Mississippi Standards
Mississippi 7th Grade ELA Standards
All 41 Mississippi English language arts standards for 7th grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Mississippi Department of Education's document, linked at the end of this page.
41 standards
Reading Literature
9 standardsRL.7.1
Support a point about a story, play or poem with several quotes or details from it, not just one, for both what it says outright and what it only suggests.
RL.7.2
Trace how a story's theme or central idea develops and is shaped by specific details across the text, and write an accurate summary of it.
RL.7.3
Analyze how parts of a story affect one another, like how the setting shapes the characters or the plot.
RL.7.4
Work out what words and phrases mean in a literary text, including figurative and connotative senses, and analyze how a choice like alliteration affects meaning and tone.
RL.7.5
Analyze how a literary work's form, like a sonnet or a soliloquy, helps create its meaning.
RL.7.6
Explain how an author builds the differing points of view of two or more characters or narrators and plays them against each other.
RL.7.7
Compare a story, play or poem with its film, stage or audio version, and explain how tools the page lacks, like lighting, music or camera angles, change the effect.
RL.7.9
Set a historical novel or story beside a factual account of the same time or person, and show where the fiction keeps the history and where it changes it.
RL.7.10
Read and understand grades 6 to 8 stories, plays and poems with growing skill by year's end, with support on the most complex ones.
Reading Informational Text
10 standardsRI.7.1
Support a point about a story, play or poem with several quotes or details from it, not just one, for both what it says outright and what it only suggests.
RI.7.2
Trace how a nonfiction text's central idea builds and is refined by specific details from start to finish, and write an accurate summary.
RI.7.3
Analyze how people, events and ideas in a nonfiction text affect each other, like how an idea changes what a person does.
RI.7.4
Work out figurative, emotional and technical meanings of words in an article, and explain how one chosen word, like calling a crowd a mob, shifts the meaning and tone.
RI.7.5
Map how a nonfiction text is organized and explain what each major section contributes to the whole and to the way the ideas build.
RI.7.6
Figure out an author's point of view or purpose and analyze how the author sets their position apart from other people's views.
RI.7.7
Compare the written text of a speech or article with an audio or video version of it, and explain how the delivery changes the force of the words.
RI.7.8
Follow an author's argument claim by claim and judge whether the reasoning makes sense and whether the evidence is on point and enough to support each claim.
RI.7.9
Compare two or more authors on the same topic and show how each stresses different evidence or reads the same facts differently.
RI.7.10
Read and understand literary nonfiction such as memoirs, essays and speeches written for grades 6 to 8 by the end of the year, with help on the hardest ones.
Writing
10 standardsW.7.1
Write an argument with a clear claim, reasons and evidence from credible sources, linking words, a formal style and a conclusion that follows from it.
W.7.2
Write an informative piece that introduces a topic, organizes facts, definitions and examples under headings or charts where they help, and ends with a conclusion.
W.7.3
Write a true or made-up story that sets the scene, uses dialogue, pacing and sensory detail, moves clearly through time and ends with a fitting conclusion.
W.7.4
Match how a piece of writing is developed, organized and styled to its task, its purpose and the people who will read it.
W.7.5
With some help from peers and adults, improve writing by planning, revising, rewriting or trying a new approach, checking that it fits its purpose and audience.
W.7.6
Write and publish online, add links to and citations for the sources you used, and use shared documents or comments to work with classmates.
W.7.7
Research a question across several sources in a short project, and let what you find spark new related questions worth looking into next.
W.7.8
Pick good search terms to find print and online sources, check each for accuracy and reliability, and quote or paraphrase it with a citation in a format like MLA.
W.7.9
Use evidence from stories and informational texts in writing, like details that show a character in depth or the reasons an author gives for a point.
W.7.10
Write regularly, from a report built over several days to a journal entry finished in one class, for different subjects, purposes and readers.
Speaking and Listening
6 standardsSL.7.1
Join discussions on seventh grade topics prepared with evidence, track goals and roles, ask probing questions, steer talk back on topic, and adjust views when warranted.
SL.7.2
Pick out the main ideas and supporting details in a chart, podcast, video or speech, and explain how they shed light on the topic or text the class is studying.
SL.7.3
Outline a speaker's argument and each claim in it, then judge whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is both on point and enough to prove the claim.
SL.7.4
Present claims and findings in a focused order with relevant facts and details, using good eye contact, enough volume and clear pronunciation.
SL.7.5
Use slides, charts, images or short clips in a presentation to make your claims and findings clearer and to drive home the most important points.
SL.7.6
Adjust speaking style to different situations and tasks, showing strong formal English when it is expected, like in a debate or a class presentation.
Language
6 standardsL.7.1
Use seventh grade grammar, like explaining what phrases and clauses do, choosing sentence types to link ideas, and fixing misplaced and dangling modifiers.
L.7.2
Capitalize the first word of a sentence and the word I, name the period and question mark, and spell simple words the way they sound, like kat for cat.
L.7.3
Notice the difference between formal and casual English, like Good morning, Mrs. Lee versus Hey, and choose which fits the moment.
L.7.4
Work out an unfamiliar 7th-grade word from its sentence, from Latin roots like bell in belligerent and rebel, or from a dictionary, then confirm the meaning.
L.7.5
Explain a nonliteral phrase like take steps, name someone who is friendly to link a word to real life, and rank knew, believed and suspected by how sure they are.
L.7.6
Learn and use grade-level academic and subject words, and look up any word that matters to understanding or expressing an idea.
The official Mississippi documents
- 2025 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for English Language Arts · adopted 2025 · required since 2025-26
The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Mississippi's standards, not the official wording, which Mississippi Department of Education publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.