Eighth Grade Reading and Language Arts Skill Expectations

Working toward the goals of reading with comprehension, writing with skill, and communicating effectively and responsibly, each eighth grader will learn to:

Reading:

• Read to gather information, perform a task, gain literary experience, and develop new interests.
• Read for pleasure.
• Utilize non-fiction sources (encyclopedia, atlas, almanac, newspaper, Internet and computer software).
• Identify and read different types of literature (traditional and contemporary poetry, essays, short stories, novels, non-fiction narratives and plays).
• Understand the elements of literature (literary devices such as figurative language, irony, humor, exaggeration and dialogue).
• Analyze the critical elements of a story (plot, characters, setting, theme, point of view, conflict and resolution).
• Build vocabulary using context clues, dictionaries, thesaurus, news articles, and by reading a variety of materials.

Reading Quick Check: Does your child:

• Read to explore interests, gain information and for pleasure through conventional or technological text?
• Give logical reasons for opinions gained and strategies used to pursue an interest or perform a task?
• Explore a topic with enough depth to meet expectations or draw satisfactory conclusions?
• Identify author’s purpose and effectiveness at conveying that purpose? 

Writing:

• Write clearly and effectively using the Six Traits (ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency and conventions which include proper grammar, capitalization, punctuation and spelling).
• Write for a variety of purposes, including letter, newspaper articles, job applications, homepages, research papers, etc.
• Demonstrate pride in work by writing legibly on all assignments.
• Use technology when appropriate.

Communication:

• Give formal and informal oral presentations.
• Continue developing listening skills.
• Integrate reading, writing, technology, and oral communication skills to make high quality presentations on topics covered in math, social studies, and science.