Grade 7 Lesson plan
Three Meetings, One Well Field: How Kingsbarrow Decides
A grade 7 civics lesson comparing three public meetings a fictional town holds about one well field, and what each one lets residents say, decide, and appeal.
Common Core ELA · Grade 7
RI.7.1 Citing several pieces of textual evidence
Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Why water teaches this standard well
Seventh graders cite several pieces of textual evidence when analyzing passages on topics such as the Flint water crisis or emerging contaminants. Complex water issues require assembling multiple details from a text, not just one convenient quotation.
Materials tagged with this code are written to the full standard , and each carries a written note explaining the alignment. See how we review materials.
64 materials aligned to RI.7.1
Lesson plans
Grade 7 Lesson plan
Where Does Beckworth's Water Come From? A Short Research Lesson
A grade 7 ELA short-research lesson in which students read source cards about a town's water supply and the water cycle, then generate focused follow-up questions.
Grade 7 Lesson plan
How Delford Cleans Its River Water: An Explanatory Writing Lesson
A 50-minute grade 7 lesson where students read how a fictional plant cleans river water, then write an explanatory paragraph using cause-and-effect structure.
Grade 7 Lesson plan
Should the Drayton Mills Dam Come Out? An Argument Lesson
A grade 7 ELA lesson in which students read a four-document packet about a fictional mill dam and draft an argument with a counterclaim and a rebuttal.
Grade 7 Lesson plan
Parts Per Billion at Pinder Gap: Explaining Small Numbers
A grade 7 ELA lesson in which students rank three ways of explaining parts per billion in a water report, then write their own definition, comparison, and example.
Grade 7 Lesson plan
The Microbes at the Quinnet Mills Plant: Explanatory Writing
A grade 7 ELA lesson on process writing in which students read about the bacteria that treat sewage and explain the four stages to a reader who has never seen a plant.
Grade 7 Lesson plan
Who Runs the Waterworks? A Short Research Lesson on Water Careers
A 55-minute grade 7 lesson where students research the range of water-sector jobs from a fact sheet, answer a guiding question, and write their own follow-up questions.
Grade 7 Lesson plan
Who Solves It? Matching Water Problems to Careers and Paths
A 45-minute grade 7 careers lesson where students match five real water problems to the water-sector roles that solve them and the education path into each role.
Grade 7 Lesson plan
Fennimore's Lead Line Inventory: A Citing-Evidence Lesson
A 45-minute grade 7 lesson pairing a short passage about a fictional town's lead service line inventory with guided citing-evidence practice tied to RI.7.1.
Worksheets
Grade 7 Worksheet
Low Pressure on Colverley Rise: A Grade 7 Evidence Worksheet
Students cite several pieces of evidence from a fictional utility's complaint log and a supervisor's memo to explain one week of low water pressure.
Grade 7 Worksheet
Explaining Brine Disposal at the Pipperton Desalting Plant
A grade 7 explanatory writing worksheet that has students repair a vague draft about what an inland reverse osmosis plant does with its leftover salty water.
Grade 7 Worksheet
Ashlock Farm's Irrigation Log: Evidence and Inference
A grade 7 ELA worksheet where students read a fictional farm irrigation log and a manager note, then separate what the log states from what it only suggests.
Grade 7 Worksheet
Calloway's Closed Well: A Grade 7 Cite-the-Evidence Worksheet
A grade 7 ELA worksheet where students read a short passage about a town's PFAS discovery and cite several pieces of textual evidence to answer questions.
Grade 7 Worksheet
Dunbriar's Drought Stage Sign: Evidence and Inference
A grade 7 ELA worksheet where students read a fictional town's drought stage table and FAQ, cite evidence, draw inferences, and write a short claim with a counterclaim.
Grade 7 Worksheet
Merridale's Earthy Tap Water: Summary and Evidence
A grade 7 ELA worksheet in which students read a fictional utility notice and a resident's letter, cite evidence, sort fact from opinion, and write an objective summary.
Grade 7 Worksheet
Ordering the Steps at the Saltram Bay Desalination Plant
A grade 7 ELA worksheet on sequence and transitions: students order six treatment steps, fix an out-of-order sentence, and replace weak transitions in a tour script.
Grade 7 Worksheet
Rain Gardens on Winnow Creek: A Citing-Evidence Worksheet
A grade 7 ELA worksheet where students read a short text about a fictional rain-garden program and cite several details to answer literal and inferential questions.
Grade 7 Worksheet
Bramblewick's Constructed Wetland: A Citing-Evidence Worksheet
A grade 7 worksheet in which students read about a fictional dairy plant's constructed wetland and cite textual evidence to explain how it treats wastewater.
Classroom activities
Grade 7 Classroom activity
Sorting Loaded Headlines About the Verity Falls Water Main
A grade 7 ELA card sort in which teams classify ten headlines about one pipe project as neutral, favorable, or critical, then rewrite two of them without judgment.
Grade 7 Classroom activity
The Dispatch Desk: A Water Utility Careers Role-Play
A grade 7 careers role-play where small groups act as a utility dispatch team, sending the right worker for each water problem and naming the path into that role.
