Language

In this unit you will grow as a listener, speaker and word expert. First you will paraphrase before you respond, ask probing questions and help a group reach consensus or compromise. You will listen to longer oral texts like podcasts and guest speakers, take Cornell notes, and separate facts from opinions. You will analyze your audience, choose a structure for your talk, and speak on the spot with PREP. You will analyze paralanguage, body language and communication on video calls, including how non-verbal signals can vary across cultures, and choose precise words, varied sentences and the active or passive voice when you speak.

Then you will read complex words using Grade 7 prefixes (proto-, neo-, retro-, pseudo-, homo-, hetero-, macro-, mega-, equi-), suffix chains and Greek endings (-ologist, -graphy, -meter, -cide, -phobia), and Greek and Latin roots (cogn, sequ, clud, jud, fid, cur, pop, anthrop, soph, crypt, polis, techn, nomy, ortho). You will learn academic words like evaluate and justify, notice words that change meaning by subject, figure out new words with context clues and word parts, read complex texts fluently with the right rate, and read aloud for different purposes.

Remember from Grade 6: you analyzed listening in discussions, used before-during-after listening strategies, spoke in formal and informal registers, analyzed non-verbal communication across cultures, learned many prefixes, suffixes and roots, and practised phrasing and expression. Grade 7 builds on all of it. Spelling, handwriting and keyboarding, grammar and punctuation are in the companion unit Foundations of Writing. Every lesson has a hands-on activity, lots of practice and a short quiz.

Curriculum expectations covered: A1.1, A1.2, A3.1, A3.2, B1.1, B1.2, B1.3, B1.4, B1.5, B2.1, B2.2, B2.3 (The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1–8: Language, 2023, Grade 7). Strand A (A1.1 and A1.2 transferable skills; A3.1 and A3.2 applications and connections) is woven in.

In this unit you will learn how sentences are built, how words do different jobs in sentences, and how punctuation helps readers follow your thinking.

You will name sentence types and forms, sort adjective, adverb and noun clauses, and combine phrases and clauses to show how ideas relate (cause, contrast, time, purpose). You will keep sentences clear with parallel structure and well-placed modifiers. You will learn new grammar terms: indirect objects, predicate nouns and predicate adjectives, participles and adverbial phrases. Then you will add new punctuation tools: semicolons between independent clauses, commas to set off conjunctive adverbs, colons to introduce a quotation after a complete sentence, and ellipses and dashes for omissions, pauses and breaks.

Remember from Grade 6: you built complex sentences with adjective (relative) clauses, used gerunds and active and passive voice, used colons in letters, memos and scripts, and put commas after transitions. Grade 7 builds on all of it. This unit goes with Foundations of Reading. Every lesson has a hands-on activity, lots of practice and a short quiz.

Curriculum expectations covered: B3.1 (syntax and sentence structure), B3.2 (grammar), B3.3 (capitalization and punctuation), with Strand A (A3.1, applying language skills across subjects) woven in (The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1–8: Language, 2023, Grade 7).

In this unit you will become a sharper, more analytical reader, listener and viewer. You will analyze genres such as dystopian fiction, mystery, interviews and opinion columns, and two cultural text forms, the pantoum and the sijo. You will trace cause and effect in expository texts, see why bibliographies and accessible fonts matter, and compare how composition, typography, colour and graphs shape meaning for intended and unintended audiences.

You will practise strategies: using prior knowledge from other subjects, making predictions and posing questions to check them, choosing fix-up strategies for complex texts, summarizing, drawing well-supported conclusions, and reflecting on which strategies and critical thinking skills work best for you.

You will think like a critic: make inferences from explicit and implicit evidence, explore foreshadowing, allegory and symbolism, analyze style and point of view, uncover perspectives and bias, analyze texts about inclusion and accessibility, investigate cultural elements, learn through Indigenous Storywork from First Nations, Métis and Inuit music, graphic novels and film, and research a complex issue while watching for misinformation, disinformation and curated information.

Every lesson has short texts written for this site, a hands-on activity, practice questions and a quiz.

Curriculum expectations covered: A1.1, A1.2, A2.1, A2.2, A2.3, A2.4, A2.5, A2.6, A2.7, A3.1, A3.2, A3.3, C1.1, C1.2, C1.3, C1.4, C1.5, C1.6, C1.7, C2.1, C2.2, C2.3, C2.4, C2.5, C2.6, C2.7, C3.1, C3.2, C3.3, C3.4, C3.5, C3.6, C3.7, C3.8 (The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1–8: Language, 2023, Grade 7).

In this unit you will write for real purposes and real audiences. You will plan texts and justify why your form, genre and medium fit your purpose and audience, narrow big topics into focused inquiry questions, and develop ideas from your own lived experience, other subjects and topics about diversity, equity and inclusion.

You will become a sharper researcher: synthesizing information from several sources with a synthesis grid, and evaluating the quality, bias and accuracy of what you find, including misinformation online. You will organize content for different media with formal outlines, site maps, run sheets and storyboards.

Then you will draft narratives (choosing a narrator, building suspense, using foreshadowing and symbols), arguments with counterclaims and rebuttals, informational reports that weave in and credit sources, and media texts such as PSAs, podcast segments and social media posts. You will develop your voice and style, check your own writing for point of view, perspectives and bias, revise by adding, deleting, revising and reorganizing with feedback, edit with spell and grammar checkers, build word-processing skills and a personal cursive style, and publish, present and reflect.

Remember from Grade 6: you planned complex texts, summarized and verified sources, and wrote complex stories, persuasive essays, explanatory reports and digital texts. Grade 7 adds synthesis, evaluating bias and accuracy, counterclaims, deliberate narrative craft and media production. Every lesson has model texts written for this site, worked examples, a hands-on activity, plenty of practice with answers and a short quiz.

Curriculum expectations covered: D1.1, D1.2, D1.3, D1.4, D1.5, D2.1, D2.2, D2.3, D2.4, D2.5, D2.6, D3.1, D3.2, D3.3, with connections to Strand A (A1.1, A1.2, A2.1, A2.2, A2.3, A2.4, A2.5, A2.6, A2.7, A3.1, A3.2) (The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1–8: Language, 2023, Grade 7).