Standards
Eighth grade:
Reading:
Vocabulary and Concept Development
1.1 Analyze idioms, analogies, metaphors, and similes to infer
the literal and figurative meanings of phrases.
1.3 Use word meanings within the appropriate context and show
ability to verify those meanings by definition, restatement, example,
comparison, or contrast.
Reading Comprehension
Expository Critique
2.7 Evaluate the unity, coherence, logic, internal consistency,
and structural patterns of text.
Literary Response and Analysis:
Structural Features of Literature
3.1 Determine and articulate the relationship between the purposes
and characteristics of different forms of poetry (e.g., ballad,
lyric, couplet, epic, elegy, ode, sonnet).
Narrative Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text
3.2 Evaluate the structural elements of the plot (e.g., subplots,
parallel episodes, climax), the plot's development, and the way
in which conflicts are (or are not) addressed and resolved.
3.4 Analyze the relevance of the setting (e.g., place, time, customs)
to the mood, tone, and meaning of the text.
3.6 Identify significant literary devices (e.g., metaphor, symbolism,
dialect, irony) that define a writer's style and use those elements
to interpret the work.
Writing Standards:
Research and Technology
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.
Evaluation and Revision
1.6 Revise writing for word choice; appropriate organization;
consistent point of view; and transitions between paragraphs,
passages, and ideas.
Writing Applications:
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.
Written and Oral English Language Conventions
Sentence Structure
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.
Grammar
1.4 Edit written manuscripts to ensure that correct grammar is
used.
Punctuation and Capitalization
1.5 Use correct punctuation and capitalization.
Spelling
1.6 Use correct spelling conventions.
OR
Ninth Grade
Literary Response and Analysis 3.7, 3.11