Seventh Grade Language Arts

   Instructor: David Barringer

   Curriculum Map, Class Page, Class Guidelines

In Language Arts, students seek the answer to the question, "What does it mean to be human?" by examining Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.  We view the world through others' eyes using stories, non-fiction, and poetry from and about various cultures. One focus will be the universal need for voice and how some groups' voices have been silenced by political, cultural, or economic oppression.  The 7th grade writing curriculum focuses on non-fiction writing, with emphasis on research skills and appropriate, neutral voice. The capstone of this curriculum is the historical argument essay.

Guiding questions:

• What is universal about human nature?
• How do different cultures communicate their stories?
• What does it mean to have a voice?

• What are the critical components of writing a research paper?

Writer’s Focus:

• Students work towards developing a strong, neutral voice in non-fiction writing.  Students begin to incorporate external research and direct quotation into both literary responses and research papers.  Skills:  Researching on notecards, developing detailed outlines, and using internal citation, footnoting, and annotated bibliography.