Seventh Grade Curriculum Guide
Religion, Math and Literature
Religion
Blest Are We: Faith and Word Edition
 The Marks of the Church from the Beginning
 The Growth of Christendom
 The Age of Faith and Beauty
 Reason, Rebellion and Reform
Feasts and Seasons
 Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter
 Blessed Mother and other special saints
 Mass and prayer
Math (Pre-Algebra and 7th Grade Math)
Pre-Algebra published by Glencoe
Math Connects published by Glencoe
 Geometry
Draw, construct, and describe geometrical figures and describe the relationship between
them.
Solve real-life and mathematical problems involving angle measure, area, surface area
and volume.
 Ratios and Proportional Relationships
 The Number System
 Expressions and Equations
 Statistics and Probability
Literature
Literature: Reading with Purpose published by Glencoe
Weekly stories that incorporate reading comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, listening
and speaking, oral reading fluency.
Thematic approach:
Why do we read?
Who can we really count on?
How can we become who we want to be?
Who influences us and how do they do so?
Is progress always good?
Why do we share our stories?
What makes us tick?
What is a community?
8th Grade Algebra Curriculum Guide
Text – Glencoe McGraw Hill
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Interpret the structure of expressions
Write expressions in equivalent forms to solve problems
Create equations that describe numbers or relationships
Define and evaluate functions
Solve equations and inequalities
Represent equations and inequalities graphically
Solve systems of equations
Perform arithmetic operations on polynomials
Use polynomial identities to solve problems
8th Grade Science Curriculum Guide
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Text – Prentice Hall Science Explorer
Scientific Method and Measurement
o Science Fair
Earth Science
o Interior of the Earth
o Rock Cycle
o Forming of Earth’s features (weathering, erosion, glaciers)
Biology
o Cell structure and function
o Ecology
Chemistry
o Organize/Classify matter
o Structure of the atom
o Chemical Reactions
Physics
o Newton’s Laws of Motion
o Forms of Energy
o Conservation of Energy
7th Grade Science Curriculum Guide
Text – Prentice Hall Science Explorer
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Scientific Method and Measurement
Energy
o Waves
o Energy Transfer
o Energy from the Sun
Earth Systems
o Weather and Climate
o Water Cycle
o Atmosphere
o Human Consequences
Chemistry
o Properties of Matter
o Organization of the Periodic Table
o Elements and Compounds
o Physical and Chemical Changes
Organization of Living Things
o Cell Functions
o Cell Growth and Development
o Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration
o Heredity
Seventh and Eighth Grade Curriculum Guide
7th Grade
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Religion
Blest Are We: Faith and Word Edition: The Story of the Church
The Marks of the Church from the Beginning
The Growth of Christendom
The Age of Faith and Beauty
Reason, Rebellion, and Reform
Returning to the Roots of Christianity
Feasts and Seasons
Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter
Mary, Saints, and Holy People
Liturgical Year, Ordinary Time, Holy Days
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History
Prentice Hall: World Studies-Eastern Hemisphere-Geography, History, Culture
Europe and Russia-Physical Geography, History and Government, Cultures
Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Russia
Africa-Physical Geography, Shaped by History, Cultures
North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, Central and Southern Africa
Asia and the Pacific-Physical Geography, Cultures and History
East Asia, South, Southwest, and Central Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Region
8th Grade
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History
Prentice Hall: America-History of Our Nation
Forming a New Nation
The New Republic
The Nation Expands and Changes
Civil War and Reunion
An Age of Industry
Literature
Textbook: Glencoe Literature: Reading with Purpose [Based on Common Core Standards]
Novels: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton; To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; Night by Elie Wiesel
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The following concepts are taught, reinforced, practiced, modeled, and mastered:
All Literary Terms and Elements
All Literary Genres
Reading Skills and Reading Strategies:
o Activating Prior Knowledge
o Drawing Conclusions
o Making Inferences
o Making Predictions
o Identifying Author’s Purpose
o Identifying Main Idea and Supporting Details
o Annotative Notes
o Reading for Meaning
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Using Context Clues
Group Discussions
Oral Reading/Presentations
Role Playing
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Comprehension Questions
o Writing Strategies for effectively answering comprehension questions
o Using quotations and parenthetical citations when answering questions
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Writing Skills
o Essays
o Author Biographies
o Peer Editing
o Proofreading
o Short Essays
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Seventh and Eighth Grade Curriculum Guide
Miss Pryor: 7th/8th English, 8th Literature, & 8th Religion
Seventh Grade English
Textbooks: English [Houghton Mifflin]; Vocabulary Workshop Level B [Sadlier]
Daily Language Practice Exercises that teach, demonstrate, and incorporate the following revision, editing, and
proofreading skills:
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The correction of errors in capitalization
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The addition of the correct end marks
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The correction and implementation of commas, semicolons, colons, and quotation marks
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Word usage
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Homonyms, homophones, and homographs
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Balanced sentences
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Run-on sentences
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Sentence fragments
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Structure and composition of paragraphs
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Daily Journaling
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Students respond to reflective, inferential, evaluative, descriptive, persuasive, creative, spiritual, and openending questions, statements, quotations, and paragraphs.
