7th Grade - Gateway 2

The materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria that texts are organized around a topics and/or themes to build students’ ability to read and comprehend complex texts independently and proficiently. 

Every unit revolves around a specific topic or theme and uses many texts to support the guiding ideas. Throughout all units, students read a variety of genres and texts that relate to the unit goals and overall topic of the unit. Additionally, students display their knowledge in the completion of end of unit tasks that always include writing and/or a multimedia project.

• In Unit 7A, “Red Scarf Girl and Narrative,” students read the memoir Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang to achieve the unit goal and culminating tasks. The unit goal states: “after exploring the details of how they describe their own experiences and emotions, students pay the same kind of close attention to analyzing the details presented in the unit’s core text”. Throughout the unit, students pay close attention to how to describe experiences in order to successfully complete the culminating task of an essay that asks students to answer the question: What is one way Ji-Ling changes over the course of her story?
• In Unit 7B, “Character & Conflict,” Topic & Theme: Individual dreams, family dynamics, and societal restrictions. In this unit students read plays and short stories that both provide a magnified view of how characters respond to conflict, as well as provide students with rich opportunities to observe the growth and change of characters whose motivations are often hidden, even from themselves. The unit activities engage students with practicing the skills of focus and use of evidence, while using close textual analysis to notice larger structural development that the authors make across the narratives. 
• In Unit 7C, “Brain Science,” students read a variety of non-fiction texts to achieve the unit goal and culminating tasks around the topic of brain activity. Specifically, the unit goal is to have “students explore a series of informational texts that expose the intricate workings of the brain, challenge their concept of what it means to be human, and help them consider how their own growing brains are impacted by their daily experiences”. In order to achieve this goal, students read the non-fiction account of Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science and excerpts from The Man Who Mistook His Wife for A Hat by Oliver Sacks as well as other smaller non-fiction articles. Then, students use their knowledge to write an informative essay: compare and contrast Phineas's behavior and brain to those of an adolescent.
• In Unit 7D, “Poetry & Poe,” Topic & Theme: Reading like a movie director. In this unit students delve into navigating reading complex and challenging texts that may seem nonnegotiable to this age group. Students will practice using a set of visualization techniques  called “Reading Like a Movie Director.” Using these skills will help students gain the confidence needed in order to know that they can negotiate complex 19th-century texts. 
• In Unit 7E, “The Frida and Diego collection,” students read and explore primary source documents and conduct independent research on the lives and careers of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. They will use all of this research to write an argumentative or informative essay as well as create a multi-media collage of their work. 

The materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria that materials contain sets of coherently sequenced questions and tasks that require students to analyze the language, key ideas, details, craft, and structure of individual texts.

The Grade 7 units provide students with frequent opportunities to practice identifying and studying specific elements of texts, from analyzing words to looking at the structures of paragraphs and the larger text itself. Each unit focuses on how the writer has crafted his/her narrative and students are examining the text for examples. Each lesson includes a list of vocabulary words to use. Questions and tasks help students build comprehension and knowledge of topics and themes, and they build on each other in a coherent sequence so that by the end of the year, items are embedded in students’ work rather than taught directly.  There is an ample amount of written work throughout lessons that allows teachers to gage students’ understanding of each concept. Questions and tasks help students build comprehension and knowledge of topics and themes. 

Throughout the materials, students independently and as a whole group complete questions and tasks that require analysis of individual texts. Students complete multiple reads of text with scaffolds such as read aloud, partner reading, and independent reading. The instructions have students answer questions and/or complete tasks that move from a literal understanding of the text to deep analysis within the texts or multiple texts. This scaffolded progression can be seen across the units, the sections, the lessons, and the assessments.

