Eighth Grade Writing Standards

Writing standards for eighth grade define the understanding and skills required for writing proficiency only at that grade level. By understanding eighth grade writing standards, parents could be more efficient in assisting their kids meet grade level expectations.

What’s eighth Grade Writing?
In Grade 8, students refine and make upon formerly learned understanding and skills in more and more complex essays. Regularly, eighth grade students are anticipated to create coherent and focused multi-paragraph essays which are error-free and have varied syntax. Eighth grade students can select and employ variations of writing for particular purposes for example to tell, persuade, or entertain. Eighth-graders edit their writing according to their understanding of grammar and usage, spelling, punctuation, along with other conventions of written language. In eighth grade, students use every phase from the writing process and then build their understanding of writing conventions. Students use citations competently, follow research report formats, and offer written reports incorporating graphics and media.

What Writing Standards Measure
Academic standards are extremely specific, detailing every facet of what students are anticipated to attain in every grade. Organized into five key areas, writing standards concentrate on: Writing process, writing purposes (what students write), writing evaluation, writing conventions (grammar and usage), and research/inquiry for writing. The next writing standards represent what states* typically specify as eighth grade benchmarks on paper proficiency.

Grade 8: Writing Process
Eighth grade writing standards concentrate on the writing process because the primary tool to assist children become independent authors.

In Grade 8, students are trained to make use of each phase from the process the following:

• Prewriting: In grade 8, students generate ideas from multiple sources and employ strategies and tools (e.g. technology, spreadsheets, Venn Diagrams, plot pyramids, notes, and outlines) to build up an individual business style. Students choose the type of writing that most closely fits the intended purpose and then suggest an agenda for writing that prioritizes ideas, addresses purpose, audience, primary idea, rational manner, and time-frame to finish.
• Drafting: In eighth grade, students develop drafts by categorizing ideas, organizing them into sentences, and blending sentences within bigger units of text. Writing exhibits the students’ understanding of audience and purpose. Drafts set up a controlling impression, possess a coherent thesis, and finish having a obvious, well-supported conclusion. In eighth grade, students are anticipated to provide substantial and relevant supporting evidence by means of analogies, paraphrases, quotes, opinions from government bodies, comparisons, and other alike devices. Students evaluate the word what techniques of professional authors, including rhythm and varied syntax, demonstrating an order of language having a freshness of expression.
• Revising: In eighth grade, students revise selected drafts by elaborating, deleting, mixing, and rearranging text. Goals for revision include improving coherence, progression, and also the logical support of ideas and content. Eighth-graders revise their writing for word choice appropriate organization consistent perspective voice and transitions between sentences, passages, and concepts. Other grade 8 revision techniques include developing relationships among ideas using parallel structures and creating precision and interest through creative language devices.
• Editing: Students edit their conntacting ensure standard usage, varied syntax, and appropriate word choice (e.g. eliminating slang). Eighth graders check for grammar, punctuation, capital, and spelling, using reference materials, word processor, along with other sources, (e.g. dictionary, thesaurus).
• Publishing: Using technology, eighth graders refine and “publish” the work they do frequently inside a format appropriate to audience and purpose (e.g. manuscript, multimedia). Printed pieces use appropriate formatting and graphics (e.g. tables, sketches, charts, graphs) when relevant to boost the look of the document.

Utilization of technology: Eighth grade students use available technology to aid facets of creating, revising, editing, and publishing texts. Students compose documents with appropriate formatting by utilizing word-processing skills and concepts of design (e.g. margins, tabs, spacing, posts, page orientation).

Grade 8: Writing Purposes
In eighth grade, students email express, uncover, record, develop, think about ideas, and also to problem solve, and convey texts with a minimum of 500 to 700 words. Particularly, eighth grade writing standards stipulate that students write within the following forms:

