Literature
7th Grade Literature teaches students how to think critically, how to question, critique, and evaluate works of literature, and how to make connections between works of literature, ourselves, and our world. One of our main goals in 7th Grade Literature is to foster independence in student readers. This goal includes their work ethic and their critical thinking skills. Students should continually ask questions when reading and analyzing literature, becoming more active readers by going beyond literal meanings. Some of the ways students become more active readers are by discussing an author’s point of view, examining themes in a work of literature, making inferences, drawing conclusions, and summarizing. Students complete book projects which incorporate different learning styles and offer students multiple ways to express their understanding and appreciation of literary works. Students learn to become active readers by practicing purposeful pre-reading strategies. They use inferential clues, make predictions, utilize visualizing/verbalizing techniques, and highlight and annotate directly in texts. Students are also encouraged to choose independent reading in different genres to develop their reading skills and strategies. Students are evaluated through exams, class projects, reading strategies worksheets, oral reading fluency and expression, class participation and discussion, and homework. Representative texts include: Things Not Seen, The Outsiders, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Under a War-Torn Sky, The Miracle Worker.