How to Choose the Best 7th Grade Informational Text Passages for Your Students

As an educator, choosing the right informational text passages for your 7th-grade students can be overwhelming. With the vast amount of options available, it can be challenging to determine which texts are best suited for your students’ needs. In this article, we explore the key considerations when selecting informational text passages for your 7th-grade students.

Understanding your students’ needs

Before selecting informational text passages, it’s essential to understand your students’ needs. To do so, conduct a needs assessment of your students to identify where they may need additional support. Consider their reading level, interests, cultural background, and learning style. By understanding your students’ needs, you can select informational text passages that will best support their learning and engagement.

Choosing a variety of text types

To keep students engaged and interested, it’s essential to vary the text types that you select for them. In addition to traditional informational text passages, consider including texts such as poetry, memoirs, news articles, and infographics. Varying the text types will keep your students engaged and excited about reading.

Matching texts to learning objectives

When selecting informational text passages, it’s important to match them to your students’ learning objectives. Identify what skills or knowledge your students need to gain in particular subject areas and select texts that align with those objectives. Doing so will help your students gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter they are studying.

Providing opportunities for choice

Allowing students to select some of the informational text passages they read can enhance engagement and learning. Providing choices allows students to exercise their agency, boosts their motivation, and helps to cater to their interests. Offer students a selection of text types and topics to choose from, and encourage them to select texts that resonate with them.

Assessing comprehension and understanding

Finally, it’s important to assess students’ comprehension and understanding of the informational text passages they read. Provide opportunities for students to respond to the texts in different ways, such as through discussions, written responses, or multimedia projects. Assess their understanding through informal or formal assessments, such as quizzes or tests.

In conclusion, selecting the best informational text passages for your 7th-grade students requires a thoughtful and individualized approach. By understanding your students’ needs, varying the text types, matching texts to learning objectives, providing opportunities for choice, and assessing comprehension and understanding, you can select texts that best support your students’ learning and engagement.