Eighth Grade Standards for Writing

WRITING

1.0 Writing Strategies

Students write clear, coherent, and focused essays. The writing exhibits students’ awareness of audience and purpose. Essays contain formal introductions, supporting evidence, and conclusions. Students progress through the stages of the writing process as needed.

1.1 Create compositions that establish a controlling impression, have a coherent thesis, and end with a clear and well-supported conclusion.

1.2 Establish coherence within and among paragraphs through effective transitions, parallel structures, and similar writing techniques.

1.3 Support theses or conclusions with analogies, paraphrases, quotations, opinions from authorities, comparisons, and similar devices.

1.4 Plan and conduct multiple-step information searches by using computer networks and modems.

1.5 Achieve an effective balance between researched information and original ideas.

1.6 Revise writing for word choice; appropriate organization; consistent point of view; and transitions between paragraphs, passages, and ideas.

2.0 Writing Applications (Genres and Their Characteristics)

Students write narrative, expository, persuasive, and descriptive essays of at least 500 to 700 words in each genre. Student writing demonstrates a command of standard American English and the research, organizational, and drafting strategies outlined in Writing Standard 1.0.
Using the writing strategies of grade eight outlined in Writing Standard 1.0, students:

2.1 Write biographies, autobiographies, short stories, or narratives:

a. Relate a clear, coherent incident, event, or situation by using well-chosen details.

b. Reveal the significance of, or the writer’s attitude about, the subject.

c. Employ narrative and descriptive strategies (e.g., relevant dialogue, specific action, physical description, background description, comparison or contrast of characters).

2.2 Write responses to literature:

a. Exhibit careful reading and insight in their interpretations.

b. Connect the student’s own responses to the writer’s techniques and to specific textual references.

c. Draw supported inferences about the effects of a literary work on its audience.

d. Support judgments through references to the text, other works, other authors, or to personal knowledge.

2.3 Write research reports:

a. Define a thesis.

b. Record important ideas, concepts, and direct quotations from significant information sources and paraphrase and summarize all perspectives on the topic, as appropriate.

c. Use a variety of primary and secondary sources and distinguish the nature and value of each.

d. Organize and display information on charts, maps, and graphs.

2.4 Write persuasive compositions:

a. Include a well-defined thesis (i.e., one that makes a clear and knowledgeable judgment).

b. Present detailed evidence, examples, and reasoning to support arguments, differentiating between facts and opinion.

c. Provide details, reasons, and examples, arranging them effectively by anticipating and answering reader concerns and counterarguments.

2.5 Write documents related to career development, including simple business letters and job applications:

a. Present information purposefully and succinctly and meet the needs of the intended audience.

b. Follow the conventional format for the type of document (e.g., letter of inquiry, memorandum).

2.6 Write technical documents:

a. Identify the sequence of activities needed to design a system, operate a tool, or explain the bylaws of an organization.

b. Include all the factors and variables that need to be considered.

c. Use formatting techniques (e.g., headings, differing fonts) to aid comprehension.

WRITTEN AND ORAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS

1.0 Written and Oral English Language Conventions

Students write and speak with a command of standard English conventions appropriate to this grade level.

1.1 Use correct and varied sentence types and sentence openings to present a lively and effective personal style.

1.2 Identify and use parallelism, including similar grammatical forms, in all written discourse to present items in a series and items juxtaposed for emphasis.

1.3 Use subordination, coordination, apposition, and other devices to indicate clearly the relationship between ideas.

1.4 Edit written manuscripts to ensure that correct grammar is used.

1.5 Use correct punctuation and capitalization.

1.6 Use correct spelling conventions.