Mississippi State Standards for Language Arts: Grade 7

MS.1. The student will use word recognition and vocabulary (word meaning) skills to communicate.

1.a. The student will apply knowledge of roots and affixes (e.g., non-, trans-, over-, anti-, inter-, super-, semi-, com-, ex-, il-, mid-, under-, sub-, en-, em-, fore-, de-, -tion, -or, -ion, -ity, -ment, -ic, -ian, -ist, -ous, -eous, -ious, -ance, -ence, -ive, -en, -ative, -tive, -ible, -ty) to determine and infer the meaning of unfamiliar words. (DOK 2)

1.b. The student will develop and apply expansive knowledge of words and word meanings to communicate. (DOK 1)

1.c. The student will use grade level appropriate synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms. (DOK 2)

1.d. The student will use context clues to determine the meanings of unfamiliar or multiple meaning words. (DOK 2)

1.e. The student will use context clues to determine the figurative meanings (e.g., simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, idiom) of text and to communicate. (DOK 2)

1.f. The student will apply knowledge of reference materials (e.g., dictionary, glossary, teacher or peer [as a resource], thesaurus, electronic dictionary) to evaluate word choice in a variety of texts (e.g., revise writing, peer editing), and to determine meaning. [Note: These reference materials are not available during the administration of state tests.] (DOK 2)

1.g. The student will analyze and evaluate vocabulary usage based on appropriateness for context and purpose (e.g., formal and informal language). (DOK 3)

MS.2. The student will apply strategies and skills to comprehend, respond to, interpret, or evaluate a variety of texts of increasing length, difficulty, and complexity.

2.a. The student will apply knowledge of text features, parts of a book, text structures, and genres to understand, gain information from, interpret, respond to, or analyze text. (DOK 2)

2.a.1. Text features - titles, headings, captions, illustrations, graphs, charts, diagrams, bold-faced print, italics, headings, subheadings, numberings, maps, icons, pull down menus, captions, illustrations, graphs, diagrams, key word searches, etc.

2.a.2. Parts of a book - title page, table of contents, glossary, index, appendix, footnotes, etc.

2.a.3. Text structures - sequential order, description, simple cause and effect, procedure, compare/contrast, order of importance, problem/solution, etc.

2.a.4. Genres - Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, biographies, autobiographies, and plays

2.b. The student will analyze text to infer, justify, draw conclusions, synthesize, or evaluate information. (DOK 3)

2.b.1. Infer the implied main idea from one or more related texts.

2.b.2. Justify inferences about main idea by providing supporting details.

2.b.3. Evaluate author's use of sequence for its effect on the text.

2.b.4. Infer how the sequence of events may have contributed to cause and effect relationships in a text.

2.b.5. Apply knowledge of cause and effect relationships to infer logical causes and/or effects.

2.b.6. Synthesize information stated in one or more texts with prior knowledge and experience to draw valid conclusions with supporting evidence including text based-evidence.

2.b.7. Predict a logical outcome based upon information stated in a text and confirm or revise based upon subsequent text.

2.c. The student will recognize or generate an appropriate summary or paraphrase of the events or ideas in literary text, literary nonfiction, and informational text citing text-based evidence. (DOK 2)

2.d. The student will analyze, interpret, compare, contrast, or respond to increasingly complex literary text, literary nonfiction, and informational text citing text-based evidence. (DOK 3)

2.d.1. Story Elements (e.g., setting, characters, character traits, plot, resolution, point of view)

2.d.2. Literary devices (e.g., imagery, exaggeration, dialogue, irony (situational and verbal)

2.d.3. Sound devices (e.g., rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, onomatopoeia, assonance)

2.d.4. Author's purpose (e.g., inform, entertain, persuade)

2.e. Evaluate the author's use of facts, opinions, or tools of persuasion in written and visual texts to determine author's purpose and consider the effect of persuasive text on the intended audience. (DOK 3)

2.e.1. Evaluate the use of and distinguish between fact and opinion.

2.e.2. Evaluate the author's use of tools of persuasion (e.g., name calling, endorsement, repetition, air and rebut the other side's point of view, association, stereotypes, bandwagon, plain folks, tabloid thinking, shock tactics and fear, intertextual references, card stacking, slanted words, etc).

MS.3. The student will express, communicate, evaluate, or exchange ideas effectively.

3.a. The student will use and reflect on an appropriate composing process (e.g., planning, drafting, revising, editing, publishing) to express, communicate, evaluate, or exchange ideas with a focus on texts increasing complexity and length. [Note: Editing will be tested as a part of competency four.] (DOK 3)

3.a.1. Planning: Plan for composing using a variety of strategies (e.g., brainstorming, drawing, graphic organizers, peer discussion, reading, viewing).

3.a.2. Drafting: Draft with increasing fluency.

3.a.3. Revising: Revise selected drafts by adding, elaborating, deleting, and rearranging text based on teacher/peer feedback, writer's checklist, or rubric.

3.a.4. Editing: Edit/proofread drafts to ensure standard usage, mechanics, spelling, and varied sentence structure.

3.a.5. Publishing/Sharing: Share writing with others formally and informally using a variety of media.

