Grade 7 English Language Arts: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 7 english language arts in the Nova Scotia Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Cultural expressions. Learners will reflect on how the cultures of communities, inclusive of the Mi’kmaq, Acadians, African Nova Scotians, and the Gaels, are expressed through a range of communication forms.
- Responses. Learners will plan oral, written, and visual personal and critical responses, in relation to audience and purpose.
- Creating. Learners will create oral, written, and visual communication forms for a range of audiences and purposes.
- Speaking and writing strategies. Learners will implement speaking and writing strategies for effective communication in relation to audience and purpose.
- Comprehending. Learners will comprehend a range of communication forms using listening strategies, reading strategies, and viewing strategies.
- Accuracy and bias. Learners will analyse the accuracy, reliability, validity, and bias in a range of written, audio, visual, and digital communication forms.
Easy ways to practise english language arts at home
- Read what they are interested in: graphic novels, sports pages, series. Then talk about it.
- Ask for the main idea and one piece of evidence from the text.
- Have them write real messages: a thank-you note, a short review, a note to a relative.
- Read their writing aloud to them; they often spot their own mistakes by ear.
What each unit covers
Cultures & Communication Forms
Practises how oral stories, songs, poems, plays, film and social media express culture, what first-voice texts are, and how creators' choices shape meaning, with Mi’kmaw, Acadian, African Nova Scotian and Gaelic examples. Ties to the Nova Scotia Grade 7 English language arts outcome on cultural expressions.
Close Reading
Reading original stories, arguments and informational passages, then identifying theme and main idea, making inferences, spotting claims and counterarguments, and explaining why an author made certain choices.
Literary Devices
Recognizing the tools writers use: figurative language, foreshadowing, flashback, symbolism and the three kinds of irony (verbal, situational and dramatic), plus the parts of a plot.
Tone & Mood
Telling the writer's attitude (tone) apart from the reader's feeling (mood), and seeing how word choice and connotation shape both.
Whose Story?
Telling first, second and third person apart, finding the clues, and imagining how a different narrator would change the story.
Persuasive Power
Identifying appeals to credibility, emotion and logic; spotting weak reasoning like bandwagon, false cause and slippery slope; and judging which evidence and rebuttals are strongest.
Source Check
Researching responsibly: judging whether a source is trustworthy and current, noticing bias, separating fact from opinion, and giving credit through quotation, paraphrase and citation.
Clauses & Sentences
Finding independent and dependent clauses, naming the four sentence types, and fixing fragments, run-ons and comma splices, the building blocks of varied, clear sentences.
Modifiers & Parallelism
Revising sentences so describing phrases sit next to what they describe (no misplaced or dangling modifiers) and list items match in form (parallel structure).
Semicolons, Colons & Dashes
Using semicolons to join related sentences and separate complex lists, colons to introduce lists and explanations, and dashes to add emphasis or interruptions.
Word Mix-Ups
Choosing correctly between commonly confused words: its/it's, their/there/they're, then/than, lose/loose, who's/whose, affect/effect, accept/except and more.
Poetry Lab
Reading short original poems to find rhyme schemes, count stanzas, identify the speaker, recognize forms like haiku, limerick and free verse, and interpret figurative language and theme.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Minimal
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Satisfactory
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Good
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Very good to excellent
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the Nova Scotia report card guide.
Common questions
How can I help my Grade 7 child with english language arts?
Read what they are interested in: graphic novels, sports pages, series. Then talk about it. Ask for the main idea and one piece of evidence from the text. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
What does my child learn in Grade 7 english language arts in Nova Scotia?
The Nova Scotia Curriculum Grade 7 english language arts units include cultures & communication forms, close reading, literary devices, tone & mood, whose story?, persuasive power.
Free printable Grade 7 english language arts practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.