Curriculum

Unit: Reading: A Love Story

Grade 7
English Language Arts
Lesson 5: Using a mentor text to explore a genre
Time: 2 Class Periods

Utah Core Standards Addressed:
o RL.7.3: Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact.
o RL.7.5: Analyze how a dramas or poems form or structure contributes to its
meaning.
o RL.7.10: By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including
stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6-8 text complexity band
proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Objectives:
o Students will closely examine elements of the drama genre of literature by
reading and performing a play titled The Mystery of the Suffocated 7th
Grader (Cottonwood Press, 1993).
o Students will discuss and analyze how the characters and dialogue shape the
plot of the story. Students will use their observations from the text to help
them craft their own drama.

Materials Needed:
o Copies of the play The Mystery of the Suffocated 7th Grader
o Pen or pencil
o Plot Diagram/Characterization Page

Lesson 5 Overview:
In this lesson students will be reading a play and using this as a mentor text to
study genres on a closer level. Students will be able to review characterization,
conflict, and plot structure and apply these literary devices to their reading of the
play. In the following lesson, students will use the structure of this play to write
their own play with a group of students that reflects a chosen genre.

Key Vocabulary:
o Direct Characterization
o Indirect Characterization
o Internal Conflict
o External Conflict
o Plot
o Exposition
o Rising Action
o Climax
o Falling Action
o Resolution
o Dialogue

Activity:

Introduction for Lesson 5:

1. English Energizer (Opener): To begin, the students will be told that they
will be doing a little exercise in acting to get them warmed up for the task
during class today. Students will each draw a note card from the stack and
volunteer to act out the activity written on the card. Examples of activities
might include playing football, swimming, fishing, reading a book, painting a
picture, playing hide and seek, building a pyramid, playing tag, or washing a
car. Students will act out these activities Charades-style. The purpose of
this warm-up is just to get students comfortable performing in front of their
classmates.

Task:
2. Next, students will be informed that in class today they will be examining a
play that demonstrates the mystery genre. The play is titled The Mystery of
the Suffocated 7th Grader.
3. While students are reviewing the play, I will write the various parts of the
play on the board and ask students to volunteer for the different roles.
4. Once all parts are filled, we will take a moment to review how to read the
dialogue in the script. For example, we will identify the purpose of the
narrator in the play, what italicized font could mean to the actor, and what
italicized writing in parentheses means. Students are encouraged to read
with emotion!
5. Together, students will read through the play, stopping for clarification as
new characters join the scene.
6. After reading the play, the students will work in small groups to identify the
various parts of the plot and select one character to find an example of direct
and indirect characterization for. Next to the evidence, students will write in
their reflection about what they learned about this character from this
evidence, and how these characters added to or helped resolve the conflict of
the story. We will share these responses as a class.
7. Next, we will discuss what made this play fit into the mystery genre? Finally,
students will discuss what elements of the play added to the suspense and
mystery, and overall plot of the story. I will keep track of student responses
on giant chart paper.



Curriculum Unit: Reading: A Love Story
Grade 7
English Language Arts
Lesson 6: Genre StudyWriting a play that reflects a specific genre
Time: 3-4 Class Periods


Utah Core Standards Addressed:
o W.7.3a: Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of
view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event
sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.
o W.7.3b: Use narrative techniques such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to
develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

o 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.
o SL.7.6: Adapt speech to a variety of context and tasks, demonstrating
command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.

Objectives:
o Students will collaborate in groups to write a script for a short play that
demonstrates a designated genre.

o Students will perform a dramatic reading of their script to present a
designated type of literary genre.

Materials Needed:
o Student Laptops
o Storyboard outline page
o Genre Skit Directions Page
o Genre Skit Grading Rubric
o Audience Evaluation Sheet

Lesson 6 Overview:

In this lesson, students will collaborate through a Google Doc to develop a
short play that reflects one specific genre. Students will develop a plot line and
characters that demonstrate the genre assigned to them. Once the script is
developed, students will then present this script as a Readers Theater style
performance (no props or extensive staging required). To assess students
understanding of what defines each type of genre, students will then guess as to
what genre each skit fits into best.

Key Vocabulary:
o Collaborate

Activity:

Introduction:
1. English Energizer (opener): Students will review directions for the Genre
Skit Project individually. While students are reviewing directions, they will
be given a notecard with an assigned genre.
2. As a class, we will review the directions and expectations for writing the
script for a short play.
3. Students will identify the other students with the same genre written on
their notecard. Groups should range from 4-5 students per group.

Task:

4. Students will open a Google Doc, which one group member will create and
then share with the remainder of the group.
5. Using the storyboard skit-planning sheet, students will discuss together and
begin mapping out the plot and characters in their skit. Once the story is
planned, students will then collaborate on the Google Doc to write their
script for the play.

6. Once the script is written, students will rehearse the script out loud and
decide how they will perform their script in a dramatic reading to their
classmates. Students may also decide how they will enter the staging area
and how they will exit the staging area. Finally, students might want to create
or design a backdrop or simple props that will add to their performance.
7. The final step will be presenting the skit in front of the class. Audience
members will evaluate the performance using the Audience Evaluator Sheet,
and determine which genre this skit best portrays.




