Grade 7 Fall — Research Process, MLA Citation, Source Evaluation, and Multi-Source Synthesis
Lesson 20 90 min eng.g7.f.lesson_20.researchers_forum

The Researcher's Forum — culminating oral presentations + 3-2-1 self-reflection

Skills targeted
Objectives
  • Students present 60-90 second research findings with visual aid and field 30-second Q&A.
  • Students engage as audience members offering specific, kind, useful feedback.
  • Students complete MG-37 3-2-1 self-reflection setting G7-spring writing goals.
Vocabulary
forumsalientsalient findingattributionQ&Asynthesis

Lesson plan

Warm-up

5 min

Backstage huddle: each presenter takes 1 deep breath, names the SINGLE finding they most want the audience to remember, and signals readiness.

Teacher moves
  • Validate nerves
  • Frame: this is a discipline — clear voice, eye contact, pace
  • Note: audience is co-rhetorician, listening for what's salient

Direct instruction

5 min

Today is the Researcher's Forum. Each presenter has 60-90 seconds + 30 seconds Q&A. Audience: listen for the HOOK, the QUESTION, the 3 FINDINGS (with oral source attribution), and the SO-WHAT. After each presentation, audience members fill in a feedback card. ONE STRENGTH + ONE QUESTION + ONE THING I LEARNED. Specific, kind, useful. The discipline of being a good audience is part of being a researcher — research is a CONVERSATION across speakers.

Checks for understanding
  • Pair-share: name the 4 things audience listens for.
  • Cold Call: what 3 things do you write on a feedback card?
  • Thumbs: ready to present (up) / need backstage support (down)

Guided practice

65 min
Tasks
  • FORUM: each student presents 60-90 seconds + 30 seconds Q&A. Audience completes feedback card per presenter. Teacher applies 5-criterion delivery rubric.
    scaffold Timer; feedback cards; delivery rubric
  • Between presentations: brief 30-second resetting, audience writes feedback, next presenter sets up.
    scaffold Forum-runs-on-time discipline
Media
M-7-F-SPK-20-B Interactive Physical / non-image

Feedback card: 1 strength / 1 question / 1 thing I learned. Print-ready 4x6, 1 per audience member per presenter. Multiple cards per student per Forum.

M-7-F-SPK-20-C Chart Physical / non-image

Delivery rubric: 5 criteria — opening hook engages; question+thesis clear; findings synthesized with oral citation; voice/pace/eye-contact audience-aware; conclusion offers so-what. Each criterion scored 1-4. Print-ready 8.5x11, 1 per presenter for teacher use.

Formative assessment

10 min
Exit ticket
  • Complete MG-37 self-reflection: 3 STRENGTHS in your research paper and presentation; 2 REVISION TARGETS for next time; 1 GOAL for G7-spring (analytical essay + syntactic variety).
scoring All 6 fields complete with substance = mastery; 4-5 fields = practicing; <4 = reteach as conference
Media
M-7-F-SPK-20-A Chart
MG-37 anchor: 3-2-1 reflection template extended for G7-fall. 3 strengths (with quoted lines from your paper showing sou

MG-37 anchor: 3-2-1 reflection template extended for G7-fall. 3 strengths (with quoted lines from your paper showing source-handling and synthesis); 2 revision targets (specific moves named — e.g., 'use COMPOUND-COMPLEX sentences more deliberately'); 1 goal for G7-spring. Bottom rule: 'Reflection turns work into learning.' Print-ready 8.5x11.

MG-37 Chart Physical / non-image

Research-paper self-reflection rubric (assessment-as-learning): 3-2-1 reflection extended for G7-fall. Three STRENGTHS in your research paper (with quoted lines showing source-handling and synthesis). Two REVISION TARGETS for next time (specific moves named — e.g., 'I want to use COMPOUND-COMPLEX sentences more deliberately to signal layered relationships.'). One GOAL for G7-spring (the next writing unit — analytical essay + syntactic variety). Bottom rule: 'Reflection turns work into learning.' Print-ready 8.5x11.

Closure

Moves
  • Restate: research as conversation across speakers; G7-spring preview = analytical essay + syntactic variety
  • Celebrate the work

Homework

15 min
Tasks
  • Read your peer feedback cards. Note patterns. Add to MG-37 reflection. Save in portfolio.

Exercises in this lesson

eng.g7.f.ex_36
Deliver your 60-90 second Researcher's Forum presentation with visual aid. Field 30-second Q&A. Apply SL.7.4-6 — eye contact, volume,...
 deliver forum presentation · diff 5

Differentiation

Scaffolds
  • Pre-recorded presentation option for IEP/504
  • Note-card support during live presentation
  • Backstage rehearsal time as needed
Extensions
  • Present BOTH your own AND offer a synthesis comment after one peer's presentation (Q&A extension)
  • Compare your G6 Rhetorician's Forum presentation to your G7 Researcher's Forum: what grew?
English Learners
  • Bilingual feedback-card prompts
  • Audio rehearsal during backstage
  • Translated visual-aid label support
Ieps 504s
  • Pre-recorded option
  • Reduced presentation time (60 seconds)
  • Allow note-card reading

Teacher notes

Day 20 is the culmination. Run the Forum on time — keep transitions tight. Audience discipline is half the work; students who treat audience-seat as off-time learn less. The self-reflection (MG-37) is the assessment-as-learning move; coach for SUBSTANCE (named moves, specific revision targets) rather than surface (commas, length). Save reflections in portfolios. Compare to G6 Rhetorician's Forum reflections to track growth.