GRADE 7 ENGLISH

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GRADE 7 ENGLISH HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS

"Me, ________" Poem

We will complete this formulaic poem in which the author shares some of the changes that he or she has made over the years. There is an additional illustration component that includes each student's first and last name.

Assignment Directions

Peer/Self-Editing Sheet

Informational Rubric/Grading Rubric

Blank Illustration Sheet

Example First Name Illustration Image

Spelling Lists

Here is where you will find each spelling list handed out in class. Each list combines words from the seventh grade "No Excuses List," (a list of words seventh graders will be held accountable to spell correctly at all times) words reflecting spelling concepts, and words related to different curricular areas. There is an activity (asignment) that accompanies the list. Eventually students will be adding their ownn personal misspelled words to the list. The lists are NOT weekly.

Adon Ross's Grade 7 No Excuses List

Personal Misspelled Word List Form

List #1 (Activity due Friday, September 16, 2011)

List #2 (Activity due Wednesday, October 19, 2011)

List #3 (No Activity) [With this list, we begin adding personal (misspelled) and or challenge words)].

List #4 (Activity due Friday, December 5, 2011)

List #5 (Activity #5 due January 20, 2012)

List #6 (Activity noted on list) due ...

List #7 (List #7 Activity due ....

List #8 and Activity due ...

Journal

Here is where you will find a copy of the journal information/grading sheet and the journal topics. These do change year to year, so check with Adon Ross to see whether the topic has been updated. Information sheet

Journal topic #1: "All about Me" This entry should tell Adon Ross information about you, your family,

interests, places you have visited, etc. (Goal: two sides)

Journal topic #2: "My Favorite Season" (Goal: one side)

Journal topic #3: Choose one of the following topics. (Goal: one side)

a. What would you do with $1 million?

b. What place would you ever like to visit? Why?

c. What do you do in your spare time? Why?

d. What is your favorite room in your house? Why?

Journal topic #4 Choose one of the following two: (Goal: one and a half sides)

a. What Makes a Good Student?

b. What Makes a Good Teacher?

Journal topic #5: Open Topic: Students may write about anything of their choosing. (Goal: two sides)

Journal topic #6: A Process: Write a "How-to piece"

Journal topic #7: "Explode a Moment," using a photo of cyclist, marathon runner, or skier. Make

an effort to include S.C. concepts.

Journal topic #8: Using "Christina's World" painting by Andrew Wyeth as a prompt, write a story.

Journal topic #9: Using a choice of prompts, students will write a story in one (and a little more) class

period.

Journal topic #10: Using a photograph of a bridge as a prompt, write a story.

"Only One Me"

This is a four paragraph descriptive piece which tells the reader physical details of the writer, personality of the writer, and likes/dislikes of the writer, along with a conclusion. Students must follow very specific directions for this assignment.

Assignment Directions

Adon Ross Sample

Peer/ Self-editing Sheet

Rubric

Thank-You Notes

Because this is the year many of you will need to write than-you notes, this is a short unit on how to write them. Included below are the assignment explanation, Adon Ross samples, writing check list, rubric, and blanks on which to write your assignment--two thank-you notes, one for an item, one for a monetary gift.

Explanation & Assignment

Adon Ross Samples

Check List

Rubric

Blanks

Business Letter

Students will write a business letter of praise, complaint, or request to someone they choose. This assignment will give them practice at writing this form of letter when they request donations for their seventh grade fundraising project. We will use block form with a heading, inside address, salutation, body (three paragraphs: introduction, reason for writing, concluding paragraph with possible SASE statement), closing, and signature.

Grading (Self-assessing) Rubric

The Wunsaponna Times

This basic journalism assignment is done in school in groups of two or three students. The purpose is to expose students to true desktop publishing. The goal is to create a creative, fun two-page newspaper (or more) dedicated to nursery rhyme or fairy tale articles. This project builds on a literature unit students had earlier in the year. Students learn basic journalistic concepts as the lead of an article, inverted pyramid style reporting, and developing a story with the 5 W's and H information. Students learn about writing headlines, bylines, the formatting of articles, and the possibility of "jumping" an article to a different page. There are four different templates students use for this project. Those templates are on the MJDS shared hard drive accessible at school.

Project Description

Basic Newspaper Vocabulary

Writing Newspaper Articles

Comparison Newspaper Articles One of the two sheets shows the difference between a narrative version of Adon Ross's birth and the way it would be written as a news article. In addition, it shows different methods of writing a lead. The other sheet shows the difference between articles with little detail and those with good specific details.

Nursery Rhyme Rubric

Newspaper Reminders (Self-editing Information) for Groups

The Basic Essay

Students will use skills concepts from previous journal entries to write a specific essay. Below is an explanation of the entire process. In addition, there is a sample essay about cats that is discussed in class.

Guide to Writing a Basic Essay Explanation Pack

Basic Essay Model with Explanations

Essay Check-Off Sheet

Essay Rubric

Writing a Process

For this assignment (or possible journal topic), students will be writing about a process, a "How to" writing piece. The objective will be to write it in such a way that one student should be able to demonstrate the process written by another student. This writing assignment builds on the demonstration speech presented in sixth grade.

Explanation Sheet with Sample (URL: http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/process.html)

Process Rubric with Grading Sheet

Check Sheet

Compare and Contrast Writing

Either as a journal entry or as an actual class writing piece, students may be asked to write a comparison, or to compare and contrast two things/ideas. This information explains how that is done in writing.

Compare and Contrast Explanation

Editorial (Persuassive Writing)

Students will choose a topic for which they will write an editorial. This will inlcude an introductory paragraph ending with a thesis statement, at least three paragraphs of support, and a conclusions. Besides writing this editorial, the students will also present this information orally. Support needs to be use an authority, previous published research, facts and figures (statistics), examples, etc. Citations are needed.

Assignment Explanation

Examples

Example with Recognizing Opposing Viewpoint

Sample Introductions

Worksheet for Writing Editorial

House Diagram Visual for Developing Factual Writing

Full Rubric

(Simplified) Student version worksheet assignment

(Persuasive Speech) MLFA Oral Presentation Rules (p. 11)

(Persuasive Speech) MLFA Oral Presentation Critique Sheets (p. 11)

"Playfully Speaking"

This assignment is specifically to help improve the writing of converstion/dialogue in stories. Students learn different techniques to make the conversation sound more mature by using divided or broken quotations, extended tag lines, and/or other tag words beside "said."

Assignment Explanation Sheet

Different Levels of Dialogue Writing

Check Sheet

Rubric

300 Ways to Say "Said"

Second Grade Book Project

The project involves a seventh grader interviewing a second grade student and then writing and illustrating a book for that student as an end-of-the-year present. In this section, you find information sheets that will be handed out as we work on the project in addition to the rubrics used to grade each of three drafts and the final version of the book.

Project Explanation Sheet

Interview Form

Elements of a Story

Three Steps to a Story

Tips to Writing a Children's Story

Writing Dialogue Explanation

Me in the Year 2025

So far students have written about their past and their present. This writing assignment asks students to think about their possible future and to write a first person narrative about a day in their life in the 2025. It is written as a story not as an explanation. Adon Ross always writes his own and incorporates each student into it. The sample below only has his introduction due to student privacy.

Explanation Sheet

Pre-Writing Sheet

Issues/Problems

Self/Peer-Editing Sheet

Rubric with Grading Sheet

Adon Ross Sample Beginning