Standards of Expected Student Achievement

Eighth Grade Content Standards

Language Arts

1999 - 2000

By the end of EIGHTH GRADE

Reading

Students will:

•Read 18 books and/or 2700 pages from a variety of fiction and nonfiction

•Read daily in school

•Identify and trace the author's purpose, point of view, and beliefs

•Examine author's evidence to support claims and assertions, noting instances of bias and stereotyping

•Find similarities and differences of ideas among texts

•Understand consumer materials such as manuals, product instructions, recipes, etc.

•Analyze parts of expository text.

•Analyze importance of setting on the mood, and meaning of a text

•Examine motivations and reactions of literary characters

•Examine how a work of literature reflects the period in which it was written

•Identify significant literary terms such as metaphor, symbolism, dialect, and irony. Use those elements to interpret the work

•Read for content information

•Explain the use of a mechanical device by following directions

•Analyze idioms, analogies, metaphors, and similes to infer the meanings of phrases

•Compare original text to a summary for accuracy

•Use knowledge of Greek and Latin roots to understand content area vocabulary

•Understand plot, characters, setting and theme of a story

•Clarify word meanings through the use of definitions, examples, restatements, comparisons, or contrasts

Listening and Speaking

Students will:

•Speak with clarity and fluency

•Speak appropriately to different audiences including use of appropriate facial expression and body language

•Listen critically

•Present, effectively, various types of oral presentations (informational, persuasive, humorous speeches) to a variety of audiences

•Use appropriate visual aids for presentation

Writing

Students will:

•Write an essay which is organized, well-supported with a clearly stated conclusion

•Write the following types of essays: Firsthand Biographical Sketch, Observation, Evaluation, Controversial Issue, and

Speculation

•Write a response to literature that considers the effect of the work on the audience and supports the response with references

to the text, other works, other authors, or to personal knowledge

•Practice writing related to career development, including business letters and job applications

•Write a well-formulated paragraph presenting a personal point of view with substantiation

•Practice and write the four types of sentences; simple, compound, complex, compound/complex

•Edit writing for proper grammar and word choice

•Use varied types of sentence openings in writing

•Identify and use parallel structures in writing

•Use correct punctuation and capitalization

•Apply spelling rules