7th Grade Reading Materials and Assignments

Where Can I Find 7th Grade Reading Material?

When helping your 7th grader find new reading material, there are several options. Traditionally, public and school libraries offer a wide selection of grade-appropriate texts for students to browse and borrow as desired. Additionally, they may also provide lists of recommendations for your child by genre, or the librarian may be able to offer suggestions.

Thanks to technology, you may also be able to find recommendations and popular texts for 7th graders online. Teaching, school and library websites often provide reading lists for young adults in categories, such as mystery, paranormal, romance, fiction and nonfiction. The following reading assignments will help your child become more engaged with the story that he or she selects.

Three 7th Grade Reading Assignments

Character Descriptions

Most 7th graders should be able to analyze the details of a story, including the characters' personalities and values, roles within the story and more. In order to get your daughter actively involved with the text, have her write descriptions for 2-3 of the main characters. You may choose to have her write these as an essay, or you can create a worksheet asking specific questions. For example, you may ask for descriptions of the characters' personalities with specific references from the text, or you can ask for detailed descriptions of their physical appearances.

Graphic Organizer

Students use graphic organizers, also known as story element maps, as a way to clearly outline the details of a text. While there are several variations of this activity, most focus on characters, setting, plot, theme, climax and resolution. Many teaching and tutoring websites offer free worksheets that you can print off and have your son complete for the story he is reading. This type of visual organization will make it easier for him to comprehend and recall the key points of the story. Additionally, practice identifying the elements of a story will help your child with ideas for his own narrative writing.

Alternate Ending

This assignment will test your child's reading comprehension, creative writing and analysis skills. Part of reading comprehension involves the ability to look at the character actions and events from the first part of a story and use those details to make predictions about what is to come. For this activity, your child will create an alternate ending or chapter to a recently completed story. In addition to the alternate text, she should provide reasoning for the new choices.