Effective Expression
Students who have achieved the standards in the previous grades
demonstrate the ability to express themselves in writing, discussing,
and presenting, and they demonstrate considerable command of
language conventions. Expectations and examples of instruction for
grade eight in effective expression are discussed in the following
sections.
Writing
In grade eight, expectations for students’ writing content, skills,
and strategies build on those in grade seven while expanding in
subtle ways. Students continue to write three different text types
for particular purposes and to conduct research, while expanding
their abilities. For example, eighth graders continue to write arguments and support claims but now
distinguish them from alternate or opposing claims and use words, phrases, and clauses to clarify
relationships among counterclaims in addition to claims, reasons, and evidence (W.8.1). They continue
to write informative/explanatory texts, now including career development documents, to examine a
topic and use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion (W.8.2). They also continue to
write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events, and their use of transition words,
phrases, and clauses shows the relationship among experiences and events (W.8.3).
In addition, eighth graders are expected to conduct research and produce written products with
increasing independence and attention to audience, purpose, and citation of sources. Specifically, they
are expected to use technology and the Internet to present the relationships between information and
ideas efficiently (W.8.6) and continue to conduct short research projects to answer a question, now
generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration (W.8.7).
Students continue to write for many purposes and time frames and use a recursive process to plan,
compose, revise, and edit their writing. Examples of these include:
- Writing an argument in response to a prompt in a 30-minute time frame (e.g., as a formative
assessment before beginning a unit on argumentative writing or as a stand-alone assessment of
on-demand writing) - Writing two accounts of an experience in gathering research, over a one-or two-day period:
one a narrative account for a peer-group audience, the other an informative essay for an adult,
academic audience - Writing a variety of texts for a semester-long
research project, including summaries of resources,
text accompanying multimedia support, and an
explanatory essay - Writing an in-class response to literature (one or
more readings, e.g., a short story and a poem),
followed by a homework assignment to write a
creative narrative piece on the same theme
The speaking and listening standards for eighth
grade require students to actively engage in discussions,
make oral presentations, and provide explanations of
materials they have read. In the eighth grade, students are
expected to contribute actively to class discussions, ask
questions, respond to classmates, and give constructive
... they [eighth graders] are
expected to use technology
and the Internet to present
the relationships between
information and ideas efficiently
and continue to conduct short
research projects to answer
a question, now generating
additional related, focused
questions that allow for multiple
avenues of exploration.
Grade 8 Chapter 6 | 623