English 7 Reading Review Notes for

Parents & Students

2016-2017

English 7 Reading Content Review Notes

2016-2017 This resource is intended to be a guide for parents and students to improve content knowledge and understanding. The information provided is based on the standards of learning taught during the school year and comes from the English 7 standards of learning curriculum framework issued by the Virginia Department of Education. The curriculum framework in its entirety can be found at the following website:

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/english/index.shtml

In addition to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) English curriculum frameworks and released tests, information from various websites is included. Websites are listed with the information as it appears in the document.

How many questions are on the Grade 7

Reading VA SOL Test?

There are 55 questions on the Grade 7 Reading VA SOL

Test.

How much time is my child given to complete

the test?

The Grade 7 Reading VA SOL Test is untimed.

What is considered a passing score on the

Grade 7 Reading VA SOL Test?

Proficient: 400-499

Advanced Proficient: 500-600

Perfect Score: 600

Which Grade 7 Reading Standards of Learning will be tested?

The Grade 7 Reading Blueprint Summary Table is listed below. This blueprint is a snapshot of SOLs, corresponding reporting categories, and the number of questions per reporting category that will be on the Virginia Grade 7 Reading SOL Test.

Source: Virginia Department of Education

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/blueprints/english_blueprints/2010/2010_blueprint_gr6_reading.pdf

7.4 The students will read to determine the meanings and pronunciation of unfamiliar words and phrases within authentic texts. a) Identify word origins and derivations. b) Use roots, cognates, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms to expand vocabulary. c) Identify and analyze figurative language. d) Identify connotations. e) Use context and sentence structure to determine meanings and differentiate among multiple meanings of words.

7.5 The students will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of fictional texts, narrative nonfiction, and poetry. a) Describe the elements of narrative structure including setting, character development, plot structure, theme, and conflict. b) Compare and contrast various forms and genres of fictional text. c) Identify conventional elements and characteristics of variety of genres. d) Describe the impact of word choice, imagery, and literary devices including figurative language. e) Make, confirm and revise predictions. g) Make inferences and draw conclusions based on explicit and implied information. h) Identify the main idea. i) Summarize text relating to supporting details. j) Identify the author’s organizational pattern. k) Identify cause and effect relationships.

7.6 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of informational selections. b) Use text structures to aid comprehension. c) Identify author’s organizational pattern using textual clues, such as transitional words and phrases. d) Draw conclusions and make inferences on explicit and implied information. e) Differentiate between fact and opinion. f) Identify the source, viewpoint, and purpose of text. g) Describe how word choice and language structure convey an author’s viewpoint. h) Identify the main idea. i) Summarize text identifying supporting details. j) Identify cause and effect relationships. k) Organize and synthesize information for use in written formats.

Spring 2014 7th grade reading test data show students may benefit from additional practice with the following:

Texts:

more rigorous fiction more rigorous nonfiction texts paired passages

Skills:

using roots, affixes, word origins, and context clues; analyzing figurative language (including symbols and imagery); drawing conclusions and making inferences; analyzing elements of plot, including character development; summarizing; identifying and interpreting text features; and identifying and analyzing cause and effect.

Example Fiction Selection From The Secret Garden by Frances Hodges Burnett

The sun shone down for nearly a week on the secret garden. The Secret Garden was what Mary called it when she was thinking of it. She liked the name, and she liked still more the feeling that when its beautiful old walls shut her in no one knew where she was. It seemed almost like being shut out of the world in some fairy place. The few books she had read and liked had been fairy-story books, and she had read of secret gardens in some of the stories. Sometimes people went to sleep in them for a hundred years, which she had thought must be rather stupid. She had no intention of going to sleep, and, in fact, she was becoming wider awake every day which passed at Misslethwaite. She was beginning to like to be out of doors; she no longer hated the wind, but enjoyed it. She could run faster, and longer, and she could skip up to a hundred.

The [flower] bulbs in the secret garden must have been much astonished. Such

nice clear places were made round them that they had all the breathing space they wanted, and really, if Mistress Mary had known it, they began to cheer up under the dark earth and work tremendously. The sun could get at them and warm them, and when the rain came down it could reach them at once, so they began to feel very much alive.

Mary was an odd, determined little person, and now she had something interesting to be determined about, she was very much absorbed, indeed. She worked and dug and pulled up weeds steadily, only becoming more pleased with her work every hour instead of tiring of it. It seemed to her like a fascinating sort of play. She found many more of the sprouting pale green points than she had ever hoped to find. They seemed to be starting up everywhere and each day she was sure she found tiny new ones, some so tiny that they barely peeped above the earth.

