Curriculum - Middle School

Grade 7

Language Arts
Reading
  • Identify word meaning (context clues, definitions, restatement, example, contrast)
  • Interprets story elements (theme, character, plot, conflict, point of view)
  • Interprets literary devices (allusion, understatement, imagery, foreshadowing, flashback, symbolism)
  • Uses oral/written responses to analyze universal themes found in a variety of world/multicultural texts
  • Compare/contrast elements in multiple genres (plot, setting, character, theme)
  • Explains relationship between life experiences and texts to generate solutions to problems
  • Uses technical information and other available resources (web sites, interviews) to solve problems 
  • Identify common abbreviations 
  • Classify/interpret elements of genres
    • Fiction
    • Nonfiction
    • Poetry
    • Drama
  • Comprehension
    • Analyze author's stated/implied purposes
    • Summarizing & Paraphrasing
    • Identify (stated idea, implied main ideas, supporting details)
English
  • Write using technical information
  • Write multiparagraph compositions on student-selected topic
  • Orgnaize individual paragraphs (topic sentence, relevant elaboration, concluding sentences)
  • Develop paragraph compositions (description, narrative, exposition, persuasion, compare/contrast)
  • Writing for purpose (business letters, evaluations, commentaries)
  • Use standard English punctuation
    • Periods
    • Question/exclamation marks
    • Hyphens (syllable & compound adjective)
    • Commas
    • Colons
  • Know capitalization rules
  • Use parts of speech
    • Nouns
    • Verbs
    • Adjectives
    • Adverbs
    • Pronouns
    • Conjunctions
    • Interjections
    • Prepositions
    • Possessive forms of singular/plural nouns
  • Apply knowledge of parts of speech in writing (infinitives, participles, gerunds)
  • Superlative/comparative degrees of adjectives/adverbs
  • Use standard English grammar when speaking
  • Develop grade-appropriate compositions on student/teacher-selected topics
    • Include word choices (diction)
    • Vocabulary selected to clarify meaning, create images, set tone
    • Information/ideas selected to engage interest of reader
    • Clear voice (individual personality)
    • Variety in sentence structure
  • Consistent use of standard English capitalization/punctuation
  • Varying sentence structures/patterns, including complex sentences
  • Use phrases/clauses correctly as modifiers
  • Correct use of high-frequency, commonly confused, frequently misspelled words and derivatives
Information
  • Use variety of resources
    • Glossaries
    • Dictionaries
    • Thesauruses
    • Newspapers
    • Magazines
    • Brochures
    • Appendices
    • Prefaces
  • Select information using organizational features of resources
  • Locate & integrate information from printed text, electronic sources, and other media
  • Organize/deliver oral presentations
  • Identify sources as primary/secondary
  • Strategies for locating/gathering information (surveying, interviewing, paraphrasing)
  • Generate reports from research
    • Include visual representations
    • Use graphic organizers
    • Include bibliographies
  • Use word processing to publish work
  • Give credit for borrowed information
  • Interpret information from variety of graphic organizers
Math
  • Write mathematical expressions for verbal expressions
  • Write verbal expressions for mathematical expressions
  • Translate verbal sentences into equations
  • Translate equations into verbal sentences
  • Evaluate numerical/algebraic expressions using order of operations
  • Solve open sentence equations/inequalities
  • Recognize/use properties of identity/equality
  • Use the distributive property to simplify/evaluate expressions
  • Recognize/use commutative & associative properties
  • Identify hypothesis & conclussion in a conditional statement
  • Use a counter example to show that an assertion is false
  • Interpret/draw graphs of functions
  • Analyze data provided in tables/graphs
  • Determine whether graphs are misleading
  • Graph rational numbers on a number line
  • Find absolute values of rational numbers
  • Add/subtract/multiply/divide integers & rational numbers
  • Find square roots
  • Classify/order real numbers
  • Solve equations
    • Using addition/subtraction
    • Using multiplication/division
    • Involving more than one operation
    • With variable on either side
    • Involving grouping symbols
    • For given variables
  • Solve problems
    • Working backwards
