7th Grade - the Transition Year

We often think of 7th grade as the lost year of middle school, that peak in awkward adolescence that causes us all to cringe.  However, the learning that happens in 7th grade is far from awkward.  See these great examples of rigor and relevance in 7th grade!

Above, students are evaluating writing samples and identifying their purpose; it's a great matching exercise.

Check out these great classroom arrangements.  By having student's grouped in these ways, the expectation of collaboration is emphasized and teachers have much more space to navigate the classroom and conference with students.

Marzano strategies still work -- here students identify similarities and differences to find the matching substance.

Writer's workshop:  students work to improve their memoirs, conferencing with their teacher to expand their writing skills.

Students must learn to evaluate and debate their learning.  In the above pictures, students see five different student summaries about a science concept.  Students choose one of the "arguments" they think is most accurate and prove it through their own connections.  Students group themselves with other "like-minded" students to compile their thoughts and arguments with the rest of the class.