Examples of materials that contain sets of coherently sequenced questions include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 7A, “Red Scarf Girl & Narrative,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 1, students are asked, “How hopeful do you think Ji-li is at this moment in her story? Which details in the Prologue lead you to think so?” In Lesson 9, students are asked, “Compare how Ji-li felt in her home at the beginning of the story to how she felt after the Red Guards searched her home. Use details from the setting to support your ideas.”
• In Unit 7B, Sub-unit 1, Lesson 1, Activity 3, students read an excerpt from the text “Sucker” by Carson McCullers. While reading students, “1. Highlight one place where you get an idea about who the narrator is. 2. Highlight one place where you get an idea about who Sucker is.” Then, students, “share the highlights you made with a partner. You’ve met two characters, Sucker and Pete (narrator). Ask each other the following: What is your impression of each character? What do you think each character wants the most? Individually record the main points of your conversation. About what did you and your partner agree? What did you identify as wants for each character?”
• In Unit 7C, “Brain Science,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 8, students are asked, “Choose the job reported in the book that you think Phineas is most likely to have done. Pretend that you are Phineas, and tell the story of that time in your life. You can write your story as one of the following: A diary entry; A letter home; A response to the author's writing. Use the information you thought was most reliable, but mix in a few details that you think are fun and interesting, too!” 
• In Sub-Unit 2, students are asked: Some behaviors are more typical during adolescence. Do you agree or disagree with that statement? What evidence from the text supports your answer? 
• Sub-Unit 4, Lesson 1, students complete an Essay Prompt, "Compare and contrast Phineas's behavior and brain to those of an adolescent."
• In Unit 7E, “The Frida & Diego Collection,” Sub-Unit 2, Lesson 2, students are asked to address an informative writing prompt and to Compare and contrast “Mao as the Sun” to Diego Rivera’s painting "Man, Controller of the Universe". "Explain how the design details from each piece of artwork communicate the artist's message. Use details from both images to support your thinking."
• In Unit 7F, “The Gold Rush Connection,” Sub-unit 6, Lesson 1, students complete the unit reading assessment. First, students “complete 20 selected response questions to show their proficiency with the skills practiced in this unit”. One part of the assessment asks students to “read this passage from The Gold Rush Collection: Excerpt 'Letter the Tenth: Amateur Mining—Hairbreadth ‘Scapes, &c.'" Once they have read the passage, students are asked, “In paragraph 7, Dame Shirley states that she has learned the ‘secret of the former gold ‘mineresses’ success. What is the secret Dame Shirley learned?” After the questions, students are asked the following prompt, “using information from “The Magic Equation,” write an argument about whether the gold rush was good for California. Include at least two details from the passage to support your claim.” Finally, students are asked to read another text selection and then respond to the following prompt, “Contrast the ways that 'Letter the Tenth: Amateur Mining—Hairbreadth ’Scapes, &c.' and 'The Magic Equation' present information about the economics of gold mining.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria that materials contain a coherently sequenced set of high-quality text-dependent questions and tasks that require students to analyze the integration of knowledge and ideas within individual texts as well as across multiple texts.

High-quality text-dependent questions and tasks are embedded throughout the sub-units to provide opportunities for students to understand and analyze the texts in order to respond to tasks requiring students to develop, evaluate, and support their claims. The text-dependent questions and tasks are coherently sequenced and structured within each unit and across units to support students’ literacy skills. By the end of the year, the summative essays and tasks integrate knowledge and ideas from throughout the unit.

Examples of this include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 7A, “Red Scarf Girl and Narrative,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 5, Activity 3, students read an excerpt of Chapter 3 from Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang. Students examine the phrase, "The classrooms buzzed with revolutionary fervor." Students then highlight two examples that describe how the classrooms “buzzed.” and then "In your own words, describe how the atmosphere at Ji-li’s school has changed.”
• Unit 7B, “Character and Conflict,” Sub-unit 1, students read Carson McCullers’s short story “Sucker” with a lens of how characters respond to conflict. First, students notice  and highlight lines that develop each of the two main characters, write about their impressions of each character and his motivations, and discuss these with a partner. Students work individually with specific quotes to find insights into the character, Pete, and as a class, draw a conclusion of how the narrator views Pete. They also use quotes about Pete to gain insight about the narrator, first working individually, then participating in a class discussion. This culminates in a writing assignment in which students address how the narrator’s feelings about Sucker change, and what central idea the author conveys regarding their relationship. Later, in Sub-unit 3, students have an opportunity to analyze characters and their response to obstacles across two texts. After reading Langston Hughes’s poem “Mother to Son” and Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, students write about the character’s advice to their children, comparing and contrasting their responses to the challenges they anticipate for their children.
• In Unit 7C, “Brain Science,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 8, Activity 2, students read an excerpt from Chapter 3 of Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science by John Fleischman. After they read the excerpt students answer the question, "What did Phineas do after he left Boston? In the chart below, list the work Phineas did after he left Boston, where he did the work, and the source of the information about his work."
• In Unit 7D, “Poetry and Poe,” students read a collection of poems and short stories written in the nineteenth century, using the strategies of making mental images and storyboards to tackle challenging language. In Sub-unit 1, Lesson 2, students read “A narrow fellow in the grass” by Emily Dickenson. They identify images that describe the snake and make mental images of the images, then analyze the images and their impact on the reader. A writing task asks students to answer the prompt, “In what ways do the images in the poem make snakes seem not scary? In what ways do images in the poem make snakes seem scary? Why might Dickinson have included both types of images? Use specific images from the poem to make your arguments.” Later in the unit (Sub-unit 5), students analyze across three works by Edgar Allen Poe. Working with a partner, they compare and contrast the trustworthiness of the three narrators, providing textual evidence for their ideas. As a culminating activity, they write an essay about whether or not one of the narrators can be trusted to accurately describe the actions in the text.
• In Unit 7E, “The Frida and Diego Collection,” Sub-unit 4, Lesson 2, students have read and discussed several different articles on both artists before they prepare for a Socratic discussion. In Activity 2, they are put into groups and then they are responsible for consulting The Frida & Diego Collection and working together to write two or three open-ended questions about this text to ask the class during the Socratic seminar.
• In Unit 7F, “The Gold Rush Collection,” Sub-unit 2, Lesson 3, students respond to this question citing text evidence, “Write one or two paragraphs providing key information you discovered about your topic. Make sure to include two framed quotes from at least two sources.” In Sub-unit 3, Lesson 2, students respond to the question citing text evidence, “Using information in your research chart, write at least five journal entries telling of your experiences during the gold rush. If possible, use information from all four columns of the chart. Remember to include maps and images.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria that the questions and tasks support students’ ability to complete culminating tasks in which they demonstrate their knowledge of a topic (or, for grades 6-8, a theme) through integrated skills (e.g. combination of reading, writing, speaking, listening).

