction
sentence variety
Editing
mechanics
usage
Structural Elements
Introduction
thesis
Body
topic sentence
use of commentary
use of evidence
Conclusion
Organization
Elements of Research
Patterns (spatial, order of importance,
chronological, etc.)
Ethics of Research
Use of Print Sources
Use of the Internet
Style/Voice
Experimentation with Original
Forms and Structure
Experimentation with Sentence Variety
Imitation of Stylistic Models (sentences)
Selection of Detail
Use of Technology
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Developing a Syllabus
Texts: Select from these or other similar works.
Poetry:
Drama:
Nonfiction:
“After Twenty Years” by O. Henry
“The Old Grandfather and His Little Grandson” by Leo Tolstoy
“The Boy and His Grandfather” by Rudolfo A. Anaya
“Lochinvar” by Sir Walter Scott
“Sister” by Leona Gom
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Student-selected biography or autobiography
Excerpts from The Dictionary of the English Language by
Samuel Johnson
Excerpt from Night
Excerpt(s) from Growing Up by Russell Baker
Major Assignments and Activities: Select from these or similar assignments.
Close Reading
• Discussion of theme for the six-week period. Link all works to theme.
• Select a biography or autobiography and obtain teacher approval. While reading, create a chart
that includes specific evidence of
– the person’s search for self (identity),
– the types of challenges and dilemmas faced and how the subject responded to the challenges,
– the changes that occurred in the life, attitude, etc., of the character.
• Identify and analyze the use of figurative language, detail, and diction to create mood and tone
of specific passages within selections.
• Continue vocabulary study through prefixes, roots, and unfamiliar words in all selections.
• Close Reading Lesson: “Pre–19th Century Nonfiction – from A Dictionary of the English
Language” – use dictionaries to determine how word meanings and dictionaries have changed.
• Read “No Gumption” from Growing Up. Identify the irony and discuss its link to author’s
purpose. Note use of idiom.
• Define the term “maxim” and create lists of common wise sayings. Explore the link between
these sayings and the works studied in class. Discuss the similarities and differences between a
theme statement and a maxim.
• Identify audience and purpose in selected nonfiction. Introduce students to SOAPS. See The
College Board’s AP Vertical Teams Guide for English.
• Read “The Boy and His Grandfather” and “The Old Grandfather and His Little Grandson.”
Discuss the similarities between the titles and the messages and speculate as to why they are
similar; write maxims that illustrate the author’s message; discuss how this links to theme.
• Read “Lochinvar” aloud in class. Discuss the literary elements and techniques within the poem
as well as poetic structure.
• Close Reading Lessons: “Peeling Back the Layers – ‘Sister’” and “Multiple Choice – ‘Sister’ ”
• Use the Grammar Foundation Lesson: “Diction Analysis Though Grammar Study,”
substituting “Sister” for “The Witch.”
549
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Developing
a Syllabus
Short Stories:
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• Discuss the structure of plays and elements of drama. Identify terms related to stage directions.
Use the school stage to illustrate.
• Assign parts and read A Christmas Carol aloud in class. Use background music to establish mood.
• Identify cause and effect within the play.
• View a video version of A Christmas Carol and discuss the differences between the play and
the video version. Discuss the use of music, lights, and special effects to create mood.
Compare/contrast such elements as content, structure, tone, mood, setting, character, etc.
• Students read “After Twenty Years” and are assessed on the identification and analysis of close
reading and grammar skills studied during the first semester.
Developing
a Syllabus
Grammar
• Identify and discuss the effect of syntax techniques and sentence structures within selected
works.
• Using the Killgallon model from Sentence Composing for Middle School, practice matching
sentence structures and imitating sentences from the works.
• Grammar Lesson: “Punctuation – Commas”
• Selected activities from Grammar Foundation Lesson: “Parts of Speech, Clauses, and
Sentences Using Night.”
• Review direct and indirect objects as well as predicate nominatives/adjectives. (Sixth grade
guide contains lessons on these two topics.)
