Mr-Skipper | English 7
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English 7

To access the online textbook, go to Class Link, search for 'textbooks,' click the two links and there you go.

(video directions)

Unit 1: 

When do differences become conflicts?

Seventh Grade a short story by Gary Soto

In this short story, Victor endures a conflict that is familiar to many: his attempts to get his crush’s attention lead to some embarrassing situations. How is Victor affected by the conflicts that he endures?

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Gary Soto (b. 1952) is a Mexican American author born in Fresno, California, at the heart of California’s San Joaquin Valley, where Mr. Soto worked as a young man in the area’s agricultural fields. It was there he began to reflect on the kinds of stories he wanted to tell. Much of Soto’s fiction and poetry focuses on Chicano men and women of all ages, wrapped up in everyday life—and the small moments that reveal the largest truths. This humorous short story, “Seventh Grade,” follows young Victor Rodriguez on his first day back at school. As he huddles with his friend Michael about how to impress their female classmates, Victor is struck by his affection for Teresa, leading to both embarrassment and possibility.

The Hitch-Hiker, a play by Louise Fletcher

Lucille Fletcher’s The Hitch-Hiker tells the story of a young man’s bizarre and terrifying cross-country road trip from Brooklyn to California. Throughout the journey, Ronald Adams keeps seeing the same hitchhiker standing by the side of the road. No matter where Ronald goes or how fast he drives, the mysterious hitchhiker is always one step ahead of him. However, Ronald soon realizes that how the hitchhiker is doing it may not be as important as why. The Hitch-Hiker was originally broadcast as a radio play on the Orson Welles Show in 1941 and was later adapted for television in 1960 as an episode of The Twilight Zone.

​excerpt from Stargirl a novel by Jerry Spinelli

(not to be confused with DC Comic's Stargirl)

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Stargirl is an homage to individuality and self-confidence by Jerry Spinelli (b. 1941), an American author of award-winning children’s and young adult fiction. The novel and its sequel, Love, Stargirl, have inspired many students to start their own “Stargirl Societies” in schools around the country. When Stargirl first shows up at Mica Area High School, the students don’t know what to make of her. She acts and dresses differently from everyone else. She doesn’t try to fit in; instead, she stands out. Stargirl’s antics have everyone convinced that she cannot be real—or is she?

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TPSP

Scholastic Art & Writing Contest

Do the Write Thing Essay

Technology Project

Drug Awareness: 

Character Education

Internet Safety Lesson: 

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Research

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Writing

The Talent Show student-modeled narrative from textbook

ThinkTank

STAAR Prep

Grammar

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Unit 3: What do we learn from love and loss?​

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Tangerine, a novel by Edward Bloor

How will the truth reconcile with the perspective of his parents?

 

A Christmas Carol, a play by Charles Dickens

What does Scrooge learn from stubbornly showing more care for money than for the foolishness he sees in family love and affection around the holidays?

 

My Mother Really Knew, a poem by Wing Tek Lum 

How does the speaker still express love and understanding even though he was an angry and stubborn man?

 

Annabel Lee, a poem by Edgar Allan Poe

Can love survive beyond death? 

 

The Highwayman, a poem by Alfred Knoyes

What sacrifices are worth making for love?

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TPSP

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Research

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Writing

Lessons From Love and Loss from textbook

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