Grade 7
functional_texts
Conducting an Effective School Project Interview
Practice asking questions and listening through a school-project interview.
Read passageNovember 27 reading ideas
Finding reading ideas for this date…
Finding reading ideas for this date…
Read about Anders Celsius and explore how to record weather observations. Compare a biography with a field guide and ask what makes a temperature measurement useful.
Special date
StoryCorps launched a day-after-Thanksgiving listening campaign in 2008. Read an interview with an oral historian, then practice asking an open question, listening without interruption, and reflecting back what you heard.
4 reading resources
Practice asking questions and listening through a school-project interview.
Read passageRead this two-character performance about an imagined family recipe made from patience, humor, love, and memories. A Grade 8 choice for interpreting metaphor and performing dialogue.
Read passageLearn how oral-history interviews use open questions, permission, careful listening, and checks against other evidence. Discuss the method using a fictional interview; no personal recording or upload is required.
Read passageThe play explicitly has a grandson invite his grandfather to narrate memories prompted by a family photo album; strong read-aloud context for intergenerational listening.
Read passageSpecial date
A US federal statute places this observance on the Friday after Thanksgiving; in 2026 it is November 27. The Wampanoag passage gives one nation-specific view, not a general account of Native peoples. This day is separate from the excluded Native American Heritage Month.
3 reading resources
Explore the history and living community of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Read passageGrade 5 informational text specifically about Wampanoag communities, history, language revitalization and contemporary sovereign nations. Full body read. It is a nation-specific perspective, not a general account of all Native peoples or the observance itself.
Read passageAdds a specific Cherokee-language, literacy and sovereignty story alongside the existing Wampanoag selection; avoids presenting one nation’s experience as universal.
Read passageSpecial date
Uppsala University gives Celsius’s birthday as November 27, 1701 (Gregorian date). The biography explains his temperature scale and scientific work; verify its historical claims before teaching details as fact.
2 reading resources
Upper Elementary biography directly states the November 27 birthday and explains the Celsius scale and Celsius's observatory/astronomy work. Full body read; scale-history detail needs fact review.
Read passageAn applied Celsius/temperature-measurement activity for students, complementing the existing Celsius biography.
Read passageSpecial date
November is Family Literacy Month. Share a story with a parent, caregiver, or reading partner, take turns reading, and pause to discuss a picture or predict what comes next. These readings support shared reading; they do not explain the history of the observance.
3 reading resources
Share this gentle bedtime story in a caregiver-and-child read-aloud. Take turns, predict what Leo will do, and talk about how he makes his visitor feel welcome.
Read passageExplore how rhymes, rhythm, and conversation connect generations of readers. The text also mentions Mother Goose Day in May; that separate date is not being moved to November.
Read passageExplore how reading can build vocabulary, empathy, imagination, and enjoyment. Find the writer’s claim and supporting reasons.
Read passageSpecial date
Family Stories Month is an informal November calendar observance. Explore how photographs, objects, recipes, and conversations can carry memories. Invite a story from a willing family member, caregiver, or trusted adult, and respect anyone who prefers not to share personal details.
In this family story, objects found in an attic prompt memories and a conversation about a time capsule. Discuss which object sparks a story; students may invent an example instead of sharing private family information.
Read passageAlready shown above: The Measure of Memory: A Family Recipe, Capturing the Living Past: An Interview with an Oral Historian.
Your topic. Your level.
Have another idea for today’s lesson? Let Pico create an AI-assisted passage with questions and an illustration. Choose the topic and reading level in the creator.
Uppsala University gives Celsius’s birthday as November 27, 1701 (Gregorian date). The biography explains his temperature scale and scientific work; verify its historical claims before teaching details as fact. Read Anders Celsius: Measuring Temperature.
A family-story play built around siblings reconstructing memories and listening to an elder’s stories can support a caregiver-child oral-history activity. Read The Measure of Memory: A Family Recipe.
The play explicitly has a grandson invite his grandfather to narrate memories prompted by a family photo album; strong read-aloud context for intergenerational listening. Read Frames of Living Light.
What details would someone need in order to repeat your weather observation?
