English Language Arts — Grade 7

Seven directions: Making connections between literature and American Indian history

This middle school lesson uses picture books to integrate American Indian culture and belief systems with language and visual arts.

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

By Edie McDowell.

Issues, we've all got them: Language arts/visual arts integration

Students will learn how to deal positively with social issues important in their lives through personal investigation of social issues addressed in literature and art.

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Visual Arts Education, English Language Arts, and English Language Development)

By Runell Carpenter.

Resources on the web

You know the movie is coming—Now what?

After exploring cinematic terms, students read a literary work with director's eyes and then try to predict what elements would be present in the film version of the book. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

What am I? Teaching poetry through riddles

Students explore, analyze, and discuss how metaphor, simile, and metonymy are used in riddle poems. They use these poetic devices to write original riddle poems. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–7 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Using QARs to develop comprehension and reflective reading habits

This ReadWriteThink lesson provides a foundation for building reflective reading habits, which enable students to develop higher-level comprehension strategies. Students are introduced to a variety of question-answer relationships (QARs) in an effort to... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Using children's literature to develop classroom community

This lesson introduces students to the concept of collaborative learning with an activity based on Shel Silverstein's poem, “What's in the Sack?”. After developing a foundation for group and partner work, students explore children's literature... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Through the eyes of a refugee

This lesson asks students to analyze the “Afghanistan, Land in Crisis” map (available in print and online) to determine how the physical geography of this region affects the lifestyles of the individuals who live there. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

Scaling back to essentials: Scaffolding summarization with fishbone mapping

In this lesson, students work in pairs and cooperative groups as they complete fishbone maps that highlight the main ideas and relevant details from a cause-effect text. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Pygmies, pictures, and poetry

In this Xpeditions lesson, students use photos and text on Pygmies of Africa to learn about the culture and lifestyle of these people. They then use this information to create collages and short poems. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

Promoting diversity in the classroom and school library through social action

Students explore stereotypes in children's picture books, such as Disney's Princess Collection, in order to identify the limited view established in these fictional worlds. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Points of view in the news

Students will read articles from National Geographic News and answer questions describing each article's source, purpose, and viewpoint. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: National Geographic

Pictures in Words: Poems of Tennyson and Noyes

Students will explore how poets Tennyson and Noyes use words to paint vivid and memorable pictures and describe how “word pictures” emphasize or qualify the meanings of their poems. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–7 English Language Arts)

Provided by: National Endowment for the Humanities

Painting poetry: Using visual representation as a response to literature

Students are encouraged to think critically about what a poet is trying to say and the means he or she uses to convey these ideas. Interpreting a poem using visual representation helps students better understand their own beliefs about a poem. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

The Ocean and Weather: El Niño and La Niña

In this lesson, from Xpeditions, students explore the weather phenomena El Niño and La Niña . (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–7 English Language Arts and Science)

Provided by: National Geographic

My life/your life: A look at your parents' past

The goal of this lesson is to help students make connections between their experiences and those of their parents through reflection and writing. After students become familiar with the format of interviews by evaluating sample questions and answers of... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Music and me: Visual representations of lyrics to popular music

Students interpret the meaning of selected song lyrics by making personal connections, critically analyzing their interpretations and planning how to represent the lyrics with images in a photomontage. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Memories Matter: "The Giver" and Descriptive Writing Memoirs

Students read The Giver by Lois Lowry, as well as short biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs in order to understand the differences between them. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Making Personal and Cultural Connections Using "A Girl Named Disaster"

Using A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer, students learn about Africa, Shona traditions, geography, and society. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 English Language Arts)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE

Literature circle roles reframed: Reading as a film crew

Students read and analyze books in this lesson where film production roles are substituted for the traditional literature circle roles. After students brainstorm roles found in film crews, they consider what the possible responsibilities of these jobs would... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts)

Provided by: ReadWriteThink

Let it grow: An inquiry-based organic gardening research project

In this lesson from ReadWriteThink, students learn about organic gardening by developing their own research questions, conducting research, and gardening at their school. They then create signs about their plants and present their research to the class so... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 English Language Arts and Science)

Provided by: IRA/NCTE