Ms. Garcia's 7th Grade ELA Class
What We're Learnng Now
December 8th-February 9th:
Currently we are reading a novel titled Lyddie, after its main character. Lyddie and her brother are hired out as servants by their mother to pay off their family's debt. Rather than work for $0.50 a week as she was originally arranged to do by her mother, Lyddie decides to make a more decent wage by heading to Lowell, Massachusetts to work at a textile factory. While here, she encounters horrible working conditions and goes through many hardships and personal growth experiences. Students learn about the 10 hour movement and the development of worker's rights.
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If you'd like to learn more about the subject of working conditions in 19th Century Massachusetts, click on the following links:
October 25th-December 5th:
In this unit, students read an abridged excerpt titled "What it Takes to Be Great" from Geoff Colvin's book Talent is Overrated. It's all about what how "natural talent" is actually a myth. The author does years of researching top performers such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Luciano Pavarotti, and Warren Buffett to find out that they all became the greats that they are by what Colvin calls "deliberate practice." Deliberate practice involves an incredible, often painful amount of effort, repetition, consistency, seeking feedback and making adjustments, and the always evolving goal-setting process.
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After students read the article, they will be required to write a speech on three tips to improve in any field of their choice. Their tips must be based on Colvin's concept of deliberate practice. To see the rubric for this assignment, as well as an exemplar, click on the links below:
October 16th-21st:
Students read an article from their SCOPE magazines called "Dying to Be Strong" on steroid use in teens. They explore the dangers, causes, and effects of steroids, and learn how to write using the cause-and-effect strategy. To explore the vocabulary in this unit, look at some of the activities, or read the article, click on the below links:
August 25th-October 16th:
Students will read the novel A Long Walk to Water in this unit, which begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way. The students will complete multiple bigger assignments in this unit, including an essay and a short-response mid-unit assessment. Our standards focus will be gathering evidence. To read more about Salva, the person whom this book is based on, click on the link below:
February 23rd-March 20th:
In this unit, students will read articles for and against "Helicopter Parenting" and choose one of two options for their project: A Google Slides Presentation and Speech, or a Google Slides Presentation and MoveNote video. Their presentation will argue either for or against the practice of "helicopter parenting."