# Grade 7 — Week 1: Rational Ground

**Life Academy** · Parent/Coach script · rigorous + teen-respectful · ~110–140 min/day  
**Rule:** Mastery before coverage. Primary sources · I do → We do → You do · retrieval · dual coding.

## Week hook
> Every number you fear is still a point on a line.

## Targets
| Strand | Focus |
|--------|-------|
| ELA | Argument claim + evidence habits; medieval cold open (*Beowulf* PD excerpt) |
| Math | Integers refresh; absolute value; rationals on number line |
| Science | Ecosystem intro: biotic/abiotic; habitat walk CER start |
| Life Skills / SEL | Budgeting open: income vs expense categories |
| Academic vocab | rational, absolute value, biotic, claim, budget |
| Primary source / text | *Beowulf* (public-domain translation excerpt, opening or Grendel approach — ~1 page) |
| Socratic prompt | What makes a number “rational” — and why should a citizen care about precise language? |

## Materials
*Beowulf* excerpt, number line poster/paper, habitat walk materials, budget template, timer.

## Coach stance
1. Model briefly. 2. Wait 15–30s. 3. Correct with rule/evidence. 4. Teach-back or Socratic close.

### Day 1 — TEACH

#### 1) ELA — *Beowulf* + argument habits · 45 min
**Voice-ready passage:**
> In the dark, Grendel nursed a hard grievance and harrowed the hall. The poem gives him motive and monstrosity at once. Your job is not to like him. Your job is to track what the poet claims about kinship, hall, and threat — and to mark the lines that carry those claims.

**I do:** Annotate claim/evidence about community under threat.  
**We do:** Next 15–20 lines.  
**You do:** Independent chunk + one-sentence claim with quote.

#### 2) Math — Integers & absolute value · 45 min
**I do:** Number line; absolute value as distance from 0 (not “make positive” magic).  
**We do:** |−7|, |3|, compare −2 and −5.  
**You do:** 10 items + 3 “explain the wrong rule” traps.  
**Retrieval:** Grade 6 ratio (3).

#### 3) Science — Habitat walk CER start · 35 min
Outside or window survey: list biotic/abiotic. Question: “What limits life here?” Observations only today.

#### 4) Life Skills — Budget categories · 15 min
Income vs needs vs wants vs save/give. Build blank weekly budget.

#### Movement / brain break (2–3 min)

### Day 2 — PRACTICE

#### 1) ELA · 40 min — Continue *Beowulf*; 3 evidence marks; oral retell.  
#### 2) Math · 40 min — Rationals on number line (fractions/decimals); compare.  
#### 3) History lite · 30 min — Medieval map cold open: Europe c. 1000 labels (3).  
#### 4) Life Skills · 10 min — Enter sample budget numbers (real or simulated).

#### Movement / brain break (2–3 min)

### Day 3 — APPLY

#### 1) ELA · 40 min — Argument paragraph: “What does the hall mean in *Beowulf*?”  
#### 2) Math · 40 min — Order rationals; absolute-value word problems (elevation, debt lite).  
#### 3) Science · 30 min — Finish habitat CER draft; parent challenges one inference.  
#### 4) Life Skills · 15 min — Track Day 1 of real/sim budget.

#### Movement / brain break (2–3 min)

### Day 4 — DISCUSS / WRITE

#### 1) ELA · 40 min — Socratic on precise language prompt; revise paragraph.  
**Voice-ready stem:** “If ‘rational’ has a math meaning and a street meaning, what happens when citizens blur them?”  
#### 2) Math · 35 min — Mixed set + teach-back prep.  
#### 3) Science · 25 min — Dual-coding food-chain sketch from habitat.  
#### 4) Life Skills · 15 min — Adjust one budget category after 3 days of data.

#### Movement / brain break (2–3 min)

### Day 5 — MASTERY + Skill Gym + Seminar / Teach-back

1. **ELA:** Annotate unseen 150-word epic/medieval excerpt + claim sentence.  
2. **Math:** 8 items integers/abs value/rationals (6/8) + one explain distance.  
3. **Science:** Biotic/abiotic sort (8 items) + CER completeness.  
4. **Skill Gym:** Number Line Sprint + Quote Trap.  
5. **Teach-back:** Absolute value in 2 minutes.

## Voice Coach lines (teen register)
> Every number you fear is still a point on a line.
> Absolute value is distance from zero — distance cannot be negative.
> Biotic means living. Abiotic means the nonliving stage those lives stand on.
> A budget is an argument about your future, written in categories.
> Mark the poem’s claims. Then mark your own.

## Skill Gym focus
**Number Line Sprint + Quote Trap**

## Weekend extension
Habitat photo + 5 labeled observations. Continue budget log.

## Mastery Gate (pass criteria)
| Strand | Pass bar |
|--------|----------|
| ELA | Annotation + claim on unseen excerpt |
| Math | 6/8 with absolute-value explain |
| Science | Sort + CER parts present |
| Life Skills | Budget template + 3 days log started |

**Advance rule:** Pass ELA + Math to advance.