Language Arts

Grade 7: Reading	Planning: Term # Tracking: Ach. Level
Overall Expectations	1	2	3	4
1. read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of literary, graphic, and informational texts, using a range of strategies to construct meaning;
2. recognize a variety of text forms, text features, and stylistic elements and demonstrate understanding of how they help communicate meaning;
3. use knowledge of words and cueing systems to read fluently;
4. reflect on and identify their strengths as readers, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful before, during, and after reading.
Specific Expectations
1. Reading for Meaning
Variety of Texts: 1.1 read a wide variety of increasingly complex or difficult texts from diverse cultures, including literary texts (e.g., short stories, poetry, novels, mysteries, historical fiction, autobiographies, scripts, lyrics), graphic texts (e.g., graphs and graphic organizers, charts and tables, diagrams, surveys, maps), and informational texts (e.g., print and online encyclopedias, manuals, and magazine and newspaper articles; magazines in their first languages, where appropriate; electronic texts, textbooks, and non-fiction materials; a variety of dictionaries, thesauri, and websites)
Purpose: 1.2 identify a variety of purposes for reading and choose reading materials appropriate for those purposes (e.g., an electronic database listing magazines, newspapers, and journals to verify information; a national, local, or community newspaper for coverage of a specific/current issue; scripts and lyrics for enjoyment, recreation, and interest; an online or print encyclopedia article for background information)
Comprehension Strategies: 1.3 identify a variety of reading comprehension strategies and use them appropriately before, during, and after reading to understand increasingly complex texts (e.g., activate prior knowledge on a topic through dialogue and discussion; use visualization and comparisons with images from other media to clarify details of characters, scenes, or concepts; ask questions to monitor understanding; summarize sections of text during reading; synthesize ideas to broaden understanding)
Demonstrating Understanding: 1.4 demonstrate understanding of increasingly complex texts by summarizing important ideas and citing a variety of details that support the main idea (e.g., key information in manuals, surveys, graphs, online and print encyclopedias, websites, tables and charts; theme and related ideas in magazine articles, dramatic monologues, television programs)
Making Inferences/Interpreting Texts: 1.5 develop and explain interpretations of increasingly complex or difficult texts using stated and implied ideas from the texts to support their interpretations. Teacher prompts: "How does the information in the graphic influence your interpretation of the text?" "What do you think the author wants you to realize about the character's decision in this scene? How is this information communicated?"
Extending Understanding: 1.6 extend understanding of texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts, by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (e.g., by comparing their own perspective to those of the characters in a historical novel). Teacher prompt: "How is the immigration experience of these characters similar to that of new arrivals today? How is it different?"
Analysing Texts: 1.7 analyse a variety of texts, both simple and complex, and explain how the different elements in them contribute to meaning and influence the reader's reaction (e.g., narrative: having ordinary characters caught up in an exciting plot makes the story seem more real; debate: the formal, balanced structure encourages the reader to pay equal attention to both sides of the argument). Teacher prompts: "What does the author do to engage our sympathy for the main character? Why do you think the author makes us wait to find out what happens to this character?" "Does reading about another point of view make you think about this issue differently?"
Responding to and Evaluating Texts: 1.8 evaluate the effectiveness of both simple and complex texts based on evidence from the texts. Teacher prompt: "Did the author's argument convince you? What impressed you the most - the facts themselves or the way they were presented?"
Point of View: 1.9 identify the point of view presented in texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts; give evidence of any biases they may contain; and suggest other possible perspectives (e.g., determine whether an author's choice of voices to include seems justified and suggest how the meaning would change if different voices were chosen)
2. Understanding Form and Style
Text Forms: 2.1 analyse a variety of text forms and explain how their particular characteristics help communicate meaning, with a focus on literary texts such as a novel (e.g., the realistic portrayal of imagined characters and actions helps the reader become involved in the story), graphic texts such as a photo essay (e.g., the pictures and captions together communicate much more than they could separately), and informational texts such as a manual (e.g., the use of headings, numbered steps, and illustrations makes the procedures easy to follow)
Text Patterns: 2.2 analyse increasingly complex texts to identify organizational patterns used in them and explain how the patterns help communicate meaning (e.g., a question-and-answer format in a report or article; groups and subgroups in a table or web). Teacher prompt: "How does the organizational pattern make it easy for you to find the information you need?"
Text Features: 2.3 identify a variety of text features and explain how they help communicate meaning (e.g., a task bar, hyperlinks, margin notes, "Works Cited" or "References"lists)
Elements of Style: 2.4 identify various elements of style - including foreshadowing, metaphor, and symbolism - and explain how they help communicate meaning and enhance the effectiveness of texts (e.g., a metaphor creates vivid, striking pictures in the reader's mind by suggesting an unexpected analogy between one type of object or idea and a different object or idea: a budding poet)
3. Reading with Fluency
Reading Familiar Words: 3.1 automatically read and understand most words in a wide range of reading contexts (e.g., words from grade-level texts; terminology used in discussions and posted on anchor charts; words from shared-, guided-, and independent-reading texts, electronic texts, and resource materials in the curriculum subject areas)
Reading Unfamiliar Words: 3.2 predict the meaning of and rapidly solve unfamiliar words using different types of cues, including: • semantic (meaning) cues (e.g., prefixes, suffixes, base words, phrases, sentences, and visuals that activate existing knowledge of oral and written language); • syntactic (language structure) cues (e.g., word order, language patterns, punctuation); • graphophonic (phonological and graphic) cues (e.g., familiar words within larger words, syllables within longer words, similarities between words with known spelling patterns and unknown words)
Reading Fluently: 3.3 read appropriate texts with expression and confidence, adjusting reading strategies and reading rate to match the form and purpose (e.g., read in role with suitable emphasis and phrasing to dramatize a text for an audience)
4. Reflecting on Reading Skills and Strategies
Metacognition: 4.1 identify a range of strategies they found helpful before, during, and after reading and explain, in conversation with the teacher and/or peers or in a reader's notebook, how they can use these and other strategies to improve as readers. Teacher prompts: "What strategies helped you to synthesize ideas while reading a longer text?" "What kind of graphic organizers helped you to represent your understanding of the text after reading?" "What strategy works best for you when you come to a word or concept that is unfamiliar?" "What questions do you ask yourself that help you monitor your reading?" "What is the most effective use of your reader's notebook?"
Interconnected Skills: 4.2 explain, in conversation with the teacher and/or peers or in a reader's notebook, how their skills in listening, speaking, writing, viewing, and representing help them make sense of what they read. Teacher prompts: "How has your experience of writing influenced the way you read?" "How do you think a literature circle discussion helps you to understand a text?" "How does writing about what you read in your reader's notebook help you as a reader?"

Expectations: Copyright The Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2006.  Format: Copyright B.Phillips, 1998.