Seventh Grade

7th grade ELA begins with an examination of personal identity and life in the Middle Ages. Students will begin the year by reading Castle Diary by Richard Platt, next, we will read a selection of Geoffery Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales written by Geraldine McCaughrean, and finally, we will read The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman. Throughout these novels, we will explore the influence of societal forces on identity formation. The 7th graders will culminate this module by writing their own narratives set in the Middle Ages. Historical fiction elements, narrative techniques, and writing experimentation will be applied to demonstrate how society can support and limit the development of identity.

The next module takes us forward in time to 1941 with the attack on Pearl Harbor and Germany’s declaration of war. We will read Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac and Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston. 7th-grade students will explore this world of conflict through the lens of the lives of those who lived through it. Students will write an informative/explanatory essay detailing the life of one individual’s encounter with adversity and how their identity was molded by experience.

The final module for the 7th grade will center around the power of language. Students will read George Orwell’s Animal Farm. This module facilitates students’ abilities to analyze the logic and validity of arguments; to consider and respect the different or opposite perspectives, and to recognize language’s potential for both inspiration and manipulation. Students will build an understanding of the need to develop critical reading and thinking skills that will enable them to recognize when others attempt to persuade or manipulate them with language. With all of these understandings, students will write an argumentative essay in which they weigh evidence regarding the matter of language being more powerful when used to uplift, or to control.

 

Seventh grade math begins with a study of proportional relationships, bridging the work between 6th grade ratios and linear relationships later in the year.  A major step taken in 7th grade is the introduction of operations with rational numbers. Number lines and other manipulatives are used to help solidify student understanding of these concepts. Pre-algebra topics build on our work with rationals, as students learn more advanced algebraic properties and solve more complex equations & inequalities.  Ratio relationships are revisited with a unit on percents and their real-world applications. The introduction of pi as the ratio of circumference to diameter helps to connect our ratio work to geometry in 7th grade. In the spring, students complete a data project focused on histograms and box-plots.  We end the year with a unit on linear relationships in preparation for 8th grade.  Throughout the year, emphasis is placed on finding multiple ways to represent problems, embracing mistakes as learning opportunities, and on the idea that all people can learn math.
Our Grade 7 math curriculum is Eureka Math Squared.

 

In seventh grade we focus on historical thinking methods as we learn about the Medieval World History  and Washington State History. All units are taught through activities and projects that require students to apply new content as they learn. We continue to apply the same historical themes taught in sixth grade, but focus on the social structures that shape civilizations and question how these structures still apply. Through studying the Medieval World, students get to experience the roots of beliefs and cultures around the world. It is exciting to see students find connections between cultures and time periods.

 

Science

 

Catholic Connections curriculum. 7th grade focuses on the New Testament & the Church. This year we will supplement with the Missionary Disciple Institute program from the Seattle Archdiocese and Maryknoll.