Grade 7 English Language Arts
14 units matched to the Alberta Curriculum. Kids see this subject as “Language Arts”.
Organizing ideas
- General Outcome 1: students explore thoughts, ideas, feelings and experiences
- General Outcome 2: students listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to comprehend and respond personally and critically
- General Outcome 3: students manage ideas and information
- General Outcome 4: students enhance the clarity and artistry of communication
- General Outcome 5: students respect, support and collaborate with others
Units
Unit 1
Close Reading
Reading original stories, arguments and informational passages, then identifying theme and main idea, making inferences, spotting claims and counterarguments, and explaining why an author made certain choices.
Learning outcome: General Outcome 2 · making inferences and analyzing complex texts
Unit 2
Whose Story?
Telling first, second and third person apart, finding the clues, and imagining how a different narrator would change the story.
Learning outcome: General Outcome 2 · the narrator's point of view
Unit 3
Literary Devices
Recognizing the tools writers use: figurative language, foreshadowing, flashback, symbolism and the three kinds of irony (verbal, situational and dramatic), plus the parts of a plot.
Learning outcome: General Outcome 2 · foreshadowing, symbolism and other literary devices
Unit 4
Tone & Mood
Telling the writer's attitude (tone) apart from the reader's feeling (mood), and seeing how word choice and connotation shape both.
Learning outcome: General Outcomes 2, 4 · word choice, voice, tone and mood
Unit 5
Poetry Lab
Reading short original poems to find rhyme schemes, count stanzas, identify the speaker, recognize forms like haiku, limerick and free verse, and interpret figurative language and theme.
Learning outcome: General Outcomes 1, 2 · poetry, text forms and responding to what you read
Unit 6
Patterns & Features
Spotting causes and effects, using signal words, and explaining why features like a bibliography, index or clear fonts help readers.
Learning outcome: General Outcomes 2, 3 · text patterns and features in information texts
Unit 7
Source Check
Researching responsibly: judging whether a source is trustworthy and current, noticing bias, separating fact from opinion, and giving credit through quotation, paraphrase and citation.
Learning outcome: General Outcome 3 · checking sources for bias and reliability
Unit 8
Persuasive Power
Identifying appeals to credibility, emotion and logic; spotting weak reasoning like bandwagon, false cause and slippery slope; and judging which evidence and rebuttals are strongest.
Learning outcome: General Outcomes 2, 3 · analyzing arguments and perspectives
Unit 9
Clauses & Sentences
Finding independent and dependent clauses, naming the four sentence types, and fixing fragments, run-ons and comma splices, the building blocks of varied, clear sentences.
Learning outcome: General Outcome 4 · complex sentences that combine phrases and clauses
Unit 10
Grammar Gears
Finding the person who receives something (indirect object), words after linking verbs that rename or describe the subject, -ing and -ed describing words (participles), and phrases that tell when, where, how or why.
Learning outcome: General Outcome 4 · parts of sentences, such as predicate nouns and participles
Unit 11
Modifiers & Parallelism
Revising sentences so describing phrases sit next to what they describe (no misplaced or dangling modifiers) and list items match in form (parallel structure).
Learning outcome: General Outcome 4 · sentence structure, modifiers and parallel ideas
Unit 12
Punctuation Power
Using a colon before a quotation, a semicolon with words like however and therefore, and ellipses or dashes to show a pause, an omission or a break.
Learning outcome: General Outcome 4 · punctuating quotations, conjunctive adverbs and interruptions
Unit 13
Semicolons, Colons & Dashes
Using semicolons to join related sentences and separate complex lists, colons to introduce lists and explanations, and dashes to add emphasis or interruptions.
Learning outcome: General Outcome 4 · semicolons, colons and dashes
Unit 14
Word Mix-Ups
Choosing correctly between commonly confused words: its/it's, their/there/they're, then/than, lose/loose, who's/whose, affect/effect, accept/except and more.
Learning outcome: General Outcome 4 · commonly confused words and correct usage
Ready to try Gradelings?
Curriculum-matched practice for Kindergarten to Grade 9 in British Columbia and Ontario and Alberta and Saskatchewan, with kind hints, learning games and no ads. Free for 30 days, no card needed.