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They practice the following skills:
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The restating of questions
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The composition of topic sentences and the formulation of ideas in the written word
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Interpretations
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The development of well-written sentences and paragraphs
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The Writing Process [Prewriting, Drafting, Revising, Proofreading, and Publishing] is taught, modeled, practiced,
and incorporated in the following:
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Journaling
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Balanced, well-written sentences
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Identification and correction of Fragments & Run-ons
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Paragraphs [descriptive, expository, persuasive, informative, and narrative]
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All homework assignments that require the writing of sentences, paragraphs…
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Short Essays
*Poetry *Rough Drafts/Final Drafts
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Differentiated Writing/Revision Circles
*Proofreading/Editing Circles & Partners *Revising Strategies
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Grammatical Concepts are taught, modeled, practiced, reinforced, and mastered.
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Nouns [all types]
*Possessives & Plurals
*Subjects *Nouns of Direct Address
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Verbs [action, linking, helping, transitive, intransitive…] and Verb Phrases; Predicates
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Adjectives [Comparative & Superlative Forms]
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Adverbs [Comparative & Superlative Forms]; Conjunctive Adverbs
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Coordinating and Correlative Conjunctions
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Prepositions, Prepositional Phrases, & Objects of Prepositions
Appositives & Appositive Phrases
Interrupters/Parenthetical Expressions
*Interjections
Pronouns [subject & object]
*4 Kinds of Sentences [declarative…]
Introductory, independent, & dependent clauses
Mechanics [Punctuation skills are taught, modeled, practiced, & reinforced daily.]
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End marks
*Commas *Semicolons *Colons *Quotation Marks *Apostrophes
Vocabulary Workshop Level B [textbook] is based on Common Core State Standards. The following vocabulary concepts
are taught, reinforced, and practiced through the spoken and written word.
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Denotations
*Definitions
*Pronunciations
*Sentence completions
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Connotations
*Parts of Speech
*Homonyms/Homophones/Homographs
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Idioms
*Vocabulary for Comprehension *Synonyms & Antonyms
*Words in Action
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Classical Roots
*Analogies
*Correct Word Choice & Usage
Eighth Grade English [High School Preparatory Curriculum]
Textbooks: English [Houghton Mifflin] and Vocabulary Workshop Level C [Sadlier]
My Eighth Grade Curriculum echoes, reviews, and reinforces ALL CONCEPTS taught in the Seventh Grade to ensure
mastery. Daily Language Practice Exercises and Daily Journaling occur as they do in the Seventh Grade; however,
their level of difficulty is notable and is intended to prepare the students for high school. In addition to the
Grammatical Concepts already stated for my Seventh Grade Curriculum, the following are taught, practiced,
reinforced, mastered, & incorporated in both writing and speaking:
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Grammatical Concepts:
4 Types of Sentences [simple, compound, complex, & compound-complex]
Adverbial Objectives
Cognate Objects
Subject Complements [Predicate Adjectives & Predicate Nominatives]
Subordinating Conjunctions
Transitional Words
Subordinate & Independent Clauses
Relative Pronouns, Demonstrative Pronouns, Possessive Pronouns, Indefinite Pronoun, Reflexive, & Intensive Pronouns
Pronoun Antecedents
Verbals [Participles, Participial Phrases, Infinitives, Infinitive Phrases, Gerunds, & Gerund Phrases]
Adjective, Adverb, and Noun Clauses
Subject-Verb Agreement
Active & Passive Voices
Irregular Verbs and Verb Tenses
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Additional Mechanics [Punctuation skills are taught, modeled, practiced, & reinforced daily.]
Punctuation of Titles
Dashes, Hyphens, and Parentheses
Periods of Ellipsis
Single Quotation Marks
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Additional Writing Techniques to those listed for the Seventh Grade
The Writing Process [Prewriting, Drafting, Revising, Proofreading, and Publishing] is taught, modeled, practiced,
and incorporated in the following:
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Narratives
Five Paragraph Essays
Persuasive Essay
Compare-Contrast Essay
Thesis Sentences
The Research Paper [MLA Style]
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Topic Outlines 2. Note Cards 3. Bibliography Cards/Source Cards 4. Bibliography/Source Page
Vocabulary Workshop Level C [textbook] is based on Common Core State Standards. The following vocabulary concepts
are taught, reinforced, and practiced through the spoken and written word.