The materials include culminating tasks that are multifaceted, requiring students to demonstrate mastery of different grade level standards, including writing and presentation of knowledge and ideas. Each unit has questions and activities that increase in rigor and depth and support students in developing an ability to complete a culminating task. Culminating tasks vary for each text and include activities comprised of multiple types of reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.

Examples of high quality questions and assignments that lead to multifaceted culminating tasks include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 7B, “Character and Conflict,” the culminating task is to write an essay describing how Walter and Mama change from the beginning to the end of the play. Earlier in the unit, Sub-unit 2, Lesson 7, Activity 5, students chose a character to follow for the rest of the play. Then, students brainstorm ideas about this character's motivations and they visualize the character's wants/obstacles/actions in a chart. In the directions it specifically says, “All students will choose either Walter or Mama to write about in the essay for this unit. Direct students' character selection accordingly.”
• In Unit 7D, “Poetry and Poe,” the culminating task is an essay which asks students: “Can you trust that the narrator is accurately describing what’s happening in the story or poem? Why or why not?” Earlier in the unit, Sub-unit 2, Lesson 3, Activity 5, students discuss Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “A Tell Tale Heart”. The directions for the formative assessment explain that at this point students have just looked back over their two storyboards and reviewed the similarities and differences between them: Students are asked at this point to “Raise your hand if you find that the narrator's description of what was happening is largely reliable—your storyboard pretty much matched his version of events. Raise your hand if you find his version of events unreliable—you could find a few details where your storyboard shows a different perspective of what is happening than the narrator's description.” Then students are asked, “Do you agree or disagree with the narrator's description of what is happening? Use details from the text to explain your reason and support your claim.” This writing prompt is directly connected to the essay students write later in the unit.
• In Unit 7F, “The Gold Rush Connection”, students write an argumentative or informative essay by the end of the unit using research they have collected on the Gold Rush as well as putting together an interactive timeline about the events of the gold rush. Earlier in the unit, Sub-unit 1, Lesson 1, students are asked to use a set of criteria to assess a source’s credibility. This skill connects later on to the research students conduct on their own in order to write their essay and put together their interactive timeline. 
• In Unit 7E, “The Frida and Diego Collection,” there is a three-part culminating task: students write essays about either Kahlo or Diego, create digital collages that conveys the message of the essay visually, and present their collages to their peers. Lessons in Sub-units 2 and 3 support students in gaining the background knowledge of the Mexican artists. These lessons consist of a combination of independent, partner, and whole-class work and involve reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing. An example is Sub-unit 2 Lesson 1 in which students identify key details that each artist including in writing about their relationship and analyzing what these choices show about their relationship. Sub-unit 5 supports the writing of the essay with lessons that teach and support the gathering of evidence, the development of a claim, drafting, revising, editing, and citing sources.

