← All Standards

Grade 8

• Language

  • 8.L.1
  • 8.L.1.a
  • 8.L.1.b
  • 8.L.1.c
  • 8.L.1.d
  • 8.L.2
  • 8.L.3
  • 8.L.4
  • 8.L.4.a
  • 8.L.4.b
  • 8.L.5
  • 8.L.5.a
  • 8.L.5.b
  • 8.L.5.c
  • 8.L.6

• Reading: Informational

  • 8.RI.1
  • 8.RI.2
  • 8.RI.3
  • 8.RI.4
  • 8.RI.5
  • 8.RI.6
  • 8.RI.7
  • 8.RI.8
  • 8.RI.9

• Reading: Literature

  • 8.RL.1
  • 8.RL.2
  • 8.RL.3
  • 8.RL.4
  • 8.RL.5
  • 8.RL.6
  • 8.RL.9
  • 8.RL.10

• Speaking & Listening

  • 8.SL.1
  • 8.SL.1.a
  • 8.SL.1.b
  • 8.SL.1.c
  • 8.SL.1.d
  • 8.SL.2
  • 8.SL.3
  • 8.SL.4
  • 8.SL.5
  • 8.SL.6

• Writing

  • 8.W.1
  • 8.W.1.a
  • 8.W.1.b
  • 8.W.1.d
  • 8.W.2
  • 8.W.2.a
  • 8.W.2.b
  • 8.W.2.d
  • 8.W.2.e
  • 8.W.3
  • 8.W.3.a
  • 8.W.3.b
  • 8.W.3.c
  • 8.W.3.d
  • 8.W.3.e
  • 8.W.4
  • 8.W.5
  • 8.W.6
  • 8.W.7
  • 8.W.8
  • 8.W.9
  • 8.W.9.a
  • 8.W.9.b
  • 8.W.10

Arizona ELA Standard: 8.W.3.b

Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, and reflection, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

Characters’ Faults Can Also Be Strengths

Strength and weakness are often two sides of the same coin. Students will explore how a character’s flaw can be a benefit.

St. Patrick and Other Legends

How would real people feel about the legends that have been created about them?

Comparing Characters’ Bedrooms

What item’s in a character’s bedroom would reflect their deepest desires? And what if they toured a similar character’s room?

Change A Story’s Genre

What if we rewrote a story’s climax into a totally different genre?

Emoji Stories 🏟️

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Emoji Stories 🕰️

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Emoji Stories 👁️

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Emoji Stories 🚗

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Emoji Stories 🤖

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Bobbing for Apples

What is bobbing for apples like… for an apple?

A Character’s Playlist

What playlist of songs best goes with a character’s change over time?

Think Like An Author: Hemingway vs Dickens

What if your students rewrote Dickens in the style of Hemingway and vice versa?

Thanksgiving Photo Writing

Starting with an old-timey photo, students will write from a particular item’s point of view.

Writing Sample: A Christmas Carol (Cold)

A passage from White Fang to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Story Starter: Out To Eat

Students pick from 12 random phrases to create a story about an incident in a restaurant.

Story Starter: Amusement Park

Students use 12 random phrases to write a story that takes place in at an amusement park.

Story Starter: Somewhere In Space

Students use 12 random phrases to create a story that takes place in space!

Writing Sample: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Falling)

A passage from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Writing Sample: The Velveteen Rabbit (The Toys)

A passage from The Velveteen Rabbit to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Writing Sample: The Jungle Book (Bagheera)

A passage from The Jungle Book to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Writing Sample: Moby Dick

A passage from Moby Dick to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Writing Sample: Peter Pan

A passage from “Peter Pan” to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Writing Sample: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

A passage from “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Writing Sample: The Fall of the House of Usher

A passage from “The Fall of the House of Usher” to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Do Narrators Have Too Much Power?

Imagine being a character in a story. Are you worried that your story’s narrator may inaccurately describe you? What if they reveal something you wanted to be kept secret? Do narrators have too much power!?

The Personalities of Rocks

What would an igneous rock be like? Would it get along with a sedimentary rock? Could they handle the hot personality of a metamorphic rock?

Student Introductions with Complexity and Frames

How have you changed over time? Students introduce themselves through the lens of change — and learn a Depth and Complexity tool in the process.

What Would Poetry Think About Prose?

Poetry and Prose meet at a party. What would they say to each other? How would they feel about each other’s style?

Describing Author’s Voice

What if… Edgar Allen Poe wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?

Showing A Character’s Trait

We tell students to ‘show, not tell’ — but that advice is useless until they experience the difference. This lesson makes it click.

Literary Technique: Juxtaposition

Put a grumpy character next to a joyful one and they make each other stand out even more. Opposites are powerful!

Writing Summaries in Haiku

Let’s write a summary. A very short summary. With VERY strict rules.

Better Stories Part 2: Types of Conflict

If your students’ stories are packed with endless ninja fights or arguments between frenemies, it’s time to expose them to a wider range of conflicts.

Better Stories Part 3: Literary Themes

A typical student narrative includes plot and characters but lacks a larger idea to hold it all together. This is where a lesson on themes comes in…