Unit 1: Choosing to Take Bold Actions
In this unit, students may read either
Full Cicada Moon or
Outcasts United as well as other shorter literary and nonfiction texts to analyze narrative elements and their contribution to the development of theme/central idea, purpose, and point of view. Likewise, students will create an original editorial, interview, and advertisement to apply their understanding of claim, supporting detail, reasoning, types of appeals, purpose, and point of view. The unit ends with students composing an argument that explains whether or not the rewards of bold actions are worth the risks.
Unit 2: Choosing How We Perceive Our World
In this unit, students will closely examine a long work of drama and other works of fiction to analyze literary elements and their significance to the development of theme, characters, and plot. They will compare and contrast techniques, including cinematic as well as stylistic choices, directors and writers use to create meaning for the viewer or reader. Students will end the unit by composing an analysis of a director’s interpretation of stage directions from text to film and considering the effects of these choices in adapting the play to film.
Unit 3: Choosing to Appreciate Historical Fiction
In this unit students will read
An American Plague and
Fever 1793 as well as a variety of other historical narratives in order to develop an understanding of how authors use or alter history in the creation of their own stories. They will analyze the author’s use of flashback, point of view, figurative language, diction, and dialogue to develop characters and communicate purpose and perspective. Students research an historical event to compose a fictionalized narrative scene using effective point of view, setting, dialogue, characterization, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.
Unit 4: Choices That Reflect Conscious Decision Making
In this unit, students will study a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts, including
The Giant and How He Humbugged America, focused on the topic of consumerism. They will develop an understanding of why it is necessary to actively engage with texts by critically analyzing the ways in which various ideas and evidence are presented. Students will compose an essay analyzing how two or more authors writing about the same topic shape their presentations of key information by emphasizing different evidence or advancing different interpretations of facts.
Click on the image above to see the Table of Contents for the Collections Grade 7 anthology.
Note: The BCPS ELA curriculum provides teachers and students with choices that allow for personalized, responsive, and engaging instruction. Students should read the majority of the unit's novel-length work(s) outside of class time. The suggested unit sequences and text options may vary.