Skip to contentContribute to ReadWriteThink / RSS / FAQs / Site Demonstrations / Contact Us

 

Resources for Grades 7 - 8

Thinkfinity/Verizon

Verizon Thinkfinity offers thousands of free K-12 educational resources across seven disciplines for use in and out of school.

More

 

HomeClassroom Resources › Grades 7-8

RSS

 

 

Lesson Plans

 

Everyone Loves a Mystery: A Genre Study

Students track the elements of mystery stories through Directed Learning–Thinking Activities, story maps, and puzzles. Then they offer clues for other readers as they plan and write original mystery stories.

 

Student Interactives

 

Compare & Contrast Map

Compare & Contrast Map

The Compare & Contrast Map is an interactive graphic organizer that enables students to organize and outline their ideas for different kinds of comparison essays.

 

 

Press Conference for Bud, Not Buddy

Students read Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, demonstrate comprehension of the story by involving themselves in discussions, and analyze the characters in preparation for a class "press conference."

 

 

Trading Card Creator

Trading Card Creator

This tool provides a fun and useful way to explore a variety of topics such as a character in a book, a person or place from history, or even a physical object. An excellent tool to for summarizing or as a prewriting exercise for original stories.

 
 

 

Alliteration in Headline Poems

Students will be introduced to the term alliteration and create a headline poem consisting of 25 words that contain at least three examples of alliteration.

 

 

Flip-a-Chip

Flip-a-Chip

The Flip-a-Chip activity provides hands-on practice with affixes and roots, and also promotes comprehension through structural analysis and vocabulary in context.

 
 

 

Swish! Pow! Whack! Teaching Onomatopoeia Through Sports Poetry

Students explore poetry about sports, looking closely at the use of onomatopoeia. After viewing a segment of a sporting event, students create their own onomatopoeic sports poems.

 

 

Crossword Puzzles

Crossword Puzzles

This tool allows students to complete crossword puzzles on a variety of grade-appropriate topics, and also create and print their own crossword puzzles.

 
 

 

Professional Development  

Paraphrasing: An Effective Comprehension Strategy

Paraphrasing: An Effective Comprehension Strategy

In this article, the author explains what paraphrasing is and how it can increase student's comprehension.

 

Violent Red, Ogre Green, and Delicious White: Expanding Meaning Potential through Media

Violent Red, Ogre Green, and Delicious White: Expanding Meaning Potential through Media

This article reports on the meaning potential of daily access to drawing/writing media for widening and deepening meaning construction.

 

 

Community Stories  

Melissa Comer

Thinking for Themselves: Using the Hints about Print Interactive to Evaluate Sources

Melissa Comer | Associate Professor | LaFollette, TN

As a university professor, I want students to get excited about making new discoveries, to think critically and creatively, and to apply their learning in a classroom setting