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Alabama Standards

Alabama 7th Grade ELA Standards

All 39 Alabama English language arts standards for 7th grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Alabama State Department of Education's document, linked at the end of this page.

39 standards

Recurring Standards for Grades 6-8

6 standards
7.R1
Practice active listening in pair, group, and class discussions, keeping to agreed rules, like building on a classmate's point before adding a new one.
7.R2
Use surrounding clues to pin down the meaning of an unfamiliar word in speech or print, like a contrast signaled by however or unlike.
7.R3
Use online and electronic tools safely and ethically for research and writing, solo or in teams, like editing a shared document respectfully and citing sites used.
7.R4
Follow a full writing process for pieces in different genres, from first plans through drafts, revisions, edits, and a published copy, like an argument essay.
7.R5
Decide how formal an occasion is and match language and tone to it, like a speech at an awards assembly versus a text to a teammate.
7.R6
Shape speech to suit different audiences and purposes, using polished formal English when expected, like a debate or an interview with a local official.

Critical Literacy

9 standards
7.1
Evaluate how much an informational text's categories, purpose, point of view, and figurative, emotional, or technical word meanings add to its main and supporting ideas.
7.2
Evaluate how well an author uses informational structures, like cause and effect, problem and solution, comparison, and supported or unsupported claims, to reach a purpose.
7.3
Explain, citing the text, how an author's choices of setting, plot, characters, conflict, dialogue, theme, and point of view build or deepen a story's or poem's meaning.
7.4
Evaluate literary devices like metaphor, personification, irony, symbolism, and imagery, using text evidence to support an interpretation of a story or poem.
7.5
Evaluate how a speaker uses point of view, purpose, comparisons, categories, and figurative or technical language to develop key ideas in a live or recorded talk.
7.6
Evaluate how a speaker in a live or recorded talk uses tone, mood, imagery, symbolism, irony, exaggeration, and sound words, like in a famous speech.
7.7
Write well-paced stories using dialogue, reflection, and flashback, formal pieces with precise words and data, and arguments that answer opposing claims with credible evidence.
7.8
Discuss arguments with classmates by weighing the claims, findings, and evidence a source offers, like an editorial on school start times.
7.9
Discuss stories and poems with classmates by judging how well the author uses literary devices and elements, like foreshadowing or a shift in point of view.

Digital Literacy

7 standards
7.10
Assess digital sources by judging their topic, occasion, intended audience, purpose, tone, and believability, like comparing two sites on the same event.
7.11
Compare how well techniques in different digital sources, like videos, infographics, and websites, help raise and answer questions and lead to new understanding.
7.12
Determine why creators of several digital sources use persuasive techniques, like dramatic music in an ad or loaded words in a post, and what effect they aim for.
7.13
Listen actively to digital sources, like a podcast or video news report, and interpret the language to find its topic, occasion, audience, purpose, tone, and credibility.
7.14
Build and revise digital products, like a public service video, whose content and tone suit the subject, occasion, audience, and purpose.
7.15
Use digital tools or products to add meaning to work, like a chart, map, or audio clip that clarifies a presentation.
7.16
Present ideas in a digital format that suits the subject, occasion, audience, purpose, and tone, like an infographic for a science fair.

Language Literacy

6 standards
7.17
Identify grammar in writing, like verb agreement with neither-nor subjects or collective nouns and how sentence types link ideas, and evaluate what phrases and clauses do.
7.18
Spot correct capitalization, punctuation, and spelling in many kinds of texts, and fix comma, apostrophe, colon, semicolon, and quotation mark errors while peer editing.
7.19
Evaluate how a speaker orders and groups ideas to reveal point of view and purpose, and judge how effective the talk is.
7.20
Identify how formal a speaker's language is in order to understand, interpret, and respond fittingly, like replying to a guest speaker versus a classmate.
7.21
Write with correct grammar and mechanics, revising punctuation like colons and semicolons, varying sentence types, and placing phrases to fix dangling or misplaced modifiers.
7.22
Choose language that states ideas exactly and briefly, like enormous in place of very, very big.

Research Literacy

6 standards
7.23
Follow ethical rules, like crediting authors and recording quotes accurately, when gathering information from primary, secondary, and digital sources.
7.24
Determine whether information in fiction or nonfiction, in print or online, is relevant, reliable, and valid, like checking a historical novel's facts against a textbook.
7.25
Listen actively to gather information, then judge whether it is relevant and credible, like notes from a guest speaker's talk.
7.26
With little guidance, produce research writing both over long projects with time to research, reflect, and revise and in shorter timed tasks.
7.27
Present research findings that quote, paraphrase, and summarize sources with proper citations in a standard style, giving credit to avoid plagiarism.
7.28
Build research into oral presentations, summarizing and backing ideas with relevant details, and gather information to answer follow-up questions in discussion.

Vocabulary Literacy

5 standards
7.29
Determine what words mean using word parts, context clues, a word's literal and emotional senses, or print and online references, like a thesaurus.
7.30
Read and evaluate science, social studies, and other subject texts to see how each field uses its own vocabulary and organizes content, like a lab report's sections.
7.31
Infer word meanings by listening actively in different settings, then use them to communicate with purpose, like during a debate or guest lecture.
7.32
Apply new vocabulary in writing to make meaning clearer and richer, like precise verbs in a lab conclusion.
7.33
Select effective words and phrases suited to purpose and audience to communicate clearly in many situations, like a thank-you letter or a team pitch.

The official Alabama documents

The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Alabama's standards, not the official wording, which Alabama State Department of Education publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.