| Grade 7: Writing |
|
Overall Expectations |
| •communicate ideas and information for
a variety of purposes (to outline an argument, to report on observations)
and to specific audiences, using forms appropriate for their purpose and
topic (e.g., write a lab report for an audience familiar with the scientific
terminology); |
| •use writing for various purposes and
in a range of contexts, including school work (e.g., to make point-form
notes from a text, to jot down personal impressions); |
| •organize information to develop a central idea, using
well-linked and well-developed paragraphs; |
| •use a variety of sentence types and sentence structures,
and sentences of varying length; |
| •produce pieces of writing using a variety
of forms (e.g., descriptive, narrative, and expository compositions),
techniques and resources appropriate to the form and purpose, and materials
from other media (e.g., diagrams, illustrations); |
| •produce media texts using writing and
materials from other media (e.g., a poster inviting members of the community
to a school play; a multi-media presentation on an assigned topic); |
| •revise and edit their work, focusing
on content and elements of style (e.g., diction), independently and in
collaboration with others; |
| •proofread and correct their final drafts,
focusing on grammar, punctuation, spelling, and conventions of style; |
| •use and spell correctly the vocabulary appropriate for
this grade level; |
| •use correctly the conventions (spelling, grammar, punctuation,
etc.) specified for this grade level (see below). |
|
Specific Expectations |
| The skills and knowledge inherent in the expectations
outlined below are essential for producing writing that communicates effectively.
They should be developed, as much as possible, in the context of writing
activities that are meaningful and creative and that allow students to
develop the thinking skills that underlie clear and effective writing. |
| Grammar |
| •identify and name major parts of the sentence (e.g.,
subject, object, predicate); |
| •use a variety of subordinate clauses correctly and appropriately
for their purpose; |
| •use modifiers, including prepositional phrases, correctly
and with increasing effectiveness; |
| •use a variety of sentence types (statements, exclamations,
questions, commands) appropriately and effectively; |
| Punctuation |
| •use periods consistently after initials (e.g., M.D.H.),
after abbreviations containing lower-case letters (e.g., Feb.), and in
decimal numbers (e.g., 24.7); |
| •use parentheses appropriately (e.g., Gina (the one wearing
the hat in the picture) is my friend's sister); |
| Spelling |
| •spell a wide range of commonly used words correctly; |
| •identify some generalizations about spelling and use
them to spell difficult unfamiliar words; |
| •use a variety of resources to spell difficult unfamiliar
words; |
| Word Use and Vocabulary Building |
| •give evidence of an expanding vocabulary in their writing; |
| •show a growing awareness of the expressiveness of words
in their word choice; |
| Visual Presentation |
| •use printing and cursive writing with increasing speed
and control; |
| •use printing and cursive writing appropriately for the
purpose (e.g., printing for labels on maps, cursive writing for essays
and reports); |
| •use spreadsheets appropriately to convey
specific types of information (e.g., data). |