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan for students to interact with and build key academic vocabulary words in and across texts. 

The materials provide a year-long approach to building students' academic vocabulary, providing them opportunities to master many new words and apply new vocabulary across multiple contexts. The lesson plans include daily support for this goal at the start of each sub unit. Time is allotted at the beginning of each lesson for vocabulary development delivered through the Amplify Vocab App. “Words to Use” are also listed in the daily lesson guide. Teachers are encouraged to use these words throughout instruction along with the activities that utilize that vocabulary. Students complete assessment activities which show their mastery of using the word in context. The app also provides games for students to study morphology, figurative language, dictionary skills, words in context, and synonyms/antonyms.

Examples of how students are supported to accelerate vocabulary learning with vocabulary in their reading, speaking, and writing tasks include, but are not limited to: 

• In Unit 7A, “Red Scarf Girl and Narrative,” Sub-unit 2, Lesson 9, students watch a short video that teaches the definition of the vocabulary word “taunt” complete two activities that support the learning of the word in the correct context. For example, the video clip explains the definition of the word and uses the word in a sentence. Then, students are given two sentences and asked to choose which sentence uses the word correctly. Next, students are asked the question, “Which sentence is a 'taunt' that a little sister might say to her older brother?” Then, students choose the correct response from a list of options. 
• In Unit 7B, “Character & Conflict,” Sub-unit 2, Lesson 1, students watch a short video that teaches the definition of the vocabulary word “doggedly” and then complete two activities that support the learning of the word in the correct context. Students read a sentence and determine if the word is used correctly, while also practicing using connotation and denotation to determine meanings of unknown words included in the  word list. Students are asked questions to assist with understanding of the word “Which word do you think Lorraine Hansberry used in the sentence below: youthful or childish? Why do you think she chose it?” Students then try it on their own, “Instructions: Review each of the following quotes with a partner. Determine whether the connotation of the word in blue expresses a positive, negative or neutral feeling.” After reviewing with a partner, students move onto The Vocabulary App - they play Extreme Weather Vacation - “In Extreme Weather Vacation, you’ll explore word connotations further by ordering a word and its synonyms or antonyms according to shades of meaning.” 
• In Unit 7C, “Brain Science,” Sub-unit 1, Lesson 7, students are provided instruction on several vocabulary words using the Vocab app. In the Vocab Word list for this sub-unit provided in the app, the following words are listed for Lesson 7; fever, indulging, irreverent, manifesting, recovered, regarded, strength, walk, weak. Some of these words are “core” words for the unit. For example, for the core word “irreverent”, students can choose an activity called “Horoscope”. For this activity, students read the fictional horoscope that contains the word “irreverent” and then they are asked the question, what is an example of irreverent behavior?
• In Unit 7D, “Poetry & Poe,” students are tasked with learning four words from the word list that they will use to interact with while reading this lesson. The main vocabulary study for this unit is Figurative Language. Students begin with a word list, then are introduced to figurative language definitions and usage.  They then learn ways to use figurative language, “Which of the following phrases is used figuratively? Which is used literally? He courageously ran toward the sounds of alarm. She pounced like a lion on her opponent.” Students then practice using a word figuratively and literally, “Which of the following sentences uses figurative language to show that something is gaunt? Which uses literal language?” Students are then prompted to try it on their own, “Choose a new word from the word list, then write a definition of that word. Brainstorm at least two examples of figurative language that communicate the meaning of the word. Then write a short paragraph that uses the word and incorporates your figurative language.”
• In Unit 7E, “The Frida and Diego Collection,” teachers are given a specific vocabulary strategy to focus on. For instance, in the “Materials” section which can be found on the Unit Overview, teachers can see a vocabulary area of focus guide. For this particular unit, the focus is on prefixes and suffixes. On page 8 of the guide, the question at the top reads, "why learn about prefixes and suffixes?" Then, the guide explains that “Recognizing the prefix and suffix of an unknown word helps you break apart the word to begin to determine its meaning. Then, it shows the word “reaction” and explains the definition of the term along with the prefix, root and suffix of the word. 
• In Unit 7F, “The Gold Rush Collection,” students use the Work That Word template in order to interact with the vocabulary words in the unit. Students are prompted to determine the meaning of an unknown word using context clues, roots, prefixes and suffixes, and using paraphrasing to restate the sentence in their own words. These strategies along with the next step, Refine Your Word Understanding, where students interact with vocabulary words by finding synonyms, antonyms, connotations, and figurative language as well as practicing dictionary skills. Students also practice using synonyms and antonyms with the required vocabulary word list, “Choose a new word from the word list and write a short paragraph using the word and a synonym and antonym of it.”

The materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria that materials include a cohesive, year-long plan to support students’ increasing writing skills over the course of the school year, building students’ writing ability to demonstrate proficiency at grade level at the end of the school year.

Writing is used across lesson plans and assessments as an opportunity for learning and as a way for students to express their understanding. Lesson plans are carefully put together and scaffolded so students read and analyze a text in careful, specific detail before having to write thoughtfully about them. Within lessons, students complete smaller writing tasks such as taking notes, responding to short-answer questions, and writing quick reflection responses before they complete a more demanding writing task which is present in every unit. As the year progresses, students produce a variety of essays that include a variety of styles and text types, gradually increasing in rigor and complexity. In addition, the final essay requires students to incorporate multimedia components or research. Materials include writing instruction aligned to the standards for the grade level, and writing instruction which spans the whole school year.

Instructional materials include well-designed lesson plans, models, and protocols for teachers to implement and monitor students’ writing development. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 7B, “Character and Conflict”, Sub-unit 4, students write an essay after reading the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansbury. This piece of writing is supposed to take five lessons and the unit overview explains to teachers how this is the beginning of the year so the focus is more on process not product. Students are only producing one body paragraph at the end of this Sub-unit. In Lesson 1, teachers are told to explain the essay prompt which asks students to describe how the character of Walter or Mama changes throughout the play. The next activity helps students to choose which character they will write about and then provides them with specific scaffolding for which scenes the student should focus on when discussing the character changes. Then, in Activity 6, the instructional guide explains to teachers that they should direct students to “Consider what you said about Walter or Mama in your short answer. Your goal is to develop this idea into a clear body paragraph, where you examine and analyze your evidence so the reader can fully understand what you are saying about the character.”
• In Unit 7D, “Poetry and Poe”, Sub-unit 1, Lesson 3, Activity 4, students read the poem “A Narrow Fellow in the Grass” by Emily Dickinson. Following their reading, students are given a writing prompt which asks them “to analyze the evolving imagery of the snake in the poem”. In the teacher’s instructional guide, it also explains that students should “write for at least 10 minutes, producing at least 100 words." After students write for this amount of time, the next activity prompts them to share their writing with their peers and then give specific feedback about a specific place in their writing that had an impact on them. 
• In Unit 7E, “The Frida & Diego Collection,” Sub-unit 2, Lesson 3, students are prompted to respond, "Write 1–2 paragraphs providing key information you discovered about your topic. Make sure to include two framed quotes from at least two sources." 
• Sub-Unit 5: Write an Essay, Lesson 1, students are given the option to write an Informative Essay about Frida Kahlo responding to the prompt, "The Early Years Why did Frida Kahlo begin painting? How did this circumstance affect the type of paintings that she did? What did that mean for her long-term career? Write an informative essay about the beginning and development of Frida’s artistic work."
• In Unit 7F, “The Gold Rush Collection”, Sub-unit 3, Lesson 2, students read an excerpt from a diary titled “Excerpts from July 22–August 10, 1849, The Gold Rush Diary of Ramón Gil Navarro." Following their reading, students analyze the features of a dairy and explain how the organizational structure contributes to its meaning. Next, using research from Sub-unit 2, students are asked to “write journal entries about the Gold Rush from your character’s point of view. You will write at least 5 entries, with 5 different dates, from your character’s point of view.” The instructions tell students to also include descriptive details that bring the Gold Rush historical period to life and be able to share and reflect upon their writing when completed.

The materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria that materials include a progression of focused research projects to encourage students to develop knowledge in a given area by confronting and analyzing different aspects of a topic using multiple texts and source materials.

Research projects start on a smaller scale in the beginning of the year and then gradually progress to a comprehensive research project at the end. 