• Grammar Foundation Lesson: “Identifying and Writing Loose and Periodic Sentences”
• Grammar quiz over direct/indirect objects, predicate nominatives/adjectives,
pronoun/antecedent agreement, subjective/objective pronouns, and clauses using sentences
from works studied.
Composition
• Write a narrative account of an event of personal importance. Study the openings of “No
Gumption” and “The Chase” for ideas of how to begin and Composition Lesson
“Introductions and Conclusions.” Revise for precise diction, content, sentence structure,
and organization.
• Create a character journal for the character of Scrooge. Analyze how the change in Scrooge
reveals the theme.
• Composition Lesson: “Revision and Editing Strategies”
• Portfolio assessment – see ongoing assignments.
Putting It All Together
• Research and Links Assignment using selected biography or autobiography
– Research the historical period, and create a timeline with the subject’s information
incorporated with significant events of the time period. Write a paragraph that explains the
person’s impact or importance in the period.
– Locate information about the person in at least one other source – photocopy or bring video
clip(s) of the information. Summarize information, noting any discrepancies.
550
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Developing a Syllabus
Developing
a Syllabus
– Create a list of people, places, and events mentioned in the novel with page numbers for
each. Research at least ten on the Internet and provide Web addresses. Print information
about the most interesting or informative topic and write a paragraph explaining how it adds
to understanding.
– Collect photographs of the person and time period.
– Summary/Observation/Question journal for work – chapter by chapter: The summary may
not exceed three sentences, and a minimum of five observations and questions are required
for each chapter.
– Project may be submitted or presented in a PowerPoint presentation or through a traditional
oral presentation and printed materials.
• Theme project: Students create a collage from family photos and personal narratives written
by students and family members, as well as newspaper articles and headlines chronicling how
things have changed over the years in the life of the student and throughout the world. At least
one cause/effect, one definition, and one process paragraph, poem, or illustration must be
included in the project.
551
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Fourth Six Weeks
Theme: Diversity in People and Places
Skill Focus: Selected from the seventh grade Skill Progression Chart.
Levels of Thinking
Remember
Understand
Apply
Close Reading
Reading Strategies
Literary Elements
Archetype
character
setting
Character
motivation
Detail
Diction
connotation
denotation
vocabulary
Imagery
Plot
conflict
flashback
foreshadowing
suspense
Point of View
person
perspective
Setting
Theme
Tone
tone determined through diction,
imagery, and detail
vocabulary associated with tone
Evaluate
Grammar
Mechanics
Annotation
Determining Main Idea
Generalization
Inference
Paraphrase
Prediction
Seminar/Discussion
Summary
Developing
a Syllabus
Analyze
Create
Composition
Types (modes)
Punctuation
Usage
Direct/Indirect Objects
Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement
Subject/Verb Agreement
Parts of speech
Phrases
Appositive
Infinitive
Prepositional
Clauses
Descriptive
Expository
analytical
Persuasive
challenge
defend
persuasive appeals
emotional
logical
request
Multiple Mode
Dependent/Subordinate
Independent
Sentences
Expressive
Imaginative
The Process of Composition
Structure
loose/cumulative
periodic
Syntax Techniques
Repetition
Reversal
inverted order
Analysis of a Text
Meaning and Effect related to parts of
speech, phrases, clauses, and sentences
Prewriting
generation of ideas
organization of ideas
Drafting
extended time
timed
Revision of Multiple Drafts
content
organization
precise diction
sentence variety
unity
Editing
sentence structure
usage
Structural Elements
Introduction
thesis
Body
incorporation of quotes
topic sentence
use of commentary
use of evidence
Conclusion
Figures of Speech
Metaphor
Oxymoron
Personification
Simile
Organization
Sound Devices
Transitions
Alliteration
Onomatopoeia
Rhyme
Rhythm
552
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Developing a Syllabus
Levels of Thinking continued
Remember
Close Reading
Understand
Apply
Analyze
Evaluate
Grammar
Literary Techniques
Create
Composition
Style/Voice
Argumentation
classification
comparison/contrast
emotional appeals
logical appeals
Irony
verbal
sarcasm
Symbolism
Experimentation with Original Forms
and Structure
Experimentation with Sentence Variety
Imitation of Stylistic Models (sentences)
Selection of Vocabulary
Use of Figures of Speech
Use of Various Sentence Openings
Use of Technology
Literary Forms
Drama
Fiction
Verse
Elements of Research
Ethics of Research
Use of Print Sources
Use of the Internet
Novels:
Short Stories:
Poetry:
Drama:
The Giver by Lois Lowry
“All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury
“Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” by Ray Bradbury
“Zoo” by Edward D. Hoch
“The Smallest Dragonboy” by Anne McCaffrey
Excerpt from “By the Waters of Babylon” by Stephen
Vincent Benét
“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
Clips from Pleasantville
Major Assignments and Activities: Select from these or similar assignments.
