English Language Development

Meaning Making

In grade seven, students are expected to work with more rigorous
levels of text and use their reading comprehension strategies in ways
that empower them to use the information to complete more complex
analytical tasks than were expected in grade six. Students continue to
develop proficiency in reading, working with more complex texts as
they prepare for the rigors of high school. Using evidence from texts,
students in grade seven read carefully in order to grasp information,
ideas, and details to create their own understanding and arguments
in writing and discussions. Students work to answer text-dependent
questions using evidence they discover and information they infer from
paying close attention to the meaning of a text. Specifically, using
informational texts, in grade seven students cite not just one (as in grade six) but several pieces of
textual evidence to determine more than one main idea in a text and write an objective summary
(RI.7.2). Similarly, increasing the complexity of the task from grade six, seventh graders analyze two
or more authors writing on the same topic with different interpretations and show how two different
approaches and uses of evidence resulted in very different conclusions and interpretations of facts
(RI.7.9).

Students in grade seven are expected to write objective summaries of what they read—a task
which becomes more difficult as texts become more complex The following strategy (figure 6.18)
engages students with one another to identify the words that signify the most important elements of
the text.

Figure 6.18. Five Word Summary Strategy

Step 1—Using words from the reading, create a list of the five most important words.

These should all be words that explain and/or clarify the main point of the reading.

Step 2—Choose a partner, and compare your five-word list to a partner’s list. The two

of you will now have five minutes to create a new list of the five most important words

by synthesizing your two original lists. Be sure to choose those terms from your lists that

represent the reading’s main idea.

Step 3—In pairs, now join another set of partners to form a group of four. Each pair will

share its five-word list; then the group of four will once again discuss which words are

really most essential to the main idea of the reading. Each group will also have five minutes

to create a newly synthesized list of five key words. While you can try to persuade your

peers that your word choices are the best, your group must be in agreement about its final

list.

Step 4—On your own, use the final list of five key words that your group of four agreed

on, and write a summary paragraph of the reading. Use all five words from your final list

in your paragraph. Underline each of the five key words in your summary. Be sure that the

words you chose support/explain/clarify the main point of the reading.

Source

Excerpted from

California State University. 2013. “Assignment Template, Appendix C: Prereading, Reading, and Postreading

Strategies.” Expository Reading and Writing Course: Semester One. 2nd ed., 43. Long Beach, CA: California

State University Press.

Grade 7 Chapter 6 | 583