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How to learn Grade 8: English language arts

Iowa academic standards: English language arts, Grade 8

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1. Language

  1. Academic Vocabulary: Acquire and use accurately a broad range of general academic vocabulary and domain-specific words — drawing new vocabulary from reading and listening and deploying it consciously in writing and speech to achieve particular effects
  2. Literary and Language Terminology: Discuss reading, writing, and spoken language with precise and confident use of linguistic and literary terminology — including terms for word classes, sentence types, clause types, literary devices, and text-level features
  3. Standard English: Know and understand the differences between spoken and written language — including differences in formality, register, grammar, and vocabulary — and between Standard English and other varieties of English, using Standard English confidently in writing and speech

2. Speaking and Listening

  1. Adapting Speech to Context: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation while adjusting tone, vocabulary, and style for different audiences
  2. Multimedia Presentations: Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes
  3. Reporting & Recounting: Report on a topic or recount an experience with organised facts and descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace
  4. Evaluating a Speaker's Argument: Summarise the points a speaker makes and explain how each claim is supported by reasons and evidence, evaluating the logic and relevance of the support
  5. Summarising Spoken and Media Presentations: Summarise a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats including visually, quantitatively, and orally
  6. Group discussions: Participate actively in collaborative conversations staying on topic; continue a conversation through multiple exchanges; maintain attention in discussions

3. Writing

  1. Writing Across Genres: Write for a range of purposes and audiences beyond narrative — including scripts, poetry, personal and formal letters, notes for talks, and other forms — selecting the appropriate form, register, and conventions for each
  2. Writing for an audience: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organisation are appropriate to the task, purpose, and audience, maintaining a consistent style and structure throughout
  3. Developed Informational and Explanatory Writing: Write informative and explanatory texts that examine a topic and convey ideas clearly — organising information logically with headings and formatting, developing the topic with relevant facts, definitions, details, and quotations, and using precise vocabulary
  4. Research & Source Evaluation: Summarise and organise material from reading and research — gathering relevant information from multiple sources, assessing credibility, integrating evidence without plagiarising, and supporting ideas with factual detail
  5. Short Research Projects: Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic, gather information from print and digital sources, and take brief organised notes
  6. Sharing and Publishing Your Writing: Read own writing aloud clearly enough to be heard by peers and the teacher; use digital tools to produce and publish writing
  7. Planning, Revising and Editing Writing: Plan, revise, and edit writing to improve coherence and effectiveness — considering how the writing reflects its intended audience and purpose, amending vocabulary, grammar, and structure, and proofreading for accurate spelling, punctuation, and grammar
  8. Writing Character & Dialogue: Write narratives that develop real or imagined experiences using effective technique — including establishing context and point of view, developing characters through dialogue, pacing, and description, using varied transitions, and providing a reflective conclusion
  9. Persuasive Writing: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence — including introducing claims, acknowledging counterclaims, organising reasons logically, maintaining a formal style, and providing a concluding statement

4. Reading Standards for Informational Text

  1. Using and Evaluating Textual Evidence: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of what a text says explicitly and what can be inferred, distinguishing between strong and weak evidence and explaining how the evidence supports a point
  2. Evaluating Arguments in Non-Fiction: Evaluate arguments and claims in non-fiction texts — assess whether reasoning is sound, evidence is relevant and sufficient, distinguish between fact and opinion, and recognise bias, propaganda, and rhetorical techniques
  3. Tracing Theme Across a Text: Determine and analyse the theme or central idea of a text, trace how it develops across the text through key details and events, and provide an objective summary distinct from personal opinion
  4. Critical comparison across texts: Make critical comparisons across texts — comparing themes, characters, settings, styles, or arguments in two or more works, including texts from different periods, genres, or cultures
  5. Multimedia elements in texts: Analyse how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text such as graphic novels, multimedia presentations, or illustrated editions of fiction and poetry
  6. Supporting ideas with evidence: Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which specific points
  7. Figurative Language and Literary Devices: Determine the meaning of figurative and connotative language in context, analyse the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, and identify literary devices such as metaphor, simile, personification, allusion, and irony

5. Reading Standards for Literature

  1. Purpose, audience, and context: Identify the purpose, audience, and context of a text and use this knowledge to support comprehension — recognising how writing aimed at different audiences (academic, popular, persuasive) uses different conventions, register, and tone
  2. Plot Structure and Character Development: Analyse how plot structure unfolds through episodes or key events, and how characters develop, respond to challenges, and change over the course of a narrative — including the relationship between character, setting, and plot
  3. Narrative Perspective and Unreliable Narrators: Analyse point of view and narrative perspective — including first person, third person limited and omniscient, and unreliable narrator — and how the author's or narrator's perspective shapes the reader's understanding and creates effects such as suspense, irony, or humour