Close Reading
• Discuss theme and link all works to theme.
• Identify setting and discuss whether or not the setting is critical to the selection. Does it create
irony or enhance meaning?
• Identify and discuss the irony within the works studied.
• Continue vocabulary study, focusing on prefixes and roots of words in the selections.
• Create theme charts for designated selections.
• Explain or paraphrase selected lines from the selection.
• Discuss the difference between science fiction and fantasy. Identify the selections within the unit.
• Read “All Summer in a Day” aloud in class and create a T-chart identifying the diction and
imagery used to create a feeling of freedom.
• Students read “The Smallest Dragonboy” outside of class and create a type one journal of
observations and questions over the story. Inner/outer circle discussion of the short story.
553
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Developing
a Syllabus
Texts: Select from these or other similar works.
Developing
a Syllabus
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Show students other books by Anne McCaffrey that are set on Pern and focus on the dragons
and their riders. Or do the same type of thing with “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” by
Ray Bradbury.
• List character qualities of Keevan. Discuss similarities between this character and those in
other works studied.
• Complete Close Reading Lesson: “Analyzing an Argument – ‘The Smallest Dragonboy.’ ”
• Discuss the circular plot structure of “Dark They Were and Golden-Eyed.”
• Identify the physical and psychological changes the Bitterings go through. Link to theme.
• Read “Zoo” silently in class. Discuss perspective and refer back to “Point of View” lesson.
Link to The Giver and discuss perspective. Brainstorm for other situations that could be
viewed from multiple perspectives. Have students write and perform short scenes reflecting
these differences in perspective. Discuss how perspective can create irony.
• Have students read “Jabberwocky” to themselves and try to paraphrase the “story” in
two sentences.
• Read the poem aloud and have students revise their paraphrases.
• Identify repetition, alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhyme, and rhythm. Then discuss how these
devices contribute to the understanding of the poem.
• Identify portmanteau words and discuss meaning; identify other words like these that have
become a part of the language; identify the part of speech of the “made-up” words. How
would the people of Jonas’s world have reacted to these types of words? Create lists of words
that “should” exist to describe certain feelings, moods, etc.
• Issue and discuss novel preview.
• Create a Venn diagram illustrating the similarities and differences between the society depicted
in the novel and modern society. Identify and classify examples of loss of freedom.
• Answer teacher-created multiple choice questions on passages from the novel (character,
diction, theme, tone, figurative language, irony, symbolism, clauses, phrases, sentences
structure, syntax techniques, direct/indirect objects, pronoun/antecedent, meaning and effect
related to parts of speech, phrases, clauses, and sentences).
• Use diction and adjective exercise, employing the words in chapter one that describe the
feelings of Jonas, Lily, Mother, and Father, and Asher’s misuse of words.
• Annotate selected chapters of the novel for examples of irony, diction, detail, figurative
language, foreshadowing, flashback, and conflict. Analyze how the use of the devices affects
theme and tone and creates suspense.
• Create a reading card for the novel.
• Create an open-book literary analysis test that requires students to use their annotated text.
• Review archetypes. (Introduced in grade six.)
• Sample focused questions for class discussion of The Giver:
– How does the society’s insistence on precision in word choice affect the way Jonas thinks?
