Kenwood Academy: Curriculum Map 2017-2018
TeacherFirst and Last Name / Ivan Sarudi
Course / 7th Grade Language Arts
Subject Area / English
Grade Level / 7th Grade
Units Calendar
Unit 1 Title / Hatchet/Brian’s Winter
Dates (school calendar weeks) / September 5 - October 6
Unit 2 Title / Short Stories
Dates (school calendar weeks) / October 9 - November 10
Unit 3 Title / The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian
Dates (school calendar weeks) / November 13–January 12
Unit 4 Title / Poetry
Dates (school calendar weeks) / January 15–February 16
Unit 5 Title / I Am Malala
Dates (school calendar weeks) / February 19 – March 23
Unit 6 Title / The Outsiders
Dates (school calendar weeks) / March 26 - April 27
Unit 7 Title: / To Kill A Mockingbird
Dates (school calendar weeks) / April 30 – June 8
Unit 1 Summary + Curriculum Alignment
Unit Title / Hatchet/Brian's Winter
Major Topics / Utilizing Inference in reading
Identifying Talking to the Text (Reading Comprehension): Knowledge, Comprehension,
Application, Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation
Use three types of connections in reading: Text to Text, Text to Self, Text to World
Identifying elements of a story and other literary concepts (plot, setting, character, point of view, conflict, theme)
Writing Response to literature
Define and utilize concept of Justification
Description of Primary Performance Task
NOTE: One task per unit / The primary performance task is to create an expository piece (survival guide) that explains how to survive in the wild.
Common Core Standard(s) Related to Task / CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
NWEA Supporting Skills / Emerging / Analyzes dialogue to understand characters
Analyzes how setting affects characters
Describes character traits or attributes
Proficient / Explains character motivation
Infers character feelings or thoughts
Excelling / Analyzes dialogue to understand characters
Understands character relationships
Understands how characters are developed or changed
Interdisciplinary Integrations / Thematic Connections / Connections with science - Using many circumstances from novel to help determines science fair projects and experiments
Connections with social science - aligns with geography unit
Connections to Writing Framework/
SAT Writing for Juniors / Introduction to MEL-Con
Assessment / Diagnostic/
Pre-Assessment / Basic Grammar
Formative / Daily Grammar Exercise
Daily Essential Question
Summative / Reading Comprehension
Project - Portfolios
Supplementary Text / Description/
Title / Hatchet
Brian’s Winter / Nonfiction, Fiction, Informational / Nonfiction
Various assigned articles from NEWSLEA
Lexile 1020 / Flesch Reading Ease / Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level
Framing Questions
Essential Question(s) / 1. How does our past impact our current identity and how do we adapt to new circumstances?
2. How does an individual’s actions and thoughts define their identity?
Unit Content Questions / Why are survival stories fascinating to read?
How close are we to being a primitive people?
How is it different to survive as an individual versus a group?
What similarities and differences exist among characters who survive in the wilderness?
“In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment."- Charles Darwin
“Suppose you were the last one left? Suppose you did that to yourself?” Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Unit 2 Summary + Curriculum Alignment
Unit Title / Short Story
Major Topics / Utilizing Inference in reading
Identifying Talking to the Text (Reading Comprehension): Knowledge, Comprehension,
Application, Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation
Use three types of connections in reading: Text to Text, Text to Self, Text to World
Identifying elements of a story and other literary concepts (plot, setting, character, point of view, conflict, theme)
Writing Response to literature
Define and utilize concept of Justification
Assuming the role of a character (RAFT)
Public Speaking/Presentation Skills
Description of Primary Performance Task
NOTE: One task per unit / The primary performance task is to create a short story of their own
The students will also create a power point presentation that will demonstrate the
students’ understanding of the elements of short story fiction by creating a film pitch
for one of the short stories that we read in the Short Story unit.
Common Core Standard(s) Related to Task / LA7-W-3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using
effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
NWEA Supporting Skills / Emerging / Analyzes how mood affects plot in a literary text
Determines the tone of a literary text
Proficient / Analyzes how mood is conveyed in literary text
Determines mood in literary text
Determines the tone of a literary text
Excelling / Analyzes how mood is conveyed in literary text
Analyzes use of suspense in literary text
Determines mood in literary text
Determines the tone of a literary text
Understands what tone is in literary text
Interdisciplinary Integrations / Thematic Connections / N/A
Connections to Writing Framework/
SAT Writing for Juniors / MEL-Con
Assessment / Diagnostic/
Pre-Assessment / Basic questions about literary terms relating to short story, differentiation between a
novel and a short story.
