Unit 1: Choosing to Find Inspiration from History
In this unit, students read
An American Plague and primary source documents to analyze how authors convey perspective in non-fiction texts. They will also examine the author’s use of narrative techniques in
Fever 1793 in order to apply these techniques within their own writing. Finally, students will research an epidemic or event in history to compose an original narrative that uses or alters the facts to illustrate a specific theme.
Unit 2: Choosing How We Represent Our Struggles
In this unit, students read longer works of both fiction and non-fiction to analyze how organizational and narrative structures contribute to the meaning of texts. Students will examine texts such as
Round and Round Together and/or
A Raisin in the Sun to determine how ideas and themes are developed. Students will compose a literary analysis essay to evaluate how dialogue and stage directions, as written and then performed, contribute to building tension in the plot.
Unit 3: Choosing My Perspective
In this unit, students will analyze how and why authors choose to present multiple experiences and viewpoints. They will read
Hidden Figures,
Parallel Journeys, and selected non-fiction texts in
Collections in order to examine varied perspectives and determine how representing those viewpoints contributes to the complete understanding of an event or experience. Within this context, students will compose an argument on an issue of choice as they analyze how and why the use of information and rhetorical devices can be used to influence an individual's perceptions.
Unit 4: Choosing to be Conscious Citizens
In this unit, students will research governmental structures and the influence of government on the citizens as they prepare to read
Animal Farm. Students will use the literary critical approaches as a means to analyze both print and non-print texts to ascertain how the use of symbols and allegory can strengthen or weaken an argument. At the conclusion of the unit, students will research a historical event as a basis for creating an original allegory.
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.