• Narrative: Eighth grade students write biographies, autobiographies, short tales, or personal narratives that develop an interesting plot (including rising action, conflict, suspense, climax, falling action and determination), which use narrative and descriptive strategies (e.g. relevant dialogue, specific action, physical description, background description, comparison or contrast of figures). Narrative essays within the eighth grade relate a obvious, coherent incident, event, or situation by utilizing well-selected details. Students will also be likely to reveal the value of, or even the writer’s attitude about, the topic.
• Expository: Eighth grade students write a number of specialized expository/informational essays (e.g. process, description, explanation, comparison/contrast, problem/solution) which include a thesis statement, supporting details, an business structure particular to the type, and opening, body, and concluding sentences. Other eighth grade expository writing applications include informal communications (e.g. friendly letters, notecards) and formal communications (e.g. business letters, invitations, job applications) which have a standard format and need students to provide information purposefully and succinctly to meet the requirements from the intended audience. Students also write directions to unfamiliar locations and record information (e.g. observations, notes, lists, charts, legends), properly citing sources.
• Research Reports: In eighth grade, students define a thesis and record important ideas, concepts, and direct quotes from significant information sources and paraphrase and summarize relevant perspectives around the subject. Writing should use a number of primary and secondary sources and distinguish the character and cost of every. Students organize and display info on charts, maps, and graphs for the written text.
• Persuasive: Students email influence, for example to influence, argue, and ask for. In grade 8, persuasive essays must have a properly-defined thesis which makes a obvious and knowledgeable judgment, Eighth grade persuasive essays should present detailed evidence, examples, and reasoning to aid arguments, differentiating between details and opinion, and organizing evidence effectively by anticipating and answering readers concerns and counterarguments. Additionally to essays, an eighth grade persuasive writing assignment happens to be an advertisement, speech, or public service announcement. In tackling these writing tasks, students use persuasive techniques for example word choice, repetition, emotional appeal, hyperbole, attract authority, diet supplements, rhetorical question, irony, symbols, glittering generalities, and card stacking.
• Creative: Students email entertain in a number of significant forms (e.g. realistic fiction, one-act play, suspense story, humorous poems) that based on the kind of writing employed, incorporate figurative language, rhythm, dialogue, portrayal, plot, and appropriate format.
• Responses to Literature: Eighth grade students develop an interpretation exhibiting careful studying and insight. Students should draw inferences concerning the results of the literary focus on its audience and describe their very own responses towards the writer’s techniques and particular servings of the written text. Eighth graders are anticipated to aid their judgments through references towards the text, other works, other authors, in order to personal understanding.
• Technical Documents: Students in eighth grade write essays to recognize the succession of activities required to design a method, manage a tool, or explain the bylaws of the organization. These essays include all of the factors and variables that should be considered and employ formatting techniques (e.g. headings, differing fonts) to assist comprehension.

Additionally, eighth-graders pick the appropriate form for his or her own purpose for writing, including journals, letters, editorials, reviews, poems, memoirs, narratives, and directions.

Grade 8: Writing Evaluation
Eighth grade students learn how to respond constructively to other people’ writing and see if their very own writing achieves its purposes. In Grade 8, students also apply criteria to judge writing and evaluate printed examples as models for writing. Writing standards suggest that each student keep and review an accumulation of his/her very own written try to determine its weaknesses and strengths and also to set goals like a author. Additionally, eighth grade students assess the purposes and results of film, print, and technology presentations. Students assess how language, medium, and presentation lead to meaning.

Grade 8: Written British Language Conventions
Students in eighth grade are anticipated to create with increased complex sentences, capital, and punctuation. Particularly, eighth grade writing standards specify these key markers of proficiency:

Syntax
—Write in complete sentences, including compound and sophisticated sentences.
—Use varied sentence types and sentence openings to provide an active and efficient personal style.
—Identify and employ parallelism, including similar grammatical forms, in most written discourse to provide products inside a series and products juxtaposed for emphasis.
—Use subordination, coordination, apposition, along with other devices to point clearly the connection between ideas.

Grammar
—Edit written manuscripts to make sure correct Standard British usage, including subject-verb agreement, noun/pronoun agreement, and also the eight areas of speech (noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, adjective, conjunction, preposition, interjection).
—Use regular and irregular verb tenses appropriately and consistently for example present, past, future, perfect, and progressive.
—Use adjectives (comparative and superlative forms) and adverbs appropriately to create writing vivid or precise.
—Use prepositional phrases to elaborate written ideas.
—Use conjunctions for connecting ideas meaningfully.
—Write with growing precision when utilizing pronoun situation for example “She walked together and us.”

Punctuation
—Punctuate properly to explain and enhance meaning for example using hyphens, semicolons, colons, apostrophes, speech marks, and sentence punctuation.
—Write with growing precision when utilizing apostrophes in contractions (doesn’t) and possessives (Texas’s).