Curriculum Unit: Reading: A Love Story
Grade 7
English Language Arts
Lesson 7: Independent Reading Journal Set-up
Time: 1 Class Period


Utah Core Standards:
o RL.7.10: By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including
stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6-8 text complexity band
proficiently, with scaffolding at the high end of the range.
o RI.7.10: By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in
the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed
at the high end of the range.

Objectives:
o Students will organize their independent reading journal, which will help
them track their reading growth and progress throughout the quarter.


Materials Needed:
o Pen or pencil
o Reading Journal (spiral or composition notebook)
o Staplers
o Glue Sticks
o Reading Stamina Goal Setting page
o Book List page
o Journal Response page
o I Can Reading Strategies Self-Assessment page
o Divider tabs
o Reading Profile Page

Lesson 7 Overview:

The purpose of this lesson is to give students the opportunity to organize
their independent reading journals. These reading journals will be used weekly by
students for the purpose of recording a weekly journal entry and keeping track of
unfamiliar words in their personal dictionary. In this journal, students will also keep
track of their reading stamina page number goal, a list of their completed books, and
a helping guide sheet to write their journal entries. Students will also create a

Reading Profile page that will be displayed on a bulletin in the hallway to produce
a social buzz about the books students are reading.

Key Vocabulary:
o Reading Stamina

Activity:

Introduction:
1. English Energizer (opener): Students will begin class by collecting several
documents that they will need for the class period. The first page students
will focus on will be the Reading Stamina Goal Setting Page. As a class, the
students will read through what the term reading stamina means. Students
will then make their first attempt to gauge their reading stamina, which
means that students will read independently from a book of their choice for
ten minutes. Students will track the number of pages they are able to
accomplish during the ten minutes. This number will be recorded as attempt
1 on their reading goal page.

Task:

2. Students will then take their Reading Stamina Goal-Setting page, fold this in
half, and either glue or staple this document onto the first page of their
journal.
3. On the back of this first page, students will either glue or staple the example
Journal Response page. This page will give some ideas as to what types of
journals students can write each week and expectations for each journal
entry. Students will be expected to write one journal entry of their choice
weekly.
4. A third page that will be glued or stapled to the front inside cover of the
students journal will be the completed Book List page. This will be filled out
each time a student completes a book.
5. Next, students will create a section in the back of their journal that will
represent their personal dictionary of vocabulary. (More on this in Lesson
10).
6. Students will then receive a self-assessment page titled, I Can Reading
Strategies Self-Assessment page. This page will be kept in students binder,
and they will fill in this page as we work through the various reading
strategies in class and finalize at the end of the quarter.
7. Finally, students will create their Reading Profile page. This page will be
laminated and hung in the hallway on the designated bulletin board. The
purpose of this profile page is to give students a chance to quickly
communicate with their peers about the book they are reading and their
impressions so far about the book. This will give students a talking point
about the books they are reading. Students will update their profile pages
using white board markers that can be erased from the laminated pages.


Closing:
Students will need to bring their independent reading book to class for the next day.

Curriculum Unit: Reading: A Love Story

Grade 7
English Language Arts
Lesson 8: Reading Strategy: Be a Better Browser
Time: 1 Class Period

Utah Core Standards:
-Anchor Standards for Reading:
o Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical
inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to
support conclusions drawn from the text.
o Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts
independently and proficiently.

Objectives:
o Students will preview a reading selection to determine what they already
know about this topic, consider what they might learn, and set the purpose
for why they are reading.

Materials Needed:
o Independent reading book of students choice
o Pen or pencil
o Mentor Text: Short story, Seventh Grade by Gary Soto
o Reading Journal
o Be A Better Browser handout

Lesson 8 Overview:

In this lesson students will receive a mini-lesson on the first reading strategy
they will receive explicit instruction to complete. Students will discuss a pre-reading
strategy that will require them to preview their selection to stimulate their thinking
about the text and generate ideas about what they will be reading. Students will first
practice these skills with a short story that the entire class will read, and then they
will practice this strategy with the book of their choice.

Key Vocabulary:
o Preview
o Reading Purpose

Activity:

Introduction:
1. English Energizer (opener): Students will be directed to take a copy of the
short story titled, Seventh Grade by Gary Soto and a reading strategy page
titled, Reading Strategy: Be a Better Browser.
2. As a whole class, students will review the instructions on the reading
strategy paper to identify what it means to be a better browser.
3. Individually, students will preview the text, looking at the title, the first
paragraph, and pictures or captions. They will write down the information
requested on the reading strategy paper.
4. Then, students will pair with an elbow neighbor and share what they came
up with for their answers. Students will be called upon to share their ideas to

the whole class and discuss how this strategy can help them with their
reading (think about what this would look like with your science textbook,
history textbook, newspaper article, etc.).

Task:
5. Students will then read together the first 3.5 pages of the story, stopping to
discuss elements of the story as we read.
6. Pausing at this point in the story, we will again check in about how
previewing the text, helped students better comprehend what is taking place
in the story.
7. Students will then apply this to their own reading book. In their journal, they
will make an entry titled, Be a Better Browser and include the title and
author of the book, and what page they are on in the book. Then, students
will answer the same questions asked of them on their reading strategy page,
but about their personal reading book.
8. Students again will need to preview the title, read through the first
paragraph, look at pictures or any chapter headings to gather ideas about
what the story might be about, why they are reading this book, and if it is
fiction or nonfiction. If students have already begun to read their book, they
can describe if their impressions match what is taking place in the story.