    • Involving percents of change
    • Mixture problems
    • Uniform motion problems
  • Solve proportions
  • Determine whether two ratios form a proportion
  • Find percents of increase/decrease
  • Use formulas to solve real-world problems
  • Locate/graph points on the coordinate plane
  • Transform figures using reflections, translations, dilations, & rotations
  • Represent relations as sets of ordered pairs, tables, mappings, & graphs
  • Find the inverse of a relation
  • Use an equation to determine the range for a given domain
  • Graph the solution set for a given domain
  • Identify/graph linear equations
  • Determine whether a relation is a function
  • Find function values
  • Recognize arithmetic sequences
  • Extend/write formulas for arithmetic sequences
  • Write an equation from a pattern
  • Find the slope of a line
  • Use rate of change to solve problems
  • Write/graph direct variation equations
  • Solve problems involving direct variation
  • Write/graph linear equations in slope-intercept form
  • Model real-world data with an equation in slope-intercept form
  • Write an equation of a line
    • Given the slope and one point on the line
    • Given two points on the line
    • In point-slope form
    • Passing through a given point & parallel to a given line
    • Passing through a given point & perpendicular to a given line
  • Write linear equations in different forms
  • Solve linear inequalities
    • Using addition/subtraction
    • Using multiplication/division
    • Involving more than one operation
    • Involving the distributive property
  • Solve compound inequalities containing and or or,  and graph their solution sets
  • Solve absolute value equations/inequalities
  • Graph inequalities on the coordinate plane
  • Solve real-world problems involving linear inequalities
  • Determine whether a system of linear equations has 0, 1, or infinitely many solutions
  • Solve a system of equations by graphing and by using substitution
  • Solve real-world problems involving systems of equations
  • Solve systems of equations using elimination with addition/subtraction/multiplication
  • Determine best method for solving systems of equations
  • Solve systems of inequalities by graphing
  • Solve real-world problems involving systems of inequalities
  • Multiply/divide monomials
  • Simplify expressions involving powers of monomials
  • Simplify expressions containing negative exponents
  • Express numbers in standard & scientific notations
  • Find products/quotients of numbers expressed in scientific notation
  • Find the degree of a polynomial
  • Arrange the terms of a polynomial in ascending/descending order
  • Add/subtract polynomials
  • Find the product of a monomial and a polynomial
  • Solve equations involving polynomials
  • Multiply two binomials using the FOIL method
  • Multiply two polynomials using the distributive method
  • Find squares of sums and differences
  • Find the product of a sum and a difference
  • Find prime factorization of integers and monomials
  • Find the GCF of integers and monomials
  • Factor polynomials using the distributive property
  • Solve quadratic equations of the form ax2 + bx = 0
  • Factor trinomials of the form x2 + bx + c
  • Solve equations of the form x2 + bx + c = 0
  • Factor trinomials of the form ax2 + bx + c
  • Solve equations of the form ax2 + bx + c = 0
  • Factor binomials that are differences of squares
  • Solve equations involving the differences of squares
  • Factor perfect square trinomials
  • Solve equations involving perfect squares
  • Graph quadratic functions
  • Find the equation of the axis of symmetry and the coordinates of the vertex of a parabola
  • Estimate solutions of quadratic equations by graphing
  • Solve quadratic equations
    • By graphing
    • By finding the square root
    • By completing the square
    • By using the quadratic formula
  • Use the discriminant to determine the number of solutions for a quadratic equation
  • Graph exponential functions
  • Identify data that displays exponential behavior
  • Solve problems involving exponential growth/decay
  • Simplify radical expressions using the product/quotient properties of square roots
  • Add/subtract/multiply radical expressions
  • Solve radical equations
  • Solve radical equations with extraneous solutions
  • Solve problems using the Pythagorean theorem
  • Determine whether a triangle is a right triangle
  • Find the distance between two points on the coordinate plane
  • Find a point that is a given distance from a second point in a plane