– What does this precision in word choice reveal about the society?
– What is different about Jonas? What does he see in the apple? The audience? Fiona’s hair?
How is this significant in the novel?
– What is significant about the rules Jonas receives? Why would the rules for the Receiver be
different from those for everyone else?
554
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Developing a Syllabus
– What is revealed about the society as Jonas enters the Receiver’s room for the first time?
– What happens to those who are released?
– What is significant about the title of The Giver? What does Jonas give? What is he given?
Who else gives?
– What elements or desires in society today could lead toward the creation of a world like that
of The Giver?
– What did the people lose? What did they gain? Was it worth it?
– How has the desire for Sameness shaped this world? What elements, desires, or goals of our
society could be warped to create this “sameness”?
Composition
• Lesson over the use of transitions within and between paragraphs.
• Write another chapter for The Giver that explains what happens next.
• Write a timed persuasive essay over teacher-created topic.
• Students write an essay analyzing the internal struggles Jonas faces and what it reveals about
theme. Revise – all elements; edit for usage – subject/verb agreement
• Write a letter of request to save the child in The Giver. Incorporate logical and emotional appeals.
• Composition Foundation Lesson: “Personal Archetype Project” – complete elements of the
project with the character of Jonas or another character studied this year.
Putting It All Together
• The Giver – Research and Links Assignment: Students develop a topic of their choice related
to people in unusual settings, the setting itself, ceremonies, rituals, superstition, etc. Some
possible topics include utopias, dystopias, naming ceremonies or rituals, coming of age
ceremonies, Hollywood’s treatment of monsters, science fiction movies and special effects,
“The War of the Worlds” radio presentation, the solar system, discoveries of NASA, other
fantastic tales, etc.
• View selected clips from Pleasantville and have students write about and/or discuss
similarities. Create an original “society” if time permits.
– Work through the Levels of Thinking Foundation Lesson: “Putting It All Together – Tone
Analysis” that uses the excerpt from “By the Waters of Babylon.”
– Students select a science fiction or fantasy short story to read independently. Complete at
least four activities from the project list and present to class (lesson detailed earlier).
555
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Developing
a Syllabus
Grammar
• Using the Killgallon model from Sentence Composing for Middle School, practice matching
sentence structures and imitating sentences from the selections.
• Identify syntactical devices and sentence structures within the selections and link them to the
effect or purpose.
• Review subject/verb agreement. Grammar Lesson: “Subject/Verb Agreement”
• Grammar Lesson: “Sentence Variations”
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Fifth Six Weeks
Theme: Connecting to the Environment
Skill Focus: Selected from the seventh grade Skill Progression Chart.
Levels of Thinking
Remember
Understand
Apply
Close Reading
Reading Strategies
Literary Elements
Archetype
character
setting
Character
motivation
Detail
Diction
connotation
denotation
vocabulary
Imagery
Plot
conflict
flashback
foreshadowing
suspense
Point of View
person
perspective
Setting
Theme
Tone
tone determined through
diction, imagery, and detail
vocabulary associated with tone
Evaluate
Grammar
Mechanics
Annotation
Determining Main Idea
Generalization
Inference
Paraphrase
Prediction
Seminar/Discussion
Summary
Developing
a Syllabus
Analyze
Create
Composition
Types (modes)
Punctuation
Usage
Direct/Indirect Objects
Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement
Subject/Verb Agreement
Parts of Speech
Phrases
Appositive
Infinitive
Prepositional
Clauses
Descriptive
Expository
analytical
Persuasive
challenge
defend
persuasive appeals
emotional
logical
request
Multiple Mode
Dependent/Subordinate
Independent
Sentences
Expressive
Imaginative
The Process of Composition
Structure
loose/cumulative
periodic
Syntax Techniques
Repetition
Reversal
inverted order (inversion)
Analysis of a Text