Grade 7 Classroom activity
Who's Polluting Hensley Ford Creek? A Watershed Evidence-Hunt Activity
A grade 7 station-rotation activity where small groups collect and cite evidence from four field reports to decide which source most pollutes a fictional watershed.
Grade 7 Classroom activity
A Day at Fairview Plant: A Water Careers Station Rotation
A grade 7 station-rotation activity where students perform a hands-on task representative of four real water-sector careers at a fictional treatment plant.
Reading passages
Grade 7 Reading passage
Why Kingsloe's Tap Water Tastes Different Each October
A grade 7 science reading passage on summer layering and fall turnover in a fictional reservoir, with a depth data table and seven comprehension questions.
Grade 7 Reading passage
When the Crews Came to Eastvale: Water Aid After an Ice Storm
A grade 7 reading passage on how a fictional town's water crews got help from two neighboring utilities after an ice storm, and why the agreement was signed in advance.
Grade 7 Reading passage
Inside Pentreath Dam: A Safety Inspector's Week
A grade 7 reading passage following a dam safety inspector through one week at a fictional dam, with a seepage data table and seven comprehension questions.
Grade 7 Reading passage
Water That Powers a City: Hydropower at Cassin Dam
A grade 7 passage on how a hydroelectric dam turns falling water into electricity, with comprehension questions that mix literal recall and inference.
Grade 7 Reading passage
Turning Seawater Into Tap Water: Reverse Osmosis at Ellery
A grade 7 informational passage explaining how reverse osmosis removes salt from seawater, using a fictional coastal town and a real California plant as examples.
Grade 7 Reading passage
A Class Tour of the Harkness Mill Water Cleaning Plant
A grade 7 informational passage narrating a class visit to a fictional wastewater plant, tracing how dirty water is cleaned before it returns to the river.
Grade 7 Reading passage
Sinkholes and Springs: The Limestone Under Ossett
A grade 7 informational passage on karst country, where water races through cracks in limestone instead of filtering slowly, with literal and inferential questions.
Grade 7 Reading passage
Permeable Pavement at Ovenden Cross Middle School
A grade 7 informational passage about a school parking lot rebuilt to let rain soak through, with seven comprehension questions mixing literal recall and inference.
Grade 7 Reading passage
The Hose in the Wading Pool: Backflow at Thistlewaite
A grade 7 informational passage on how a garden hose caused a cross-connection during a main repair, with comprehension questions mixing literal recall and inference.
Grade 7 Reading passage
The Mussels That Watch the Whitmore Gap Water Intake
A grade 7 informational passage on live-animal biomonitoring at a river water intake, with seven questions mixing stated facts and inference about false alarms.
Grade 7 Reading passage
Too Much of a Good Thing: Nutrients at Widgeon Lake
A grade 7 informational passage on how nitrogen and phosphorus can be both fertilizer and pollutant, with comprehension questions mixing literal and inferential thinking.
Grade 7 Reading passage
Tiny Cleaners: How Microbes Break Down Water Pollution
A grade 7 science reading passage on bioremediation, tracing how microbes clean sewage and a fictional fuel-leak site, and why PFAS resist the same living cleanup.
Grade 7 Reading passage
What Gantry Dam Changed Downstream: A Grade 7 River Reading
A grade 7 science reading passage on how a dam changes the river below it, from blocked fish migration and lower oxygen to trapped sediment and a steadier flow.
Grade 7 Reading passage
Why Buried Water Pipes Break, and What It Costs to Fix Them
A grade 7 science reading passage on aging water pipes, using a report-card table and national repair-cost figures so students cite evidence about infrastructure.
Grade 7 Reading passage
From Sludge to Fertilizer: Kenniston Recovers Its Phosphorus
An informational passage about a fictional treatment plant that pulls phosphorus out of wastewater, turns it into fertilizer pellets, and protects a river's oxygen.
Grade 7 Reading passage
A Shift at Two Rivers: Water Career Paths and Choices
A grade 7 informational passage following a treatment plant operator's shift, then laying out the range of water-sector careers, pay, and education paths.
Grade 7 Reading passage
How Bellhaven Won Clean Water: A Public Health Story
A grade 7 social studies passage about a fictional town that fought a waterborne illness by building a sand filter and voting to pay for public health.
Grade 7 Reading passage
How Hollybank Turned a Parking Lot Into a Marsh
An original grade 7 passage about a fictional town that replaced a downtown parking lot with a constructed wetland, and the close council vote behind it.
Grade 7 Reading passage
The Ridgeline Dam and Kestrel Valley: Gains and Losses
A grade 7 social studies passage on a fictional dam that brought power and flood control to a region while flooding a valley and moving a town.
Grade 7 Reading passage
When Whitmarsh's Wells Turned Salty
An original grade 7 passage about a fictional coastal town whose summer pumping pulls salt water into its wells, and the three supply options it weighs.
Grade 7 Reading passage
The Water Sector's Hiring Wave: Jobs Opening as Workers Retire
A grade 7 informational passage on why the water sector has steady job openings, the range of roles, and the education paths into each, with comprehension questions.
