Reading/English Language Arts in Grade 8
Just as grade 8 students look forward to high school, grade 8 standards get them ready for bigger challenges to come. Students use thinking skills to analyze, define, explain, and critique. They continue to explore themes in fiction and nonfiction.
In grade 8, students build their writing around strong central ideas or points of view and support their ideas with details and other evidence. Their writing is more polished, with careful word choices, smooth transitions, and variety in sentence structure. Eighth-grade students plan and conduct research projects that include several steps, and they focus on documenting sources.
TOPICS COVERED
Standards cover the following:
• Using and understanding spoken words (Language Development)
• Getting facts from books and other writing (Informational Text)
• Learning from and enjoying stories, poems, and plays (Literary Text)
• Using materials to find out information (Research)
• Using written words to share information, ideas, and feelings (Writing)
• Getting information from television, film, Internet, or videos (Media)
• Knowing how to spell and use grammar correctly (English Language Conventions)
WHAT YOUR CHILD SHOULD KNOW
BY THE END OF GRADE 8, YOUR CHILD SHOULD KNOW AND BE ABLE TO PERFORM THESE SKILLS:
1. Understand and explain differences in the meanings of related words (such as annoyed, aggravated, angry, and enraged).
2. State in his or her own words the speaker’s purpose and point of view. Ask relevant questions concerning content, delivery, and purpose.
3. Compare and contrast readings on the same topic. Explain how authors reach different conclusions.
4. Evaluate whether the details and facts in a text are enough to achieve the author’s purpose.
5. Analyze the influence of setting (such as the time of day, place, or historical period) on the problem and its resolution.
6. Draw conclusions about style, mood, tone, and meaning of prose, poetry, and drama based on the author’s word choice and use of images.
7. Identify conventions in epic tales (e.g., the quest, the hero’s tasks, special weapons or clothing).
8. Use varied sentence types and sentence openings to reinforce ideas.
9. Write coherent compositions (including compare-and-contrast essays) that are several paragraphs long and that have:
• a thesis statement;
• logical organization;
• effective use of detail and rhetorical devices; and
• variety in sentence structure, including transition sentences to link paragraphs.
HOME ACTIVITIES
1. Ask the teacher for recommended books. Popular eighth-grade titles include Nothing But the Truth, by Avi and That Was Then, This Is Now, by S.E. Hinton; and The Chemo Kid, by Robert Lipsyte.
2. Encourage your teen to do other activities that can help him/her meet the standards:
a) Interview family members and write a family history. Use details to describe how people looked, dressed, and lived.
b) Run for office in a class or club. Compose a statement about what you will do in that office, including changes you would like to make. Include reasons why you would make the changes, using supporting facts.
c) Pick a word for the day. Listen for other words that have almost the same meanings and write them with your main word. Discuss with your family how the words are alike and how they are different.
Grade 8 Reading Course Outline