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Grade 07 ELA - EC: E07.B-C.2.1.3

Grade 07 ELA - EC: E07.B-C.2.1.3

Continuum of Activities

Continuum of Activities

The list below represents a continuum of activities: resources categorized by Standard/Eligible Content that teachers may use to move students toward proficiency. Using LEA curriculum and available materials and resources, teachers can customize the activity statements/questions for classroom use.

This continuum of activities offers:

  • Instructional activities designed to be integrated into planned lessons
  • Questions/activities that grow in complexity
  • Opportunities for differentiation for each student’s level of performance

Grade Levels

7th Grade

Course, Subject

English Language Arts

Activities

  1. Choose an unfamiliar word in the text.  What is the literal meaning of that word?

  2. Given an informational text that has a word or phrase in quotation marks, determine the meaning of the word or phrase in the quotations marks from the text.

  3. On a piece of paper, make a 3 column graph.  In the first column write, “Heard of”; in the second column write, “Might Know Meaning”; in the third column write, “No Idea.” When you come across words you do not know the meaning of right away, put it in the appropriate column (You’ve heard of it but don’t know the meaning; you think you know the meaning; you have no idea what the word means).

  4. After students have made the table with 3 columns and have filled it in, they should predict what they think the word means based on their understanding of the text.  They can then share their predictions with a peer to compare notes and to consider alternative answers to their definitions.
  1. Highlight five words that seem to have a particularly strong meaning.  These words can be action verbs, adjectives, or adverbs.  Revise the text by changing those five words to synonyms for those highlighted words.  Analyze how the meaning of the text has changed because of the word changes.

  2. Even an informational text can have a tone or mood.  Using relevant, accurate textual evidence, define the tone or mood of the text and cite textual evidence in support of your claim.

 

Answer Key/Rubric

  1. Students will be able to define an unfamiliar word on a literal level using context clues and other vocabulary building skills (including, but not limited to, prefix/root/suffix knowledge and words that sound similar to the unfamiliar word).

  2. Students will be able to recognize how quotation marks around a word indicate a new meaning for the word.  Depending on the text, this answer can include a technical meaning or an ironic, sarcastic meaning to the word (for example, “tuberculosis” is a disease of the lungs; in regards to a terrible play in football, the player made a “stellar” catch).

  3. Students will be able to monitor their understanding of unfamiliar words by placing them in one of three appropriate columns.  Answers will vary depending on the text and the student.

  4. Students will be able to use context clues and their knowledge of the informational text to make educated guesses about what the words in their chart means.  They will then engage in a paired discussion to explore other possible definitions of the words.

  5. Students will be able to identify five words that have a particularly strong meaning. Then, they will insert a synonym of the word and evaluate how changing the word slightly can affect the overall meaning. 

  6. Students will demonstrate an understanding of tone or mood; they will accurately identify the tone or mood; they will provide relevant, accurate textual evidence in support of their tone or mood identification.
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