Arizona’s English Language Arts Standards – 7th Grade

Writing Standards

Text Types and Purposes

Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.
a. Introduce claim(s), acknowledge alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.

 have students brainstorm pros and cons for controversial topics

 read articles for evidence of topics for claims
 have students do a “four corners” discussion to argue claims and reasonings as a class
 Create mind maps with evidence numbered by importance
b. Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the
topic or text.

 Provide a lesson about how to find and cite credible sources

 Edit incorrect facts of evidence and have students correct these, using the format, “This evidence is correct/incorrect because ____
says ___.”
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 Have students write their sources and what facts they found that support as evidence and are credible.

c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), reasons, and evidence.

 Address transitional words and phrases and how they are used as connectors for ideas
 Create a writer’s workshop where students add or remove phrases that create or remove cohesion.
 Have students outline the claim and reasons in order of how they will present them in their paper.

d. Establish and maintain a formal style.

 Use a thesaurus to specify word choice to match argumentative writing

 Have students research words and phrases that could improve the explanations of their claims
 Review the format of a formal paper (MLA, APA, ETC.) and which they should use. (If none used, review acceptable format- font,
size, margins)
 e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.

 Develop summaries for generated stories to practice summarizing.

 Have students practice putting sources in their own words to be able to summarize key details
 Have the class create a general format for a statement that supports the argument presented.

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and
analysis of relevant content.
a. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition,
classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when
useful to aiding comprehension.

 Create an outline with subpoints to include evidence.

 Have students highlight vocabulary that is important or confusing and define.
 Have students use graphic representation of evidence from a credible source; review placement and size of photos in paragraphs

b. Develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
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 Orally discuss in groups facts with details and definitions to find errors or wording that might confuse a reader about the claim
 Use a graphic organizer to insert concrete details, then find quotations to further support the details

c. Use appropriate transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.

 Play a review game the beginning of each day

 Have exit tickets that are review questions which connect the learning from today’s lesson with previous learning.
 Students can have their summative assessment have key elements from the current lesson, as well as connections from the
previous.

d. Use precise language and domain‐specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
  Have objectives written for students to say out loud and have students unpack the vocabulary. Then write the student
friendly version.
 Students can have key vocabulary that needs to be used as part of their assessment.

e. Establish and maintain a formal style.

 Students will have the same routine for writing every day. They will start with a writing journal, sharing, and then the lesson for the
day will begin with a review with clarification if needed.
 Students will be able to know the resources available to them, which will always be stated in the instruction sheet.

f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.

 When students ask questions during independent practice, I will stop the class, reiterate the question and answer the question,
because it could be the same question lots of students are having.
 Start reviews by asking questions and having a discussion with the students. They will then write their concluding thoughts in a
journal.
 Have students play Kahoot and then write about a thought that they found compelling and also one that they found confusing with
reasoning for each.
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well‐structured
event sequences.
a. Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event
sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.

 Have students read to at the beginning of the school day, each day and keep a timeline of events on the board for the entirety of
7.W.3 the book
 Have students relate the book that they are reading to their own lives and how they would react.
 Analyze a character before a story is read so that students have their minds creating a character that they feel like they already
know. Read the story and see if their opinion changed and why.

b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

 Have students create a play based on a section of a novel, including all key points of objective.
  Focus on each technique per week with the same or different passages and then have students write or correct their own writing.

c. Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another.

 Have students research good uses of transition words and phrases and then have an “art-word” gallery where they draw a picture
of how their transition word or phrase would look if it was acted out.
 Have students create books that have shifts of sequence.

d. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.

 Have students create a recipe that has perfect descriptive instructions to create cookies, pop popcorn etc, and then do that with the
class until the instructions were followed perfectly.
 Have students keep a word wall that is added to per week with a word that they need to use in their free writing
 Students can work in groups to create a “sensory page” where they describe an item without saying what it is and the reader has to
be able to determine what it is, at the end of the unit or lesson, go through the pages and see who had the right guesses and ask
them why.

e. Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the narrated experiences or events.

 Collect good examples throughout the unit and review them day by day and at the end, go over all the pieces of the lesson to wrap
up a full summary.
 Have students name the different subjects that they learned about on the board, separate students into groups and have them be
experts in a summary for the subject that they share with the class.
Production and Distribution of Writing

Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade‐
specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above).

7.W.4  Have students write different formats throughout the year that vary (narrative, informational, etc)
 Have students learn of different formats of drafting and organizing thoughts through brainstorming. Have students use the one they
like best once you have found enough for your purposes.
 Have students write down their audience at the tops of their papers every time they write for review when they can ask if the
person they wrote would like the paper.
 With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or
trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate
7.W.5 command of Language standards 1–3 up to and including grade 7.)

 Have writing groups that meet once a week and review any article that the students wish or think needs help. Have this turned in,
along with a reflection of what they learned and how.
 Have students keep a writing journal of what they learned so that they can use it as a point of reference.
Use technology, including the internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others.
7.W.6  Have students go through the entire writing process and then type their final drafts in the computer lab.
 Have students research how to cite sources and include them in a research paper
 Students can write an author’s note on a story that they created with their writing group and they can research how to create it.