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7th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 19 of 20

Texts, Versions and Judging Quality

Compare a text with its film, audio or stage version, and judge texts with criteria.

What your child practices

Your child compares a written text with its film, audio, staged or digital version and the techniques each uses, chooses fair criteria to judge the quality of stories, poems and articles, and connects texts across eras and cultures.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 7R7; 7R9 · comparing a written text with its audio, filmed, staged or digital versions, judging quality with criteria and connecting texts

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A film, audio or stage version tells the story with different tools: acting, camera, sound and lighting.
  2. Judge quality with fair criteria, like original imagery or accurate facts.
  3. Connect a text to other stories, events and ideas from other eras and cultures.

Example: A novel describes a character’s thoughts for pages. In the film, the actor gives a long silent look. What does the film rely on? The film has no narrator for thoughts. It uses what we see instead. Answer: the actor’s expression and the camera

Texts, Versions and Judging Quality in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 19 of 20 in 7th grade English Language Arts, after Listening & Discussion and before Stories, Responses and Evidence.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    A novel describes a character's thoughts for pages. In the film, the actor shows them with a long silent look. What does the film rely on?

    • a glossary
    • a narrator reading every thought
    • the actor's expression and the camera
    • footnotes on the screen

  2. Question 2

    A novel written in 1910 and one written today both explore loneliness. Which connection is strongest?

    • The novels have the same characters.
    • Loneliness only existed in 1910.
    • People in very different eras share similar feelings.
    • Nothing connects them.

  3. Question 3

    You read a novel and then watch a stage version where actors break into song. What has the stage version added?

    • footnotes
    • an index
    • a table of contents
    • music that expresses characters' feelings

  4. Question 4

    Which criterion best fits judging an informational article?

    • number of pictures of animals
    • accuracy, clear organization and reliable sources
    • length of the title
    • the author's favorite color

  5. Question 5

    In the book, a storm is described in three paragraphs. The film shows it in ten seconds with loud music. What does the film gain?

    • more detail about each character's thoughts
    • immediate drama through sound and images
    • a written description
    • a glossary of weather terms

  6. Question 6

    A myth from ancient Greece and a modern superhero comic both show a hero with one weakness. What connection can you make?

    • Stories across eras use similar hero patterns.
    • Myths and comics are unrelated.
    • The comic was written in ancient Greece.
    • Heroes never have weaknesses.

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