  • Determine whether two triangles are similar
  • Find the unknown measures of sides in two similar triangles
  • Define sine, cosine, and tangent ratios
  • Use trigonometric ratios to solve right triangles
  • Graph inverse variations
  • Solve problems involving inverse variations
  • Identify values excluded from the domain of a rational expression
  • Simplify/multiply/divide rational expressions
  • Use dimensional analysis with multiplication/division
  • Divide a polynomial by a monomial and by a binomial
  • Add/subtract rational expressions with like/unlike denominators
  • Simplify mixed expressions
  • Simplify complex fractions
  • Solve rational equations
  • Eliminate extraneous solutions
  • Identify various sampling techniques
  • Recognize biased samples
  • Organize data in matrices
  • Solve problems by adding/subtracting matrices or by multiplying a scalar
  • Find the range of a set of data
  • Find the quartiles and interquartile range of a set of data
  • Count outcomes using a tree diagram/using the fundamental counting principle
  • Determine probabilities using permutations/combinations
  • Find probabilities
    • Of two independent/dependent events
    • Of two mutually exclusive/inclusive events
Earth Science
  • Understand that science is a way of knowing about the world that is characterized by empirical criteria, logical argument, and skeptical review
  • Design/conduct scientific investigations
  • Know that science/technology are human efforts that both influence and are influenced by society
  • Understand how scientific discovery, culture, societal norms and technology have influenced one another in different time periods
  • Understand that Earth is one of several planets that orbits the sun and the moon orbits the Earth
  • Describe the relationships of the Earth to other bodies
    • to the sun
    • to the moon
    • to the other planets and their moons
    • to smaller objects (asteroids/comets)
  • Understand that the solar system is in a galaxy in an expanding universe composed of immense numbers of stars and celestial bodies
  • Observe/examine physical properties of Earth materials (rocks, soils, water, gases of the atmosphere)
  • Classify rocks/solids into groups based on their chemical/physical properties
  • Describe the processes by which rocks/soils are formed
  • Correlate the chemical composition of Earth materials (rocks, soils, water, gases of the atmosphere) with properties that determine the use to humans
  • Recognize that the Earth is a spherical planet with a mainly solid interior and a surface composed of landforms, bodies of water and an atmosphere
  • Describe the components/relationships of the Earth system
  • Explain how patterns/arrangements of landforms, oceans and atmosphere are determined by natural forces
  • Explain how the Theory of Plate Tectonics accounts for movement over time
  • Identify processes that slowly/rapidly change the surface of the Earth
  • Describe the processes of constructive/destructive forces and how they continually change landforms on Earth
  • Understand patterns of movement in the plates of the Earth's surface
    • Result from the outward transfer of Earth's internal heat
    • Can historically be identified from clues in rock formations
    • Can result in occurance of volcanoes/earthquakes
  • Recognize that fossils provide evidence of plants, animals and environments that existed long ago
  • Know the importance of fossils in documenting life/environmental changes over time
  • Understand that fossils and radioactive elements can be used to correlate/determine the sequence of geologic events
  • Observe/measure weather indicators (temperature, wind direction/speed, precipitation) noting changes/patterns of change from day to day and through the seasons
  • Relate global atmospheric movement and the formation of ocean currents to weather and climate
  • Correlate global climate to energy transfer by the sun, cloud cover, Earth's rotation, and positions of mountain ranges and oceans
  • Observe/describe the patterns of movement of the sun and moon relative to each other and Earth, and relate to Earth's rotation
  • Describe how the regular/predictable motions of most objects in the solar system account for such phenomena as the day, year, phases of the moon, eclipses, seasons and ocean tides
  • Understand that the Earth, planets, sun, and the rest of the celestial bodies in the universe are continuing to evolve because of interactions between matter and forces of nature