7th grade worksheets

Verbs

• Active and passive voice In the active voice the subject does the action: Priya checked the thermometer. In the passive voice the subject receives it: the thermometer was checked by Priya.
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• Shifts in verb voice and mood When two parts of a sentence do the same job, keep them in the same voice and mood. Do not start a set of steps as commands and finish them as a statement.
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• Subject-verb agreement The verb has to match the subject: one dog barks, two dogs bark.
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• Verb moods Mood is the job a sentence does. Indicative tells, imperative orders, interrogative asks, conditional says what would happen, and subjunctive imagines or insists.
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• Verb tense consistency A sentence picks a time and sticks to it. If the first verb is past, its teammates ride past too: she set the table and poured the water, not pours.
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• Verbals A verbal is a verb doing another job. A gerund acts like a noun, a participle acts like an adjective, and an infinitive carries to in front of it.
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Pronouns

• Pronoun-antecedent agreement A pronoun has to match the noun it stands for: Maya packed her bag, and the twins packed their bags. In school writing, a team acting as one takes its, and each of the girls takes her.
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• Subject and object pronouns Subject pronouns do the action: I, he, she, we, they. Object pronouns receive it: me, him, her, us, them. Drop the other person and your ear solves it: 'The coach chose me.'
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Conjunctions

• Conjunctive adverbs A conjunctive adverb joins two sentences into one and names the link: however for a contrast, therefore for a result, furthermore for one more point. Put a semicolon before it and a comma after it.
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• Correlative conjunctions Correlative conjunctions work in fixed pairs: either/or, neither/nor, both/and, not only/but also, whether/or. Spot the first half, and the second half is already decided.
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• Subordinating conjunctions Subordinating conjunctions join a helper idea to a main idea and name the link: because (why), although (surprise), until (time), if (condition).
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Mixed parts of speech

• Commonly confused words Some words sound alike but mean different things: their, there, and they're are three different words.
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• Formal or informal? English wears different clothes for different rooms. Formal: Good afternoon; I would appreciate your help. Informal: Hey! Wanna play? Both are correct, in their place.
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• Compound-complex sentences Count the clauses. One independent clause is simple, two is compound, one plus a dependent clause is complex, and two plus a dependent clause is compound-complex.
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• Direct and indirect objects The direct object answers what after the verb. The indirect object answers to whom or for whom, and it sits in front of the direct object.
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• Misplaced and dangling modifiers A describing phrase grabs whatever word sits closest to it. Put it next to the word you meant, or the sentence describes the wrong thing.
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• Phrases and clauses A clause has a subject and its own verb. A phrase does not. A clause that can stand alone as a sentence is independent; one that cannot is dependent.
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• Run-on sentences A run-on squeezes two sentences into one. Find where the first idea ends, then add a period and a capital letter.
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• Sentence fragments A fragment is a piece of a sentence. Find what it is missing: the naming part (subject) or the telling part (predicate).
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• Wordiness and redundancy Say it once. If one word already means what another word adds, cut the extra word. Return back becomes return, and blue in color becomes blue.
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• Commas after introductory phrases When a sentence starts with a warm-up phrase, a comma marks where the real sentence begins: After the storm, we raked the yard.
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• Commas between coordinate adjectives Two adjectives that could swap places, or that sound right with and between them, need a comma. Otherwise they do not.
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• Commas for extra detail Extra information rides in the sentence wrapped in commas: My bike, which has a bell, lives on the porch. Lift it out and you still know which bike.
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• Hyphens When two or more words work together as one describing word in front of a noun, join them with hyphens: a ten-minute break. Self-, ex- and all- always take a hyphen, and so do the numbers twenty-one to ninety-nine.
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• Punctuating titles of short works Short works wear quotation marks: poems, songs, stories, and articles. 'The Raven' is a poem; a whole book would be underlined or set in italics instead.
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• Semicolons and colons A semicolon joins two sentences that could stand alone. A colon introduces what comes next: a list, an example, a name, or a sentence that explains the first one.
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• The dash and the ellipsis A dash marks a sudden break or sets off a list that renames something. An ellipsis shows that speech or writing trailed off.
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• Commonly misspelled words Every famous misspelling has a trap: a double letter (really), a letter people double by mistake (until), or a silent sneak (friend). Know your word's trap and you own it.
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• Spelling words Each week has its own list, and most weeks share a secret: the words follow one spelling pattern. Find the pattern and half the list spells itself.
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• Adages and proverbs A proverb is a small sentence carrying old advice: the early bird catches the worm. The situation around it tells you which saying fits.
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• Allusion An allusion is a quick nod to a story, a myth, or a famous moment. The writer expects you to catch it without being told.
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• Analogies An analogy is a word puzzle in two pairs: work out how the first pair fits together, then finish the second pair the very same way.
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• Connotation and denotation Denotation is a word's dictionary meaning. Connotation is its glow. Slender and scrawny both mean thin; one compliments, one insults.
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• Context clues The sentence around a hard word usually hides its meaning. Read past the word, find the clue, then decide: The arid desert had not seen rain for months, so arid must mean very dry.
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• Greek and Latin roots Old Greek and Latin word parts hide inside big English words: tele means far, so telescope, telephone, and television all reach across distance.
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• Idioms An idiom means something different from its exact words. A piece of cake means easy; raining cats and dogs means pouring. The sentence around it tells you which.
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• Irony Verbal irony is saying the opposite of what you mean. Situational irony is an outcome nobody expected. Dramatic irony is when the reader knows something a character does not.
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• Personification and hyperbole Personification gives human actions to things: the wind whispered. Hyperbole exaggerates on purpose: I've told you a million times.
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• Similes and metaphors A simile compares with like or as: brave as a lion. A metaphor says one thing IS another: the classroom was a zoo.
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Reading passages