Formative / Writing: Write a Short Story/PowerPoint of Elements of Literature
Summative / Summative Unit Exam: Assess the overall understanding of students’ knowledge of basic elements of literature in relation to short story
Supplementary Text / Description/
Title / A Bottle Caps / Lights by Stuart Dybek
Thank You Ma’am by Langston Hughes
The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant
Ghost Story by Mark Twain
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
by Washington Irving
The Reaper’s Image by
Stephen King
The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe
The Most Dangerous Game
by Richard Connell
The Lottery by Shirley
Jackson
Harrison Bergeron by Kurt
Vonnegut / Nonfiction, Fiction, Informational / Nonfiction
Lexile / Varies / Flesch Reading Ease / Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level
Framing Questions
Essential Question(s) / Can truth change?
Is conflict necessary?
How do we develop a sense of self?
How do we come to terms with an imperfect and contradictory society?
How do authors convey purpose and meaning in literature?
How does literature contribute to an understanding of ourselves and others?
Unit Content Questions / Reading expands understanding of the world, people, and oneself; readers use strategies to construct meaning; readers develop a deeper understanding by reflecting upon the text; visual materials enhance understanding.
Authors write with different purposes in mind.
People rely on a variety of resources to obtain information.
Written communication and proper grammar mechanics promote fluency of
communication; writing is a multi-stage process; writing is a reflective process.
Listening skills are critical for learning and understanding.
All good literature reveals truths about the human experience that transcends its time.
Unit 3 Summary + Curriculum Alignment
Unit Title / The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Major Topics / Draw parallels between themselves and the characters in the novel, developing an
understanding and knowledge of the internal and external expectations in their lives.
Explore the roles others play in their lives and their own self-portrayal, developing an
understanding of how societal and familial expectations shape their daily choices and their future roles in society.
Discuss the idea of expectations in terms of race, class, gender, stereotyping, eating
disorders, beauty etc.
Learn and/or review literary terms such as setting, plot, characterization, theme, and tone.
Work collaboratively in groups as well as individually, developing communication skills and listening strategies.
During in class reading, students will make predictions, inferences and draw conclusions
Description of Primary Performance Task
NOTE: One task per unit / Research and write three short essays that defend the themes found in the novel
Common Core Standard(s) Related to Task / CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.1.A
Introduce claim(s), acknowledge alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.1.B
Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.1.C
Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), reasons, and evidence.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.1.D
Establish and maintain a formal style.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.1.E
Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.
NWEA Supporting Skills / Emerging / Understands the point an author makes in a satirical passage
Proficient / Identifies details that support narrator's viewpoint in literary text
Excelling / Evaluates narrator's attitude in literary text to make an inference
Infers narrator's attitude in literary text
Interdisciplinary Integrations / Thematic Connections / Social Science - Aligns with Native American Unit
Connections to Writing Framework/
SAT Writing for Juniors
Assessment / Diagnostic/
Pre-Assessment / Identifying motifs and themes
Formative / Finding themes in the novel and supporting them
Summative / Using MEL-Con, write a short essay defending a theme from the novel.
Supplementary Text / Description/
Title / The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian / Nonfiction, Fiction, Informational / Nonfiction
Various articles from NEWSLEA
Lexile / 750 / Flesch Reading Ease / Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level
Framing Questions
Essential Question(s) / What do the terms “normalcy” and “identity” mean and how do they relate to our lives? To the literature we read?
Is normalcy natural or a social construct?Who creates and perpetuates notions of normalcy?
What does the social and racial hierarchy of power in our society look like? Where do we fit into this construct?
What affect does accepting normalcy have on minority groups?
How do images and text work together to tell different stories in a piece of literature?
Unit Content Questions / What is Theme? What is Motif? How do characterization, conflict contribute to the development of theme?
What are the differences between the different types on short story genres (children, historical, pulp, science fiction, horror, and fables)
Unit 4 Summary + Curriculum Alignment
Unit Title / Poetry – Writing: Expressive, Descriptive / Reading: Elements of Creative Writing & Poetry
Major Topics / Identify characteristics of various poetic forms
Understand poetic forms
Identify and interpret imagery
Identify and interpret figurative language
Identify and interpret sound devices
Description of Primary Performance Task
NOTE: One task per unit / Create a Poetry Portfolio that contains a collection of poems that were covered in class.
Student’s Portfolio will prove their knowledge of poetry mastery
Common Core Standard(s) Related to Task / CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and link to and cite sources as well as to interact and collaborate with others, including linking to and citing sources.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.5
With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.
NWEA Supporting Skills / Emerging / Identifies form or structure in poetry
Proficient / Identifies form or structure in poetry
Excelling / Analyzes form or structure of poetry
Identifies form or structure in poetry
Interdisciplinary Integrations / Thematic Connections / Math: Aligns with measurements
Connections to Writing Framework/
SAT Writing for Juniors
Assessment / Diagnostic/
Pre-Assessment / Explore what most people think poetry is. Examine the difference between music lyrics and poetry.
