Grade 7

Other Florida English Language Arts sets

• Kindergarten
• Grade 1
• Grade 2
• Grade 3
• Grade 4
• Grade 5
• Grade 6
• Grade 8
• Grade 9
• Grade 10
• Grade 11
• Grade 12

For the purposes of this benchmark, theme is not a one- or two-word topic, but a complete thought that communicates the author’s message. 

Students should continue to work with the concept of universal themes, although mastery isn’t expected until 9th grade. A universal theme is an idea that applies to anyone, anywhere, regardless of cultural differences. Examples include, but are not limited to, an individual’s or a community’s confrontation with nature; an individual’s struggle toward understanding, awareness, and/or spiritual enlightenment; the tension between the ideal and the real; the conflict between human beings and advancements in technology/science; the impact of the past on the present; the inevitability of fate; the struggle for equality; and the loss of innocence. 

An unreliable narrator is one who lacks credibility. Because all information is being conveyed through this untrustworthy source, readers have to use inferencing to establish what is likely to be true. Narrators can be unreliable for many reasons including purposeful dishonesty, a lack of information or background knowledge about what that information means, mental illness, or self-deception. 

Shifts in point of view refers to a change in the narrator’s point of view done for effect. Changes can be in degree and/or person: for example, a shift from third-person limited to third-person omniscient or from first-person limited to third-person limited. 

Poetic forms used for this benchmark are sonnet and villanelle.  

Instruction in this benchmark should focus on how the structure of each poetic form affects its meaning.  

This benchmark focuses on the way in which diction (the author’s word choice) and syntax (the way in which an author arranges those words) work together to achieve a purpose. 

For more information on types of reasoning, see Types of Logical Reasoning.  

Instruction in types of reasoning will include fallacies in reasoning. Fallacies that are related to content, informal fallacies, will be the focus. See Fallacies in Reasoning (Informal). 

Figurative language use that students will analyze are metaphor, simile, alliteration, onomatopoeia, personification, hyperbole, allusion, and idiom. Other examples can be used in instruction. 

See Secondary Figurative Language. 

Most grade-level texts are appropriate for this benchmark. 

The term perspective means “a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something.”  

Rhetorical devices for the purposes of this benchmark are the figurative language devices from 7.R.3.1 with the addition of irony and rhetorical questioning.

See Secondary Figurative Language. 

See Rhetorical Devices. 

Communicating Through Writing ELA.7.C.1

Communicating Orally ELA.7.C.2

Following Conventions ELA.7.C.3

ResearchingELA.7.C.4

Creating and CollaboratingELA.7.C.5

See Writing Types and Narrative Techniques. 

See Secondary Figurative Language. 

See Writing Types and Elaborative Techniques. 

See Writing Types. 

For further guidance, see the Secondary Oral Communication Rubric. 

Skills to be mastered at this grade level are as follows:  

Appropriately use colons.

Appropriately use dangling modifiers.

Appropriately use ellipses.

Appropriately use hyphens.

Vary sentence structure.

Skills to be implemented but not yet mastered are as follows: 

Appropriately use passive and active voice.

Use semicolons to form sentences.

Use verbs with attention to voice and mood.

Add variety to writing or presentations by using parallel structure and various types of phrases and clauses.

See Conventions Progression by Grade Level for more information. 

There is no requirement that students research the additional questions generated. 

While the benchmark does require that students consult multiple sources, there is no requirement that they use every source they consult. Part of the skill in researching is discernment— being able to tell which information is relevant and which sources are trustworthy enough to include. 

Multimedia elements may include, but are not limited to, drawings, pictures, artifacts, and audio or digital representation. At this grade level, students are using more than one element. The elements may be of the same type (for example, two pictures or a picture and an audio recording). The elements should relate directly to the presentation and help to unify the concepts. The elements should be smoothly integrated into the presentation. 

Finding MeaningELA.7.V.1

To integrate vocabulary, students will apply the vocabulary they have learned to authentic speaking and writing tasks independently. This use should be intentional, beyond responding to a prompt to use a word in a sentence. 

Academic vocabulary appropriate to grade level refers to words that are likely to appear across subject areas for the current grade level and beyond, vital to comprehension, critical for academic discussions and writing, and usually require explicit instruction.  

See Common Greek and Latin Roots 6-8 and Affixes. 

Review of words learned in this way is critical to building background knowledge and related vocabulary.

See Context Clues and Word Relationships. 

See 7.R.3.1 and Secondary Figurative Language.