3.b. The student will incorporate descriptive details into texts including but not limited to narrative, expository, or persuasive text. (DOK 3)

3.c. The student will compose narrative text utilizing effective organization, transitions, vivid word choices, and specific supporting details, and containing multiple events. (DOK 3)

3.c.1. Stories or retellings

3.c.2. Narrative poems

3.c.3. PowerPoint presentations

3.c.4. Plays

3.c.5. Biographies and autobiographies

3.c.6. Video narratives

3.d. The student will compose informational text utilizing topic sentences, effective organization, transitions, vivid word choices, and specific supporting details, including but not limited to the following: texts containing chronological order; procedural; cause and effect; comparison and contrast; order of importance; problem and solution. (DOK 3)

3.d.1. Reports

3.d.2. Letters (friendly and business)

3.d.3. Functional texts

3.d.4. Presentations

3.d.5. Poems

3.d.6. Essays

3.e. The student will compose persuasive text with a clear problem and solution, utilizing effective organization, transitions, vivid word choices, and specific supporting details. (DOK 3)

3.e.1. Letters

3.e.2. Speeches

3.e.3. Advertisements

3.f. The student will compose texts of a variety of modes based on inquiry and research. (DOK 4)

3.f.1. Generate questions.

3.f.2. Locate sources (e.g., books, interviews, Internet, reference materials, on-line data bases) and gather relevant information from multiple sources.

3.f.3. Take notes on important information from sources.

3.f.4. Synthesize and evaluate important findings and select sources to support central ideas, concepts, and themes.

3.f.5. Present the results using a variety of communication techniques.

3.f.6. Reflect on and evaluate the process.

MS.4. The student will apply Standard English to communicate.

4.a. The student will use Standard English grammar to compose or edit. (DOK 1)

4.a.1. Nouns (e.g., singular [including irregular forms, i.e., gymnastics], plural [including irregular forms], common, proper, singular possessive, plural possessive, appositives, concrete, abstract, compound [one word: bookcase; two or more words: prime number/Yellowstone National Park/George Washington; hyphenated words: editor-in-chief]; predicate nominatives; direct and indirect objects; collective)

4.a.2. Verbs (helping verbs, irregular, linking, transitive and intransitive verbs)

4.a.3. Verb tense [including purpose] (present, past, future; present perfect, past perfect, future perfect; emphatic [present and past])

4.a.4. Subject-verb agreement (in sentences containing collective nouns, indefinite pronouns, compound subjects, and prepositional phrases separating subject and verb.)

4.a.5. Articles; coordinating/subordinating conjunctions; correlative conjunctions

4.a.6. Adjectives (e.g., descriptive, comparative, superlative; predicate adjectives)

4.a.7. Prepositions

4.a.8. Pronouns (e.g., subject, object, reflexive, singular, singular possessive, plural, plural possessive, demonstrative interrogative, indefinite, relative)

4.a.9. Pronoun-antecedent agreement (number and gender; with collective nouns; for relative pronouns; for indefinite pronouns; with expressions of amount)

4.a.10. Adverbs (avoiding double negatives; comparative forms)

4.a.11. Interjections

4.b. The student will apply Standard English mechanics to compose or edit. (DOK 1)

4.b.1. End punctuation (e.g., period, question mark, exclamation mark)

4.b.2. Periods in common abbreviations (e.g., titles of address, days of the week, months of the year)

4.b.3. Commas (e.g., dates; series; addresses; greetings and closings of letters; quotations; introductory prepositional phrases; appositives; interrupters including parenthetical expressions; nonessential appositive phrases; introductory clauses; and nonessential clauses)

4.b.4. Apostrophes (possessives; contractions)

4.b.5. Semicolons (compound sentences; with conjunctive adverbs)

4.b.6. Quotation marks (e.g., quotations, titles of poems, titles of songs, titles of short stories, titles of chapters, titles of magazine articles)

4.b.7. Underlining/Italics (titles of books, movies, plays, and television shows)

4.b.8. Colons (e.g., time, before lists introduced by independent clauses, business letters)

4.b.9. Capitalization (e.g., first word in a sentence, proper nouns, days of the week, months of the year, holidays, titles, initials, the pronoun ''I,'' first word in salutations and closings of friendly letters and business letters, proper adjectives)

4.b.10. Spell words commonly found in seventh grade level text

4.b.11. Produce legible text

4.c. The student will apply knowledge of sentence structure in composing or editing to achieve a purpose. (DOK 2)

4.c.1. Analyze the structure of sentences (e.g., simple sentences including those with compound subjects and/or compound predicates; compound sentences including those with compound subjects and/or compound predicates; complex sentences, including independent and dependent clauses; and compound-complex sentences).

4.c.2. Compose simple sentences with compound subjects and/or compound predicates; compound sentences including those with compound subjects and/or compound predicates; complex sentences, including independent and dependent clauses; and compound-complex sentences.

4.c.3. Avoid sentence fragments, run-on sentences, and comma splices.

4.c.4. Analyze sentences containing descriptive adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases (functioning as adjectives or adverbs), appositive phrases, adjective clauses, adverb clauses and noun clauses.

4.c.5. Compose sentences using descriptive adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases (functioning as adjectives or adverbs), appositive phrases, adjective clauses, adverb clauses, and noun clauses.