Curriculum Corner
7th Grade ELA "I Can" Statement Posters
Help your seventh graders relate the ELA Common Core standards to their own learning with these "I Can" statement posters. Each standard has been translated into a statement that pupils can understand and placed on its own page for...
Curriculum Corner
7th Grade ELA Common Core Checklists
Track your class's progress on all of the ELA Common Core standards with these handy charts. Along the left side, each seventh grade identifier is listed along with the full text of the standard. As you teach, reteach, assess,...
Star Wars in the Classroom
Star Wars Geography Unit
What kind of animals live on an ice planet like Hoth? How would the habitat on Tatooine allow different organisms to thrive? Connect social studies, science, and Star Wars in one engaging activity that focuses on the ecosystems...
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A Voyage of Endurance
Students apply the three different types of journal writing by composing one of each type on the subject of Shackleton's expedition to Antarctica. They also
write a dialectical journal summarizing the facts of the expedition and...
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History Detective: The Case of the Mysterious Trunk
Students role play as history detectives. In this historical inquiry instructional activity, students discuss what detectives do, analyze a trunk of "artifacts" and make conclusions about its fictional owner. Students complete six pages...
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Choose Your Own Adventure
Students investigate the historical underground railroad. They also access technology to conduct research and write stories with the railroad as part of the historical fiction. The cumulative assessment is the creation of a book that...
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Brother Against Brother
Eighth graders read Across Five Aprils and correlate it to a unit on the Civil War. They culminate the unit by writing a a piece of historical fiction in the first person entitled "Brother Against Brother."
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Harlem Renaissance and Toni Morrison's Jazz
Students study the historical time of the Harlem Renaissance, including key events and figures. They read literature that weaves fiction and history and survey some of the references to the Harlem Renaissance in the novel, Jazz, by Toni...
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Slavery and the Underground Railroad
Third graders discover racism in our country by investigating the Internet. In this abolitionist movement lesson, 3rd graders define the Underground Railroad and participate in an activity by logging on to an on-line History...
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Visualizing Jazz Scenes From the Harlem Renaissance
Students identify themes of selected nonfiction, fiction, poetry and art to Harlem Renaissance jazz and describe the impact of jazz on African-American literature of the Harlem Renaissance
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Poetry and Our National Anthem
Students express the meaning of the Star-Spangled Banner. In this American history lesson, students read through the national anthem and complete an activities from a list of choices. Some choices include: writing the anthem in your own...
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Shange's Novel Betsey Brown & Jazz
Students read a work of fiction and investigate literary values and structure of the work. They demonstrate understanding of the family values, cultural and historical context of the novel;
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Literature: Isabel Allende
Students watch and respond to a Bill Moyers Now video on the Chilean author, Isabel Allende. They brainstorm a list of recent events that might inspire writers and choose one to write about in poetic, diary, or short story form.
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The Gift of Alex Haley’s "Roots"
Historical novels, such as "Roots" by Alex Haley, can make the past come alive.
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Life Along the Trail
Learners explore the significance of the Louisiana Purchase and the journey of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery. They read to explain a new topic and write to inform readers of the historic events they explored.
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The United States and the Soviet Union were Engaged in a Cold War
Students work together at figuring out the definition for what cold war means. For this social science lesson, students listen to "The Butter Battle Book" by Dr. Seuss and recognize how this story relates to the cold war between the...
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Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
Young scholars work in groups to imagine, research and simulate a dinner party involving an author, a fictional character, and a significant historical figure as dinner guests. The activity uses Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and...
Core Knowledge Foundation
Greek And Latin Root Words
Students examine Greek and Latin root words. They research the history of the English language, solve word games and puzzles, write paragraphs about the impact of Greek and Latin on the English language, and create flip chart study guides.
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What Do We Owe To Thoreau?
Students use this design as an electronic reading and writing guide to Henry David Thoreau's famous essay, "On Civil Disobedience." They use activities to familiarize students with the political issues of Thoreau's time. Comprehension...
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It's Just a Barn
Investigate Pennsylvania Barns. Have your class consider the elements common to Pennsylvanian barns and why they are significant to the food production process. They write summaries of Frederick Watts and his impact on agriculture.
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Jack London's The Call of the Wild: "Nature Faker"?
Young scholars take a stand on whether or not London could be dubbed a "nature faker." They support their position with evidence either historical or from the text. Students write an essay, complete with hypothesis and textual support,...
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Iditarod
Fourth graders, after reading "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen, explore/research what an Iditarod is and then create a speech about their selected musher and present their new found information to their classmates. In addition, they...
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Japanese American Internment
Eleventh graders examine Japanese-American internment. In this World War II activity, 11th graders research primary sources that they locate to learn about the experiences of the interned Japanese-Americans. Students then complete a...
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Go For The Gold!
Third graders read fiction and nonfiction works for comprehension. Using the internet, 3rd graders participate in a WebQuest. They compare and contrast the Olympics in ancient Greece to the modern day Olympics. Afterwards, students...