Example Nonfiction Web Page

Example Paired Passages

A Mysterious Masterpiece More than thirty years ago, descendants of President Abraham Lincoln made a generous donation to Illinois’ historical library. The gift, a portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln, boasted the signature of a famous painter, Francis Bicknell Carpenter. Because the artist was so renowned, and the subject of the art was once the First Lady of the United States, the painting could be considered a true treasure. In the background of the portrait, there is nothing to distract from the image of the woman. Mrs. Lincoln looks picturesque, but solemn, and her dark hair is parted down the middle. She wears a simple black dress, trimmed with white lace and adorned with a large brooch, which contains a picture of the former president himself. She also wears a simple bracelet on each wrist. It might have been obvious to any viewer that this painting was indeed important. Since fine art can be fragile, this painting recently needed to be restored. The portrait was taken off the wall, and special artists began the delicate, tedious work. These specialists repaired the painting and stepped back to view the subject: a woman sits, wearing an ornate bracelet on each wrist and a simple black dress trimmed with white lace and adorned with a large cross. Her hair is parted down the middle, and her face is solemn—but her face no longer resembles that of Mrs. Lincoln. These specialists meant to revive the beauty of the painting, but what they did was uncover a mystery. Who was the anonymous woman in the portrait? Why had someone painted over her so she looked like Mrs. Lincoln instead? Where did the fraud begin, and why, and how? Perhaps no one can fully answer these questions, but one art restorer, the man who discovered the hoax, suggests that an amateur painter in the 1920s is to blame. He believes that this painter purposely took the original portrait and changed several details, then he created the fictional story that Mrs. Lincoln posed for the artist Francis Bicknell Carpenter. Finally, the painter sold the new image to the Lincolns’ granddaughter for thousands of dollars. Regardless of the details of this scandal, the work of art may remain an important part of history after all. An unknown woman was able to play the role of the president’s wife for decades, and because of this her image may now endure.

The Canvas

The light is just right, filtering through the tall window and into the little upstairs studio, where the easel, the canvas, the pigments sit; where the artist begins. From years of hard work, his hands are as textured as the black canvas, but he holds the charcoal softly. As if training a young colt, he trains the lines until his faint scratching becomes the sketch. The sun is lower now, and he lowers his charcoal, places it into its little dish where it will wait and watch. He chooses the hues he will use to bring a vividness to this feathered outline. The brushes sit at sharp angles as he lights the lamps and continues. With linseed oil, he thins the paint. He is the conductor in this orchestra of color. He is the ringmaster in this taming of tint. The background appears, slowly blooming into view. At first, it’s all out of focus, but with deft flicks from his brush he depicts the image. Building and building, he covers the canvas over and over, adding find details. It has been hours. Or days. Or weeks. He steps back to study his work, thick with texture and paint. He thinks that by peeling back each layer, eventually he could return the canvas to stark and blank, where it could once again become anything—anything at all – but he is glad it has become exactly this.

Sample Questions (based on the previous sample passages)

7.4a) Identify word origins and derivations.

7.4b) Use roots, cognates, affixes, synonyms, and antonyms to expand vocabulary.

7.4e) Use context and sentence structure to determine meanings and differentiate between multiple meanings of words.

7.4c) Identify and analyze figurative language.

7.5d) Describe the impact of word choice, imagery, and literary devices including figurative language.

7.5g) Use information in the text to draw conclusions and make inferences.

7.6d) Draw conclusions and make inferences based on explicit and implied information.

7.5a) Describe the elements of narrative structure, including setting, character, plot structure, theme, and conflict.

7.5k Identify cause and effect relationships. 7.6j Identify cause and effect relationships.

7.6h) Identify the main idea.

7.6a) Use text structures to aid comprehension.

7.5i Summarize text relating supporting details. 7.6i Summarize text identifying supporting details.

1. MAIN IDEA After reading a passage, locate and underline the main idea. Remember that the main idea is the most important point expressed in the entire passage; you are

pinpointing what the passage is all about.

2. SIGNIFICANT DETAILS: Find out what details to look for by reading the questions before re-reading the passage. Underline these details as you read. Remember that correct answers do not always use the exact words that appear in the passage.

3. VOCABULARY:

Questions will often ask you to define a word within the context of the passage. Sometimes the word in question may have several different meanings. Therefore, answer choices

may include meanings of the word that do not fit the context in which the word appears. Read the answer choices and then plug them into the sentence to determine which answer fits the

context of the passage.

4. CONCLUSION AND INFERENCE: A conclusion or inference is often some idea within a passage that the author is hinting at but does

not state directly. Consider various parts of the passage together to determine what the author is implying.

5. NEVER GIVE UP! KEEP READING! If you do not understand a passage at first, keep reading. Jot down notes and/or highlight important

information as you read to help you answer the questions. Once you understand the main idea of a passage, you can figure out specific information.

6. READ ALL ANSWER CHOICES: Read all answer choices BEFORE choosing one. Read each question and the answer choices carefully. Do not rush through the questions and make

the mistake of marking the first answer choice that seems correct. Watch out for “distracters.” Distracters are answer choices that seem true, but are not relevant to

the question that is being asked. Be careful with TEI questions that require you to select multiple answers. The question may specify a

specific number of answers; if not, carefully eliminate wrong answers and select the best answers.

Extra Resources from VDOE

VDOE Website http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/english/

SOL Practice Items https://va8.testnav.com/client/index.html

Select “SOL Practice Items.” Select “Reading.”

Select “Grade 7 Reading.” Select “Start Test Now,” then agree to the Terms and Conditions to begin a practice test.