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Denotations
*Definitions
*Pronunciations
*Sentence completions
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Connotations
*Parts of Speech
*Homonyms/Homophones/Homographs
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Idioms
*Vocabulary for Comprehension *Synonyms & Antonyms
*Words in Action
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Classical Roots
*Analogies
*Correct Word Choice & Usage
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Writing Circles Using Vocabulary Words [Differentiated Instruction]
Eighth Grade Literature
Textbook: Glencoe Literature: “Reading with Purpose” [Based on Common Core State Standards]
Novels: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton; To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; Night by Elie Wiesel
High School Preparatory Curriculum [The following concepts are taught, modeled, practiced, reinforced, and mastered.]
 All Literary Terms and Elements [Protagonist, Antagonist, Setting, Conflict…]
 All Literary Genres [Prose, Poetry, Drama, Autobiography, Biography, the Novel, Fiction, Nonfiction…]
 Reading Skills and Reading Strategies:
1. Activating Prior Knowledge
2. Asking Questions
3. Drawing Conclusions
4. Making Inferences
5. Making Predictions
6. Identifying Author’s Purpose
7. Identify Main Ideas & Supporting Details
8. Paraphrasing and Summarizing
9. Understanding Cause & Effect
10. Book notes/Marginal notes
11. Reading for Meaning
12. Making Connections
13. Identifying Characterizations, Conflicts, Turning Points, Imagery…
14. Using Context Clues
15. Active Listening and Group Discussion/Oral Presentations
16. Comprehensive Literary Analyses of Short Stories, Poems, and the Novels
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Comprehension Questions: Literal, Inferential [Interpretive], and Applied [Spatial]
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Writing Strategies for effectively answering comprehension questions:
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Restate the question.
2. Justify answers with quotations and parenthetical citations.
3. Qualify answers with logical reasons, direct points, and decisive details.
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Writing Skills and Writing Traits:
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Conventions [Capitalization, Punctuation, Spelling, Grammar…]
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Ideas
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Organization
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Presentation
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Sentence Fluency and Sentence Variety
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Voice
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Word Choice, Details, Descriptions…
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The Writing Process [Prewriting, Drafting, Revising/Editing, Proofreading, and Publishing]
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Well-written Paragraphs/topic sentences
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Short Essay Comprehension Answers
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Five Paragraph Essay
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Research Writing Prompts
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Author Biographies
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Vocabulary Skills:
 Context Clues
 Denotations/Connotations
 Multiple-meaning Words
 Structural Analysis
 Synonyms, Antonyms, and Homonyms
 Word Choice
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Literature Circles [Differentiated Instruction]: Various Jobs are offered to students that enable them to further
and improve their comprehension, their vocabulary skills, and their writing skills.
Eighth Grade Religion
Textbook: Blest Are We: The Story of Jesus
New American Bible [St. Joseph Edition]
This course is a spiritual journey that invites students to become energetic & devoted Disciples of Christ.
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The Mysteries of the Holy Rosary and How to Pray the Rosary
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Our Blessed Mother
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Traditional Catholic Prayers [Knowing, understanding, & praying them]
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Catholic Faith Words [Lists of Valuable Catholic Faith Words with their definitions]
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Corporal & Spiritual Works of Mercy
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Jesus and His Times
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The Blessed Trinity
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The Mystery of the Incarnation
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The Meaning of the Kingdom of God
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The Christian Life
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The Paschal Mystery
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The Good News
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What Catholics Believe
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How Catholics Worship
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How Catholics Live [the Virtues]
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Catholic Morality
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The Sacraments
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In-depth study of Confirmation and the Holy Spirit
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The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit
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The parts of the Holy Mass
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The Liturgical Year
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In-depth study of several Saints [St. Thecla, St. Jude, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. John Paul
II…]
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The Apostles
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Blessed Mother Teresa and Venerable Father Solanus Casey
Feasts and Seasons
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Advent
Christmas
Lent
Holy Week
Easter
Ordinary Time
Holy Days
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Holy Scripture
Focus is given on the New Testament and the Gospel Teachings of Jesus Christ
Specific passages from the Old Testament are read and explained
Reflective Journaling is done in response to specific questions, prayers, Scripture passages, and daily life.