Effective Expression
Students who have achieved the standards in the previous grades
demonstrate the ability to express themselves in writing, discussing,
and presenting, and they demonstrate considerable command of
language conventions. Expectations and examples of instruction for
grade seven in effective expression are discussed in the following
sections.
Writing
In grade seven, expectations for students’ writing content,
skills, and strategies build on those in grade six while expanding in
subtle ways. Students continue to write three different text types for
particular purposes and to conduct research, while expanding their
abilities in key ways. For example, seventh graders now write arguments in which they acknowledge
and address alternate or opposing claims; they support claims or counterarguments; and they use
words, phrases, clauses, and appropriate transitions to create cohesion (W.7.1–2). They continue to
write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events and must now establish a point of
view when establishing context (W.7.3). In addition, seventh graders are expected to conduct research
and produce written products with increasing independence and attention to audience, purpose, and
citation of sources. Specifically, they focus on how well audience and purpose have been addressed in
their writing (W.7.5), link to and cite sources (W.7.6), generate additional related, focused questions
for further research (W.7.7), use search terms effectively, and follow a standard format for citation
(W.7.8).
Figure 6.19 presents a sample of argument writing written by a seventh grader in response to
an on-demand assessment. In the piece, the student argues against the use of video cameras in
the classroom. The sample is followed by an annotation that analyzes the writing according to the
standard (W.7.1). The abbreviated time frame of the assessment and lack of opportunity to perform
research and revise may explain the absence of information from sources and occasional errors.
Although this sample contains five paragraphs, the number of paragraphs students should write to
achieve the standard is not predetermined. (See the grade six and eight sections for narrative and
informative/explanatory samples.)
Figure 6.19. Grade Seven Writing SampleVideo Cameras in Classrooms
You are seated in class as your teacher explains and points things out on the whiteboard.
You twitch your hand, accidentally nudging your pencil, which rolls off your desk and clatters
to the floor. As you lean over to pick up your pencil, your cell phone falls out of your coat
pocket! Luckily you catch it without your teacher seeing, but it is in plain view of the video
camera’s shiny lens that points straight at you. The classroom phone rings, and after a brief
conversation, your teacher walks over to your desk and kneels down beside you. “About that
cell phone of yours.. .” How did that get you in trouble? How could it possibly be a good idea
to put cameras in classrooms?
When students are in their classrooms, teachers are in the classroom, too, usually. But
when a teacher goes out of the classroom, what usually happens is either everything goes on
as usual, or the students get a little more talkative. Cameras aren’t there because people talk
a lot. It is the teacher’s job to keep people quiet. If something horrible happened, somebody
in class would usually report it, or it would just be obvious to the teacher when he came back
that something had happened.590 | Chapter 6 Grade 7