I too teach 7th graders. This will be my 16th year also.

Two topics that 7th graders love:

1. Themselves. “it’s all about me!”

2. Social justice. fairness and equality.

quite complex creatures.

good luck!

Honestly you have to trick them into learning. I found that working pop culture into lessons worked very well. Also making things personal or relating things to their personal lives works well too.

For example when we started PowerPoint I had them follow the directions in the book, however rather than mindlessly copying the book, they made it about them. It included, their friends, cothes, sports, subjects in school, what they liked about themselves, things they felt strongly about, etc.

As for the vocabulary, maybe have a “word of the day” and whoever can use the word the most gets a hershey kiss (I was honestly amazed that children this age still though a single Hersey kiss was such a big deal). You could make a rule that you cant get the reward more than once a week.

I also had a thinkI called “Chill Time”…which they thought was really cool. It was just a question on the board, usualy about something we had learned the day before, but sometimes they were just random things like “What are you doing this weekend?” or “What are you worried about right now?” This helped me keep up with how my students were doing in class as well as gave me an insite as to what was going on in their lives. As teachers I think its our responciblity to know our students…its hard when you have so many students, this allows you to get to know them, and gives the students an oportunity to tell you things they may not tell you if the whole class was listening. But I started it because I was having problems with students who got to class right after the previous class left and then they had 5 minutes to just sit there…as I am sure you know, they dont just sit there. This gave them something to do.

I also had a no Friday homework rule and even listed it next to the list of rules.

I think the best thing to do is to, for lack of better words “keep it real”. This lets them know that you do have 1/2 a clue about what its like to be a 12 or 13 year old and you do want to make their education something that is fun.

I have found the key with my class (year 7, not sure of the equivalent but they are 11-12 yr old) is relevancy. If they can see why the learning is useful then they are more likely to buy in.

Lyrics are a good way of getting students to think about the power of language, creating rhymes that carry meaning requires an extensive vocabulary. Some songs nowadays have some really impressive lyrics – using words like emancipate, or melancholic appropriately and sensibly.

Modern literature also works as an avenue for some students.

Other than that, if we are passionate about language and using words properly, I believe that students can only be inspired. It may not happen immediately, but I am sure at some later stage the students are going to realise what a treasure an extensive vocabulary is.

You may pick out an issue or topic that would interest and concern them, like legal drinking age or age restrictions on sexual activity, and set up a debate.

You may choose to discuss the famous Gillick case (UK) where a certain Mrs Victoria Gillick sought the assurance of her doctor that none of her daughters would be given contraception without her knowledge and consent, it is an intriguing example of ethical argumentation.

In discussing such an issue which would surely excite the emotions of “very hormonal” students, and framing it as a debate, you can step in and suggest ideas and concepts of law and ethics and correspondingly introduce words and terms that the students could find very useful. In this way they can utilize new more potent words or terms that make their arguments more persuasive.

The fact that the case itself was very dramatic (the judges of the House of Lords came down 3 to 2 against Mrs Gillick in the end) and is an exemplary example of deductive reasoning should impassioned the political and opinionated in your class.

This means they have no burning questions that need to be answered. They’re too young to be jaded! This means no issue excite them. They have no views or opinions that needed to be explored and discovered.

So that leads us to area #1. What burning questions do you students have. Don’t let them get verbal, have them put it in writing. Then dissect it.

If they have issues with learning English let them expound upon it in print and you have to take it in stride!

Next area would cover those people who have some desires. There is always at least one budding author or songwriter in a given class. Have them try their work out on you and dissect it. See if you can get them to THINK and make it better on their own.

The two areas that generally need the most work would be: Sentence structure. Most people make poorly constructed sentences (biggest offender being myself). That’s a point you have to impress upon them. It’s not just Bobby or Susan that’s doing this, a major portion of the world can’t construct a tight, coherent sentenece to save their lives.

You have to get them to THINK about what they write.

You can even get into a little bit of style and show how a point can be better illustrated with a metaphor (there’s a vocabulary word for you).

For example, in an article I did on music video production for the musican I talked about post production and said:

“This is where your budget can go from here to Mars and back again!”

I’m using a metaphor that even someone without knowledge of astronomy can grasp, because almost everyone knows Mars is some kind of a planet and far a way so I’m talking terms of relating spending money to going vast distances.

It also made the article a little more human and light hearted and less academic.

The next thing I’d stress is punctuation. Especially the comma. Most mis-used and mis-understood little squiggle in history (ah, those metaphors again)!

So for your authors and songwriters and poets help them a bit. Let the class help take it apart, but MAKE SURE the student doesn’t feel ICK about it. They have to understand “attacking their babies” is not something personal. It is something practical to make their work better.

You might also encourge the better writers who are impressing you into submitting their work to magazines, but admonish them (ah, another vocabulary word) that Editors are rought and tough college graduates who are jaded (vocabulary) and seen it all. That the best writers in the world face rejection (every publisher turned down Farenheight 451 by Ray Bradbury and he had dozens of books already in print).

You might also put together a class room book of top writing, poems, essays and arguments from the class.

You might also submit them to the school newspaper or year book committe.

You would be surprised what a few successes in your classroom will have on the student in their next English class.

The best motivation in the world is getting the students to prove to themselves how something can be valuable to them.

You’re not going to work wonders with everyone. Half the class will think English, Math, History are just a bunch of junkie courses that have no meaning in life. They have to learn their own lessons down the line.