Moffat County School District RE-1

Language Arts

Eighth Grade

 

Students will:

 

Comprehension

 

1.    use a full range of strategies to comprehend technical writing, newspapers, magazines, poetry, short stories, plays, and novels, including texts derived from different economic, ethnic, and social backgrounds.*

 

2.    use strategies, such as summarizing, sequencing, identifying main idea with supporting details, inferring, and predicting.*

 

3.    monitor comprehension and adapt reading rate to support understanding.

 

4.    use background knowledge of subject and text structures (cause and effect, problem/solution, compare/contrast) to locate and recall information.*

 

5.    read with a purpose, such as reading to understand, interpret, enjoy, and solve problems.

 

6.    apply knowledge of letter-sound correspondence, language structures (roots, prefixes, and suffixes), and context to recognize words.*

 

7.    locate meanings, pronunciations, and derivations of unfamiliar words using dictionaries, glossaries, and other sources.*

 

Written and Oral

 

1.    write in a variety of genre (personal narratives, expository essays, fiction, poetry, and letters) for specific purposes (to entertain, persuade, and inform).*

 

2.    choose vocabulary and figures of speech that communicate clearly.*

 

3.    plan, draft, revise, and proofread for a legible final copy.•

 

4.    vary sentence structure and length to enhance meaning and fluency.*

 

5.    incorporate source materials into their speaking and writing (for example, interviews, news articles, and encyclopedia information).

 

6.    recognize stylistic elements in writing and speaking, such as voice, tone, and style.

 

*These objectives will be tested on CSAP.

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7.    develop ideas and content with significant details, examples, and/or reasons to address a prompt.*

 

8.    organize ideas in speaking and writing using a thesis, so that there is an inviting     

     introduction, logical arrangement of ideas, and a satisfying conclusion.*

 

Conventions

 

1.    identify and use the parts of speech.*

 

2.    use standard English in writing and speaking, including subject/verb agreement, pronoun referents, modifiers, homonyms, and homophone.*

 

3.    use paragraphs correctly as differentiated by indenting or blocking, including one major, focused idea and a topic sentence.*

 

4.    write and speak in complete sentences such as simple, compound, complex, and compound/complex sentences.*

 

5.    use capitals correctly, such as in titles, direct quotations, and proper nouns.*

 

6.    punctuate correctly, including apostrophes, comma usage, semi-colons, quotation marks, and end marks.*

 

7.    expand spelling skills to include more complex words.

 

8.    use conventional spelling in published works.*

 

9.    use resources, such as spell checkers and dictionaries.

 

Strategies for Thinking

 

1.    recognize an author's or speaker's point of view and purpose.*

 

2.    use reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing skills to solve problems and answer questions.*

 

3.    make predictions, draw conclusions, and analyze when reading, listening, and viewing.*

 

4.    distinguish between fact and opinion.*

 

5.    recognize, express, and defend a point of view in an articulate manner, orally or in writing.

*These objectives will be tested on CSAP.

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6.    determine literary quality based on elements, such as the author's use of vocabulary, character development, description of setting, realism, and dialogue.

 

Research

 

1.    use organizational features of printed text, such as prefaces, afterwards, appendices, table of contents, indices, bold face print, and bibliographies to locate relevant information.*

 

2.    use library and interlibrary catalog databases and organizational features of electronic information to locate relevant information.*

 

3.    use available media resources, including technology, to research and produce a document with an accurate bibliography.*

 

Literature

 

1.    read, respond to, and discuss a variety of literature.*

 

2.    read, respond to, and discuss literature that represents points of view from places, people, and events that are familiar and unfamiliar.*

 

3.    use literary terminology accurately, including setting, character, conflict, plot, resolution, dialect, point of view, and theme.*

 

4.    apply knowledge of literary techniques, including foreshadowing, metaphor, simile, personification, onomatopoeia, flashback, rhythm, and rhyme to understand text.*

 

5.    use new vocabulary from literature in other context.

 

6      compare and contrast a variety of texts with similar themes and ideas.*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*These objectives will be tested on CSAP.

LA 8th>12/16/02>maa

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