Formative / Write a collection (portfolio) of different genres of poetry
Summative / Assess the overall understanding of poetry’s basic literary devices in a unit exam
Supplementary Text / Description/
Title / Poems that vary / Nonfiction, Fiction, Informational / Nonfiction
Lexile / Flesch Reading Ease / Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level
Framing Questions
Essential Question(s) / How does communication change us?
In communicating with others, how do we use literal and figurative language to write,
speak, and present effectively?
How can collaboration extend, challenge and broaden our ideas?
How does poetry contribute to our understanding of self, others, and the world?
How does the use of voice empower an individual?
Unit Content Questions / Readers use strategies to construct meaning.
Reading expands understanding of the world, people, and oneself; deeper understandings
are the result of reflecting upon the text, which involves rereading.
Authors write with different purposes in mind.
Writing is a multi-stage process; writing is a reflective process.
People communicate through words and word choice is critical to the effective
conveyance of the message.
Visual materials enhance understanding.
Unit 5 Summary + Curriculum Alignment
Unit Title / I Am Malala
Major Topics / Argumentative writing
Feature article writing
Description of Primary Performance Task
NOTE: One task per unit / Create an argumentative pamphlet supporting equal access to education and general rights
Common Core Standard(s) Related to Task / CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.1
Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.1.A
Introduce claim(s), acknowledge alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.1.B
Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
NWEA Supporting Skills / Emerging / Compares and contrasts claims in multiple argumentative texts
Makes inferences from informational text
Proficient / Distinguishes fact from opinion in informational text
Compares and contrasts ideas described in informational text
Draws conclusions from informational text
Makes inferences from informational text
Makes inferences from literary nonfiction
Excelling / Analyzes the technique and details an author uses to develop an event, concept, or characterization in informational text
Determines details that support a prediction or conclusion in informational text
Identifies details that support main idea in informational text
Interdisciplinary Integrations / Thematic Connections / Social Studies - Aligns with Civil Rights Unit
Connections to Writing Framework/
SAT Writing for Juniors
Assessment / Diagnostic/
Pre-Assessment / Informational text diagnostic
Formative / Argumentative Pamphlet
Summative / Reading Comprehension Exam
Short comparative essay
Supplementary Text / Description/
Title / I Am Malala / Nonfiction, Fiction, Informational / Nonfiction
Various supplementary NEWSLEA articles
Lexile / 1000 / Flesch Reading Ease / Flesch-Kincaid Reading Level
Framing Questions
Essential Question(s) / What do you admire most about Malala? Why are her actions significant in terms of the worldwide struggle for human rights (in particular,women's rights)? If you could have spoken to the Nobel Prize committee, what would you have said in her support?
What are some ofthe serious women’s rights issuesin Pakistan and around the world? Read morehere(but be aware that this source contains disturbing images and descriptions of violent acts; be careful to review prior to sharing with students).
Unit Content Questions / How can we compare modern civil rights issues to the civil rights struggle in the United States?
Unit 6 Summary + Curriculum Alignment
Unit Title / The Outsiders
Major Topics / Demonstrate an understanding of the main ideas, events, or themes of a novel, story, poetry, and other print
Explain the motivation of the characters in works of communication, providing evidence from the text of each work
Identify and explain connections between new ideas and information and their previous beliefs, values, and experiences
Revise and edit their work to improve content, organization, and effect to best suit their audience and purpose
Demonstrate pride and satisfaction in using language to create and express their thoughts, ideas, and feelings
Description of Primary Performance Task
NOTE: One task per unit / The Comparing Identities: You vs. Who? Project will help students discover their own identity and relate themselves to a character from the novel. They will have the freedom to express their own identity in the genre of their choice. Students are encouraged to analyze a character and themselves and compare and contrast their identities.
Common Core Standard(s) Related to Task / LA7.WR.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
LA7.WR.2.a Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow: organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
LA7.WR.2.b Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
LA7.WR.2.c Use appropriate transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
LA7.WR.2.e Establish and maintain a formal style
LA7.WR.2.f Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.
NWEA Supporting Skills / Emerging / Identifies details that support an inference in literary text
Determines a shared theme in multiple texts
Proficient / Compares and contrasts ideas presented in multiple literary texts
Identifies details that support an inference in literary text
Identifies details that support the theme in literary text
Analyzes how setting contributes to theme
Determines a shared theme in multiple texts
Determines the moral of a story
Excelling / Determines a shared theme in multiple texts
Determines the moral of a fable
Determines the moral of a story
Determines theme in literary text
Interdisciplinary Integrations / Thematic Connections / Social Studies - Neighborhood projects
Connections to Writing Framework/
SAT Writing for Juniors