Capital
—Capitalize properly to explain and enhance meaning.
—Eighth-graders pay particular focus on capital of names of educational courses (e.g. Algebra I) and proper adjectives (e.g. German shepherd, Italian restaurant).

Spelling
—Use understanding of spelling rules, orthographic patterns, generalizations, prefixes, suffixes, and roots, including Greek and Latin root words.
—Spell derivatives properly by making use of the spellings of bases and affixes
—Spell frequently incorrectly spelled words properly (e.g. their, they’re, there).
—Understand the influence of other languages and cultures around the spelling of British words.
—Use dictionary, thesaurus, or any other sources as necessary and spell precisely in final drafts.

Penmanship
—Write fluidly and legibly in cursive or manuscript as appropriate.

Grade 8: Research and Inquiry
In eighth grade, students select and employ reference materials and sources when needed for writing, revising, and editing final drafts. Students learn to gather information systematically and employ writing like a tool for research and inquiry within the following ways:

• Achieve a highly effective balance between researched information and original ideas.
• Organize prior understanding in regards to a subject in a number of methods like by creating a graphic organizer.
• Ask and evaluate questions for research. Develop ideas resulting in inquiry, analysis, and research.
• Take notes, summarize, and organize ideas acquired from multiple relevant and authoritative sources. Utilize such tools as outlines, conceptual maps, learning logs, and timelines.
• Plan and conduct multiple-step information searches online.
• Follow recognized formats for writing research. Give credit for quoted and paraphrased information inside a bibliography using a consistent and sanctioned format and methodology for citations.

Eighth Grade Writing Tests
In lots of states, eighth graders take standardized writing assessments, either with pencil and paper or on the computer. While tests vary, students are usually given questions regarding grammar and mechanics, in addition to timed essay-writing exercises that they must write an essay as a result of a writing prompt. On eighth grade essay writing tests, students demonstrate remarkable ability to create a highly effective composition for any specific purpose, in addition to their command from the conventions of spelling, capital, punctuation, grammar, usage, and syntax.

In certain states, students’ revising and editing skills are tested with multiple-choice questions about studying passages. Students are requested to point the way a particular sentence may be remedied or improved or the way the organization or growth and development of a paragraph may be strengthened. Tests might also require students to check for proper punctuation, capital, word choice, and spelling. Another kind of question asks students to create an overview statement as a result of a studying passage. Additionally, eighth grade students receive classroom-based eighth grade writing tests and writing portfolio evaluations.

Condition writing assessments are correlated to condition writing standards. These standards-based tests measure what students know with regards to what they’ve been trained. If students prosper on school writing assignments, they ought to prosper on this type of test. Educators consider standards-based tests is the most helpful because these tests show how each student is meeting grade-level expectations. These assessments are made to pinpoint where each student needs improvement which help teachers tailor instruction to suit individual needs. Condition departments of your practice usually include info on writing standards and writing assessments on their own websites, including testing guidelines and sample questions.

Writing Test Preparation
The very best writing test preparation in eighth grade is just encouraging your student to create, raising understanding of the written word, and offering assistance with writing homework. Discuss writing and share appropriate articles and books together with your child. Students learn how to write effectively once they write more frequently. Suggest keeping a journal, writing movie reviews for your loved ones, or writing the procedures for implementing a brand new bit of equipment. Any writing is efficacious practice. By understanding eighth grade writing standards, parents can provide more constructive homework support. Remember, the very best writing help for children isn’t to fix their essays, but offer positive feedback that prompts these to make use of the tricks of writing tactic to revise their very own work.

Time4Writing Online Writing Courses Support eighth Grade Writing Standards
Time4Writing is a superb complement to eighth grade writing curriculum. Produced by classroom teachers, Time4Writing targets the basic principles of writing. Students build ability as a copywriter and deepen their knowledge of the writing process by focusing on standard-based, grade-appropriate writing tasks underneath the individual guidance of the certified teacher.

Writing on the computer inspires all students, even reluctant authors. Find out more about Time4Writing web based classes for eighth grade.

To learn more about general learning objectives for eighth grade students including math and language arts, check out Time4Learning.com.

*K-12 writing standards are based on each condition. Time4Writing uses representative sampling of condition writing standards, particularly from Florida, Texas, and California, and also on the factors printed by across the country recognized education organizations, like the National Council of Teachers of British and also the Worldwide Studying Association.