Examples of the type of opportunities students have to engage in both short and long projects using language skills to synthesize and analyze their grade level reading include, but are not limited to: 

• In Unit 7B, “Character and Conflict,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 2, students research the life of the author Lorraine Hansberry. First, they read an excerpt from her autobiography To be Young, Gifted and Black and complete close reading questions analyzing her perspective. Then, in an optional activity, they look at images of the Civil Rights Movement to understand Hansberry’s support for the movement. Finally, they compare her life to the characters in the play A Raisin in the Sun. These three activities that focus on close reading of a text and research of a historical event help students with the longer research projects that will take place later in the year. 
• In Unit 7E, “The Frida and Diego Collection,” the culminating task is a research project. The unit begins with lessons on information literacy in which students learn how to tell the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources. They also determine if a source is reliable and understand the ethical uses of information. In the next lessons, they use these skills as they construct their own research questions and explore the Internet for answers. Students read a variety of texts about the artists.
• In Unit 7F, “The Gold Rush Collection,” the culminating task is a research essay and project. Just like in 6th grade, at the beginning, students learn how to tell the difference between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources; determine if a source is reliable; and understand ethical uses of information. Then, students begin to develop and sharpen their sourcing abilities when they construct their own research questions and explore the Internet for answers. After that, students conduct research to learn about the wide diversity of people who took part in the California gold rush. They use the information they gather to write narrative accounts from the point of view of a specific person living through this era. This lesson leads to a Socratic Seminar in which students rely on their research to examine the complicated issues inherent in the gold rush story. As students reach the end of the unit, they synthesize all of the skills they’ve developed for a culminating research assignment which is part essay and part media project. They write either an argumentative or informative essay, then create an interactive timeline for the gold rush using the MyHistro app. 

The instructional materials reviewed for Grade 7 meet the criteria that materials provide a design, including accountability, for how students will regularly engage in a volume of independent reading either in or outside of class.

Lessons include some independent reading followed by text-specific questions and tasks that reflect student accountability. Procedures are organized for independent reading included in the lessons for each unit under the headings of “Extra” or “Solo”. There is sufficient teacher guidance to foster independence for readers at all levels. Students have access to additional texts within the Amplify Library. This library allows teachers to track students’ progress and monitor their choices for reading. Also, each time students read a text independently, there is a tracker for them to monitor their own progress. Assessments are available for the independent reading selections and teachers can assess students formatively during flex days. Student reading materials span a wide volume of texts at grade level (and at various lexile levels within the grade). 

Examples of readings inside and outside of class include, but are not limited to:

• In Unit 7A, “Red Scarf Girl and Narrative,” Sub-unit 3, Lesson 1 in the Grade 7 Solo Workbook on page 10, students have the option of reading from the text Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang in the section titled “The Liberation Army Dancer,” paragraphs 1–15. After reading this passage, students are asked to “list the following, "one moment in the memoir when Ji-li felt happy and one moment when she felt upset. For each moment, explain why she’s feeling what she’s feeling”. After that, students are given six different comprehension questions to answer. 
• In Unit 7B, “Character and Conflict,” there are 29 lessons during which students read A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, "Harlem" by Langston Hughes, an excerpt from To Be Young, Gifted and Black: An Informal Autobiography of Lorraine Hansberry by Lorraine Hansberry, and "Sucker" by Carson McCullers (870L). Each day, students read and answer questions. Their written work serves as a tracking system. Interspersed are four days in which students read materials of their own choosing and fill out a tracking form.
• In Unit 7C, “Brain Science,” Sub-unit 2, Lesson 2 in the Grade 7 Solo Workbook on page 96, students have the option of reading from the chapter “The right sort of risks,” paragraphs 1–8 from the text Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore. After reading this section, students are asked to “note TWO places in the passage that grabbed your attention and describe what you noticed and think about each place in the text”. Then, students answer five different multiple choice questions and one short answer question about the text. 
• In Unit 7D, “Poetry and Poe,” students read two short stories and a poem by Edgar Allen Poe as well as three other poems and one legal ruling. Each day, students read and answer questions. Their written work serves as a tracking system. Interspersed throughout the twenty-nine day unit are four days in which students read texts and fill out a tracking form.
• In Unit 7E, “The Frida and Diego Collection,” Sub-unit 2, Lesson 2 in the Grade 7 Solo Workbook on page 169, students may choose to read “Life with Frida” from Frida’s Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo, paragraphs 1–13. Once they have read the text, students answer the prompt, "Explore the image from The Frida & Diego Collection that you chose at the end of this lesson. What do you find most interesting about this image?” Then, after they write their response they have to answer 5 multiple choice questions and an additional short answer question. 
• In Unit 7F, “The Gold Rush Collection,” is a research unit in which students read nonfiction book excerpts, letters, diary entries, a poem, a magazine article, song lyrics, and websites of their own choosing. Each day, students read and answer questions. Their written work serves as a tracking system. Interspersed throughout the twenty-five day unit are four days in which students read materials of their own choosing and fill out a tracking form.