Montague Township School District
English Curriculum Guide
Grade 7
2025-2026
Jessie Smalley
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05Game On! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Description
The Grade 7 English Language Arts curriculum at Montague Township School addresses all areas of Speaking and Listening, Writing, Reading Foundational Skills, Reading Literature, Reading Informational Texts, and Language. The curriculum is organized into seven units that develop reading, writing, and speaking/listening skills while embedding language skills throughout. Each unit designates approximately 4-8 weeks and provides teacher flexibility in pacing and instructional approach while maintaining consistent scaffolding of skill development. The curriculum follows Understanding by Design format with established goals, enduring understandings, essential questions, and required mentor texts and assessments.
Big Ideas
- Narratives provide a way to share real or imagined experiences and events in writing.
- Recognition of setting and plot interrelations is essential to understanding conflict and genre.
- Close reading complex texts can deepen one's understanding of literature.
- Characterization can be comprised of a variety of direct and indirect methods.
- A writer's voice must be passionate and powerful so their message is clearly conveyed and the tone is appropriate to the topic.
- Good readers compare, infer, synthesize and make various connections to make text personally relevant and useful.
Essential Questions
- How does trauma influence one's decisions?
- What can blur the lines between what is real and what is not?
- How do actions define us?
- Is space exploration a daring adventure or a dangerous risk?
- What does it mean to be in harmony with nature?
- How do games impact our lives?
- How can changing the world change you?
Core Textbook
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Into Literature, Grade 7 — Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Language
Reading: Informational Text
Reading: Literature
Speaking and Listening
Writing
Students analyze Earth and space science concepts through literature and informational texts, including exploring concepts related to natural phenomena, environmental systems, and scientific inquiry across multiple units.
Students examine historical perspectives, cultural contexts, and civic themes through narrative and informational texts, analyzing how authors portray time periods, places, and characters in relation to historical events.
Students use digital platforms and technology tools to produce and publish writing, conduct research, create multimedia presentations, and engage in online collaboration and communication.
Students develop critical thinking, communication, and collaboration skills through discussions, presentations, and written work that prepare them for post-secondary success and informed citizenship.
Students are assessed throughout the year using a variety of formative and summative measures aligned to New Jersey Student Learning Standards. Each unit includes formative assessments such as class discussions, written responses, and small group activities that monitor student understanding. Summative assessments at the end of each unit require students to apply learning through writing tasks, presentations, and analyses. The curriculum emphasizes multiple ways of demonstrating understanding through traditional tests, performance tasks, and project-based assessments. Unit 6 focuses explicitly on test preparation strategies to build student confidence with standardized assessment formats. All assessments include rubrics to provide clear criteria and feedback for student improvement.
| Unit | Formative | Summative | Benchmark | Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01Reality Check | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| 02Take Control | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| 03The Terror and Wonder of Space | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| 04Inspired by Nature | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 05Game On! | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| 06Test Prep | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| 07Change Agents | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Coverage | 7/7 | 7/7 | 2/2 | 7/7 |
| Unit | IEP | 504 | MLL | At-Risk | Gifted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01Reality Check | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 02Take Control | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 03The Terror and Wonder of Space | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 04Inspired by Nature | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 05Game On! | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 06Test Prep | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 07Change Agents | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Coverage | 7/7 | 7/7 | 7/7 | 7/7 | 7/7 |