• Author's purpose Every writer has a reason for writing. The three big reasons are easy to remember as PIE: to Persuade (change your mind), to Inform (teach you facts), or to Entertain (tell you a fun story). To find the purpose, ask what the writer wants you to do after reading.
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• Fiction reading comprehension The answers hide in the story. Read it once for fun, then go back and point to the exact sentence that proves each answer.
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• Main idea and details The main idea is what the whole passage is about, in one sentence. The details are the smaller facts that back it up.
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• Making inferences An inference is a smart guess the writer never says out loud. You mix a clue from the text with what you already know: if a character shivers and rubs her hands, you can infer she is cold.
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• Nonfiction reading comprehension Nonfiction is true information. Read to find out what the passage teaches, and be ready to point to the fact that answers each question.
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• Paired passages Two passages, one topic. Read both all the way through before you answer. Some questions are about one passage, some are about both, and the question always tells you which.
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• Reading fluency passages Read the passage out loud for one minute. Read it the way you would talk: smooth, at a steady pace, and with the feeling the sentences call for. Fast is not the goal; smooth and accurate is.
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Comprehension skills

• Poetry analysis A poem means more than its words say on the surface. Read it twice: once for who is speaking and what is happening, then again for how it sounds and what its images, repeats and line breaks add.
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• Point of view Point of view is who tells the story. A character inside it says I. A narrator outside it says he, she, and names.
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• Text evidence Evidence is the exact line that proves a point. Don't tell me the story says so. Show me the sentence where it says so.
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• Text structure Every information text has a shape: steps in time, two things compared, causes and effects, a problem and its fixes, or one thing described. Signal words give the shape away.
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• Theme The theme is what a story teaches about life, said in a full sentence. Not what the story is about, but what it shows you.
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• Claim and counterclaim Every sentence in an argument has a job. Evidence backs up the claim. A counterclaim argues against it. A rebuttal brings up the other side and answers it. An irrelevant sentence does neither.
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• Linking and transition words Transition words are the road signs of writing: also adds, however turns, therefore concludes, meanwhile runs alongside. Choose the sign that matches the turn.
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• Adding signed fractions and decimals Use a common denominator for fractions and align decimal places. A minus sign before a mixed number applies to the whole value.
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• Distance and displacement Signed change is end minus start. Distance is the absolute value of the change.
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• Opposites and zero pairs Opposites have equal magnitudes and opposite signs. Their sum is zero.
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• Signed addition on number lines Start + change = end. Positive change moves right or up; negative change moves left or down.
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• Subtracting signed fractions and decimals Keep the first number and add the opposite of the second. A minus sign before a mixed number applies to the whole value.
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• Comparing rates with conversions Convert both rates to the same units. Square the length conversion factor for area, and check the direction of each conversion.
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• Finding the constant across representations Divide output by input to find the unit rate. Check that both supplied views give the same rate.
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• Fractional unit rates Use the requested units to decide which quantity to divide by which. Multiply by the reciprocal and keep the units.
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• Graphing proportional relationships A proportional graph is a straight line through the origin. Read each coordinate using its axis label.
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• Interpreting proportional graph points A proportional graph is a straight line through the origin. Read each coordinate using its axis label.
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• Multistep ratio applications Keep each quantity attached to its units. A ratio between two parts uses a different base from a part of the whole.
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• Proportionality in graphs A proportional graph is a straight line through the origin. Read each coordinate using its axis label.
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• Proportionality in tables Check that zero input gives zero output, then compare cross products of the nonzero pairs.
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• Writing proportional equations Find the output per one input unit. Multiply the input quantity by that rate to get the output quantity.
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• Adding linear expressions Remove the parentheses without changing signs. Combine like terms.
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• Checking contextual solutions Substitute into the original model. A solution must make it true and fit the quantity and its units.
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• Collecting rational like terms Add the coefficients of like terms. Use a common denominator to add fractions.
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• Collecting terms and constants Combine the variable terms and constants separately. Use common denominators for fractions.
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• Expanding and collecting like terms Multiply each term inside the parentheses by the outside factor. Then combine like terms.
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• Expanding with rational factors Multiply each term inside the parentheses by the outside factor.
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• Factoring out a specified rational factor Divide each term by the given factor. Keep that factor outside the parentheses, then expand to check.
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• Factoring out the greatest common factor Find the greatest positive integer that divides both coefficients. Factor it out, then expand to check.
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• Graphing inequality solution sets Use an open circle for < or > and a closed circle for ≤ or ≥. Shade toward the values that satisfy the inequality.
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• Solving grouped equations Divide both sides by the factor outside the parentheses. Then undo the addition or subtraction.
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• Solving inequalities with negative coefficients Adding or subtracting preserves the direction. Dividing by a negative number reverses it.
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• Solving inequalities with positive coefficients Adding or subtracting preserves the direction. Dividing by a positive number also preserves it.
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• Solving two-step equations Undo the addition or subtraction first. Then divide both sides by the coefficient.
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• Subtracting grouped linear expressions Subtract every term in the second group, then combine like terms.
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• Writing equations from quantities Define the unknown and its units. Repeated quantity plus fixed amount equals the total.
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