Seventh grade is a great opportunity to take your literature unit to the next cognitive level. Challenge middle schoolers with a collection of Common Core aligned projects, lessons, and activities, all designed to enhance the learning experience with different works of literature.

Transform drafting into crafting with a collection of materials designed to enrich your seventh grade writing unit. Each resource addresses one or more Common Core standards for persuasive writing, informational writing, and narrative writing, and connects to various novels and subjects across the middle school curriculum.

The majority of text that seventh graders encounter is informative, whether they are viewing television commercials, reading science textbooks, or perusing an article about current events. Equip your class with the skills necessary to analyze informational text structure, evaluate claims and authors' perspectives, and develop an eye for detailed reading.

Expository writing aims to explain, describe, define, instruct and/or inform. Here are some resources that will inspire your writers, encourage them to think critically, and help them formulate their own ideas. Take a look at the attached notes for each resource to find the aligned Common Core Standards addressed.

This series of cross-curricular resources covers just about every subject, ranging from social studies to geometry to physical science. Each worksheet includes a reading passage and five questions that require learners to apply reading skills and practice with the content from the various subject areas. While some passages are stronger than others, this series offers a wide selection that you can pick and choose from when looking to supplement a unit of study.

Trying to address grade eight's English language arts Common Core writing standard W.8.1—argumentative writing? Browse this collection for lesson plans that will have students writing persuasive essays on a variety of topics, as well as videos and examples that show how they can make their writing more effective. 

Temple Grandin describes how autism allows her to have a unique perspective into the world of animal behavior with her book Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior. Ninth graders take notes and annotate the text, delving into different areas of investigation to find textual evidence for Grandin's claims.

Enhance your literacy unit with a set of videos featuring textual analysis and reading comprehension strategies. From discerning the main idea of a text to evaluating an author's purpose and tone, the ten-part series engages upper elementary students who are ready to develop active reading skills.