Meaning and Effect related to parts of
speech, phrases, clauses, and sentences
Prewriting
generation of ideas
organization of ideas
Drafting
extended time
timed
Revision of Multiple Drafts
content
organization
precise diction
sentence variety
unity
Editing
sentence structure
usage
Structural Elements
Introduction
thesis
Body
incorporation of quotes
topic sentence
use of commentary
use of evidence
Conclusion
Figures of Speech
Metaphor
Oxymoron
Personification
Simile
Organization
Sound Devices
Transitions
Alliteration
Onomatopoeia
Rhyme
Rhythm
556
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Page 557
Developing a Syllabus
Levels of Thinking continued
Remember
Understand
Close Reading
Apply
Analyze
Evaluate
Grammar
Literary Techniques
Create
Composition
Style/Voice
Argumentation
classification
comparison/contrast
emotional appeals
logical appeals
Irony
verbal
sarcasm
Symbolism
Experimentation with Original Forms
and Structure
Experimentation with Sentence Variety
Imitation of Stylistic Models (sentences)
Selection of Vocabulary
Use of Figures of Speech
Use of Various Sentence Openings
Use of Technology
Literary Forms
Drama
Fiction
Verse
Elements of Research
Ethics of Research
Use of Print Sources
Use of the Internet
Novels:
Short Stories:
Myths and Fables:
Poetry:
Nonfiction:
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
“Rikki-tikki-tavi” by Rudyard Kipling
Selections from Mythology by Edith Hamilton
“Demeter and Persephone” by Anne Terry White
“How the Snakes Got Poison” by Barbara Kingsolver
“Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind” by William Shakespeare
“Loo-Wit” by Wendy Rose
“Onomatopoeia” by Eve Merriam
“The Elephant” by Rudyard Kipling
“The Turtle” by Mary Oliver
“The Microscope” by Maxine Kumin
“Seal” by William Jay Smith
“Washed in Silver” by James Stephens
“Winter” by Nikki Giovanni
“The Pasture” by Robert Frost
“Fog” by Carl Sandburg
“Life” by Naomi Long Madgett
“The Hippopotamus” by Ogden Nash
“The Caterpillar” by Ogden Nash
“The Blind Men and the Elephant” by John Godfrey Saxe
“The Fish Crisis” by J. Madeleine Nash
557
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Developing
a Syllabus
Texts: Select from these or other similar works.
Developing
a Syllabus
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Page 558
Major Assignments and Activities: Select from these or similar assignments.
Close Reading
• Identify theme and link all works to theme.
• Identify and analyze the diction, figurative language, sound devices, and symbolism within
the selections.
• Continue the study of prefixes and roots with the novel and other selections.
• Issue and discuss novel preview.
• Annotate novel for character, dialect, theme, figurative language, and hyperbole.
• Introduce direct/indirect characterization.
• Close Reading Lesson: “Maybe You CAN Judge a Book by Its Cover”
• Research and Links: Students select from a wide range of topics related to the theme and
the works studied. Sample topics include the depression, racism, segregated schools, weather,
India, the mongoose and cobra, the Hindu religion, snakes in mythology, volcanoes, etc.
• Create a reading card for the novel.
• Create an open-book literary analysis test over Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry that requires
students to use their annotated text.
• Create a plot chart (Freytag’s Pyramid) for “Rikki-tikki-tavi.” Analyze how the author uses
flashback, foreshadowing, and repetition to advance the plot.
• Discuss the story as a representative battle between good and evil. Then discuss whether or not
an animal can be evil.
• Select fables or myths linked to nature. Explain that one function of a myth was to explain
happenings in nature. Identify the original audience and purpose of the story and discuss the
importance of these myths in the world today.
• Begin the Close Reading Lesson: “Sound Devices” this six-week period and conclude it during the sixth six weeks.
• Complete the Close Reading Lesson: “Sensory Appeals” for one of the poems.
• Read selected poems, identifying and analyzing figurative language, sound devices, and
literary techniques.
• Introduce students to TP-CASTT (AP Vertical Teams Guide for English) with teacher-created
focused questions.
• Select three poems with related themes and create a graphic organizer that illustrates
the relationship.
