Seventh-grade reading assignments, classroom activities and fellow student interactions are geared to develop different social skill sets than their eighth-grade counterparts. For example, Prentice Hall, a literature textbook supplier for school systems, categorizes seventh-graders as "bronze level" learners for social skills and highlights the skill sets to be developed with the use of literature to include knowing strengths, accepting criticism and the ability to make new friends. Eighth-graders, labeled the "silver level," are expected to learn to follow directions, read body language, accept differences and express feelings socially by the end of this period.
In the state of Georgia, physical education performance standards for seventh-graders combine nonlocomotor skills with manipulative patterns, as well as locomotor patterns and skills learned from kindergarten through sixth grade. Seventh-graders must now exhibit competency in these areas as well as grow competent in complex strategies and combination movements used in games, sports, physical activities and dance. Eighth-graders are expected to have mastered seventh-grade expectations and to focus on demonstrating mature forms for basic physical skill sets and movement tactics.
Theories about how students learn based upon their age level dictate the methods used on seventh-grade students vs. eighth-grade students cognitively. Seventh-graders, based on Erik Erikson's social development theory, benefit from the use of interactive methods in the classroom. Thus seventh-graders are given problem-solving challenges, hands-on classroom activities and group work assignments, according to North Carolina University's College of Education. Eighth-graders, on the other hand, are now in the moral reasoning phase of social development, with educational coursework driven more by classroom debates over material presented and differing perspectives. Students in this age group are encouraged to see the big picture regarding subject matter issues and are educated about other cultures.
Seventh-graders may look very similar in size to eighth-graders, learning similar subject matter -- math, science, English and social studies -- and participate in the same athletic activities. But seventh-graders are cognitively, physically and socially being readied for the independent, problem-solving and global perspective skills they need to develop further during their advancement to eighth grade.