Grade 7 Reading passage
Forever Chemicals in Verano Springs' Well Water
A grade 7 informational passage on PFAS in a fictional town's wells, the federal limit, and what families can do, with evidence-citing questions.
Grade 7 Reading passage
A Break on Fir Street: A Night Call for a Grouse Hollow Operator
A grade 7 informational passage following an operator's overnight response to a water main break in fictional Grouse Hollow, with citing-evidence questions.
Grade 7 Reading passage
Recycled Water for the Fields: Irrigation at Rowan Ferry
A grade 7 informational passage about a fictional farm town's shift to recycled wastewater for crop irrigation during a drought, with citing-evidence questions.
Grade 7 Reading passage
How Dams Store Water and Make Electricity: A Hoover Dam Reading
A grade 7 informational passage on how dams store water for supply and flood control and generate hydropower, using Hoover Dam's real power capacity.
Grade 7 Reading passage
Elm Harbor's Lead Pipe Inventory: A Federal Rule Reaches Home
A grade 7 informational passage following a fictional city's lead service line inventory, tracing how a federal drinking-water rule becomes a local public works project.
Grade 7 Reading passage
No Fence Underground: Who Owns the Water Beneath a Farm?
A grade 7 informational passage on groundwater rights, following a fictional farming region's shift from unlimited private pumping toward shared conservation rules.
Grade 7 Reading passage
Reading a Health Advisory: An Algal Bloom at Pinehollow Lake
A grade 7 informational passage on a fictional lake's algal bloom advisory, teaching students to read a water health advisory as a practical consumer and safety skill.
Writing prompts
Grade 7 Writing prompt
Tarnholm's Lead Service Line Fee: A Grade 7 Argument Prompt
Students argue for or against a monthly fee that would replace a fictional town's lead service lines in six years instead of ten, using evidence on lead and bills.
Grade 7 Writing prompt
Ellet Creek's Drains and the Manrow River: An Explanatory Prompt
Students write a school website article tracing sink and toilet water through a fictional treatment plant and explaining why each step protects swimmers downstream.
Debate kits
Grade 7 Debate kit
Twelve-Hour Shifts at the Axbury Water Plant
A grade 7 debate kit on whether a fictional treatment plant should move from three eight-hour shifts to two twelve-hour shifts, with two-sided evidence and a rubric.
Grade 7 Debate kit
Bexhollow's Choice: Pay Upstream Farmers or Build a Filter
A grade 7 ELA debate kit on whether a fictional town should spend a water-quality grant on upstream farm practices or on a new filtration step, with two-sided evidence.
Grade 7 Debate kit
Should Elsmere Junction Replace Its Grass Field With Turf?
A grade 7 debate kit on a school district choosing between a watered grass field and synthetic turf, with two-sided evidence on water use, runoff, heat, and cost.
Grade 7 Debate kit
Should Linden Shoals Recycle Wastewater Into Drinking Water?
A grade 7 debate kit on whether a fictional drought-prone town should recycle treated wastewater into its drinking supply, with two-sided evidence and a rubric.
Grade 7 Debate kit
Bottled Water or Refill Stations? A Weller Valley Debate Kit
A grade 7 ELA debate kit on whether a school district should replace bottled water with refill stations, with genuinely two-sided evidence and a scoring rubric.
Grade 7 Debate kit
Should New Homes Be Required to Have Water-Efficient Fixtures?
A grade 7 debate kit on whether a town should require water-efficient fixtures in every new home, with two-sided evidence on conservation and construction cost.
Grade 7 Debate kit
Should Schools Test Every Fountain for PFAS Each Year? A Debate Kit
A grade 7 debate kit on requiring annual PFAS testing of school drinking fountains, with two-sided evidence on health risk, cost, and regulatory timing.
Quizzes & test questions
Grade 7 Quiz & test questions
Unit Quiz: Why the Ebbsworth River Runs Low in August
A 30-point grade 7 reading quiz on a fictional river's summer low flow, mixing multiple choice, evidence questions, and one explanatory paragraph.
Grade 7 Quiz & test questions
Quiz: Two Texts on the Longmere Night Leak Survey
A 30-point grade 7 quiz pairing a utility web page with a technician's field notes, testing evidence across two texts, purpose, and audience-aware explanatory writing.
Graphic organizers
Grade 7 Graphic organizer
The Bilberry Cross PFAS Choice: An Argument and Rebuttal Organizer
A grade 7 argument organizer with a claim ladder and a counterclaim table that makes students name each response move as concede, qualify, or refute.
Grade 7 Graphic organizer
Stormwater Fixes at Gorsemoor Middle School: A Trade-Off Frame
A grade 7 organizer that compares four stormwater options for a fictional school on cost, strength, and limits, then holds a recommendation and its strongest objection.
Career spotlights
Grade 7 Career spotlight
The SCADA Technician Who Keeps Tanner Valley's Water Data Honest
A grade 7 career spotlight on a water utility instrumentation and SCADA technician, covering daily sensor work, a two-year associate degree path, and the field's outlook.