• Read “The Fish Crisis” and complete the Close Reading Lesson: “Fact or Opinion and
Author’s Purpose.”
Grammar
• Using the Killgallon model from Sentence Composing for Middle School, practice matching
sentence structures and imitating sentences from the selections.
• Use the Grammar Lesson: “Diction Analysis through Grammar,” substituting one of the poems
listed above for “The Witch.”
• Identify and discuss the effect of the repetition and reversal within the “speech” of the animals
in “Rikki-tikki-tavi.”
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Developing a Syllabus
• Complete the Close Reading Lesson: “Understanding Shakespeare – ‘Blow, Blow, Thou
Winter Wind.’ ”
• Identify punctuation within poems and discuss the effect or purpose and how it helps reveal
meaning. Practice reading poetry aloud, following punctuation marks.
Composition
• Write a timed persuasive essay over a teacher-created topic linked to the environment.
• Write an extended time essay over some aspect of the environment. Essay may be cause/effect,
comparison/contrast, or process. Revise for content, transitions, organization, and unity. Edit
for mechanics, usage, and sentence structure.
• Work through Composition Lesson: “Greek Mythology.”
Developing
a Syllabus
Putting It All Together
• Work through the Levels of Thinking Lesson: “Putting It All Together – Theme and
Point of View.”
• Work through the Close Reading Lesson: “The Three Levels of Reading.”
• Place students in groups and assign selected myths and fables to each group. Possible group
assignments:
– Write a summary of each myth.
– Select one myth to modernize and rewrite it (shifting audience). Include figurative language
and sound devices.
– Present modern myths to the class.
– Select one myth and rewrite it, shifting purpose.
– Create a PowerPoint presentation over lessons learned from the myths.
– Identify literary and rhetorical devices within the myth and link to theme or tone.
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Sixth Six Weeks
Theme: Common Threads
Skill Focus: Selected from the seventh grade Skill Progression Chart.
Levels of Thinking
Remember
Understand
Apply
Close Reading
Reading Strategies
Annotation
Determining Main Idea
Inference
Paraphrase
Seminar/Discussion
Summary
Developing
a Syllabus
Literary Elements
Character
motivation
Detail
Diction
connotation
denotation
dialect
vocabulary
Imagery
Plot
conflict
flashback
foreshadowing
suspense
Point of View
person
perspective
Setting
Theme
Tone
tone determined through diction,
imagery, and detail
vocabulary associated with tone
Analyze
Evaluate
Grammar
Parts of Speech
Phrases
Create
Composition
Types (modes)
Appositive
Infinitive
Prepositional
Clauses
Dependent/Subordinate
Independent
Sentences
Expository
analytical
comparison/contrast
research-based
Persuasive
challenge
defend
Multiple Mode
Structure
complex
compound
compound-complex
loose/cumulative
periodic
simple
Syntax Techniques
Repetition
Reversal
inverted order (inversion)
Analysis of a Text
Meaning and Effect related to parts of
speech, phrases, clauses, and sentences
Expressive
Imaginative
Personal
The Process of Composition
Prewriting
determination of purpose
generation of ideas
organization of ideas
Drafting
extended time
timed
Revision of Multiple Drafts
content
organization
precise diction
sentence variety
unity
Editing
mechanics
sentence structure
usage
Structural Elements
Figures of Speech
Introduction
thesis
Body
incorporation of quotes
topic sentence
use of commentary
use of evidence
Conclusion
Metaphor
Oxymoron
Personification
Simile
Sound Devices
Alliteration
Assonance
Consonance
Onomatopoeia
Rhyme
Rhythm
Organization
Transitions
560
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Page 561
Developing a Syllabus
Levels of Thinking continued
Remember
Close Reading
Understand
Apply
Analyze
Evaluate
Grammar
Literary Techniques
Create
Composition
Style/Voice
Allusion
literary
Argumentation
comparison/contrast
Characterization
Dialogue
Irony
Symbolism
Experimentation with Original Forms
and Structure
Experimentation with Sentence Variety
Imitation of Stylistic Models (sentences)
Selection of Detail
Selection of Vocabulary
Use of Figures of Speech
Use of Sound Devices
Use of Various Sentence Openings
Literary Forms
Fiction
Nonfiction
Verse
Elements of Research
Ethics of Research
Use of Print Sources
Use of the Internet
Novel:
Short Stories:
Poetry:
Nonfiction:
Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples
“The Sound of Summer Running” by Ray Bradbury
“The Treasure of Lemon Brown” by Walter Dean Myers
“Seventh Grade” by Gary Soto
“Heartache” by Anton Chekhov
“Suzy and Leah” by Janet Yolen
“Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving
“The Bird Like No Other” by Dorothy West
“Valediction” by Seamus Heaney
“The Village Blacksmith” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Martin Luther King” by Raymond Richard Patterson
“Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes
“Fable” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Thumbprint” by Eve Merriam
“The Courage That My Mother Had” by Edna St. Vincent Milay
“Lineage” by Margaret Walker
“My Mother Pieced Quilts” by Teresa Palamo Acosta
“If –” by Rudyard Kipling
“Some Really For-Real Things” by Olga Samples Davis
“Oral History” by Pat Mora
“There Is No Word for Good-Bye” by Mary TallMountain
“Melting Pot” by Anna Quindlen
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Developing
a Syllabus
Texts: Select from these or other similar works.
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Developing
a Syllabus
Major Assignments and Activities: Select from these or similar assignments.
Close Reading
• Discuss theme and link all selections to the theme.
• Answer teacher-created multiple choice questions over passages from the selections. Questions
may cover any skill studied during the year.
• Identify and discuss the symbolism, irony, and characterization within the selections.
• Issue and discuss novel preview. Provide background information.
• Students create a Venn diagram illustrating the similarities and differences between the society
depicted in the novel and their own life. Similarities may focus on family relationships, feelings,
relationships between sisters (the things that unite us all as humans).
• Annotate selected passages from the novel for specific devices.
• Make two columns, one labeled independence and the other family duty. Select details from
the novel that fit under each category. Discuss the dilemmas faced by Shabanu. Does she
make the right decisions? Identify the point of view and discuss how the point of view colors
perception. Is the narrator trustworthy? How does our perspective on society and the rights
of women affect our reaction to the story?
• Read selected poems, identifying and analyzing literary elements, figures of speech, sound
devices, and literary techniques. Be sure to link to theme or effect.
• Create a T-chart illustrating the similarities between painting and making a quilt that are
expressed in “My Mother Pieced Quilts.”
• Read “Melting Pot” aloud in class.
• Link the feelings and attitudes of the people in the selection to those of the characters in
Shabanu and the short stories. What lesson is learned?
Grammar
• Complete the Grammar Foundation Lesson: “Poetry of Phrases.”
• Continue to work with the lessons from Killgallon’s Sentence Composing for Middle School.
• Cumulative grammar exam will include phrases, clauses, sentence purposes, structures,
and syntax.
Composition
• Write a literary analysis essay over a teacher-created prompt. Edit for mechanics, usage, and
sentence structure. Revise content, organization, precise diction, sentence variety, and unity.
• Write an original dramatic monologue from one of the characters studied during the year.
Focus on style and voice.
• Compare and contrast “Lineage” and “The Courage That My Mother Had” in an essay.
• Write a persuasive essay defending or challenging Shabanu’s actions.
• Composition Lesson: “Style and Voice”
• Portfolio assessment (see ongoing assignments)
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Developing a Syllabus
Developing
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Putting It All Together
• Work through the Levels of Thinking Lesson: “Putting It All Together – ‘The Sound of
Summer Running.’ ”
• Research and Links: Students select from a wide range of topics related to the works studied
or the theme. Some possible topics include Pakistan, the Muslim religion, traditions and rituals
in different societies, human rights, monsoons, camels, Martin Luther King, a writer studied in
the unit, gentrification, etc.
• Composition Foundation Lesson: “Origami House” – Students select any work used this year.
• Seventh grade assessment – multiple choice and essay
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