Rhode Island Grade 7 English

Compare Authors’ Emphasis

Analyze different presentations of the same topic in an original Grade 7 reading activity. Read the passage, try the task, and use the explanation to check the evidence behind your response.

Curriculum reference: Rhode Island Core Standards for English Language Arts/Literacy, 2021, from the Rhode Island English language arts standards page.

Rhode Island Grade 7 references for this activity

Rhode Island’s Council on Elementary and Secondary Education endorsed the Rhode Island Core Standards for English language arts/literacy and mathematics on March 9, 2021. This activity links a selected reading reference in RIDE’s 2021 English document. The complete curriculum also includes writing, language, speaking, and listening; check the school’s texts and learning sequence.

These selected reference labels identify an activity focus, with the correct grade and PDF page linked separately. Read the complete standards selected by the school and its learning sequence, including reading, writing, language, speaking, and listening. This short original example does not fulfill the entire curriculum or establish a student’s grade-level proficiency.

Two reports on a fictional lunch-service trial

This original classroom example is separate from official assessment questions.

Report A

In a five-day trial, the lunch line’s average wait fell from eight minutes to five. The trial used a second serving table. The writer recommends keeping the table because students had more time to eat.

Report B

The same trial used a second serving table and reduced the average wait from eight minutes to five. It also required one additional staff member at lunch. The writer recommends another trial to check whether staffing can be maintained.

Try the activity

Compare how the authors present the trial. Identify shared information, a difference in emphasis, and the interpretation behind each recommendation. Does Report B deny the shorter wait?

Follow the reasoning

Both reports describe the same fictional trial, the additional table, and the decrease in average wait. Report A emphasizes the benefit to students’ eating time and interprets the shorter wait as a reason to keep the table. Report B includes that benefit but adds the staffing requirement; it interprets the combined evidence as a reason to check whether the arrangement can be sustained. The reports therefore differ in emphasis and recommendation, not in the reported wait figures. B does not deny the shorter wait. A response can compare what each author foregrounds and connect that choice with the conclusion offered. Neither short report establishes what will happen over a full school year.

Notice what needs more practice

The figures are invented for reading practice. A decrease from eight to five minutes is three minutes, but that arithmetic does not settle the staffing question or prove every individual wait decreased.

Grade 7 English worksheets

Choose printable practice that matches the skill being taught. Check the task, reading difficulty, and directions before assigning it; the collection is independently published.

Browse Grade 7 English worksheets

Use the next session to build independence

1. List shared reported information.
2. Identify what each author emphasizes or adds.
3. Explain how those choices shape the recommendations.

Compare two teacher-selected accounts of the same topic. Mark shared evidence and differing emphasis before deciding whether the conclusions actually conflict.

For more general reading and writing resources, visit the Grade 7 English Online Center.

Rhode Island Grade 7 English: useful planning questions

Does a different recommendation mean the authors report different facts?

Not necessarily. Authors can agree on reported information but weigh its importance differently or consider additional evidence.

Which standards does the school use?

Rhode Island’s Council on Elementary and Secondary Education endorsed the Rhode Island Core Standards for English language arts/literacy and mathematics on March 9, 2021. This activity links a selected reading reference in RIDE’s 2021 English document. The complete curriculum also includes writing, language, speaking, and listening; check the school’s texts and learning sequence. The school’s sequence also includes reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language work beyond this example.