7th Grade Language Arts Semester 1

Enrollment Message

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Course Description

Language Arts, grade seven, based on Indiana’s Academic Standards for English/Language Arts, is integrated instruction emphasizing reading, writing, speaking, listening, and media watching with interesting and age-appropriate content. Students develop advanced skills and strategies in reading. Students understand comparisons, such as analogies and metaphors, and they begin to use their knowledge of roots and word parts to understand vocabulary.  Students read and respond to short stories. Students use a variety of sentence structures and modifiers to express their thoughts. Students deliver a narrative piece of writing using descriptive details and imagery. Students write an informative essay focusing on word choice, sentence fluency, and thesis statements.

Course Goals

Upon completion of the course, students will…

• determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details
• write informative compositions in a variety of forms that
• develop the topic with relevant facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples from various sources and texts.
• use appropriate transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
• choose language and content-specific vocabulary that express ideas precisely and concisely, recognizing and eliminating wordiness and redundancy.
• establish and maintain a style appropriate for the purpose and audience.
• provide a concluding statement or section that follows and supports the information or explanation presented. 
• determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text.
• analyze how a work of literature’s structural elements such as subplots, parallel episodes, climaxes, and conflicts contribute to its meaning and plot. 
• understand context and improve note-taking skills.
• improve writing for a specific purpose and audience.

Indiana Academic Standards

• Language Arts Grade 7

Units of Instruction

• Unit 1 Being Prepared
• Unit 2 Read It, Hear It, See It
• Unit 3 The Secret to Happiness
• Unit 4 Narratives
• Unit 5 Writing Strategies and Analyzing Text
• Unit 6 How to Read Poetry

Grading/Evaluation

Indiana Online does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue transcripts or diplomas. A final score reported as a percentage of total points earned will be sent to students upon completion of a course. Your school of record can also access this score within the Student Information System, Genius. The final score will be shown as a percentage in Canvas and Genius. The student’s school of record will determine the letter grade based on their specific grading scale.

Students must complete at least 70% of the course and take all parts of the final exam(s) to have a score reported to their school of record. Failure to meet these requirements will result in a score of 0 reported to the school of record.

Assessments

Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, teacher-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building and other forms of authentic assessments. The course includes the following assessments

• 22 Discussions
• 19 Assignments
• 7 Quizzes

Teacher Contact Response Time

Students can use email or the private message system within Genius or Canvas to access highly qualified teachers when they need teacher assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside Canvas. The Teacher Information page of their course may describe additional communication options.

The teacher will respond to student inquiries (email, text, call) within one business day. Assignments will be graded and posted within two business days.

Expectations for Academic Conduct 

Student Handbook 

It is your responsibility to read the student handbook to understand all aspects of taking an online course including expectations for academic conduct. Contact your teacher if you have any questions. 

Assistance for Students with Accommodations

Indiana Online supports an inclusive learning environment for all students. If there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that hinder your full participation, such as inaccessible web content, or the use of non-captioned videos and podcasts, reasonable accommodations can be arranged.

Technology

Technology Requirements 

Students will require a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube. Please review the Indiana Online’s Technology Requirements.

Technical Skills Needed 

Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to

• download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
• download and install software
• use a messaging service similar to email
• communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
• open attachments shared in messages
• create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
• save a file as a .pdf
• copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
• insert images or links into a file
• search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
• work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
• activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
• use presentation and graphics programs
• follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
• use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
• create and maintain usernames and passwords

Technical Questions?  Please contact the Indiana Online Helpdesk.