7th Grade ELA (Iowa Core)

Reading Literature (RL)

• RL.7.1 Back up analysis of what a text states and implies with several pieces of evidence.
• RL.7.2 Analyze how a literary text develops.
  • a. Identify a theme or central idea and trace how it develops.
  • b. Give an objective summary.
• RL.7.3 Analyze how story or drama elements affect each other, e.g. setting shaping characters or plot.
• RL.7.4 Work out word and phrase meanings, including figurative, connotative and multiple meanings, and their effect on meaning, tone and mood.
• RL.7.5 Analyze how an author organizes a text and how that structure adds to its meaning.
• RL.7.6 Analyze how an author sets the points of view or perspectives of different characters or narrators against each other.
• RL.7.7 Compare a text with a version in another medium and judge each medium's techniques and their effect on the audience.
• RL.7.9 Compare a fictional picture of a time, place or character with a historical account to see how fiction uses or changes history.
• RL.7.10 Read and understand grade 6–8 band literature well by year end, with support at the top of the range.

Reading Informational Text (RI)

• RI.7.1 Back up analysis of what a text states and implies with several pieces of evidence.
• RI.7.2 Analyze how an informational text develops.
  • a. Identify two or more central ideas and trace how they develop.
  • b. Give an objective summary.
• RI.7.3 Analyze how people, events and ideas in a text influence one another.
• RI.7.4 Work out figurative, connotative and technical word meanings and how a word choice affects meaning and tone.
• RI.7.5 Analyze how an author organizes a text, including how major sections build the whole and its ideas.
• RI.7.6 Identify the author's viewpoint or purpose and how the author sets it apart from others' positions.
• RI.7.7 Compare a text with its audio, video or multimedia version, analyzing how each medium presents the subject.
• RI.7.8 Trace and judge an argument, checking that reasoning is sound and evidence relevant and enough.
• RI.7.9 Analyze how authors on the same topic shape key information by stressing different evidence or readings of facts.
• RI.7.10 Read and understand grade 6–8 band literary nonfiction well by year end, with support at the top of the range.

Writing (W)

• W.7.1 Write arguments that back claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
  • a. State the claim, note opposing claims and order reasons and evidence logically.
  • b. Support the claim with logical reasoning and accurate, credible evidence, showing grasp of the topic.
  • c. Use linking words and clauses for cohesion among claims, reasons and evidence.
  • d. Keep a tone and style suited to the task and readers.
  • e. End with a closing statement or section that grows out of and backs the argument.
• W.7.2 Write informative pieces that explore a topic and present ideas and information through chosen, organized, analyzed content.
  • a. Introduce the topic with a preview and organize it by definition, classification, comparison or cause and effect, adding headings, graphics or media.
  • b. Build the topic with facts, definitions, details, quotations and examples.
  • c. Use transitions for cohesion and to make links between ideas clear.
  • d. Use precise and subject-specific vocabulary.
  • e. Keep a formal style.
  • f. End with a closing statement or section that grows out of and backs the explanation.
• W.7.3 Write narratives of real or imagined events with effective technique, descriptive detail and a clear order of events.
  • a. Set the scene and point of view, introduce narrator or characters, and order events naturally.
  • b. Use dialogue, pacing and description to develop events and characters.
  • c. Use varied transitions to show order and shifts in time or setting.
  • d. Use precise words, descriptive detail and sensory language to capture the action.
  • e. End with a conclusion that grows out of the events and reflects on them.
• W.7.4 Produce clear, coherent writing whose development, organization and style fit the task, purpose and audience.
• W.7.5 With some help from peers and adults, strengthen writing by planning and revising, focusing on how well it serves purpose and audience.
• W.7.6 Use technology to produce, publish and collaborate on writing, including linking to and citing sources.
• W.7.7 Do short research projects that answer a question from several sources and raise further focused questions.
• W.7.8 Gather information from print and digital sources with good search terms, judge credibility and accuracy, and cite in a standard format without plagiarism.
• W.7.9 Draw on evidence from literature or informational texts to back up analysis, reflection and research.
  • a. Apply grade 7 literature reading standards in writing.
  • b. Apply grade 7 literary nonfiction reading standards in writing.
• W.7.10 Write regularly over long and short time frames for many subject-specific tasks, purposes and audiences.

Speaking and Listening (SL)

• SL.7.1 Join many kinds of discussion on grade 7 topics and texts, adding to others' ideas and voicing their own clearly.
  • a. Arrive prepared and use evidence from that preparation to probe and reflect on ideas.
  • b. Follow agreed rules for discussion and decisions, track goals and deadlines, and assign roles as needed.
  • c. Ask questions that draw out more detail and steer the discussion back on topic with relevant replies.
  • d. Take in new information from others and change their own views when justified.
• SL.7.2 Analyze main ideas and details from varied media and explain how they clarify the topic.
• SL.7.3 Trace a speaker's argument and judge if its reasoning holds up and its evidence is relevant and enough.
• SL.7.4 Present claims and findings in a focused, coherent way, stressing key points with relevant detail and fitting style.
• SL.7.5 Build multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify claims and stress key points.
• SL.7.6 Adjust speech to the context, using formal English when called for, with good eye contact, volume and clear pronunciation.

Language (L)

• L.7.1 Show control of standard English grammar and usage in speech and writing.
  • a. Explain what phrases and clauses do, generally and in given sentences.
  • b. Choose simple, compound, complex or compound-complex sentences to show how ideas relate.
  • c. Place phrases and clauses well, fixing misplaced and dangling modifiers.
• L.7.2 Show control of capital letters, punctuation and spelling in writing.
  • a. Separate coordinate adjectives with a comma.
  • b. Spell correctly, checking references when needed.
• L.7.3 Use knowledge of language and conventions when writing, speaking, reading or listening.
  • a. Choose precise, concise language and cut wordiness and repetition.
• L.7.4 Figure out new and multiple-meaning words met in grade 7 reading and content, using several strategies.
  • a. Use sentence or paragraph context and a word's role as clues.
  • b. Use familiar Greek or Latin word parts as clues to meaning.
  • c. Use general and specialized references for pronunciation, exact meaning or part of speech.
  • d. Check a guessed meaning in context or in a reference.
• L.7.5 Show understanding of figurative language, word relationships and small differences in meaning.
  • a. Interpret allusions to literature, the Bible and myth in context.
  • b. Use synonyms, antonyms and analogies to understand words better.
  • c. Tell apart the connotations of words with similar definitions.
• L.7.6 Learn and correctly use grade-level academic and subject words, building vocabulary when a word matters for understanding.