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7th-Grade ELA Assignment

This assignment is strongly aligned to the standards.

Overview

Seventh-grade students read “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe, a grade-appropriate text, as well as supplemental non-fiction texts about the legal concept of insanity. They then write an argumentative essay about whether the narrator of “The Tell-Tale Heart” is sane (and therefore guilty) or insane (and therefore not guilty) of the story’s crime. This assignment exposes students to a noteworthy literary text and content-rich non-fiction texts, and asks students to write a substantive analytical essay using evidence from both.

About the Text

Title and Author

“The Telltale Heart”  by Edgar Allen Poe

What is the Lexile Level of this text?

820

Based on Lexile, which grades is this text intended for?

4-5

Is the text qualitatively complex enough for the grade?

Yes

Is this text fiction or non-fiction?

Fiction

Is this text authentic or was it written for educational purposes?

Authentic

Does the text provide sufficient detail to build knowledge of a worthwhile topic and/or is it worth reading closely and re-reading?

Yes

Related Standards

We looked at how well the assignment aligned to the following standards:

RL.7.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Why is this assignment strongly aligned to this standard?

Students must refer extensively to key details in the text to substantiate their claim about whether or not the narrator is sane.

W.7.1: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.

Why is this assignment strongly aligned to this standard?

Students have the opportunity to articulate an independent, original claim about the text and support it with evidence. They also must draw on their learning from supplemental non-fiction texts to bolster their reasoning.

L.7.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Why is this assignment strongly aligned to this standard?

Students have opportunity to demonstrate their command of 7th grade-level language conventions in the writing piece (though this is implicit rather than explicit in task directions).

L.7.2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Why is this assignment strongly aligned to this standard?

Students have opportunity to demonstrate their command of 7th grade-level language conventions in the writing piece (though this is implicit rather than explicit in task directions).

Why is this assignment strongly aligned?

It allows students to engage with a worthwhile text and build their knowledge. The text exhibits exceptional literary craft, offering many students first-time exposure to the concept of narrator reliability. The text demands significant inference and interpretation on students’ part. Students also expand their learning by reading supplemental non-fiction texts on the legal concept of insanity.

It requires students to read carefully and focus on the key details. Students must select relevant passages from the text to advance an argument about the narrator.

It allows students to practice structuring an argumentative piece of writing. Through their written responses, students practice making a claim, supporting it with evidence from multiple texts, and organizing their thoughts in a logical format. Students are also expected to demonstrate command of language conventions.

Additional ELA Resources

Common Core ELA Standards
Read the standards and find out what they require of students.
Instructional Shifts in Literacy
Understand the key instructional shifts the ELA standards call for.
Student Work Review Tool – ELA
Use this tool to understand if an assignment is worthwhile for students.